Ligna Trip Report

Transcription

Ligna Trip Report

FPInnovations – Forintek Division
Western Region
2665 East Mall
Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1W5
Technical Mission Report
Ligna + 2007
World Fair for the Forestry and Wood Industries
Hannover, Germany
Plant and University of Stuttgart Tours
May 14 – 18, 2007
By
Fred Goodman
Industry Advisor
Jennifer Rice
Industry Advisor
Brian Jung
Manufacturing Analyst
Notice
Neither Forintek, nor its members, nor any other persons acting on its behalf, make any warranty, express
or implied, or assume any legal responsibility or liability for the completeness of any information,
apparatus, product or process disclosed, or represent that the use of the disclosed information would not
infringe upon privately owned rights. Any reference in this report to any specific commercial product,
process or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply its
endorsement by Forintek or any of its members.
© 2007 FPInnovations – Forintek Division. All Rights reserved.
This report has been prepared solely for your use and should not be quoted in whole or in part without our written consent. No
responsibility to any third party is accepted as the report has not been prepared for, and is not intended for, any other purpose.
Technical Mission Report – Ligna + 2007 World Fair for the Forestry and Wood Industries – Hannover, Germany
Plant and University of Stuttgart Tours – May 14 – 18, 2007
Acknowledgements
FPInnovations - Forintek Division wishes to thank the provinces of BC and Saskatchewan as well as
Natural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service for their assistance in making this technical mission
possible.
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................................................................ii
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 1
2
3
Ligna Show ............................................................................................................................................................ 2
2.1 Sawing Technology......................................................................................................................................2
2.2 Sanding ........................................................................................................................................................3
2.3 Finishing.......................................................................................................................................................4
2.4 Drilling ..........................................................................................................................................................4
2.5 Light Weight or Honey Comb Construction Board Equipment......................................................................5
2.6 Assembly, Packaging and Material Handling Equipment .............................................................................6
2.7 Chipping Machines, Wood Pellets and Heating Systems.............................................................................7
2.8 Automation ...................................................................................................................................................7
2.9 Wonders in Wood.........................................................................................................................................9
2.10 Ligna + Map .................................................................................................................................................9
Homag Holzbearbeitungsysteme AG Plant Tour ................................................................................................. 10
4
5
Primary Wood Industry......................................................................................................................................... 12
University of Stuttgart........................................................................................................................................... 13
iii
List of Figures
Figure 1.
Figure 2.
Figure 3.
Figure 4.
Figure 5.
Figure 6.
Figure 7.
Figure 8.
Figure 9.
Multi-pushers (Source: http://www.biessecanada.com/products)................................................................ 2
Heesemann 5-Axis Sanding Machine ........................................................................................................... 3
Bre.Ma Vertical Drilling Machine (Source: http://www.brema.it)................................................................... 5
Eggar Board Cross Section (Source: www.woodweb.com) .......................................................................... 6
Sicko Low-profile Stacker (source: http://www.sicko.de/)............................................................................. 7
Saomad Automated Window System (www.saomad.com) ........................................................................... 8
Saomad feed direction .................................................................................................................................. 8
Erich Schatt’s “Wood Machine”..................................................................................................................... 9
Ligna Fair Ground Map ............................................................................................................................... 10
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1
Introduction
The World Fair for the Forestry and Wood Industries, Ligna + 2007 was held on May 14 – 18,
2007 at the Deutsche Messe Fairgrounds in Hannover Germany. Ligna + presented more than
1,850 exhibitors related to the forestry and wood industry sectors spread over 134,000 square
meters of display area. The show was attended by more than 107,000 visitors representing
organizations from around the world, which was an increase in excess of 10% compared to 2005.
The statistics released indicate that the number of attendees from the United States and Canada
increased by 32% compared to the 2005 fair. The nations with the highest number of visitors
were Italy and Austria, followed by the United States and Canada. The theme of the show was
“World of Wood” and given that there were international attendees and exhibitors from 49
different countries, this motto clearly reflected the essence of the fair.
“The outstanding success of this year's LIGNA has given a significant boost to the international
wood industry and effectively underscored the show's reputation as the world's No. 1 event for its
sector.” “Attendance was up by over 10 percent, with a major increase in the number of highcaliber visitors and more guests coming from abroad than ever before", reported Stephan Ph.
Kühne, member of the Managing Board at Deutsche Messe. “LIGNA 2007 has delivered exactly
the kind of stimuli needed for even more solid growth ahead.”
Source: http://www.ligna.de
As an attendee at the fair, you are given the unique opportunity to view thousands of square
meters of the latest technology, new machinery, raw materials and services provided by industry
suppliers, while networking experts from around the world. All of the major woodworking
machinery manufacturers in the world are present to demonstrate and explain the technologies
utilized in their products. Many of the manufacturers hold live demonstrations of their machinery
to allow for attendees to view the technology in a fully functional state. Ligna + also brings
together industry trade associations, educational institutes and other educational resources which
help with the day-to-day challenges facing the forestry and wood sector.
Representatives of FPInnovations – Forintek Division from both the Western and Eastern
laboratories attended Ligna +. The purpose of the mission was to view and gather technical
information on the latest equipment and processes relating to both the primary and secondary
wood products manufacturing industry. This information was then brought back and compiled as
a resource for FPInnovations staff to use when assisting industry and to be made available to the
industry at large. This mission was also useful to find technical information relevant to
Forintek’s research projects supported under the National Research Program (NRP).
This mission report presents information on leading-edge technologies, new products, and
services that could be considered to increase the productivity and competitiveness of secondary
wood manufacturers in Canada. It also includes a section briefly describing the areas of chipping
machines, wood pellets and heating systems.
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2
Ligna Show
2.1
Sawing Technology
A number of panel saw manufacturers have incorporated multi positioning pusher systems,
working on the same cutting line, in the design of their large beam saw products. These
technologies allow for the positioning and cutting of the full sheets during the head or rip cutting
process while also providing an independent positioning and cutting process for the cross cuts on
the strips. The strength of the technology is that the pushers are automatically controlled
according to the cutting patterns, opening or closing the grippers in the needed working areas.
Highly complex cutting schemes now become simpler and cycle times for these processes are
greatly reduced because of the sharing of the cutting operation in a logical manner. The multi
pusher systems enable the operator to cut very complicated patterns in a short time since the
machine can handle different cutting patterns simultaneously and independent from each other on
the same beam saw, as shown in Figure 1.. Thanks to the completely independent, but
complementary pushers working on the same cutting line, it is possible to undertake more cuts at
the same time. The strength of this system is that the two pushers are automatically controlled
according to the cutting patterns, opening or closing the grippers in the needed working areas.
Figure 1. Multi-pushers (Source: http://www.biessecanada.com/products)
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Other panel saw suppliers continue to focus on the design and manufacturing of saw carriages
that allow for faster travel speeds while minimizing saw blade deflections due to the increase in
carriage speed. Schelling Inc., a saw manufacturing company based out of Austria continues to
work on new materials and carriage designs intended to travel at high speeds. Andreas Schwarz,
Executive Vice President, stated that “instead of concentrating on multi pusher systems and the
increasing complexity required by these systems, Schelling will continue to design saw carriages
that will allow for higher travel rates therefore reducing the time required to perform the cutting
operation.” Schelling took the opportunity at the fair to show its newest small beam saw, the Fh
4. This machine is targeted at the smaller manufacturing shops, while incorporating a carriage
saw system that travels 4 to 5 times faster than its predecessor.
2.2
Sanding
The number of manufacturers offering sanding equipment and surface preparation solutions has
increased dramatically over the past few years. While the main players in the industry continue
to develop new machinery or introduce new technology on their existing equipment, there has
been a rapid increase in the number of machines offered by Asian based manufacturers. All of
the manufacturers that provide processing equipment to the furniture and kitchen manufacturing
industries have either purchased a company and their products, or formed an alliance with a
current manufacturer, in the effort to offer a complete solution to the customer. Focusing on
material improvements, equipment adjustment and setting improvements, while working closely
with abrasive suppliers, continues to be the areas of advancement for this sector of the industry.
Figure 2. Heesemann 5-Axis Sanding Machine
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2.3
Finishing
Surface finishing was clearly a focus at this year’s Ligna+ Fair. Manufacturers of finishing
equipment displayed and demonstrated technologies used to apply coatings to the surface of flat
panels incorporating roller technologies. The flat panels are feed through a series of roller
application machines, each placing a different color and/or pattern onto the wood surface, in order
to achieve a final wood grain pattern and color. This technology can be utilized in the flooring
industry to allow for raw material of a less defined wood grain to be used in the product. The
result is a uniformed grain pattern that is easily repeated on short lengths of material. Other
options demonstrated at the fair included “inkjet” printers for wood panels, providing exceptional
flexibility for design changes and eliminating the cumbersome need to change surface rollers.
Another innovation at this year's LIGNA included the new "hot melt" coating technique, which
eliminates the need for filler application and primer machines, as well as any intermediate
sanding.
Cefla Finishing Group, an Italian based finishing equipment manufacturer, utilized the fair to
showcase its latest advancement in Ultra Violet curing ovens. This system incorporates UV lamp
technology which results in a significant reduction in substrate material temperatures during the
curing process. One of the challenges facing UV technology has been the increased temperature
of the wood surface during the UV curing process, and has required cooling equipment to return
the part to an acceptable temperature when exiting the finishing line. Cefla has over come this
challenge by achieving wood surface substrate temperatures of 25 – 27 degrees Celsius during the
curing operation. By achieving these lower temperatures, Cefla has eliminated the need for
significant cooling processes and equipment after the curing oven. Also incorporated in the UV
oven design is a sensing technology that only activates the UV lampa while the part is travelling
through the curing zone of the oven. This system will not only extend the life of the UV lamps,
but also drastically decrease the energy consumption of the oven. Another benefit of this system
is that the overall length of the UV line is significantly reduced with the elimination of the cool
down requirements of previous systems. This reduction on line length will allow for easier
installation and better utilization of shop floor space.
2.4
Drilling
Drilling technology and equipment was also a focal point of the majority of the equipment
suppliers to the furniture and cabinet industries. Point – to – Point and nested based routers, thru
feed drills, as well as multifunctional machines used for drilling, routing and edge banding were
displayed. These machines can be configured such that the operator can input a raw, stock piece
of material into the machine and produce a final product. They can also be installed as stand alone
work stations, or used in-line with other processing equipment. The flexibility of the equipment
and the processes performed on them is almost unlimited. This area of technology is perfectly fit
for manufacturers interested in Lean manufacturing and one piece flow.
One notable line of equipment shown as part of the Biesse display at the fair is the Bre.Ma
product line. This equipment allows for the drilling, routing and hardware insertion on panels
entering the machine in a vertical position as opposed to the typical horizontal or flat panel
position used for drilling operations. This equipment allows for one or two panels to enter into
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the machine at one time. The panels are loaded back to back and may have identical, mirror or
completely different drilling pattern configurations. The advantage of this technology is that case
goods gables can be produced simultaneously if required. With the insertion technology utilized,
a final gable may be produced and delivered to an assembly station with all of the hardware
installed. A second clear advantage of this system is the reduced square footage required in a
plant to install this type of equipment. A horizontal drilling machine requires a foot print that will
allow for the largest panel that needs to be produced in the machine, plus a certain amount of
space around the perimeter for control and hardware insertion equipment. The vertical machine
utilizes the overhead space above the machine to provide the required room for larger panel sizes
and insertion equipment. Another advantage of this style of equipment is that it allows the
operator to process a sequence of panels having different dimensions from each other without any
manual setting-up from one panel to another one.
Figure 3. Bre.Ma Vertical Drilling Machine (Source: http://www.brema.it)
2.5
Egger Eurolite® Construction Board Equipment
A number of suppliers offering equipment used to process lightweight construction board (shown
in Figure 4) demonstrated their technologies at the fair. These demonstrations included the
cutting or sizing of the panel, the edge preparation of the board, the edge banding options for
these panels, as well as the installation of fasteners used by the panels for strengthening and
fastening them together. While the general methods used for these processes are similar among
all suppliers, the options and materials used to finish the open/cut edge of the panel varies. Some
methods displayed included simply applying an edge tape material to the panel, while others
demonstrated the application of an inside support edge to act as a strengthening element for the
panel. Also shown was a combination of both these processes. An inside support edge and edge
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finishing tape were applied in one step to create a stronger panel at the edge, while finishing the
end of the panel.
Fastening techniques for panels with a soft core is a challenge. As soon as the cover panel
thickness is less than 4 mm, which is often the case to reduce cost, special techniques are
necessary in order to achieve the necessary strength. A fastening method displayed at Ligna +
included a mechanical dowel solution which uses a dowel that is inserted into a hole drilled into
the panel. The dowel is expanded into a pocket hole in the bottom cover panel and creates a
positive locking connection by means of a wedge-shaped rise. At the same time, under the top
cover panel, the slotted area of the dowel expands. The dowel rests on tension of the hole drilled
in the top cover. This joins the top and bottom cover panel, which stabilizes the honeycomb
panel.
A second fastening method is a new chemical joining process which incorporates a mesh sleeve
that is inserted into the panel. This mesh sleeve has a chemical (glue material) which is injected
into the sleeve and cured.
The final method used an ultrasonic method to “weld” the plastic inserts to the panel covers.
Figure 4. Eggar Board Cross Section (Source: www.woodweb.com)
2.6
Assembly, Packaging and Material Handling Equipment
While the technology used for the assembly, packaging and material handing equipment
continues to increase in complexity, the differences between manufactures’ equipment continues
to decrease. The use of ultrasonic technology in Ligmatech’s MDE 120 carcase press eliminates
the need for glue to hold together a case through the use of thermoplastic dowels that are melted
and solidified again in seconds. The advantages are less time spent in the case clamp waiting for
glue to set, increased stability in the body of the case, as well as the elimination of excess glue
requiring removal.
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Sicko GmbH & Co. KG is a material handling company that produces a flexible low profile
automatic board stacker, shown below in Figure 5. The system utilizes adjustable stacking forks
that adjust for varying part sizes. The system is also expandable by adding additional stacking
forks. Unlike most stackers, where parts are conveyed perpendicular to the forks, parts are
conveyed laterally to the stacker. A lug system carries each piece up and places them onto the
fork. This reduces floor space and is suitable for smaller secondary remanufacturing facilities.
Figure 5. Sicko Low-profile Stacker (source: http://www.sicko.de/)
A number of suppliers displayed packaging alternatives such as shrink wrap or stretch wrap
machines, as well as machines that combined the use of cardboard, foam packaging material,
plastic sheeting and strapping machines. As the costs associated with cardboard continue to
climb, many manufacturers are looking for less expensive packaging options that will still
provide adequate protection for their products during the shipping process.
2.7
Chipping Machines, Wood Pellets and Heating Systems
In the open-air fair grounds and under the wooden roof of the EXPO area, experts were on hand
to display the many and various possibilities for wood as an energy source. Visitors watched the
piles grow as machines turned wood, chaff and straw into wood chips and pellets. Under the
motto of "energy from wood", the displays included the latest high-temperature furnaces, biomass
combustion chambers and bio-heating systems. Out on the open-air site, forestry and forestry
industry exhibitors offered impressive displays of how today's machines harvest the trees, then
transport, lift, saw and chip the logs. There was also a wide array of firewood strapping and
splitting equipment.
2.8
Automation
Forintek has worked with a window company, which has recently converted their traditional
batch process to a continuous batch process. A continuous batch process is analogous to an
automotive production line; however, in a wood products company, the product may change
several times a day. This process greatly reduces material handling by linking each machine
together. Saomad and Weinig both demonstrated their automated window manufacturing
systems. Saomad produces a very compact CNC window frame manufacturing system as shown
in 6. Planed lumber is fed into the machine and the ends are trimmed and profiled, as shown in
Figure 7. Stacked tooling is used to accommodate a variety of different window profiles. Once
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the ends are profiled, the parts are rotated and profiled along their length. The completed
component leaves the system ready for assembly.
Figure 6. Saomad Automated Window System (www.saomad.com)
Stacked tooling
Step1: End-trim/profile
Step 2: Length profile
Figure 7. Saomad feed direction
Weinig demonstrated their CNC automated window component machine working in conjunction
with a system which included a ripsaw, chop saw and four-sided planer. Raw boards were loaded
onto an in-feed conveyor, which fed the ripsaw. The ripped parts were scanned and cross-cut
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with a Dimter Opticut. The parts are then surfaced on all four-sides with a four-sided planer.
Finally parts were processed by the window-processing centre, which operates similarly to the
Saomad system.
2.9
Wonders in Wood
In order to showcase just a few of the amazing things that can be made from wood, the "Wonders
in Wood" special presentation and sales exhibition presented the works of 40 international
designers, artists and craftspeople. This is the only event of its kind anywhere in the world. The
highlight of this special presentation was Erich Schatt's "Wood Machine".
Figure 8. Erich Schatt’s “Wood Machine”
2.10 Ligna + Map
Forestry
Open-air Site/FG, Pavilions 32, 33, 35
Sawmill Technology
Hall 27
Solid Wood Working
Halls 12, 13
Wood-Based Materials and Veneer
Hall 27
Handwerk, Holz & mehr - Woodcrafts Halls 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17
Furniture Industry
Halls 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 26
Open-air site/FG, Pavilions 32, 33, 35
Special Presentations
Halls 11, 14, 16, 17
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Figure 9. Ligna Fair Ground Map
3
Homag Holzbearbeitungsysteme AG Plant Tour
A tour of the Homag plant was arranged during the Ligna Fair with Horst Peterman, Homag
Canada President.
The Schopfloch, Germany plant is the head office for Homag
Holzbearbeitungssysteme AG. Steven Appleby, North American Sales Manager based in
Germany, conducted the tour. The Schopfloch plant is the original site of the first manufacturing
operations developed by founders Eugen Hornberger and Gerhard Schuler. Homag led the way
with the first automated edgebander, which revolutionized the secondary wood manufacturing
industry. The current facility is 120,000 m2 (approx. 1.3 million ft2.) and produces Homag Baz
CNC routers, edgebanders, panel sizing machines (double-end tenoner), and automated
processing systems. Through business acquisitions, Homag has acquired the following
companies:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Bargstedt – material handling
Brandt – edgebanding
Butfering – sanding
Fritz – profile wrapping
Holzma – panel saw
Ligmatech – robotics/material handling
Torwegge – solid wood processing/Eggar board production
Weeke – CNC routers
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•
Weinmann – timber/beam processing
The majority of the company’s machines are manufactured in Germany, although a few lines of
smaller and less expensive machines are produced in Brazil and China. The machines produced
in Brazil and China are designed in Germany and built to Homag’s specifications, like all Homag
machinery. Homag does not currently offer flat-line finishing systems or smaller machines such
as table saws, planers, jointers and moulders. Steven Appleby stated that Homag would only
carry these products if they find and acquire a current manufacturer that meets their quality
standards such as Weinig, Altendorf, Martin and Cefla.
Homag is currently the only producer of Eggar board, a new light weight board for the furniture
industry. In addition to board production, the Torwegge plant developed the press used to
assemble the honeycomb centre to the high-density fibreboard. This innovative product is
gaining acceptance and popularity throughout the industry. The decreased weight of this product
gives it a tremendous market advantage over traditional particleboard (PB) and medium density
fibre (MDF) panel products by helping companies decrease the overall weight of their furniture.
In the past, weight has been one of the major complaints customers have had of PB and MDF
furniture.
Homag does not design “one-off” custom machines, but in most situations a stock machine can be
custom built to meet the customer’s needs. At the Schopfloch plant the company was currently
designing a number of highly custom lines for customers by adapting their current machines and
tying them together with different material handling systems.
Many of these lines were
extremely large, but were solutions that would help the intended companies meet specific
production goals.
Homag machines are sold through Homag dealers and certified Homag vendors. Their vendors
are independent entities. Homag does not produce machines for inventory, but only manufactures
a machine once an order has been placed. At the Schopfloch plant the current wait list for a
simple edgebanding unit is up to 3 months, while a more complex CNC router has a waiting
period of closer to 6 to 12 months. The long waiting period is due to high sales and increased
demand. The company is not satisfied with this long lead-time as though it means current sales
are very high, it also means that they are losing sales from customers that can not wait this length
of time. Homag is continuously striving to reduce lead-time and the manufacturing time of their
products through Lean manufacturing, to help better meet their customers’ needs.
To maintain quality, the machines and many parts are produced in-house. Raw sheet metal and
bar stock arrive at the plant and are inventoried in their fully automated, robotic inventory system.
When a job file is called, raw materials are retrieved, cut and moved to their desired locations
through an automated system. The plant contains three automated welding machines that
robotically weld together the machine frames. Once welded, the CNC bases, gantries and
edgebander guide rails are precision-machined on one of three CNC milling machines. The parts
are then cleaned, painted and then placed in an oven to dry the paint. The remaining components
such as heated-glue pots, trimming units and edgebanding units are pre-assembled and tested for
24 hours before being placed into a new machine. Control units are also designed and built inhouse. Once the base and peripheral components are ready for assembly, the bases are placed on
carts and rolled down an assembly line where each station attaches different components. Once
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assembled, the machines are tested before being signed off by a quality control technician. The
extensive product testing ensures that each machine can accurately perform every operation
standard for that particular unit. This ensures that all quality issues are dealt with and fixed at the
plant, saving the tremendous expense of repairing machinery at a customer’s facility that could be
located anywhere in the world.
Homag also offers an extensive 4-year apprenticeship program. The apprenticeship program
provides training in all areas of metal fabrication. At the end of the program the students receive
a trade certificate which is recognized beyond the doors of Homag. Students that successfully
complete the program are offered a full-time job at Homag, but they are also allowed to leave
with their completed apprentice and find employment elsewhere. The company feels that this is
not only an excellent way to ensure trained trades people are always moving up through the
company, but that it is also a good community development program.
4
Primary Wood Industry
To gain a better understanding of the primary wood products industry in Europe, two sawmills
were visited. The two sawmills that were visited are located in Engen, Germany, close to the
Black Forest. The first sawmill was built in 1948, while the second was built in 2006. Both
sawmills operate very differently and serve very different markets.
The older sawmill is a single-line mill that lacks scanners/optimizers and has only minimal
automation. This mill is a small family owned mill that has been passed from the original owner
to his two sons that currently run the business. Staffing levels vary, but currently include three
additional full-time employees and a few students that work on the weekends. The company feels
their competitive advantage is to purchase lower grade logs and take the time the big mills can’t
to derive full value from the fibre.
The saw logs are purchased and placed in log sorts. The logs entering the mill are bucked at halfmeter intervals. The process starts when an individual log is lifted by a track-guided grapple
truck and placed onto a “saw bench,” next to the truck. The truck moves down the track until a
reference mark lines up with the end of the log. It then moves along the track until it reaches the
desired log and then uses its onboard chain saw to crosscut the log to the desired length. Once
bucked, the logs are placed on a log deck, which feeds an in-feed conveyor. The logs are first
processed through a frame-saw, rarely seen now days in North America. An “end-clamped
carriage” guides the logs through the frame-saw. The logs are fed at approximately 1 meter per
minute. The boards leaving the frame-saw are sent to a manually positioned edger, which is then
followed by a manual chop-saw. The boards leave the sawmill on a linear conveyor and a
primitive automated system sorts the boards by either length or width. Once sorted, the boards
are manually stacked. A small single-charge kiln is used to dry boards if requested by customers.
Kiln dried boards are planed using a Weinig moulder. They also offer dip treating of their wood
for special applications. Customers can also request special profiles for decking products.
Although it may seem antiquated and not profitable, they have been able to maintain their
clientele by offering quicker turn around times and custom order sizes for clients using just-intime manufacturing. Unlike many BC Interior mills that survive solely on high volumes, smaller
mills throughout Germany have been able to thrive by offering specifically what their customers
require, and the customers are willing to pay for this extra attention.
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Holz Ziegler GmBH is a 6-months old medium high-speed/high-volume sawmill. Unlike the first
sawmill, this sawmill employs sophisticated scanning and material handling equipment. Four
operators are required to run the mill. The sawmill’s log diet consists of spruce, pine and firs
from the Black Forest Region. Logs delivered by logging trucks are unloaded directly onto the
de-barker in-feed deck. Once debarked, the logs are scanned with a true-shape scanning system
and bucked to length. The logs are then sorted with a system analogous to a finger-joint block
sort system. As bucked lengths travel along a conveyor, kickers push the logs into bins next to
the conveyor. The sorted logs are placed into the log-yard. When an order is placed, logs are
pulled from the appropriate sort and placed onto the in-feed log-deck. Once the cutting pattern is
set, the logs are ribbon fed through a HewSaw at 104 meters per minute. The boards are endtrimmed and visually graded for appearance and sorted with a multi-tiered sort bins. Once a bin
is full, the contents are conveyed to an automatic stacker. Holz Ziegler GmBH supplies
customers across Europe and even ships into Japan. During the visit, lumber was being processed
for an order bound for Italy.
The German sawmill industry is structured quite differently than Canada’s. In Germany there are
many small family run sawmills that process logs into lumber and survive by supplying niche
market needs. In Canada it is much rarer to find a small family owned sawmill processing raw
logs, as most tenures are held by the major companies who process these logs. The private family
owned businesses tend to appear at the remanufacturing stage in Canada, where it is very
common to have smaller specialized remanufacturing plants that purchase sawn wood from the
major sawmills and derive further value from this fibre. In Germany it appears easier for small
business to acquire raw logs than it is in the Canadian industry.
5
University of Stuttgart
During the Eighteen International Wood Machining Seminar held in Vancouver this past May,
arrangements to tour the wood products lab at the University of Stuttgart were made with Kai
Schumacher and Martin Dressler. At the university laboratory Kai Schumacher demonstrated
several research projects. Unlike the University of British Columbia’s Department of Wood
Science, research projects here are geared towards secondary manufacturing and more
specifically tend to focus on equipment. The projects that were demonstrated included:
•
•
•
•
Anti-kickback saw blade – special grinding angles prevent saw blades kick back.
This application is suited for table saws and circular handsaw.
Saw blade brake – to prevent injury to the operator in the event of an accident where
the operator falls/places a hand on the sawblades. A control unit with sensors
monitor the saw blade forces. The saw shaft is equipped with a disc brake system,
which halts the saw blade under certain conditions.
Dust collection hood damage – this project looks at the damage caused by dust
particles travelling inside a dust-hood. A system was set up to observe the movement
of dust in a dust hood and determine means to smooth the air flow to minimize the
dust from impacting and damaging the dust-hood.
Wood-fibre insulation – a project looking into the use of wood chips/shavings for
thermal insulation. Cutting tests with different tool parameters and moisture contents
were performed to achieve optimal chip geometry to minimize crumbling.
13 of 14
•
Sound deadening – monitoring sound levels on moulders to determine the specific
areas that generate the most noise so that additional sound deadening can be use to
reduce noise pollution further on wood working machines.
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Ligna Trip Report

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