Title: Validation of the standardized and simplified cutting bill

Author: Buehlmann, Urs; Kline, D. Earl; Wiedenbeck, Janice K.; Noble, R., Jr.

Year: 2008

Publication: Wood and Fiber Science 40(2):202-213

Abstract: This research validated the framework for the standardized and simplified cutting bill presented in an earlier paper. The cutting bill validation was carried out in two ways. First, all 20 of the cutting bill's part groups were examined to determine if significant yield influences resulted from changing specific part sizes within the boundaries of a given part group. Second, five cutting bills from industrial operations were fit into the framework of the cutting bill, and the simulated yields from these industrial cutting bills were compared with the fitted cutting bills. Yield differences between the two were calculated and tested for significance. Tests revealed that the standardized and simplified cutting bill framework performed as designed. The maximum yield difference observed was 2% and the average less than 1%. Clustering the industrial cutting bill part requirements according to the cutting bill framework led to an average absolute yield deviation between the original cutting bills and the clustered cutting bills of 3.25%. These results show while cutting bill part-size requirements can be clustered into part groups, yield differences of a certain magnitude are introduced by so doing.