Image provided by: The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Warm Springs, OR
About Spilyay tymoo. (Warm Springs, Or.) 1976-current | View Entire Issue (March 10, 1978)
< PAGE 6 MARCH 10, 1978 _ _ _ , MARCH 10, 1978 PAGE ---------------- W.S.F.P.I.: A Nuts And Bolts Look At 1977 ----------------- Powerhouse Supplies Mill With Energy The Story Behind The Annual Report At the upcoming annual meeting of Warm Springs Forest Products Industries tribal mem bers will learn the “state of the enterprise.” But how much will they really know about the sprawling complex of buildings called The Mill? Being the equivalent of a stockholder in the forest indus try does not guarantee an under standing of its operatioiis. A surprising number of tribal m em bers have not seen the inside of the mill. Planer, lathe, gang saw and green chain are mysterious terms to many. Acres of buildings and ma chinery noisily engage in the process of converting a tree to a salable product. The financial result is clear - WSFPI’s valu able economic contribution to the Tribes is well understood: But how many tribal members can tell an inquisitive non-mem ber how the mill produces and sells lumber, studs, veneer, ply wood, chips and now even energy from the reservation’s wealth of pine and fir? At the annual meeting, members will learn that 1977 has brought to WSFPI increased income, the resignation of Per shing Andrews, energy Self-suf ficiency and the decision to for mally evaluate the whole oper ation. The coming year may prove to be a turning point for WSFPI. A new general m anager (see article, page 1) will oversee the completion of projects begun last year and undoubtedly bring a new style to management. Later in the year the find ings of the Master Development Study may point a whole new direction for the forest industry. An EDA grant has enabled WSFPI to hire experts who are taking a long look at the chang ing forest resource, marketabil ity of products and the facilities needed to best utilize logs that will be available for years to come. And for now the mill clatters on, hardly skipping a beat. An annual report full of charts and figures, goals and accomplishments tells part of WSFPI’s story. But the rest of the story can be found inside the buildings where ongoing chang es are making the daily opera tions of the mill more efficient. Spilyay Tymoo offers a nuts and bolts look at a few develop ments, small and large, that have helped keep the mill hum ming and the figures ' black through 1977. Text and Photos by Cynthia Stowell Giant piles of waste have disappeared from the mill site since two of the three 3000 kilowatt turbines were fired up in mid-1977. So hungry are the boilers that WSFPI is actively looking for more bark and saw dust to consume and convert for its own energy needs and for sale to Pacific Power and Light. A third standby generator is nearing completion, a reassem bly process that began in 1975 when the p arts were shipped from Alaska. When two generators are operating full-time the mill is energy self-sufficient during all its shifts and realizes a monthly savings of $17,000, according to manager Persh Andrews. Self- sufficiency provides the assur ance that the mill will continue to run despite power shortages or other external problems. Excess electricity has been sold to PP&L for 10 mills per kilowatt, meaning income on top of the savings and security. The new power house has also eliminated the need for the smokey and hazardous wigwam burner that destroyed waste the old smaller (600 x >• > generators could not handle. Increased boiler capacity enabled the gas dryer to be moved from its Madras site to Warm Springs in 1976 and con verted to steam at a savings of about $15,000 per month. WSFPI is now faced with the challenge of m aintaining a steady supply of fuel. Only one generator is operating presently while sources of bark and saw dust are located. The mill itself can meet most of the need from its daily processing and clean-up opera tions. Andrews said that less valuable fir shavings from the stud mill could possibly be burned as fuel while pine shav ings would continue to be sold. Meanwhile WSFPI is look ing into outside sources of fuel, such as other mills. Brooks Scanlon has a continuous supply of sawdust available which can be hauled by chip trucks re turning to Warm Springs after delivery. Mountain Fir Lumber has more valuable bark avail able, but transportation would be more difficult. Andrews noted that as a temporary measure chips from 138 truck loads of firedamaged logs will be brought in for fuel. Of course the forest is an “absolutely unending fuel sup ply,” said Andrews and when WSFPI determines its need, slash and unused logs will be hauled in and converted to energy. The new machine shop at the mill is bright and airy with plenty of room for the safe operation of equipment. Ken McKenzie and his co-worker maintain all the mill’s equipment, repairing old parts and making new. Even the hydraulic press above was built right in the shop. Time and money are saved by servicing machinery on-site. A Safer, Roomier Machine Shop With repair facilities so dis tant, WSFPI has found it practi cal to m aintain the m ill’s m a chinery on site. Until August of 1977 the machine shop was housed in a cold dark building that became more and more cramped as equipment was add ed. Increased versatility unfor tunately meant less efficiency and greater hazard to the work ers. The two m achinists, Ken McKenzie and Eldon Lang, moved themselves and their equipment out of the 1943 vint age building last August and are luxuriating in the warm, bright spaciousness of their new quar ters. McKenzie noted that he and Lang can work faster and more efficiently in the new shop, which is open to other workers for equipment use. The machine shop does vir tually all thé maintenance for the plant. The two men rebuild old parts and manufacture new parts, for which they keep de tailed drawings for future refer ence. Moving to the new shop did not increase their capability, though, and very large parts still must be sent out for repair. McKenzie cited several ad vantages of their on-site main tenance. For one, the machinists are fam iliar with all the m a chinery at the mill. “You work on every bit of it at one time or another,” he remarked. Repairs can be done more quickly because there is no transportation time, involved. And the economic savings are significant. McKenzie said he could make $50 nuts for the barker for $i6. The shop has even produced a piece of its own equipment — an 80-ton hydraulic press built right in the shop in 1973. Currently the machinists are rebuilding p arts of the third steam turbine in the power house, a job that is undoubtedly more pleasant in the safer, roomier shop. Unit Loading Means More Valuable Product The packaging and shipping of finished products destined for distant markets is a less glamor- ous part of the forest industry than the earlier phases, such as logging. But delivery is essential and the better the job is done, the more valuable is the product. WSFPI further streamlined its delivery system in 1977 with the purchase and expansion of its Madras loading dock. Unitized loading, where the product is packaged in standard sizes, sorted roughly to length, bound by steel straps and some times wrapped, is replacing the Lumber delivered in unitized packages is more attractive to markets and more efficiently loaded. At WSFPI’s expanded loading dock in Madras, forklifts hoist packages of lumber onto flatcars or boxcars from track level. The old platform (rear) was designed for loose loading, an outdated method of handling. Plans are to extend the track and concrete slab to allow for more shipments each day. old loose loading method of handling wood products. Loading by unit is faster and more efficient than board by board handling and is increas ingly demanded by markets. WSFPI added a. packager in 1976 and made unit loading into ' railroad cars easier by expand ing its M adras facility in 1977. The track was extended and a covered concrete slab added This meant that flatcars anc boxcars could be loaded at tract level by forklifts. Lumber and studs are pack aged in Warm Springs and hauled to Madras by truck to be unit loaded into railroad cars. Occasionally wood is loose- loaded, when cars with suf ficiently wide doors are not available. The old dock was designed for loose-loading, with the floor of the car below the dock level. The new slab at track level is both less expensive to construct and easier to use becaus'e fork lifts can load from both sides. Since transporting by rail road is more efficient than by truck at distances over 200 miles, WSFPI plans to further expand its rail loading capabil ity by extending the tracks and slab as soon as weather permits. Two-turbines are functional and a third standby turbine is nearly completé in WSFPI’s new generating facility. Bark and sawdust waste fuels the generators and when both are running the mill’s power needs are satisfied. Any excess electricity is sold to Pacific Power & Light. Outside sources of waste are being sought to ensure the full-tíme operation of both generators.
