Systems and methods for tracking lumber in a sawmill

A computing device-readable medium that stores instructions that cause a computing device to track lumber in a sawmill, by:

• for each of a number of sideboards and cants:
• determining at least one geometric characteristic of a sideboard;
• determining at least one geometric characteristic of a cant;
• and
• logically associating the sideboard with the cant based at least in part on the at least one geometric characteristic of the sideboard and the at least one geometric characteristic of the cant.

A system for tracking lumber in a sawmill comprising:

• a first laser scanner positioned to scan sideboards near an infeed of an edger;
• a second laser scanner positioned to scan cants near an infeed of a gangsaw;
• and
• at least one computing device coupled to the first laser scanner and the second laser scanner, the at least one computing device configured to determine at least one geometric characteristic of a sideboard, determine at least one geometric characteristic of a cant, and logically associate the sideboard with the cant based at least in part on the at least one geometric characteristic of the sideboard and the at least one geometric characteristic of the cant.