National Hardwood Magazine - August 2023

“This technology gives

“This technology gives a much higher yield and recovery improvement. The Hardwood industry is benefiting greatly from this technology. It improves the yields because the quality and value of the logs is greater.” – Arianna Giudiceandrea, Chief Sales Officer, MiCROTEC Group “This technology gives a much higher yield and recovery improvement. The Hardwood industry is benefiting greatly from this technology. It improves the yields because the quality and value of the logs is greater,” said Chief Sales Officer of the MiCROTEC Group, Arianna Giudiceandrea. “A CT scan can in general uplift the value independently based on what type of log you pass through,” she continued. The customer can then scan the log before it is even cut, allowing for the detection of internal features before it has been run through the mill, predicting exactly where to cut to maximize its value and recovery. With the wide range of classifications used for Hardwood grades and species, the MiCROTEC family dedicated a branch of the company to develop the Woodeye Hardwood Grader, a lineal board scanner, which helps their customers streamline this process. Woodeye identifies knots, cracks, splits, shake, and other defects in accordance to NHLA rules or any proprietary grades the mill has. “While fulfilling the expectations of NHLA was not easy, we wanted to be able to continue to make the software customizable for individual customers,” said Frank Jöst, CEO of MiCROTEC. Stefan Nilsson, CEO of MiCROTEC’s subsidiary Linkoping and the competence center within the group for Hardwood, also stated, “There are many Hardwood species, and each has their own challenge. This has been a long process, maybe over 30 years, to get to where we are able to have specific settings for each species.” MiCROTEC’s approach is to have a large product portfolio for their customers to allow for integrated solutions. For example, on the carriage side there is new technology that, as Giudiceandrea said, “has revolutionized the industry because it is based on stereoscopic imaging. This gives the customer an accurate measure- Please turn the page MiCROTEC moved to address the Hardwood lumber industry’s needs by innovating technology to scan higher density lumber. This led to the development of their flagship product, the CT Log. MiCROTEC’s Dedication To Understanding Customer Needs Through Innovative Development MiCROTEC, located in Corvallis, OR, continues to flourish and grow as innovators of artificial vision in the forest products industry. Founded in 1980, MiCROTEC expanded their ever-growing umbrella of companies through their acquisition of Lucidyne Technologies in 2020. After a complete brand integration in 2022, Mi- CROTEC continues to strengthen their foothold in the North American and international wood processing industry. MiCROTEC ramped up technology developed in the 1990s, moving from a focus in softwood to investing more in Hardwood. With a start in X-ray scanning, they moved to address the Hardwood lumber industry’s needs by innovating technology to scan higher density lumber. This led to the development of their flagship product, the CT Log Scanner. The CT Log is a sawyer’s dream. It is the only technology available to see all defects inside the log. The CT can identify everything including rot, shake, knots, stain, metal, heart/sapwood. With the use of our state-of-the-art integrated software platform, MiCROTEC can identify the best degree to open the log and determine how each board should be sawn. The system will identify which thicknesses to be cut and what grade each board will be. “We have a very strong team dedicated to AI that continues to show the ample experience that we have when it comes to deep learning, and how it will also help the Hardwood industry just as it helped the softwood industry when we initially brought AI to them,” said Frank Jöst, CEO of MiCROTEC. 28 AUGUST 2023 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE RealAmericanHardwood.com/industry RealAmericanHardwood.com/industry AUGUST 2023 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 29