PERFORMANCE OF A SMALL EUCALYPT LOG SAWMILL: WORK PRODUCTIVITY, OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND LUMBER YIELD

Sawmills are components of the wood industry worldwide. The presence of sawmills processing small Eucalyptus spp. logs from planted forests has been increasing in countries of the Southern Hemisphere, such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, South Africa and Uruguay. The general aim of this work was to evaluate the operational performance of a small Eucalyptus spp. log sawmill according to its work productivity, operational efficiency and lumber yield. The secondary aim was to analyze the influence of the substitution of the resaw on the lumber yield. The sawmill is located in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil, and mainly produces pallets for supermarkets. The productivity was assessed from Monday to Friday using the work sampling statistical technique. The operational efficiency was calculated based on the volume (m³) of processed logs/worker/day. For the lumber yield, two treatments (processing methods) were evaluated, using 20 logs per treatment: 1) vertical resaw bandsaw; 2) substitution by a double arbor circular gang saw (multirip). The substitution of the resaw resulted in a significant increase of 8 percentage points in the lumber yield. Based on the results of yield, work productivity and operational efficiency, the sawmill's performance was low, requiring corrective actions by the managers.