Feature
18-22 May 2009 Ligna Hannover, Germany
Welcome to the Panel World preview section for the Ligna World Fair for the Forestry and Wood Industries to be held May 18-22 at the Hannover Fairgrounds in Hannover, Germany. Most of the panel industry equipment manufacturers and suppliers will be located in Hall 27.
The following articles and photos were submitted by the respective Ligna exhibitors and advertisers in this issue of Panel World. All statement and claims are attributable to the companies. We hope you enjoy this special section. —The Editors
Constant Upgrades Keep Koskisen on Plywood Map by David Abbott
Celebrating its 100-year anniversary in 2009, Koskisen OY, located some 100 kilometers north of Helsinki, turns out 100,000 m3 annually of 1.5 mm birch veneer plywood following a Raute-supplied upgrade in 2005. Named project Veneer Technology 2000 (VT2000), the upgrade was actually started in 2000 and involved the production of oversized birch plywood.
The first phase of VT2000 aimed at producing panels larger than Koskisen’s traditional 1,500 mm x 3,000 mm (60 in. x 120 in.) products. In addition, annual capacity was supposed to increase to 80,000 m3 as part of the project. Management brought in new equipment to handle 2,000 mm-wide (79 in.) veneer, including block handling equipment, a peeling line from lathe to stacker, a drying line complete with camera grader and dry veneer stacker, panel layup and pressing and panel handling lines, all from Raute. The second phase, completed in 2005, saw additional capacity and a new production facility, including new panel sawing, san
Exclusive Photos: Sudati MDF
Sudati Group began production at its new MDF plant in Otacilio Costa, Santa Catarina, Brazil on December 27.
The company, founded in 1998, is a major producer (500,000 m3 annually) of softwood plywood (in Parana, Brazil, four plywood plants) for international markets, consuming 650,000 tons of pine logs for all of its plywood plants.
Louisiana Firm Designs Innovative Biomass Handling System
The renovation of a biomass boiler is complete at a paper manufacturing facility in Louisiana. Ruston, La.- based Hunt, Guillot, & Associates (HGA) provided detailed engineering services for the complete replacement of the fuel receiving, storage and retrieval systems for the wood fired boiler. In addition to detailed engineering services, HGA, through its on-site services division, provided construction management and startup expertise to the client’s project management team.
HGA began this project four years earlier by performing a study of the existing fuel delivery system at the plant. HGA material handling specialists analyzed the capacities of the existing system, identified the bottlenecks and recommended solutions to increase the ability to deliver more fuel to the boiler and provide better storage and retrieval options. While there were some minor gains to be had by modification of the existing system, the long-term solution to meeting the client’s desired feed rate
Russian LVL Project Overcomes Language and Weather Obstacles
Production at a “world-class” laminated veneer lumber (LVL) plant in Russia began in the first quarter of 2009. Plant owner Modern Lumber Technologies (MLT), of St. Petersburg, Russia, along with its management company, Taleon, of St. Petersburg, proudly point to the fact that such a large number of foreign and local companies could team-up to build this modern plant.
Initial production capacity is 5,000,000 cubic feet/year (120,000 cubic m/year) based on 13⁄4 in. thickness (44 mm) and 17 ply 2.0 MOE grade LVL. The plant alrussiso has the ability to add cross-plies from a veneer composer.
Swanson Plywood Plant Boosts Production, Quality with Major Rebuild by Dan Shell
Two years after acquiring a plywood plant here that was foundering due to lack of capital investment and high labor costs, the Swanson Group has turned the operation around with smart physical plant improvements and major lathe and dryer rebuilds and upgrades, adding automated veneer scanning, plus installing a new layup line that recently started up.
“We knew most of the equipment was outdated, and it required a lot of man-hours to operate the plant,” says Mike Rudy, former plant manager who was there for the acquisition and renovation projects and was recently transferred to Swanson’s Glendale, Ore. plywood mill. “The mill had customers, but was very inefficient and old, and Swanson saw an opportunity here.”
Projects
Recent Mill Orders, Installations & Startups
Westmill Industries received an order from the Colville Indian Power and Veneer (CIPV) plywood plant in Omak, Wash. for a Westmill Dryer Infeed Load Accumulator.
This accumulator is for an existing dryer and will allow the mill to significantly reduce missed dryer feeds during the load changeover thus increasing the dryer fill ratio and overall dryer production. The payback on this equipment is remarkably fast, according to Westmill.
Supply Lines
Equipment & Supplier News
The four-day WoodMac China 2009 closed February 20 with exhibitors reporting record sales, according to show organizers. As the first show for the woodworking industry in China for 2009, many exhibitors were unsure what to expect of the China market, given the uncertainty created by the world financial crisis. The final results were better than expected as the majority of exhibitors with machinery on display experienced significant sales.
“We sold three complete rotary veneer cutting lines valued at $1.5 million (U.S.),” says Shao Weizhong, Sales Manager, BaiSheng Yuan Group. “One went to a new client from India and two to China customers from Liaoning and Henan province.”
Taking Stock
WHAT WILL EMERGE FROM LIGNA THIS YEAR? by Rich Donnell
Thank goodness for the Ligna show. I say this for two reasons. First, it provides me an avenue of escape from the daily chores behind the editor’s desk. Second, more importantly, it allows me to gain some international perspective of the panel industry.
This year, more than any, such worldly insight is of utmost importance. Frankly, the year has been very confusing thus far.
This year marks my 11th consecutive visit to the Ligna fair, which is held in Hannover, Germany every other year. I don’t remember much about my first visit in 1989, other than the beer and the singing. I do recall something about Raute’s spindleless lathe and Bison’s continuous press.
Update
Breaking News
PELICE will be held February 4-6, 2010 at the Omni Hotel at CNN Center in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. This will be the second PELICE. The first one, held in February 2008 in Atlanta, attracted 90 exhibitors, 600 registrants and included 90 speakers.
What’s New
New Products & Technologies
Flo-Matic Storage Bin from Clarke’s Sheet Metal, Inc. provides for an economical means of storage and metering of hard to handle waste wood products. Material enters through the top of the storage bin and is typically distributed full length via a mechanical conveyor. The Flo-Matic Bin incorporates reinforced negative sloped steel wall panels which are smooth on the inside. The discharge system from the bin incorporates a heavy duty discharge auger which is forced into the material pile by a traverse mechanism drive. As the auger turns, it discharges a controlled flow of material out one side of the bin enclosure onto an accumulation conveyor. The accumulation conveyor receives the discharged material and transports it to a point outside of the bin enclosure. Phone 541-343-3395