Sawmills are undoubtedly harsh environments. They are dusty, noisy, humid, have high variations in temperature, and are full of high-vibration equipment. Needless to say, sawmills are not the ideal environment for sensitive electronic equipment.

But sawmill managers need video monitoring to improve their operations and identify issues early. Any video system downtime hurts your bottom line, slows operations, and pulls staff from other important tasks. 

Thus, a sophisticated monitoring system is crucial for sawmills. However, off-the-shelf products that many sawmills currently use are not the solution.

Off-the-Shelf Cameras and Commercial Video Equipment—Why You Should Look Elsewhere for Your Sawmill

It’s tempting to buy your entire video monitoring system from an online retailer or a big box store—it’s fast, it’s convenient, and it’s cheap. But it will also be short-lived and more costly in the end.

While cameras sold in big box stores can come with a lot of high-end features, the problem lies elsewhere: the hardware is not made for the harsh environment in a sawmill. The same goes for video monitoring equipment designed for regular commercial applications; what works great in a shopping mall will be utterly useless in a sawmill.

Many off-the-shelf kits are proprietary, as well. You buy the kit, and if one camera breaks, you either have to purchase a whole new kit or track down an approved camera that will work. Opticom cameras and equipment can be integrated with other hardware, including into existing systems. We don’t lock you into our products because we know once you try them, you’ll love them. 

Off-the-shelf cameras and mounts aren’t made to withstand high vibrations, humidity, and the incredible amount of sawdust in a lumber mill. Yes, you can buy a cheap, off-the-shelf camera—but you’ll end up replacing it every week or every month, just like one of our clients did.

One of Opticom’s clients, a sawmill in Mississippi, bought an off-the-shelf camera to monitor its log debarker. While the camera itself was very cheap, it needed to be replaced almost weekly. That got very expensive very fast, not just in equipment cost but in downtime and working hours as well.

The uncertainty leaves mill managers and electrical supervisors with constant worry: you never know when your feed is going to cut out and you’ll be down for who knows how long.

We installed a CC02 camera in their log debarker with an industrial vibration mount. In the more than six years that had passed since then, they’ve only had to replace the bracket mount once, and the original camera is still in perfect working condition!

See their full story here: