ABSTRACT
Increasing prices of wood-based semifinished products indicate that in many cases the cost of timber as a raw material has considerable influence on the cost of the semifinished product (often more than half). Consequently any technique aimed at improving the utilization of such a raw material will have a fundamental effect on the final cost of the product. An analysis of manufacturing done in the industrial glulam sector in France has shown that the resale price of timber can reach up to 70% of the cost of the product and that the losses of timber due to the planing of members constituting a laminated beam represent between 13 and 20% of the raw material used. These relative losses are higher when timber of lower thickness is used. Utilization of local timber means in many cases that panels of lower thickness must be used and also that the production of timber panels must be followed by planing to eliminate defects and uneven surfaces. All this is necessary (a) to improve the yield of usable timber from small diameter logs, and (b) to minimize the influence of both deformations and defects on the timber panels produced. It is logical to assume, then, that any technology allowing reduction in planing losses is seen as particularly beneficial to the industry.
