Red Stag pushes to increase capacity

Continued capital investment should see Red Stag timber increase capacity by 20 per cent by October.
Investment in upgrading the sawmill bin and installing a new kiln, remanufacturing plant and dry storage space should see production capacity increase by 70,000m3 to 420,000m3 a year.
General manager Tim Rigter told The Daily Post the company made the decision to expand 18 months ago.
"Early last year we started ordering equipment and we completed the sawmill bin upgrade at Christmas and expect to have our new counter flow kiln completed in August. It has all been fairly quick for the size of the project."
The aim is to increase productivity to maintain competitiveness in what is a very competitive market.
Red Stag has already doubled production since the company was bought by Phil and Marty Verry in 2003.
"This is about having the capacity to meet demand down the track."
He said the directors were very supportive when it came to keeping up with the latest technology and they recognised the cyclical nature of the industry and the value of investing now, when things were quieter and it was easier to balance the new developments with the continued operation of the existing mill components.
Red Stag extended its shutdown last Christmas for the bin upgrade, replacing a 90 lug per minute J Hook bin sorter with a 140 lug per minute pusher lug system and adding a new trimmer, unscrambler and strapping system.
"The most effective way to increase production and maintain a two-shift operation was to just cut faster."
Upgrading the "back end" of the mill's processes has led to a record daily production of nearly 3000m3 at the end of March.
To cater for the anticipated total increase in production, the mill needed a new drying kiln, to be completed later this month or early August.
Rigter said the innovative counter flow kiln would handle the higher throughput and reduce energy consumption by 25 per cent compared to traditional high temperature kilns.
Red Stag is still working through the possibility of harnessing geothermal power at the Waipa site.
A new remanufacturing plant, due to be commissioned in October, is under construction and will house some near-new, secondhand equipment Red Stag bought from Australia.
"We had the chance to purchase a lot of state-of-the-art equipment that is only two years old. We wanted to do something in this area because it is such a high labour area."
Replacing manual saws with automatic docking saws will reduce the number of staff needed to operate this part of the plant and boost productivity, but Rigter said there were unlikely to be any job losses because positions were likely to be available elsewhere on the site.
"Other opportunities are arising for staff and we re-employ a lot of people in these situations."
The remanufacturing building itself is quite an investment and a showcase for the structural properties of wood.
Despite being the size of a rugby field, it is constructed entirely with wood - including a 45m clear span truss.
Several new buildings are being constructed to keep this extra production dry. Another project is being planned for the 2011 Christmas shutdown period, but Rigter said details were still under wraps.