Better Chips. Better Pulp. Better Margins.

The complete chip quality program for pulp & paper mills and their suppliers — sampling, real-time analytics on every metric, generated values like recoverable fiber, and supplier accountability in one platform.

The Chip Lab gives mills and their suppliers real-time feedback the moment samples are taken — catching drift before it reaches the digester and holding every supplier to the same standard. Book a demo and take control of chip quality today.

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Wood is your largest cost. Chip quality decides how much of it actually becomes pulp.

In kraft cooking, chip thickness is the rate-limiting dimension: fines and pins overcook, over-thick chips come back as rejects, bark steals yield, and excess moisture is water bought at wood prices. And because the digester cooks for the worst chip in the load, inconsistent quality drives up chemical and energy use across the board.

Sustained quality — every supplier, every load — is how mills protect yield and margins. Our roots are in pulp & paper, but if you buy wood fiber by the ton, the program fits.

Read: how chip quality drives pulp yield →

True fiber cost

What Your Chips Really Cost

A load of chips is priced by the green ton — water, bark, and all. Like buying oranges for juice, the sticker price isn't what the juice costs. Three measured steps take you from the invoice to the number procurement can actually rank suppliers on.

The invoice

What you pay at the scale — wood, water, and bark at one price.

Delivered price

$/gt

1 · Take out the water

At typical moisture, barely half of every ton is wood. The rest is water bought at wood prices.

Moisture

2 · Take out the bark

Bark isn't fiber — it consumes cooking chemicals and puts dirt in the sheet.

Bark

3 · Keep what survives

Fines overcook; over-thick chips reject. Recoverable fiber is the measured share that survives.

Recoverable fiber

The honest number

$185.09

True cost per ton of usable fiber.

Every step measured — none modeled.

Defaults are an illustrative "typical" supplier. Change any number — the true cost updates instantly.

Run your real numbers — Book a Demo

25–50%of a kraft mill's manufacturing cost is wood chips — the biggest lever in the mill.IEM — Kraft Pulp Mill Wood Chips

~2 ptsabsolute pulp-yield opportunity from controlling chip thickness alone.Acrowood — Chip Thickness Screening

$1M+/yrvalue of a single yield point at a 1,000 TPD mill — before chemical savings.Pulp & Paper Canada — Quinde (2020)

User

Recoverable Fiber — GRFR

Northwoods Fiber Co 94.2
Cascade Timber 90.7
Ridgeline Sawmill 85.3
Copper Creek Chips 78.9

Samples Entered Today

Chip Quality Alerts

Pending Samples

The Platform

Real-Time Chip Quality Intelligence

The only platform purpose-built for chip quality management — delivering real-time feedback from your samples as soon as they're taken, weighted by delivery tonnage so your numbers reflect what actually crossed the scale.

Track the complete quality picture — every metric you measure, plus generated values like recoverable fiber.
Automate chip sampling, triage, and instant quality alerts.
Catch quality drift early — before it costs you yield, chemicals, or digester uptime.
Weight results by delivery tonnage for more accurate insights.
Close the loop on supplier issues with integrated CAPA workflows.
Works with Gradex, RADER, Valmet MR, LIMS, SMSYardBoss, and more.
Tailor dashboards and reports to your needs — no IT required.
Secure access from any device, with 99.9%+ uptime.

Trusted by industry leaders

Leading pulp & paper mills run on The Chip Lab

…as well as thousands of suppliers who collaborate through our platform. * Formerly known as Chip MACS or TVCD.

Page 1 of 3Acme Co — Pulp Mill Facility12/31/2025

The Chip Lab

Custom Report Date12/31/2025

SpecificationHardwood

Hardwood Chips — Quality ^*

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
RW Chipper	91.05	87.80	92.40	92.73	90.28	90.18	92.60	92.87	87.75	91.66	91.36	87.24
Chip Plants	91.38	95.57	92.74	94.09	91.74	91.36	93.22	94.06	95.56	94.18	93.17	91.96
Purch. Chips	80.66	86.43	83.65	86.13	91.13	90.94	84.47	88.33	88.83	89.41	87.77	80.30
— RW Chips	92.83	85.57	91.46	91.78	87.06	86.09	89.19	84.22	86.13	85.22	90.30	87.99

Hardwood Chips — Bark % ^*

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
RW Chipper	0.65	0.15	0.80	0.42	0.59	0.86	0.39	0.61	0.89	0.72	0.71	0.66
Chip Plants	0.50	0.24	0.36	0.72	0.85	0.88	0.83	0.47	0.55	0.45	0.22	0.36
Purch. Chips	0.70	0.95	0.35	1.15	0.72	1.30	1.03	1.42	0.74	1.44	1.31	1.38
— RW Chips	1.10	0.65	0.12	0.60	0.36	1.13	0.90	0.12	0.67	0.76	0.33	0.55

Hardwood Chips — Moisture % ^*

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
RW Chipper	43.11	43.36	49.11	47.16	43.31	49.72	48.27	48.49	48.43	46.36	42.38	42.23
Chip Plants	44.29	49.50	45.03	45.67	43.22	44.75	49.37	47.87	45.69	42.96	49.06	49.74
Purch. Chips	41.93	51.97	57.00	43.13	61.97	49.68	54.15	49.38	60.83	49.43	59.77	59.00
— RW Chips	50.61	51.44	46.40	51.41	47.82	44.05	47.57	46.29	47.23	43.57	46.48	45.52

* Randomly Generated Data

Page 2 of 3Sawmill Co. — Supplier ReportPine Chips

Page 3 of 3Acme Co — Pulp Mill FacilityFiber Cost

The Chip Lab

Delivered Price (all)$95.00 / green ton

Ranked ByTrue $ / usable ton

Effective Fiber Cost — Supplier Ranking ^*

Supplier	Moisture	Bark	Recov. fiber	$ / usable ton
Supplier A	42%	0.15%	94.9	$172.89
Supplier B	45%	0.30%	93.6	$185.09
Supplier C	48%	1.27%	90.6	$204.24

Same $95 invoice — Supplier C's usable fiber truly costs $31.35/ton (≈18%) more than Supplier A's. Across 50,000 usable tons a year, choosing the better chips is worth ≈ $1.57M. None of it is visible on the purchase order.

* Illustrative example — same invoice, chip quality moves the answer

Insights, delivered

Reporting — The Way You Want It

Get the reports you need, when and how you need them. The Chip Lab's reporting engine adapts to your workflow — automate, customize, and deliver insights to every stakeholder.

Automate report scheduling to keep your team and partners up-to-date — no manual effort required.
Send reports automatically when key events occur, so the right people are always informed.
Access historical reports anytime. Instantly view or re-send live data as needed.
Deliver reports or summaries by email to any recipient or group — automatically or on demand.
Reach offline recipients by sending reports via fax — no internet required.
Easily customize reports to your specific needs. Request custom elements or tailor templates for your workflow.

No matter your process, The Chip Lab ensures your data is always at your fingertips — ready to drive better decisions.

Get started

Your Quality Program, Live in 3 Steps

Set Up Your Account

Add your mill, suppliers, users, and quality targets in minutes. Configure CAPA workflows and scheduled reports so everyone is aligned from day one.

Add Sample & Delivery Data

Connect directly to Gradex or RADER for real-time uploads, import from LIMS, upload exports, or enter samples manually — automatically weighted by tonnage.

Measure, Alert & Sustain

Track every metric in real time — including generated values like recoverable fiber — get instant alerts, and act while it matters. Sustained quality is what shows up in your margins.

Everything you need

Platform Features

Process Behavior Monitoring

Detect anomalies in chip quality over rolling windows. Get alerted to out-of-process trends before they cause yield loss.

Corrective / Preventative Action

Trigger, assign, and resolve CAPA with full visibility. Close the loop on supplier issues with integrated workflow tools.

Role-Based Access Controls

Secure your data with flexible, role-based permissions. Control exactly who can view, edit, or manage every part of your account.

Supplier Access

Give suppliers secure, role-based access to their own portal to view, enter, and update data and track performance.

Events & Benchmarks

Record maintenance, weather, or process changes alongside your chip data and correlate operational actions with quality results.

Live Reports

Real-time reports and instant feedback as soon as samples are taken. Customize, filter, schedule, and share instantly.

Quality Alerts

Get notified the moment quality drops below your targets, and take corrective action before it impacts production.

Custom Alarms & Notifications

Set up custom alarms for any metric or event and notify your team or suppliers by email or in-app instantly.

Sample Insights

Instant, automated insights on supplier performance and sample trends — spot issues, opportunities, and outliers fast.

Visualize Trends

Turn chip data into clear, actionable charts. Visualize deviations, improvements, and supplier performance over time.

Sample Review

Automatically flag new samples for review before they hit live datasets, so only validated data drives decisions.

Data Export

Export anytime — by supplier, date range, or in bulk — and integrate with your own systems in standard formats.

Supplier Groups

Group suppliers by region, contract, or tag. Analyze performance, apply rules, and automate actions per group.

Classifier Monitoring & Backup

Monitor, back up, and restore your automatic chip classifiers (Gradex, RADER) to protect data and minimize downtime.

Aggregate Sample Data

Combine sample data across suppliers, timeframes, or specs to benchmark performance and drive smarter decisions.

Phone & Email Support

Get help from real experts, fast. Our support team is available by phone or email to resolve issues quickly.

And Much More…

We are always adding new features and enhancements so you can stay ahead of the curve in chip quality management.

Ready to take control of chip quality?

See The Chip Lab in action — book a demo and our team will get you set up.

Book a Demo