
Jeremy Fromm, Idaho Forest Group’s Automation Team Leader, has been working for IFG for 10 years and in his current position for 3 years. Fromm graduated from the University of Idaho with a bachelors in Electrical Engineering. He also obtained several certificates for controls which he used in his first position as the Controls Technician at the Lewiston Mill. Currently, he is working on the Lumberton Mill project in Mississippi. This new mill site has many new automation editions that Fromm is participating in. “I enjoy the atmosphere and work ethics at IFG. But Marc’s vision for the future of sawmills is contagious and exciting!” Fromm worked as a controls technician at the Lewiston facility for 7 years. While he was still working in Lewiston, Jesse Short approached him about trying to integrate a robot into a sawmill or planer. With his guidance they ended up building a relationship with Fanuc, a company that provides automation products, and purchased IFG’s first robot. This robot was named Fritz after Marc Brinkmeyer’s father. “The robot just picked and placed lumber that had no production value, but it was a good learning experience.” A few weeks later Chad Kosmicki found a good application for the robot at the Athol facility. Over the next few weeks, they installed the robot and it is still operational today. Fromm slowly started to transfer from working at the Lewiston Mill to Automation and began to assist Chad in all of IFG’s automation needs. As the Automation Team Leader, Fromm is currently working…