Woodeye: AHF Products & Automation that Works

As labor challenges continue across the manufacturing industry, AHF Products turned to automation to secure long-term operational sustainability. Prior to MiCROTEC’s Woodeye scanning technology, the facility relied heavily on manual grading and sorting. 

“We had three stages of individuals making decisions manually that would impact how well we might process that material,” said Travis Thompson, Process Improvement Engineer at AHF Products. The manual handling increased both labor costs and opportunities for human error. Doug Bohlinger, Plant Manager, added, “That costs the company a lot of money any time you have to handle it twice. It’s difficult to get skilled people that can work a physical job for 8 to 10 hours a day, 5 days a week and keep that going for years.” 

AHF Products explored a wide range of scanning solutions across the US and Canada before selecting MiCROTEC partner, Eagle Machinery, and a MiCROTEC Woodeye Scanner. “When we landed with Eagle and MiCROTEC, it put the whole system together. It was user-friendly, we had training that was only four and a half hours away, and it’s been a good relationship.” 

Today, AHF Products runs four production lines equipped with Woodeye scanners, and the impact has been transformative. 

“One of our goals was obviously to get the headcount reduction so that we could have a sustainable operation in the future. The scanner, without question, got us to the point where we could do that,” said Thompson. Bohlinger continued: “If it was taking us 21 people to run a line, now we can run a line with 12 or 13.” 

The transition to automation didn’t result in layoffs. “We were at a deficit so great that we did not lose a single person. Those folks were transitioned to other jobs. Some of the jobs we eliminated by installing the scanner were some of the most physically demanding jobs that had a particularly higher injury rate than others in the facility.” 

The implementation of Woodeye scanning technology has done more than streamline operations—it has positioned AHF Products for long-term success.  “With what we’ve implemented with the scanner technology, it positions us to be in a good outlook for the future. We continue to refine it, it continues to get better, and we continue to get more benefits from it,” says Thompson. 

Bohlinger agrees, “It gives us the ability to staff up when we need to, and it doesn’t take as many to staff. We can obviously increase volume with a lot less manpower than we could before. It gives us a lot more versatility. It’s not a short game, but a long one that’s going to help us over the years.”