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2026-06-01/Drew Hanover
Mission Forest Products Avoided Critical Downtime From Day One
Mission Forest Products installed AVIAN to protect one of the most important assets in their operation: their Gilbert planer.
From the first day, the system started showing value. AVIAN gave the team continuous thermal visibility into the planer, helping them catch abnormal heat patterns tied to maintenance issues like failing bearings, overheated motors, and other high-friction components before they turned into forced downtime.
The result was simple: fewer surprises, faster response, and more confidence running a critical machine.
Protecting the Gilbert Planer
A Gilbert planer can carry the production schedule for a mill. When it runs well, it moves product fast. Some Gilbert planers are capable of processing over 3,000 feet per minute.
When that machine goes down unexpectedly, the cost shows up immediately in lost production, emergency maintenance, and schedule disruption.
Mission Forest Products wanted a system that could do more than alert after a problem became obvious. They needed earlier warning on developing issues and a way to stop the machine automatically when temperatures moved outside normal operating conditions.
AVIAN monitors the planer continuously and flags thermal anomalies as they develop. Because AVIAN already monitors many planers across the industry, the setup was completed in less than a day. The system adapts to the running behavior of the machine and the temperatures it observes over time.
If AVIAN detects a critical temperature event, it can automatically stop the machine through the PLC. That response reduces the chance that a maintenance issue becomes equipment damage, fire risk, or extended downtime.
Maintenance Value Before a Failure
The biggest value was not only fire prevention. It was seeing maintenance issues earlier.
Failing bearings, overheated motors, friction points, and process changes often show up as heat before they show up as visible failures. AVIAN gave Mission Forest Products a way to see those signals in real time while the machine was running.
That helped the team move from reactive troubleshooting to planned response. Instead of waiting for a breakdown, they could investigate abnormal heat, schedule maintenance, and keep the planer running with more control.
Paid Back in Around 90 Days
For Mission Forest Products, the system paid for itself in around 90 days.
That return came from avoided downtime and early detection on a high-value production asset. The system started protecting the operation from day one, and the value became clear quickly.
In one case, the AVIAN team reached out directly when the system picked up an anomaly. Temperatures on a bearing had started creeping up over several days. After speaking with the Mission Forest team, the issue was traced to lubrication. They were able to get through the shift and schedule maintenance on the bearing before it became a breakdown.
For planer mills, that is the point of continuous thermal monitoring. It is not just another camera feed. It is an early-warning layer for the assets that keep production moving.
What Mission Forest Products Said
When asked about Mission Forest's experience with AVIAN, General Manager Travis Utter said:
"Beyond fire prevention, AVIAN has significantly transformed our maintenance approach. We are now able to identify issues in real time, plan corrective actions proactively rather than react to failures, and operate with a higher degree of confidence. While the system delivered a rapid return on investment, its greatest value lies in the assurance that we are effectively safeguarding both our personnel and our operations."Travis Utter, GM of Mission Forest Products
Drew Hanover, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of AVIAN, added:
"It has been a pleasure to work with the Mission Forest family. They immediately recognized the value add of our technology and were willing to take a chance on us. We've been able to prove to them that it was a good idea to bet on AVIAN."
If your planer mill depends on a critical asset like a Gilbert planer, reach out to AVIAN. We can help identify where continuous thermal monitoring can reduce downtime, improve response, and add another layer of protection around your operation.
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