FPRDI’s heat treatment facility now accredited

GOOD news to wooden pallet and crate makers near Laguna: the Department of Science and Technology’s Forest Products Research and Development Institute’s (DOST-FPRDI) heat treatment facility is now accredited by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) of the Department of Agriculture.

INCREASING the employment of engineering and technicalvocational course graduates is being planned by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).

This was the highlight of a business-to-business (B2B) meeting held by the DOST-Metals Industry Research and Development Center (DOST-MIRDC) and PEZA officials and zone managers at the Mold Technology Support Center (MTSC) project in General Trias, Cavite, on March 24.

The B2B meeting became an avenue to look for ways to help improve the process, products and expertise of the Philippines’ local die and mold industry to make them become more globally competitive.

The meeting also addressed the concerns raised by the PEZA representatives on how to upscale the capabilities of the current workforce, and address gaps in the training needs of employees and fresh graduates.

Lina Afable, chief of the Technology Diffusion Division of DOST-MIRDC, pointed out that the agency, through the MTSC, offers training programs focused on technical skills on metals industry.

According to Afable, “It is the mandate of the DOST-MIRDC to provide trainings to engineers and technicians in the metals [industry].” The trainings will be provided to be able to sustain the manpower needs of the industry.

Afable also said that the center is offering the use equipment in the MTSC with a very minimal fee.

Lyndone de la Cruz, Industrial Relations officer of PEZA Calabarzon, said that the economic zone is offering its assistance in promoting MTSC’s services to company locators, whose engineers and technicians may need skills enhancement.

The MTSC, which has been conducting training programs since its launch in 2020, was established to address the need for technology and equipment upgrading, and for developing the country’s local expertise in the die and mold industry.

It is a product of an Official Development Assistance from South Korea in collaboration with the DOST-MIRDC and Peza, with the Board of Investments and the Philippine Die and Mold Association Inc.

Afable said that PEZA’s willingness to promote MTSC may be an avenue of collaboration between the DOST-MIRDC, PEZA and local government units within their respective economic zones.

As a result, the MTSC and Peza agreed to hold more B2B meetings to promote MTSC in order to other zones in the Calabarzon region.

The MTSC is open to train those who are looking for programs to increase their skills and technical know-how in die and mold technologies and equipment.

The skills enhancement and technology upgrading being offered by the MTSC are seen to contribute to the increase in the employment of Filipino workers, both locally and internationally.

The facility uses heat in a kiln dryer to kill insect pests infesting wooden pallets and other packaging materials, making it an effective deterrent to the spread of diseases across national borders.

DOST-FPRDI’s Engr. Wency H. Carmelo explained: “To guarantee that invasive insects and diseases are not passed on from one country to another in the global market, the International Standard for Phytosanitary Measures [ISPM] 15 requires producers of wooden packaging materials to disinfect their pallets and crates. They can do this either through heat treatment [HT] or methyl bromide [MB] fumigation.”

Carmelo said heat treatment

“is a safer and cheaper means of sterilizing wooden packaging materials compared to MB fumigation.”

She added that “high amounts of MB can be fatal and are very damaging to the ozone layer. Heat treatment, on the other hand, is relatively harmless and about 50 percent cheaper.”

The ISPM implements very strict policies as insect pests and diseases transported through global trade have been known to cause massive environmental damage.

In the midwestern US, for instance, these “agents of destruction” have once taken over forests and wiped out entire tree species.

According to Carmelo, through the accreditation of its heat treatment technology, DOST-FPRDI is able to support the country’s export industry as it gives wooden pallet makers an effective, safe and affordable way to meet global sanitary standards.

Rizalina K. Araral/S&T Media Service