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Success Story
EBI Electric Achieves 8x Precision Boost with AI-powered Zebra AltiZ Sensors
EBI Electric wanted to build a solution that would detect wood defects in real time and optimize yield from every plank to prevent costly errors and waste.
Zebra Success Story: EBI Electric
Overview: Manufacturing Challenge
EBI Electric's wood-scanning machinery previously relied on linear scanners, each containing a single camera that captures portions of planks as they move down the conveyor belt. EBI Electric saw a gap and an opportunity.
Benefits / Outcomes
- 3–5% wood recovery gain (less waste), saving CAD600,000–1 million per year
- 8x accuracy boost, reducing error to just ±1 mm
- Stable image and consistency of readings in a challenging, dust-filled environment
About EBI Electric
In the wood manufacturing industry, precision determines profitability. Every board must be graded and inspected within two seconds before a saw blade strikes. The more precise the cut, the less waste is produced and the higher the return on each piece of lumber. For nearly 80 years, Quebec-based EBI Electric has been helping lumber manufacturers across Canada and the USA tackle this challenge with innovative wood scanning solutions.
The Challenge
For 20 years, EBI’s wood-scanning machinery relied on linear scanners, each containing a single camera that captures portions of planks as they move down the conveyor belt. “Having only one camera mounted on one side meant we could miss sections of the board, leading to defects in the cut wood or the unnecessary rejection of perfectly usable pieces,” says Gabriel Mathieu, Vision Project Manager at EBI Electric.
Traditional systems also struggled to distinguish natural imperfections from real flaws, often flagging harmless stains or burn marks as defects, which increased waste. Environmental factors compounded these limitations. Floating sawdust, debris, and temperature swings all interfered with scan quality. Working with volumes of 15,000 to 20,000 boards per day, those blind spots and inaccuracies created costly waste.
EBI Electric saw a gap and an opportunity. "Some companies are selling lots of linear scanners, but they don't really push improvements or sell upgrade packages," explains Mathieu. To push further and develop its own AI-enriched scanning solution that could detect fine characteristics, such as knots, cracks, and color variations in real-time, the company needed new elements. These include more camera angles to eliminate blind spots, vision technology with high resolution, and the ability to deliver consistent, reliable results under mill conditions—while fitting seamlessly into existing production lines. “With Zebra’s AltiZ Series High-Fidelity 3D Profile Sensors, we were able to make our vision come true and develop Inspector T, our proprietary transversal scanning solution,” he adds.
The sensors maintain consistent calibration throughout the day, so image quality remains stable. This day-to-day reliability was a key reason we chose Zebra technology, given the challenging installation environment.
The Solution
Unlike the old linear approach, Inspector T moves across the entire plank perpendicularly, using two cameras working together to capture the complete cross-section in one pass. “Having a dual camera is critical because manufacturers can be sure there are no blind spots,” says Nicolas Gosselin, Vision Systems Director at EBI Electric. Zebra’s Aurora Capture Works™ tool in Aurora Imaging Library software aligns images and manages device performance for consistent scan quality. The system plugs directly into existing crosscut and handling solutions, ensuring production lines don’t skip a beat during integration.
Inspector T identifies wood characteristics with high precision, using AI models trained by EBI teams. “We can identify open knots, wanes, and other defects in the wood with high precision that traditional scanners could never detect,” Gosselin says. Having such a granular understanding of wood properties gives manufacturers clear visibility into each supplier's yield and quality profiles when sourcing from different sawmills.
Built for demanding manufacturing environments, Zebra’s rugged industrial-grade scanners deliver reliable, high-quality performance. "The sensors maintain consistent calibration throughout the day, so image quality remains stable," says Mathieu. “This day-to-day reliability was a key reason we chose Zebra technology, given the challenging installation environment.”
The Zebra Difference: Outcome and Benefits
Combined with dual cameras and transverse scanning, the system has achieved an eightfold improvement in measurement precision, reducing error to just ±1 mm. “We can gain between 3-5% more usable wood thanks to AltiZ,” notes Gosselin. “That represents between $600,000 CAD and $1 million in savings annually.”
AI-powered defect recognition brings new accuracy to the difficult task of spotting wood rot. Conventional vision systems detect barely 40% of wood decay, meaning defective planks often require human inspection, adding cost and waste. “AI analyzes patterns in the wood and identifies subtle signs of decomposition earlier and more accurately, reducing both cost and effort,” explains Mathieu. Best of all, the system continuously learns from each scan, so precision and yield improve over time.
Thanks to intelligent wood characteristic profiling, manufacturers also now know exactly what type of wood they have and where it should be allocated, and they can schedule shipments and production runs with confidence. Improved inventory and stock management eliminates costly production stalls caused by unexpectedly running out of specific grades, while preventing overstocking.
The solution also helps sawmills overcome one of the industry’s biggest challenges: a shortage of skilled graders. “Keeping skilled people and training new employees is very difficult in the wood industry,” says Mathieu. “With our AI-powered scanner, new team members can simply annotate images. The model then learns to recognize wood characteristics consistently, without needing a highly qualified operator.”
This ease of use extends beyond training—the system's straightforward design and emphasis on accessibility and maintenance result in minimal operational complexity. "We’ve only had to replace one camera so far, but it was very easy," notes Mathieu. “It’s extremely important for us, as our downtime is minimal and production stays largely unaffected.”
Precision alone isn’t enough in the wood industry—it also takes the right partner. For EBI, Zebra delivers both, and Integrys supports as a local supplier. “With Zebra, we get the whole package—cameras, the image library, and AI recognition,” says Gosselin. “Having everything in one place makes it easier for our teams than juggling different third-party solutions.”
This extends to support as well. “All the support we had for this project was at an A+ level,” adds Mathieu. “We often got responses the same day, even for very technical questions. If one person didn’t know, they brought in another expert or set up a call, even at 5:30 in the afternoon. That level of commitment is rare.”
Next, EBI Electric is setting its sights on Europe, starting with outdoor flooring manufacturers. With self-learning AI, robust scanners, and reliable support, EBI and Zebra are giving wood manufacturers the clarity to cut waste, the confidence to buy smarter, and the precision to protect margins—board after board.
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