Wood-based materials manufacturer, Egger Wood Products, recently completed construction of a $22 million decorative paper saturation line at its Lexington, NC facility. The new line will infuse decorative papers with resin adhesive necessary for thermally fused laminate (TFL) production. The increased capacity will alleviate supply chain issues and logistical costs, while allowing for greater production flexibility to better serve customers in the North American market.

Previously, saturated papers were shipped from Egger’s manufacturing facility in St. Johann in Tyrol, Austria, a process which could take up to three months. The local saturation line will reduce the company’s carbon footprint as well as:

—Allow for greater production flexibility to produce different board sizes and formats which will better serve the company’s customers in North America.
—Provide faster delivery times for the Egger Decorative Collection and custom orders.
—Increase capacity to alleviate supply chain issues and logistical costs.

The investment also allows Egger greater efficiency by significantly reducing waste and managing costs.

During TFL production, a short cycle press uses high heat and pressure to fuse the saturated paper onto both sides of raw particleboard, creating decorative TFL panels for use in interior design applications.

In addition to the completion of the new saturation line, September also marked the three-year production anniversary of Egger’s Lexington plant, which first started operations in 2020.

During the past year, nearly $90 million in new investments have been completed at the company’s North American facility, including a third lamination line, a wood recycling center and a third dump trucker—plus the new paper saturation line. In total, these four investments have added 50 jobs to the company’s Lexington facility, which now boasts nearly 500 employees.

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EGGER INVESTS MORE THAN $42 MILLION IN NORTH CAROLINA

Acres, a data-driven land research platform that supports fast, informed decision making, is partnering with Forisk Consulting, a leader in analyzing timber markets and wood baskets, to visualize timber data for both companies’ clients. This collaboration between Acres and Forisk will further expand Acres’ capacity to provide and visualize important information on U.S. timberland through its powerful land valuation tool.

“We’re thrilled to bring Forisk’s experience and data to the Acres platform to help more investors and managers in the timber industry. We care about helping the forest industry make better decisions, and we see this partnership with Acres as a great way to enhance that value,” says Forisk President and CEO Brooks Mendell.

Acres and Forisk’s partnership creates deeper access to timberland insights for customers of both companies. The Forisk North American Forest Industry Capacity Database (“Mill Database”) covers 55 states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada. With Acres, users can interact with nearly 2,000 wood-using mills nationwide to quickly view the mill type, status, current and historic owner information, capacity, and certifications. This data is key to understanding how much a mill can process and produce and overall supply chain progress.

“Data-driven insights into timberland add up. If you don’t see the whole picture of land you’re buying or selling, you can’t get the most out of your transaction. Our strategic partnership with Forisk Consulting is an immense opportunity to create a 3D image for people in the forest industry so they can continue to do the important work of driving the national timber supply chain,” says Mark Foley, Director of Timber Investments, Acres.

AFRY Management Consulting has announced that Guillermo Velarde will lead the Wood Products and Surfaces Team in North America.

Guillermo has been named a Principal Consultant at the AFRY’s New York office. He has more than 15 years of experience in the wood products industry value chain within the North and South American markets. His areas of expertise include composite panels, surfacing materials, engineered wood products, mass timber and flooring products.

As a Principal at AFRY, Guillermo will advise industry and financial clients in corporate strategy, product strategy, market analysis and due diligence projects.

Prior to joining AFRY, Guillermo held Director positions at Arclin USA, where he managed complex projects in the areas of product strategy, market growth, marketing, and corporate development. Guillermo has also held and will continue with different roles in industry trade associations to support and promote the entire industry and the market.

E-mail: [email protected]

The National Wood Flooring Assn. (NWFA) has provided flooring for its 71st home in support of the Gary Sinise Foundation R.I.S.E. program (Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment). The R.I.S.E. program builds mortgage-free, custom, specially adapted smart homes for severely wounded veterans and first responders. The home dedication for U.S. Army Sergeant First Class (Ret.) Ian Prescott took place on September 20, in Crestview, Fla. Flooring for the project was donated by NWFA member Premiere Finishing & Coating.

In 2018, while on patrol with his team and Afghan counterparts, SFC Prescott was shot by enemy forces. Suffering from heavy internal bleeding, doctors were forced to remove his left kidney, spleen, and portions of his pancreas, while repairing damage to his left lung, diaphragm, and intestines. In addition, he had two shattered vertebras, and his spinal cord was injured, resulting in paralysis from the waist down.

“Following his initial surgeries, SFC Prescott returned to the U.S. and spent the remainder of his recovery at Brook Army Medical Center and then at Shepherd Center in Atlanta,” says NWFA President and CEO, Michael Martin. “During his years of military service, he was deployed 10 times to Afghanistan, Iraq, Colombia, and Puerto Rico, and was awarded four Bronze Stars and one Purple Heart. We’re honored to partner with Premiere Finishing & Coating to provide beautiful wood floors for his new home.”

In addition to the 71 homes already completed, NWFA currently is working with its members to source wood flooring for 11 additional R.I.S.E. homes in various stages of planning and construction. Currently, 153 NWFA member companies have donated product, logistics, and installation services in locations throughout the U.S., with a total value of more than $6.9 million.

The Siempelkamp Group is realigning its Management Board to include seven members to bundle market-oriented core competencies together and integrate a modern management concept.

Martin Scherrer, CEO of the Siempelkamp Group, will be working with Samiron Mondal, Stefan Wissing and Dirk Howe, who will each lead a newly formed Business Unit. Companies will be grouped together in the Business Units so that they can cooperate more closely and address their focus markets in a more targeted manner.

Martin Sieringhaus as Chief Financial Officer, Stefan Ziemes as Chief People Officer and Axel Baumeister as Chief Technical Officer are also part of the leadership team.

“Other core competencies now reflected in the new Management Board are crucial for the success of a modern managed company,” the company states. “Strategically focused HR work is of major importance in today’s world. This includes modern personnel development, targeted talent management and stringent succession planning. For a technology company such as Siempelkamp, it is also essential that the technological vision is driven forward at the top management level and that the profile is sharpened in the area of research and development.

“In the 140th year of our company’s history, we are making our company more modern, more efficient, closer to our customers, resulting in it being more powerful than ever. We are looking forward to the tasks that we will now be tackling together so that we can meet the requirements of customers, partners and employees even better in future,” adds Scherrer.