50th Anniversary Advertorials
ALTEC
Altec Integrated Solutions Ltd. recently completed two more veneer lathe and charger control system upgrades. The upgrades were at Coastal Forest Products in Chapman, Alabama and Coastland Wood Industries in Nanaimo, BC. Both installations and startups took place over the Christmas break.
The plant in Chapman had been shut down early in 2009. After purchasing the plant, Coastal Forest Products began a program of upgrades throughout the plant aimed at not only re-starting production, but bringing production, efficiency and quality up to modern levels. Included in the plan were a new carriage, XY scanner and control system for the veneer lathe and Altec was chosen to supply a 32-point XY scanner with charger control and a complete Lathe Control System for all functions on the lathe including carriage, core drive, pitch and gap control. Initial results of the upgrade at Chapman have been positive.
Berndorf
Berndorf is geographically situated in Lower Austria, about 60 km south of Vienna and which has a long tradition as an industrial location. The industrial enterprise of the same name – today’s Berndorf AG – celebrated its 160th anniversary in 2003. Berndorf Band is one of several subsidiaries of Berndorf AG.
In 1843 the first industrial production of cutlery started in Berndorf. Since that time constant improvement, new products and countless innovations developed the Berndorf companies into a group of highly specialized niche market players.
Classen Wiesloch
Although experts claim to see some silver lining on the horizon, daily experience proves that the overall global economics are still unstable and numerous enterprises keep struggling with reduced demands and shrinking prices. In addition, project funding is still an important issue to many mills who are actually willing to invest even in these difficult times.
Despite these circumstances, the German company classen apparatebau Wiesloch, a worldwide leading supplier of sophisticated and tailor-made high temperature process heating systems, could land several coups of both strategic importance and order volume, and has been continuing its smooth way through the turmoil.
CMC TEXPAN
There are many projects in the pipeline for CMC Texpan in 2010. The company, based in Colzate, near Bergamo (Italy), will deliver machinery for particleboard plants to Ivatsevichdrev in Belarus, Metro in Thailand, Masisa in Chile, Kastamonu and Orma in Turkey, and Canang in Indonesia, plus an MDF plant to SPF also in Indonesia.
But the breaking news for 2010 is that, as of November 2009, the historical relationship between Siempelkamp and CMC Texpan has been modified, with the German corporation now holding 70% of the majority stake. As a result, the Italian company is now even more integrated into the technology, production and innovation pool of the Siempelkamp Group.
Daqota Systems
Daqota can provide complete green end systems from the infeed through the stacker as a sole supplier for a fully integrated line.
Daqota has developed systems for controlling all lathe line functions including closed loop servo charger and lathe control, 3D XY scanning (DS TruLOG), servo control of the core drive, pitch, gap, spindles, servo lathe carriage drive, green veneer clipper scanning and grading (Q-Scan), clipper knife control, and stacker control.
Dieffenbacher
The advanced chips cleaning system of Dieffenbacher, the ClassiCleaner, is efficient, economical and ecological. Beautiful E-words that are proved to be concrete features of ClassiCleaner in several customer installations. Through screening, separation and enriching, the system removes a wide range of contaminants from the raw material; for example, sand, stones, glass and metals.
DÜRR
Dürr Systems, Inc. offers single -source engineering, fabrication, installation, startup, and aftermarket service for all the air pollution control and energy conservation needs of the wood products industry.
Dürr has extensive experience in the wood products industry dating to its first installation in 1991. Dürr has supplied air pollution control equipment for OSB dryers and presses, MDF dryers and presses, plywood/veneer dryers, particleboard dryers and presses and hardboard ovens.
Electric Wood Systems
Panel World merits a congratulatory “tip of the hat” on the occasion of its anniversary for coverage of progress in the wood based panel industry. It’s vital that new products and advancing technology receive wide coverage, and Electronic Wood Systems (EWS) is pleased to share in this concept and to join the journal’s well-wishers.
EWS company has its roots in Germany, the home of many of this industry’s array of panel mills, world-class technical schools and scientific institutions that help provide the solid base for growth and progress.
Grenzebach
Happy 50th anniversary, Panel World! And isn’t it a coincidence that Grenzebach is also celebrating its half a century party in 2010?
Grenzebach’s success had its beginning in the sixties when Rudolf Grenzebach founded a company producing transport and conveyor technology. At a very early stage production was expanded to serve the wood industry. Grenzebach BSH GmbH, Bad Hersfeld, is the “home” of the company’s present wood department and BSH company history and experience dates back to 1876.
HUECK
The origin of HUECK Rheinische GmbH goes back to the merger of HUECK and Rheinische Press Pad GmbH in 2007. Rheinische Press Pad can look back on a decades long tradition in textile manufacturing. The history of HUECK Engraving GmbH in today’s form goes back to a takeover of a company in Viersen through Messrs. Eduard HUECK GmbH & Co. KG / Lüdenscheid in 1994. HUECK already started with the production of large-sized brass- and aluminium plates in 1938. In 1977 the first textures were manufactured on steel and brass.
HUECK Rheinische GmbH is based in Viersen and has a production facility in Stolberg / Rheinland as well as worldwide agencies. The head office in Viersen combines the corporate sales including marketing, product and design development, customer support and research for both product groups, press plates and press pads. The production site of high-quality press pads is in Stolberg.
IMAL
IMAL is a certified ISO 9001 Italian company that specializes in the manufacture and supply of complete lines for the particleboard, MDF, OSB and pallet block industries as well as being a leading manufacturer in the production of gluing systems, blending equipment, on-line quality controls and laboratory testing equipment. It also supplies patented blending systems for the production of MDF that permit substantial resin savings, less formaldehyde emission and increased dryer capacity.
With a 40-year-long history and experience in the industry and IMAL’s recent move to become majority shareholder in PAL, its former partner, the Imal-Pal group now has over 260 employees and is still growing steadily.
IMEAS
IMEAS, headquartered in Villa Cortese, a small town about 25 km north of Milan, Italy, has been following its vocation since its birth in 1966 for the new technology dedicated to the wood-based panel industry, as well as its broad range of solutions for calibrating and sanding. This has led the company to become a key actor in the processing of wood panels, rubber and stainless metals. “Offering innovative solutions, with high-technological contents, featuring precision and productivity” is a challenging mission that IMEAS consistently accomplishes.
With a network of highly qualified professional staff, IMEAS offices are in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania and constantly support each customer along the way for the creation and running of its business.
LEXCO
Backed by more than 80 years of experience in industrial ceramics, Lexco/Ceram has established itself as the world‘s leading specialist in the production of ceramic honeycombs.
The most important advantage of structured honeycomb packing over conventional random packing technologies is that it provides optimum heat recovery efficiency at a low pressure drop. A defined laminar gas flow prevents particle adsorption and corrosion attacks. Honeycomb units are easy and cost-efficient to operate and maintain, making them an extremely reliable and economical solution for the design of regenerative thermal oxidizers.
Merritt Machinery by Anna McCann, President
Merritt Machinery, LLC supplies machinery for the production of rotary peeled and sliced veneer. Our rotary and guillotine clippers can be found in mills throughout the U.S. and Canada, while Merritt’s highly successful patented vacuum flitch table is in use worldwide for the production of sliced veneer. The Merritt vertical veneer slicer continues to provide impressive results, with the most recent installation to take place this spring in China.
Machinery manufacturers are facing many competitive challenges in today’s economy. These include an excess of used equipment on the market due to a significant number of plant closures, and reduced capital expenditures by mill owners dealing with lower sales and overstocked inventory.
Pal
PAL s.r.l. is an Italian company and world leader in the manufacture of machinery for the production of wood based panels and, on account of its wide-ranging production program, it can supply complete, turnkey plants for the treatment and processing of fresh and recycled wood for the manufacture of particleboard as well as MDF and OSB.
PAL was founded in 1978; based on its consolidated experience previously gathered in particleboard plants, the founders focused on the development, construction and sale of machines for the production of particleboard, MDF and later OSB.
PALLMANN
The capability to consistently create trend-setting inventions, the quick adaptation to new chances and environmental influences have characterized the restless activities of the “Pallmann Clan” for more than seven generations.
Millers and millwrights, wholehearted machine constructors, proud of their technical virtues, used for the customers’ benefits, driven by the ambition to be better than others, that is what distinguishes the real “Pallmann,” even today.
Raute
In 1908 the engineering works Lahden Rauta- ja Metalliteollisuustehdas Oy was founded and the company began building inland waterway vessels and manufacturing steam boilers and machines. Frame saws marked the start of the company’s venture into the production of wood processing machinery. Independence, the building of a nation, wars and war reparations, changes and peaks in economic cycles are also reflected in Raute’s history.
Raute also has its own story to tell. It begins with a small engineering works in Lahti that got its start fixing machines and making iron beds. The works became a limited company in 1908 and began manufacturing inland waterway vessels, as well as its first frame saws. This marked the beginning of Raute’s journey to becoming an expert in wood products technology. The first complete wood products factory was delivered to the Pellos plywood mill in Ristiina in 1968. By the end of 2009, Raute had already delivered more than 60 mills around the world.
Samuel Straping Systems
Samuel Strapping Systems worked with Flakeboard to convert their existing new Samuel Strapping SLP-10 panel press and strapping system to a system running a polyester strapping head. Using the MH600 strapping head, Flakeboard now is running ¾ in. x .050 polyester strapping which brings them greater savings over steel strapping yet yields the same high tension on the package.
Sandvik
Few companies have played a more central role in the development of the wood based panel industry than Sandvik Process Systems. Over the last half century, the company has scored a number of landmark technical achievements, including the introduction of the steel belt to the WBP industry in 1957. A few years later, Sandvik designed the basis of the presses that have had such a major impact over recent years, building the first successful continuous double belt press.
SCHEUCH
The success story of Scheuch GmbH (Aurolzmünster, Austria) began in 1963 in Ried im Innkreis when Alois Scheuch took over his father’s sheet metal shop with six employees, manufacturing the company’s first ventilation equipment in the very same year. In the following year, the first dedusting system was installed in a joiner’s workshop and in 1966 the company received its first orders from the particleboard industry. The company employed 100 workers in 1980, a number that grew to 200 in 1991, 300 in 1995 and 500 in the year 2001. Today, 640 employees work at Scheuch’s headquarters in Aurolzmünster, with 780 workers employed by Scheuch worldwide.
SIEMPELKAMP
Krefeld, 1883, the young metal worker Gerhard Siempelkamp founds a business. His idea: he supplies platens, to the Krefeld textile industry, which can be heated directly through channels drilled into them. Over the next few years, with diligence, ambition and technical know-how, he establishes a machine factory with a foundry that manufactures hydraulic presses for the textile, wood-based, plastics and rubber industries.
Around 1900, Siempelkamp presses for plywood are being delivered within Europe. After the First World War and the death of the company founder, his sons Ewald and Eugen take over their father’s company, expanding the business until, in the 1930s, they are the market leaders in the area of presses and press lines for plywood and fiberboard production.
SPAR-TEK
Spar-Tek Industries announces a Sheet Layer for the 21st century. Spar-Tek has developed an entirely new concept for placing sheets on a layup line. This system will keep up with the fastest lines while using less energy, controlling the dust from the sheets, and will replace existing GP, Coe, Superior and Spar-Tek sheet layers. The single low-horsepower blower can be attached to a filter or cyclone to control the dust from the veneer as needed. The sheet layer can be fitted over the infeed conveyor and accumulator of just about any layup line and will handle core as well as blanks in most cases. The drives can be fully electric or use existing hydraulic supplies with proportional controls for accuracy.
SÜD-CHEMIE
Allow me to start by congratulating Panel World for its 50th year of continuous publishing; that is a milestone worth celebrating!
When I was given the opportunity to write an article for this celebratory issue, I was very excited and took it right away. I knew that I had no clue how to write such an article and immediately asked for an extension on the deadline. I received two extra days, which was quite helpful. Thank you PW!
TURBOSONIC
TurboSonic is a leading supplier of proprietary air pollution control equipment worldwide. Extensive industry experience combined with application knowledge from hundreds of installations worldwide allows TurboSonic to deliver the most effective services and solutions, from equipment upgrades to turnkey installations.
The wood products industry relies on TurboSonic technologies for effective removal of fumes and sticky particulate from energy systems, dryers and press vents. Its systems are designed for minimum maintenance while allowing the user to meet stringent emissions regulations, including the US EPA MACT rules.
USNR
As the cost of energy continues to increase, USNR veneer dryers are becoming more energy-efficient. By using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to evaluate the thermal flow in its jet veneer dryers, USNR (formerly Coe) engineers have been able to refine the design in order to optimize the dryer process.
With this tool, Coe-USNR has been able to better control the thermal air mass in the dryer and increase the production of quality veneer in a cost effective and environmentally friendly manner. Subsequent design refinements have also resulted in a smaller overall size (footprint) of a dryer, which reduces the required size of the production floor as well as energy costs.
VENTEK
Imagine, an employee who works 24 hours a day without fatigue. An employee who does not take breaks, vacations or sick leave. That same employee produces at 135% of standard.
Ventek’s RPS, an automated veneer plugging system using the latest in vision and robotic technology, provides that employee. Plug grade veneer; on grade, consistent, 24/7.
Westmill
With the high speeds of today’s green end conveyors it is virtually impossible to maintain direct contact between the wavy veneer and the RF heads, and this means that very inaccurate sorts occur, especially within the high moisture content veneers where RF sensor heads have been proven to be most inaccurate at moisture measuring. This is a significant issue with RF heads; their inability to read moisture contents above the fiber saturation point (FSP) of approximately 40% provides significant inaccuracies and it is this limitation that makes them very ineffective for measuring the M/C within not only the wetter sections of the wood, such as the sap and heavy sap portions, but as well as throughout the wetter species such as southern yellow pine.
At The Core
Georgia-Pacific Made Gint Leap into Southern Pine Plywood in the 1960s by Rich Donnell
Somebody asked me not long ago if I had any involvement in the southern pine plywood movement. I’ll state here what I said then: I was involved right up to my ears.
The first company that looked into manufacturing southern pine plywood and began building a plant was Kirby Forest Industries at Silsbee, Texas. Then Georgia-Pacific started building a plant at Fordyce, Arkansas and may have made the first plywood before Kirby, but both of them were producing southern pine plywood in 1964.
Clippings
Industry Developments
Carter Holt Harvey Woodproducts Australia Pty Ltd announced it will upgrade plywood operations at its Myrtleford site.
Raute Corp. has reportedly received an order comprising almost all the production lines, with machinery deliveries to take place from June to September 2010 and the startup of the mill planned for summer 2011.
Features
Burrell Charted a Course That's Still in Play for Today's Panel World
Plywood & Panel magazine’s birthday cakes are becoming noticeably brighter. This year’s cake, with its “June 1980” inscription, sports 20 candles.
This is the 20th Anniversary Issue of the panel industry’s first complete trade journal, though I imagine few readers really comprehend exactly what lies behind that designation. Frankly, I think it’s good to know—the full story has never been told before.
Follow Panel World's Timeline
Starting in 1982 when it was first produced by Hatton-Brown Publishers, Panel World magazine has sought to chronicle the industry by initially focusing on plywood and veneer but ultimately encompassing the whole world of wood-based structural, aesthetic and industrial panels.
Following is just a small slice of the news, events, expansions, announcements, buyouts, startups and closures chronicled in Panel World since 1982. The biggest regret here is the lack of space to include more, but our editors chose some of the biggest, smallest and most interesting of the panel world since 1982:
Goodman Veneer and Lumber Focuses on Face Veneers by Jennifer McCary
Father and son, John and Greg Besse, are well known in Midwestern business circles for their business acumen in growing and managing a diverse wood products enterprise over the last four decades, as well as their prowess in purchasing and restoring ailing enterprises to fiscally healthy operations.
From one splicing plant established in Gladstone, Mich. in 1966, Besse Forest Products Group (BFPG) has grown to 12 sister businesses under the BFPG umbrella in northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s UP. Operations encompass two veneer splicing plants, four rotary veneer mills, a specialty plywood operation and eight sawmills. (See list of operations on page 10.) Cumulative production capacity exceeds 500MMSF of face veneer, 125MMSF of spliced veneer, 2.5MMSF of specialty plywood and 49MMBF of hardwood lumber.
New USEPA Greenhouse Gas Reporting
On September 22, 2009 the USEPA (Environmental Protection Agency) issued a final rule for mandatory reporting of greenhouse gases (GHG) from large GHG sources in the United States. The rule requires reporting of annual emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), hydrofluorcarbons (HFCs), perfluorochemicals (PFCs), and other fluorinated gases. The rule (40 CFR 98) applies to certain facilities that emit GHGs and to suppliers of fossil fuels and industrial GHGs. Reporting is at the facility level. Facilities were to start collecting data on January 1, 2010. The emissions report for 2010 is due to the USEPA on March 31, 2011.
Supply Lines
New Design Load Turners Boost Productivity, Safety
For manufacturers of two-sided materials—from flooring, furniture and plywood to metal plates and composite doors—turning stacks of such materials, either side up or side down for processing, has traditionally been done manually. But in today’s ultra-competitive marketplace, such a reliance on manual labor is almost certainly too inefficient and injury-prone.
The sheer size, weight and volume of turning over and processing such two-sided materials can increase labor cost, injury risk, material damage, floor space waste and turnaround time. Back or repetitive motion injury can especially threaten worker safety and company profits.
Taking Stock
Who Wants To Talk Technology
On page 14, we publish an article written in 1980 by the founding editor of Plywood magazine. The article celebrates the magazine’s 20th birthday. In 1960, Jim Burrell, that editor, charted the course that Plywood magazine, Plywood and Panel magazine, Plywood and Panel World magazine and Panel World magazine would continue to follow for 50 years. Sure there has been considerable tweaking along the way—such as to the name of the magazine—but the editorial and advertising plan hasn’t veered much.
Update
Breaking News
Georgia-Pacific signed an agreement to acquire Grant Forest Products’ oriented strandboard (OSB) facility at Englehart, Ontario, an associated facility at Earlton, Ontario, and OSB facilities at Allendale and Clarendon, SC for $400 million.
Grant Forest Products is seeking approval of the agreement from the Canadian Court overseeing Grant’s Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act case and a United States Bankruptcy Court.
What’s New
New Products & Technology
Fisher + Ruckle manufactures machines for the cutting, gluing and splicing of sliced and rotary cut veneers. Its machines operate daily at customers in the furniture, door and board industries as well as in plywood mills.
Perfect, fully closed glue joints - even with difficult and wavy veneers - are the result of more than 60 years of experience in the processing of decorative thin and rotary cut thick veneers.