MAY/JUNE 2019
W O O D W O R K I N G DESIGN + MATERIALS + TECHNOLOGY
STOP PRESS: interzum and Ligna
WIN A TRIP TO EUROPE & THE AUSTRIAN GRAND PRIX One entry for every 100 sets of Scala drawers purchased from Häfele with a maximum of one entry per month TRIP INCLUDES: • 2x Grandstand tickets to The Austrian Formula One Grand Prix • 2x Business class return Airfares to Austria
• 1 weeks accommodation • Tour of the Grass factory • Transfers
*Please visit www.hafele.com.au to view the Terms and conditions
Contents
Issue #202 | Volume 35 No 2
News
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Publisher’s Note
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The election is over and our industry is getting back to business - working hard and fast to meet all of the requirements for the end of financial year.
Weinig’s open house
Stop Press 20
Highlights from the Interzum
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For those of you who didn’t have an opportunity to attend either Interzum or Ligna in May, we have an overview of both these shows in a special ‘Stop Press’ direct from our editor, Philip Ashley.
Highlights from the Ligna
Icons 28
John Cover & Jake Martin
Our ICONS for this edition are the two well-known industry identities John Cover and Jake Martin, who started Allwood Machinery many years ago.
Product Update 34
We take a look at the state of TAFEs around Australia and ask the question - What do we do to ‘fix’ it all?
Interview 44
Ron Smyth
We have an in-depth interview with Ron Smyth, the Group Managing Director of the WoodTech group which will give you an insight into this national company.
Education 52
The State of TAFE
Overseas News
Supplier Magazine is now on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Please take a look, we would love to hear your feedback.
52
Front Cover The making of KONG, an LED polyethylene (PE) floor lamp by designer Stefano Giovannoni for Marmomac 2018.
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Supplier May/June 2019
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Vicky Cammiade Publisher
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News
FAB9 - Melbourne’s newest Makerspace
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ou may not be familiar with the term ‘Makerspace’, but it is a term, and concept, that is growing in popularity in Australia. Makerspaces have the support of governments, industry and manufacturers and are a way of empowering people with great ideas, but limited resources. There are many ways to define a Makerspace, but essentially it is a place where people can come to use, and learn to use, equipment, develop creative projects or simply gain experience. They are most commonly associated with offering technology to create, develop and design in an informal, non-traditional, environment. Becoming a member of a Makerspace enables you to access the resources (training, machinery, technology and materials) at times that are convenient to yourself, without the capital outlay often required for production. FAB9 is a purpose-built space, located in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, for hardware entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, tinkerers, craftspeople, artists, hobbyists and anyone who want to experiment through the making of physical objects. Whether you’re an amateur working on a fun project, or
an inventor set to create the next worldchanging product, they are open for people of all interests and skill levels.
Architecturally designed, FAB9’s building houses an impressive array of equipment and facilities ranging from electronics labs, hand tools, power tools, 3D printers, laser cutters and CNC Routing machines. Because FAB9 has to be able to cater for nearly every manufacturing demand of its members, it is important that the equipment they provide is rugged, reliable and versatile. Particularly big-ticket items like the CNC router. The CNC router that FAB9 decided to include in their suite of facilities is the Multicam Trident 3000 Series flatbed CNC router. The Trident combines three different cutting technologies to provide maximum versatility by offering a choice of routing spindle and two knives which can be either tangential, oscillating, or a combination of both. This machine is truly unique in that it has the ability to rout timbers, plastics, aluminium and composite materials with a heavy duty, automatic tool change spindle. It can also knife cut flexible and semi-rigid materials, up to 120mm thick, with ease, with either the tangential or oscillating knife
Supplier May/June 2019
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head. A host of accessories and features, such as creasing attachments, camera recognition and live vacuum zones means that members using the Trident CNC Router can really let their imaginations soar. The Multicam Trident 3000 Series flatbed CNC router is the most powerful piece of equipment at FAB9 and it’s going to significantly enhance the making practices of many start-ups, small businesses, designers and individual makers. It was selected for its larger-than-average cutting area, flexibility and backup and support by Multicam’s office in Melbourne. For FAB9 this means getting realtime support and gives them the opportunity of having official Multicam technicians train both staff and members. Phil Balzan, of Multicam’s Melbourne Office was instrumental in helping FAB9 choose the correct CNC router for their facility.
“Multicam has many different model CNC routers available.” said Phil, “During our discussions with FAB9 I realised that they would need a CNC router that was capable of exceeding their demands in terms of flexibility and value, and the Trident certainly does that.” “Multicam has a long association with training facilities such as TAFE training colleges, universities and schools.” says
Phil. “Even though FAB9 is offering a rather different service, we feel that our experience in the education and training sectors give us the ability to offer unique and tailored solutions to them.” “We are excited to be working with FAB9 in presenting opportunities and fostering Australian innovation and are confident that FAB9 has responded to a real need that will be of great benefit to everyone involved.” ❚
Häfele’s AxiloTM wins a Red Dot Product Design Award “AxiloTM Plinth Adjustment System has been awarded the coveted Red Dot Award: Product Design 2019. This confirms what users are already telling us; that the Häfele AxiloTM Plinth Adjustment System is a great product! This adds to the growing list of awards being won for improved safety, ergonomics and ease of use. No more lying on the floor, struggling to reach the plinth feet with a screw driver, now you can reach it simply and easily with the AxiloTM plinth adjusting system,” says Hafele. ❚
Supplier May/June 2019
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News
Empower Factory Productivity and Scheduling Software recognised
Factory staff log on to all their respective manufacturing and downtime jobs for 40 hours per week, standard week. The budgeted times and actual completed times of all jobs is always viewable to factory staff and all management. Labour times on jobs and labour costs on jobs typically reduce by 20 to 40% when using the technology, which typically results in a 60 to 120% increase in annual profit. This is certainly disruptive technology as other manufacturers and engineers cannot compete on labour times and labour cost without this technology. Industry 4.0, Lean Manufacturing, Advanced Manufacturing, JIT Manufacturing, Six Sigma, Theory of Constraints and Kaizan can all use this technology which provides live accurate production data to be able to comprehensively and accurately plan and monitor daily production.
Above: Dave Garrett & Sean O’Sullivan (Owners)
E
mpower software has been going from strength to strength since it began with their first joinery client in 2002, and Sean O’Sullivan and Dave Garrett (owners) are delighted to be recognised by the Technology Investment Network (TIN) in this year’s TIN 100 report. The TIN 100 report tracks the performance of New Zealand’s 200 (TIN100 and Next100) largest technology exporters in the information and communication technology (ICT), high-tech manufacturing and biotechnology sectors.
and manufacturing clients throughout New Zealand, Australia, UK, USA, Canada, South Africa and the Philippines.
The TIN reported as follows: Auckland based Empower Factory Productivity and Scheduling Software has been developing labour management and scheduling software for 16 years. Empower Software is cloud and Software as a Service (SaaS) based. Empower has clients across 27 manufacturing and engineering industry groups and now supplies 204 engineering
Empower’s Software technology uses tablets on the factory floor for tracking and reporting job times, staff times and work in progress live from the factory floor reporting to management and administration staff in the offices. The production plan and production schedule is also updated live when factory staff register start and finish on all jobs on the factory floor tablets.
Supplier May/June 2019
Currently an estimated 95% of all manufacturers and engineers globally do NOT track their factory staff times on their jobs at all or they use manual time cards which their factory staff fill out at day end, which don’t motivate factory staff to work promptly and are typically 20 to 40% inaccurate in recording time.
Cloud Software technology provides the following significant benefits to manufacturing and engineering industries. Manufacturing and Engineering Client benefits: • Live Empower production and productivity information is presented on large 50 or 100 inch TV monitors on factory and office walls.
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Empower Software HQ benefits: • The latest version of software (ie upgrades) are supplied to all 204 clients “over night” and every updates are every 10 days. • A wide range of leading software development tools are available to developers. This means more advanced software: functionality, reporting and screens and shorter software development timelines. • Available software development staff resource who only want to work in the latest software tools and technology. • Application Program Interface (API) and documentation enables seamless connection to accounting or ERP accounting software or any other existing software. • Empower can be accessed and used on any device from any location with internet connection at any time. Management can plan and schedule production, and monitor today’s production and productivity in real time from the golf course. • Business advisors, lean manufacturing consultants and manufacturing experts at Empower HQ can collaborate with
Supplier May/June 2019
manufacturing and engineering clients with full time access to clients systems can monitor and give expert manufacturing advice on daily Key Performance Indicators and any issues. • Daily production and productivity data is securely stored off site and backed up professionally.
• API connection to leading accounting and enterprise level accounting software including: Accredo, MYOB and Quickbooks. • 30 day Trial Software is provided to manufacturers and engineers directly from the Empower website. ❚
• High tech functionality and reporting is available within Empower Software including Google Earth tracking and reporting of mobile staff and facial recognition of factory staff when they log start and finish for wages and when they log start and finish on jobs.
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News
Survey reveals need for urgent action on safety
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national industry survey of stair and balcony professionals has confirmed concerns over current engineering, testing and certification standards - failures that could lead to injury or loss of life in Australian buildings. Conducted by the newly formed Australian Balustrade Association (ABA), the safety survey collated data on issues including balustrade failures, near-misses or accidents, as well as information on the most prevalent balustrade safety issues in members’ states or regions. There were detailed responses from 38 major industry installers, suppliers, designers and certifiers from around the country. Findings included reports of glass balustrade breakage, poor balustrade fixings, inappropriate materials and an alarming number of unlicensed and untrained installers fitting life-saving products. The survey findings support the ABA’s proactive discussions with the Industry Skills Commission, regarding the establishment of new training and licensing classifications, to prevent unqualified and unsafe balustrade installation. The survey findings have sounded alarm bells throughout a construction industry that is already facing multiple safety issues, like the non-compliant use of flammable cladding, the cracking of the Opal Tower apartment block and multiple instances of balustrade failure in high-rise buildings. In order of priority, survey respondents called for the clarification of engineering and testing standards, with the potential adoption of a national code of practice,
Supplier May/June 2019
and the introduction of a single national certification process, to assist designers and certifiers. These are areas where the ABA is working with state and national regulators, to bring about Australia-wide design and compliance standards for timber, iron and glass staircases and balconies.
One respondent wrote, ‘Installation is a major issue within our industry. Licensing our glaziers/fabricators is a must. Educating them and offering a level of services for them to become licensed, is extremely important.’ Australian Balustrade Association Executive Manager, Patrizia Torelli says the survey findings have helped confirm the ABA’s priorities over the coming months. ‘We will be proactive in making the changes that are essential to the safety of all Australians, at home, at work and in public buildings. There can be no compromises when it comes to stair and balcony safety, and I thank the industry leaders who participated in our national safety survey.’ ❚
Respondent recommendations included a call for site-specific balustrade engineering, fixings and materials to be assessed and certified before any building works commence - a recommendation put forward at an ABA launch forum earlier this year. Sitespecific certification would accommodate variances in glass types, sizes, wind loading, positions of fixings, odd shapes, cut-outs, fixing types, positions of handrails, loading applications and safety margins. Other recommendations included balustrade re-certification every two years for commercial properties and each time a property is sold, similar to current pool fencing regulations. The inappropriate use of pool fencing was also cited as a serious safety problem, with pool fencing products being fitted as life-saving balustrades by uncertified trades people, the DIY market and builders.
About the Australian Balustrade Association The ABA’s goal is to prevent injury or death as a result of balustrades not fulfilling their purpose – to prevent falls. ABA Members operate across all areas of the residential and commercial built environment. They are dedicated to unifying and developing a professional, sustainable industry, improving safety standards and eradicating unqualified or non-compliant work. The ABA is dedicated to: • Protecting the Australian public and the industry from unqualified or noncompliant tradespersons. • Lobbying training regulators and governments to establish a stand-alone accreditation/licence for the industry. • Replacing state-based licensing with a uniform, national code. • Promoting safety and integrity through the creation of national guidelines and standards - for design, safety specifications, fit-for-purpose materials, monitoring and testing.
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News
Historic university’s new gateway to learning “The project called for a material that is hardwearing and would meet a 5-star Green Star accreditation. We were able to achieve a specific aesthetic while reaching our sustainability targets with Big River’s hoop pine plywood.” says Jien. Hoop pine has been popular with architects for decades, due to its warm blonde varied tones with a clean grain and smooth texture. It is ideal for appearance and structural grade applications in both commercial and residential projects. In the Learning & Teaching Building, this versatile plywood ceiling enhances the quality of natural light from skylights in the sawtooth roof, while adding depth and texture to the space.
T
he new Learning & Teaching building has been unveiled at Monash University’s Clayton campus, creating a dynamic educational environment and striking entrance to the historic campus. Designed by John Wardle Architects, the award-winning facility embodies a strategic new direction for Monash University’s learning spaces, and provides compelling student experiences that encourage students to stay on campus beyond class times. Open to all students and staff to further their innovative teaching and learning practices, the building is a physical demonstration of Monash’s commitment to education innovation. More than sixty formal and informal learning and teaching spaces provide an outstanding studentfocused experience for Monash University and Monash College Diploma students alike.
Supplier May/June 2019
Comprising four levels, the facility is also home to the Faculty of Education. The site’s rich natural history both inspired and informed the design of the learning facility. “Our design process started with understanding the history of the site where native bushland and farmland existed prior to the establishment of Monash University in the 1960’s,” says Yee Jien, Senior Associate at John Wardle Architects. “The new learning space pays homage to the campus’ extensive landscape presence and purposes a new environment of learning.”
Jien describes the interior landscape of the building as bringing the natural world in and encouraging students to stay on campus and collaborate. “With daylight spilling in from the plywood ceilings the opportunity for connection with the outdoors is maximised.” Utilising the natural modular timber construction for the sawtooth roof overcame the challenges of an accelerated
With an emphasis on acknowledging the site’s ecological legacy as well as meeting specific sustainability targets, Jien looked to Big River Group’s hoop pine plywood with a custom perforation pattern for the internal finishes for its long life, durability, sustainable properties and local availability.
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construction programme as the timber structure, roof sheeting and plywood ceiling were all prefabricated off-site and locally sourced. Overall, twelve sawtooth bays made of Big River Group’s hoop pine plywood, each spanning over twenty metres, were delivered to site ready for installation. “Although the new learning facility was such an expansive and ambitious project involving multiple stakeholder groups, we are proud to say the project was delivered on time and is sure to enhance the university community as a whole.” The state-of-the art structure has been recognised for its outstanding design, winning multiple accolades including a 2018 National Award for Educational Architecture, and a National Award for Interior Architecture, from the Australian Institute of Architecture. ❚
Win a trip to Austria with Nova Pro Scala To celebrate the success of Grass’ Nova Pro Scala range in Australia, Hafele and Grass have partnered together to bring you the giveaway of the year.
Supplier May/June 2019
From now until December 31st 2019, purchase 100 sets of Nova Scala drawers, and you go into the running to win grandstand tickets to the Austrian Grand Prix for yourself and a friend. The prize includes return business class airfares, a weeks accommodation
and all transfers. You even get an exclusive tour of the Grass factory in Austria. (Terms and Conditions apply. For more information or to order your Scala drawers visit the Hafele website) ❚
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News
Global furnishing design partnership The Australasian Furnishing Association (AFA), in conjunction with the International Society of Furniture Designers (ISFD), is proud to announce an international partnership which expands the global reach of award-winning designers across the USA and Australasia regions. ‘After lengthy negotiations over the past few years, we are proud to announce this amazing Reciprocal Partnership with the IFSD,’ says AFA CEO, Patrizia Torelli.
‘It is a timely reminder that ‘design’ is effectively the life-blood of any trend-based industry, and in the thirtieth year of our industry awards program we acknowledge that Australian designers are certainly at the forefront of innovative, cutting edge thinking, which is why this international partnership with the ISFD is so important.’ The first point of business is to activate the bi-lateral entry of approved nominations to the Australian Contemporary Emerging (ACE) Design Awards directly into the ISFD
24th Annual Pinnacle Awards®. Australasian region manufacturers and designers are urged to nominate for the ACE Awards to begin the submissions process. Deadline for ACE submissions has been extended to 15 July 2019 to expand the opportunities for nominees to enter both international award programs with the backing of two major international peak industry bodies. For more information visit the AFA website ❚
AFRDI - New Institute Manager After more than 15 years as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bob Panitzki is moving to a part-time role as Business Development Manager (BDM).
Bob said he “very much enjoyed the time as CEO, and is thankful for the many friendships and valued associations made during that time”, and “is now looking forward to continuing to assist AFRDI as the BDM”.
AFRDI Chairman Tony Rogers said “the Board and the clients of AFRDI wish to thank Bob for his tireless contribution as CEO since 2003”. The Chairman said “the AFRDI Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Ian Burton as Institute General Manager and looked forward to his contribution”. Ian is well qualified for the position with an honours degree in Mechanical Engineering, a Political Science degree and the last 16 years as Technical Manager at AFRDI. He is also on numerous Standards Australia (SA) committees and has represented SA at a number of ISO meetings.
Below (L to R): Outgoing CEO Bob Panitzki, Chairman Tony Rogers and newly appointed General Manager Ian Burton".
The new appointments will be effective from 1 July 2019. ❚
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Weinig Open House
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einig have occupied the same building in Sydney’s Wetherill Park since Allwood separated Weinig and Biesse into two separate companies back in 1998. In early April Weinig/Holz-Her literally moved next door into the recently vacated Biesse premises, adding an additional 1,500 square metres of showroom and storage space. The game of ‘musical chairs’ is a consequence of the Allwood Company that first brought the Weinig brand, and then the Biesse brand to the Australian furniture and joinery industries back in the 1980’s. To mark the occasion Weinig Holz-Her invited their customers and other interested people to attend an open-house to see the new premises and their range of well-known machines for both solid wood and panel processing. The new premises will allow the Weinig Group to continue its growth with a large showroom and warehouse space for their stock of machines and parts. Machines are delivered regularly and focused on customer feedback throughout the year so there’s likely to be a machine either in stock or ‘on-the-water.’ Neil Forbes has been with Weinig since the early 1980’s and is now Managing Director. He said, “During this event we’ve had hundreds of high-quality visitors. Steve Baudinette; Ash Britton and John Browne from AKD Softwoods in Colac Victoria came along to see the latest dry-milling equipment. Rob Rule from Timber Training Creswick was here to look at the Rondamat 1000 Profile Grinding machine; it’s the first time this fully automatic CNC controlled machine has been shown in Australia. We’ve also had people from Tiana Joinery in South Australia; Notaras Timber here in New South Wales and Parkside Group in Queensland.”
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On display was the Holz-Her Pro-Master 5X 5-axes CNC processing machine making a sink unit from a solid piece of PUR laminated wood. The process takes only twelve minutes at full speed and was a great demonstration of the capacity of this machine on a product that is related to the solid wood sector. The Weinig Opticut C50 under-table crosscut saw is widely used in sawmills and can be incorporated into high-capacity production lines. Its big brother is the Opticut S50 optimising saw with a pusher speed of 60 metres/minute. Of course, the celebrated Weinig Cube four-side planer and Powermat 1500 planing and moulding machines were also available to see, producing components throughout the event. Profile and straight knife grinding machines were demonstrated making specialist tool profiles.
type in Australia and in the last two and a half years, their 5-axes CNC machines have become very popular as well, especially with window and door manufacturers. Weinig had by this time grown into a significant group specialising in secondary wood production; acquiring companies like Waco (High-speed planing machines); Dimter (Optimizing cross-cut saws and gluing presses); Grecon (Finger jointing); Raimann (Rip saws and band resaws) and Luxscan (Scanning technologies).
Below: Impressive 5-axis machining from Holzher
The Group In 2010 Weinig bought the Austrian-based Holz-Her company. Holz-Her edge-banders are probably the most-sold machines of this
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Holz-Her is particularly well-known for. In 1993 they brought out their first CNC machine, followed in 2002 by pressure beam saws. Neil said, “Weinig Group is the largest manufacturer of machines and systems for solid wood processing in the world and if you’re machining solid wood, we have a machine that will do the job, backed by over seventy years of experience. Since the group acquired Holz-Her we can also offer innovative and future-proof solutions for processing sheet materials.”
Above: Neil Forbes and Trevor from Notaras Timber Weinig Weinig has been a big player in the solid wood sector of Australian industry since the late 1960’s, especially in through-feed moulding machines. Back then Wadkin and Robinson, both British companies, were the go-to moulder manufacturers. But a technology change was coming. Unfortunately for the British they were complacent and were soon passed by the German Weinig company who in 1964 looked at moulding in a different way. Pushfeed moulders would soon be a thing of the past, replaced by through-feed moulders that were able to straighten and shape the wood at the same time. The addition of a ‘universal’ pivoting spindle was another first that Wadkin was to copy in their last years.
you will remember their power feed units for spindle moulding machines. In 1958 they started making vertical panel saws and in 1969, edge-banding machines, a technology
Holz-Her Holz-Her was founded in 1914 as a company with the first wood working machine being produced in 1925. If you were an apprentice,
Above: Profile grinding on the Rondamat 960
Neil said of the industry, “The solid timber sector tends to be more conservative than those using flat panel. They usually keep their machines a lot longer, so they must go the distance. Their negotiations for new equipment take an extended period, but we’ll do well out of this event.” Neil believes that solid timber is being used more now than ever and that people accept that wood is environmentally friendly. He concedes that there is less wood to use and says, “We have to make the best, most optimal use of the wood we have and that’s what Weinig Group is all about.”
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The Crew
Above: AKD Softwoods team with Criag Stevens The Partners Fenestration Solutions Australia (FSA) is a leading supplier of solutions and systems to window and door manufacturers throughout Australia. FSA can help business design a tooling solution for both existing and new machines. On hand were Scott Horne, Shane McDuff and Dave Ackland to assist with joinery tooling solutions. FSA distribute tools from the Swiss Oertli company. Oertli claim long tool life and the best surface finish on visible edges and other critical positions. Scott said, “Quick knife change and an economical service are today’s demands on high-performance tools.” Oertli profiles are designed to suit the ‘norms’ of most countries including Australian awning and casement windows.
system of ProfilCut Q have been re-designed to surpass the old standard by 50%. RipTec handles difficult-to-machine wood, reducing the reject rate to nearly zero. Hybrid tooling combines the benefits of two tooling systems into one. For example, combining ProfilCut Q carbide insert tooling and diamond-tipped WhisperCut as a solution for machining glued-up profiles.”
Weinig last held the same event back in 2008. Neil said, “We have a photo from then and the team photo we take at the end of this week will have the same people in it. Our staff hardly ever changes, only that we’re putting on new technicians do we have more people. Of the 28 people working with Weinig Group Australia, 16 of those are on-the-road technicians. Good tech people are hard to come by, so we hang onto ours.” Neil has seen a lot of changes since the Allwood days but one thing he’s not lost sight of is that people are your best asset. He says, “If you surround yourself with the right people, anything is possible.” Judging by the enthusiasm at the open house, he’s most certainly right. ❚
Above: Rob Rule and Andrew Bismire Below: Scott, Shane and Dave from FSA
Andrew Bismire from Leitz Tooling said, “The production of windows and doors requires highly efficient but complex tooling systems. We know a lot of companies who manufacture corner joints on a CNC machine using our PlugTec system but ProfilCut Q, Shrink Tooling, RippleCut and Hybrid tooling are also widely used in the joinery industry. The knives and clamping
Supplier May/June 2019
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AXILO
™
Plinth adjusting fitting system. AXILO™ by Häfele is a new, revolutionary plinth adjusting fitting system. The combination of the adjusting tool and the plinth adjusting foot makes levelling a kitchen or a furniture item a simple, comfortable operation. Easy cabinet levelling with just a few manual operations.
Ergonomic and back-friendly installation.
Time saving of up to 50% during kitchen or furniture assembly.
Large area of application for plinth
heights from 50 to 220 mm.
ERGONOMIC
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No more bending over, crawling or stretching: with AXILO™ you can also conveniently access the rear plinth feet.
The AXILO™ adjusting tool can be positioned and operated from any angle. Practical, particularly in difficult areas.
The unique AXILO™ adjusting tool acts as an extended arm - you can even reach plinth feet of corner base units.
info@hafele.com.au
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Stop Press
interzum trends The supplier industry demonstrates time and again how innovations can transform living environments. Every two years in May, interzum presents innovations for the design of tomorrow’s living spaces. Here are just a few of the highlights rushed from the show.
and refrigerators can be opened and closed with simple, spoken commands. And the new MINIPRESS top drilling and insertion machine by Blum produces precise assembly results to a depth of 350 mm and it’s even possible to carry out central line drilling. EGGER received no less than three awards at the show including ‘Best of the Best’ for Egger’s PerfectSense and the Duo edging. EGGER presented many new products including brushed metal that is extremely realistic with light haptics for tactile sensation. Their PerfectSense gloss and matt is now available on both sides of the board to enhance design flexibility. EGGER spends a staggering eighty million Euros every year on research and development on edgings and surfaces and has come up with a new surface PerfectSense Topmatt laminate with scratch and fingerprint resistant properties.
Below: Egger
The Fenix NTA product is a metallic surface that is extremely matt, features a pleasant touch and is fingerprint resistant. The product won an interzum award for ‘Intelligent Material and Design’ and follows the red dot award the product won earlier this year. Fenix released four new colours in their new ‘Bloom’ lignin-based technology that increases the use of natural raw materials in the core of their Arpa HPL and NTM products.
Above: Fenix
Above: Blum Blum presented its new MERIVOBOX box drawer system that allows you to create a broad range with just a few components. The new system is based on a platform concept. At the heart is the cabinet profile with one fixing position for all applications. Thanks to its special L-shape, the runner system boasts enhanced vertical stability and high load bearing capacities. Blum also presented its SERVO-DRIVE smart concept study to demonstrate how wall cabinets and pull-outs, dishwashers
Supplier May/June 2019
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Stop Press
IXCONNECT is a production of furniture such as drawers assembled without the use of tools. Holes are still needed in the parts but the connectors are installed by hand, the drawer is finished by inserting the back and then applying clips that hold the drawer together. IXCONNECT won an interzum award. We are also pleased to report that the AXILO plinth adjuster we reported from the 2017 interzum has been awarded a red dot award.
Below: Hettich
Above: GRASS From GRASS comes a new slim flap lift Kinvaro T-Slim. The flap lift blends into the cabinet side almost invisibly and unlocks new possibilities for overhead wall cabinets. GRASS reduced the mechanism of the lift-up fitting down to an overall size of 12 millimetres so it can be inset into the minimum 16mm board and ‘disappears’ completely. Whether in the kitchen, bathroom or living room; particularly wide, rather than tall, storage solutions with lift-up flaps are currently undergoing a renaissance. Kinvaro T-Slim’s effect on the furniture’s aesthetics comes into its own on glass front flaps with aluminium frames. This reduction in size means the flap lift-up mechanism takes up no space and the cabinet storage space can be used to its full potential. This year the GRASS logo has been tweaked to appear more like an app picture and the green colour has also been subtly lightened. A feature of the Häfele stand was once again, digitalisation. Häfele Connect technology displayed the example of a micro-apartment, networked with smart
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components, and a kitchen with sophisticated lighting, controlled by a smartphone or tablet. The new ‘Free space’ stay flap fitting, is a world first that creates more space in cabinets. It eliminates the need for large cover caps and, with an internal installation depth of only 63 mm, opens up new room for furniture design in narrow cabinets. The flap fitting won an interzum award, and a highly-coveted red dot design award.
Below: Häfele
In the megatrend towards urbanisation, every inch matters. Hettich showed how attractive and convenient storage solutions can be for sloping ceilings. Or how a home office or pantry kitchen can be invisibly integrated in a very small space in the living room. The new ‘AvanTech YOU’ drawer system permits exceptionally slimline, purist design that manages without visible screw heads or cover caps. With TopLine XL, doors weighing up to 100 kg gently open and close with unequalled ease, almost making them appear to float. All of the solutions on show at interzum were intended to provide people with inspiration to design their own furniture or entire room concepts. Customers can retrieve the ideas for living room, kitchen, bathroom and office furniture, including construction plans, online from the Design Gallery on Hettich’s homepage.
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An open storage space that is straightforward and effortless to access contributes to a spacious and airy living space concept. This trend has inspired Kesseböhmer to develop a ladder shelving unit that debut under the name of “YouK”. Holzwerk Rockenhausen in conjunction with Kesseböhmer presented a new, sustainable material which they intend to use in the future in the manufacture of their interior fittings for drawers and pullouts. “OrganiQLine” is based on fast-growing renewable hemp and flax fibres from regional suppliers and a water-based binding agent which is formaldehyde and phenol-free.
Above: Kesseböhmer Lamello’s Tenso P-14 is a self-clamping connector that allows you to assemble a glued cabinet without clamps. The fitting has a very high clamping force and also assists in the alignment of the glued components. It’s possible to glue and assemble a cabinet even on-site with the Tenso P-14 fitting. The Lamello P-fittings are widely known in the cabinet industry and in January this year Lamello launched their P-10 Tenso fitting that allows the connecting of thin materials from a thickness of only 12mm. LINAK offers actuator systems for comfort beds, bringing more comfort in lightweight slatted beds and robust box-spring beds. During interzum, LINAK presented their new hand control HC40, setting new standards in user-friendliness and design. In addition to the various adjustment possibilities, there are massage functions. LINAK carried out a survey, interviewing end-users and bed manufacturers. Based on their inputs, LINAK
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developed the new hand control, available in two versions; both available as a standard version without display and as advanced version with display. Rehau edgings and surfaces presented their ‘Future Apartment’ concept developed by design studio Ippolito Fleitz that introduced ‘functions-embedded surfaces’ and technologies adding smart and emotional values to contemporary living. Three new edge colours reflect the ‘magic of the Himalaya’s, the icy Antarctic and the volcanoes of Mexico.’ Salice displayed their new Futura F60 drawer runner with 60 Kg load capacity. Another highlight was the EvoLift flap hinge for single and bi-fold cabinet doors available in white or titanium. Quite a hit was the Exedra2 pocket-door system displayed in a walk-in robe situation. The doors are pulled out of a cavity on either side of the cabinet and unfold to hide the contents of the robe. The system was available last year but only as a single-door variant. Salice’s Slider sliding system for coplanar doors was also a crowd-stopper, displayed in a kitchen setting where cabinets on either side of an inbuilt oven and microwave had doors that could be slid with the slightest touch without restricting access to the cooking appliances. Schattdecor presented new decors and trends based on international developments and research. The surface specialist revealed this on its brand new YouTube channel, available in German and English starting late May. Schattdecor has recently introduced decors with a special watermark that had been incorporated into the decor surface as an invisible structure. This watermark adds significant value for customers when combined with an app that can used to scan it. By scanning the surface, customers can access the decor manufacturer’s app page and will find a wealth of useful information about that product.
Sonae Arauco exhibited around 100 new decors and five innovative surfaces in their the new ‘Innovus’ collection, and 3DF, their Three-Dimensional Fibreboard, a mouldable formaldehyde free wood-based composite that can be shaped into an endless variety of formats. Sonae Arauco is distributed in Australia. Titus showed visitors how they can simplify Ready-To-Assemble (RTA) furniture by providing simpler instructions; fewer parts and an easier assembly process. Titus is the only producer who can offer the complete ‘pre-insertion’ solution in combination of Quickfit TL dowel and Fastfit machine. Vauth-Sagel’s motto was ‘OpenUp’ an invitation to open up to the products; corporate culture; global trends and the use of spaces. A highlight was VS ELEMENTS that ensures living and sleeping zones and bathrooms flow into each other seamlessly. Available with or without fronts, it meets the requirements of open-plan living as well as the need for intimacy. The universal submodules are available in various materials. The award-winning VS SUB Comfort comes out directly towards the user when the cabinet doors are opened. VS SUB Comfort is based on clever kinematics that transfer the rotary motion of the doors so the speed at which the drawers come out is increased or decreased at an even, gentle pace. The upper tray can be pushed back in without the need for any additional action. The trend towards open plan living where rooms can be used for different and diverse purposes continues unabated. Digitalisation is also a mega-trend but at the moment it’s being shown for the wow factor and needs to be discretely hidden within the living environment, we are likely to see more at AWISA next year. A comprehensive interzum coverage will appear in the next edition of Supplier Magazine, if you couldn’t make the show, don’t miss the report. ❚
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Ligna Stop Press Ligna is a World-wide phenomenon of the timber and wood working industries. This year’s show brought together the World’s top suppliers and business visitors to another incredible event. As the show draws to a close Supplier Magazine’s Phil Ashley rushed the highlights from Germany. Smart factories, digital integration and customer-centric manufacturing. These are the trends and themes currently shaping the global wood industry. Our comprehensive coverage of this year’s Ligna show will appear in the next issue of Supplier magazine. For now, take a few minutes to read about some of the latest technology from the show that never disappoints and always amazes. The line-up of solutions on show was extensive and included everything from 360-degree production control systems, smart CNC aggregates and digital embossing printers through to the latest CNC milling and Sawmill 4.0 technologies.
“Mercedes” technology, preventative rather than reactive. AL-KO is a manufacturer of high-quality extraction technology and is represented in Australia by Ausmach. AL-KO demonstrated the new level sensor AL-KO ALC 21 that guarantees continuous and reliable level monitoring. The measurement is contactless; at maximum level, the compact meter sends a signal to the controller which automatically switches off the extraction system. The sensor can be easily retrofitted and can be integrated into a control station monitoring system in the course of automation processes. Ausmach also carry the OTT edge banders and Casadei Industria, not to be confused with Casadei Bussellato which is owned by SCM Group. Casadei Industria also make edge banders for other suppliers.
Below: Biesse Group
Biesse Group presented a software solution that can manage all stages of furniture production from 3D design to monitoring the entire production flow. The new B_CABINET Four software has a user interface to define and manage all processing stations and work steps essential for each order. In terms of machinery on display, Biesse confirmed and strengthened the bond between humans and robots; not only by presenting a greater number of solutions that make use of robots, but by demonstrating how people can benefit from them, validating their work and making production more efficient. The six thousand square metre Biesse stand; their biggest ever at Ligna, presented three process solutions that were automated from the raw material to the finished product. Several integrated lines and five robotised cells were also in action, offering high levels of customisation, modularity and flexibility, important requirements for modern production.
Altendorf Group introduced itself for the first time to the international tradefair audience under their new name with Hebrock edge banding machines. Supplier is advised that they are ‘searching’ for a CNC machinery company to add to their suite of offerings but at this time they remain tight-lipped about this. What they did have on the stand however is a very clever safety device to protect the operator’s hands. It’s not a saw-stop; it’s a scanner that senses your hands near the blade and stops the blade, dropping it below the table in milliseconds. There is no damage to the blade and no brake to replace every time this happens. Australia’s Vit Kafka describes it as
Supplier May/June 2019
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Costa’s Peter Vuille-Bille showed us a very interesting process developed in conjunction with Sherwin-Williams. It’s a process where camera’s pick up defects and then a robot filler dispenser fills the defect in a continuous process. After six hours of drying the filled board can be sanded without the filler shrinking. Also on the Costa stand, a refurbished sander from 1962 painted in what they call ‘Jaguar Green’ that’s been fitted with all the latest safety gear. It was there to demonstrate how Costa sanders stand the test of (55 years) time.
Below: Felder Group
On over 5,000 square meters of display space, HOMAG Group presented a range of integrated, networked solutions comprising woodworking machines, cells, systems and software that can help operations of all sizes take the next steps towards a digitized future. Homag was pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Hundegger Group who specialise in prefab housing, a sector Homag sees as developing world-wide. They also announced the formation of a digital printing association, another sector Homag believes will be a big mainstream technology in only a few years time. An interesting comment from Homag CEO Pekka Paasivaara is that after the recent election result in Australia, one hundred companies arrived at Ligna to take advantage of the positive business situation down-under.
Above: Costa Felder Group presented some groundbreaking innovations including a new PUR gluing system for edge banders that you wouldn’t believe, the PUR glue comes as a tape edge that Felder feed into their newlydeveloped ‘glueBox’ system. It was a real eye-opener. And just when you thought they couldn’t top that, they’ve come up with a sawstop system that has no wiring, no cameras, no warning lights….it just works. It’s called PCS and was actually demonstrated at Ligna with someone’s real finger! Hard to believe? It took five years to develop and is integrated into the saw unit itself; it’s arguably the most complete system for panel saw safety ever developed. Felder also announced a partnership with Mayer beam saws that is sure to benefit Felder Group customers.
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Above: HOMAG Group Leitz Tooling introduced several new tools this year including ProfilCut Q Plus and ProfilCut Q Premium Plus with five-times resharpen-able, diameter and profile-constant cutting edges for the window industry. A new compact hogger ‘DT Premium’ with a re-designed tooth profile, suited for batch size 1 production as well as for processing large quantities in furniture production
was also released. Another feature this year was the LeitzXPress Button. Presented for the first time at the Holz Handwerk trade fair last year, it’s a technical service concept that enables Leitz customers to contact Leitz quickly and easily at the touch of a button via an online interface. Not least was a new solid-carbide hinge boring bit said to significantly improve production.
Above: Leitz Tooling A focus for Leuco Tooling is new materials. Chipboard for kitchens and furniture, shop and exhibition construction have many different layers. These include fire protection layers, abrasive coatings and anti-fingerprint materials. Most of these layers are harder than wood. Visitors were able to gain tooling and application know-how for these materials. Visitors were invited to bring samples of their special materials to the stand where Leuco tool experts provided solutions for sawing, milling and drilling these materials. Announced during the show was a German innovation award for their new ‘airstream’ system developed in conjunction with HolzHer to almost completely remove all dust from the tool edge. Schmalz are a World-leader in vacuum blocks for CNC machines. The company demonstrated a VCBL-G K1 vacuum block specially designed for nesting tables. The vacuum block is directly positioned on the top of the CNC machine’s grid table without having to remove the tabletop first. The low working height of 30 mm means that the VCBL can also be used in 3-axis machining centres with low Z movement.
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From Wood Tech Group we saw the new Vector profile edge banding machine developed by New Zealand’s Duncan Such of Doctor Buzz fame. Several have now been installed in NSW and Tasmania already. IMA showed their ‘Performance. cut’ panel cutting centre. The machine offers the advantages of real batch-size-1 panel cutting, independently of the required cutting plans. It ensures effective panel cutting, maximizing capacity while minimizing floor space. A feature is the cutting of free-form parts such as nested desktops. It also offers the possibility of processing panels with finger pull profiles. The revolutionary Anderson Mag-Drive CNC nesting machine was unfortunately not shown at Ligna.
Above: SCM Group SCM Group presented its “Smart&Human Factory,” a cutting-edge production model based on innovative, modular and easily configurable cells integrated with digital and automation systems including robots and automated transport vehicles that sense when a human is present. It allows for advanced man-machine interaction and 360-degree control over the entire production flow. This automated, userfriendly wood panel processing system is designed to respond to the challenges of mass customisation and Industry 4.0. The process aims at optimising panel cutting; edge-banding and drilling operations, reducing waste, rejects and retooling requirements during product changeovers. Orders are then reassembled back together at the end of the process. A play on the song title, SCM say ‘You will never work alone.’ Weinig exhibited a complex production line including eight integrated components demonstrating the entire production process, from raw material to finished product. The production line included both robotics technology and Weinig scanners, all controlled centrally by Weinig’s new single-operator Control Suite system. Semi-
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finished goods including window parts were manufactured and further processed into various products at downstream stations like the Conturex CNC centre. Weinig showed their new Hydromat generation with a performance potential of up to 300 metres a minute. Their new Powermat 2400 3D allows for the contour of furniture parts from right and left during through-feed. Also, from the Weinig Group, HolzHer released the new Evolution 7402 vertical CNC processing machine capable of 4-side formatting and drilling with a 5.6kW spindle, and ‘Automation Pro’ that interconnects the entire production from the ‘Store-Master’ panel warehouse to finished furniture components across the entire range of Holz-Her machines.
Above: IMA
Above: Anderson In addition, Beck Fastener’s LignoLoc® wooden nails, made of locally grown beech wood can be fired into solid timber or engineered wood without pre-drilling using the LignoLoc® pneumatic nail gun, ‘welding’ the nail to the substrate to create a seamless permanent bond. Pade released their twin-head, 15 axis CNC machining centre that produces jambs in large quantities while enabling the highest possible design flexibility and quick changeovers. Gewema demonstrated the world’s first heavy-duty ‘wooden’ single cutting-head CNC router that can handle a variety of clamping systems, including vacuum clamping. Once again in 2019, LIGNA served as the industry’s showcase of choice for unveiling the latest innovations. ❚
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MODERN FURNITURE PRODUCTION PANEL CUTTING | CNC PROCESSING | EDGEBANDING Effective cutting optimisation CNC processing made easy Perfectly invisible joints
3 Widemere Road PO Box 6239 Wetherill Park, NSW 2164 Australia Telephone: +61 (0)2 9609 5911 Fax: +61 (0)2 9757 4773 www.weinig.com.au www.holzher.com.au
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Michael WEINIG Australia Pty. Ltd.
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John Cover and Jake Martin:
The Game Changers Story by Philip Ashley John Cover and Jake Martin are arguably two of the most influential men of the modern furniture industry in Australia. Most of the movers and shakers of today have at one time or another been influenced by John and Jake and always in a positive way. It’s not well-known but John and Jake had a hand in assisting several of today’s equipment suppliers, such was their commitment to their customers and the industry, a commitment that transcended mere sales and profit. John and Jake are true gentlemen of the industry and with Allwood Machinery, set the stage for the vibrant machinery and equipment supply industry we enjoy today.
John John Cover was born in Sydney, attending the Fort Street High School in Petersham before studying pharmacy at university. John recalls, “I decided it wasn’t for me and to be honest I wasn’t diligent enough so after two years I left to study accounting. I worked for a few years for a chartered accounting firm, but I got bored there and applied for a job at Australian Trade Equipment.” It was the mid 1960’s and this was John’s entry into the wood working supply industry, first as an accountant and later in sales. “We were selling radial
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arm saws to builders for use on-site as well as portable tools. I spent a lot of time travelling around the State to places like Wagga Wagga and Griffith; selling from our van. It was good fun,” John said. By this time John was Sales Manager. His boss at Australian Trade Equipment was Bob Maley and he and John decided it would be a good idea to go overseas and see what else they could import, so in the early 1970’s they started to bring SCM planers and combination machines here. Back then Australia was well-insulated
from the rest of the World in terms of wood working machines, so John and Bob started taking industry groups overseas. This was the first time ‘study tours’ were organised from Australia. Another first was bringing the very first edge-banding machine into the country; an IDM machine that was revolutionary for its time. It was about this time that John was to meet Bruce Evans. Bruce had gone to see Brian Lynch in Sydney and Brian introduced Bruce to Les Field. Les played rugby with John so he took Bruce to meet him. Jake Martin joined A.T.E. under the Maley family a few years later.
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Jake Jake Martin was born in Kisumu in Kenya, their third largest city situated on Lake Victoria. The family emigrated to Australia when Jake was seventeen. He completed a trade course in cabinet making but the day he finished the course he left to work for Gilkon, an engineering company that still operates today. It wasn’t long after he started that the production manager was let go and Jake found himself potentially out of a job. The General Manager at the time said to Jake, “We’re looking for a production manager” to which Jake replied, “I know nothing about engineering.” His boss said “I’ll teach you” so Jake ran an engineering factory for ten years! He got his first taste for sales when things were quiet. He’d go out and get work for the company using his own car. One day he asked for a company car; they refused so he left and went to Australian Trade Equipment and worked for John Cover in sales. It was the first time the two men had met, and they’ve become lifelong friends.
Below: Jake, John Hanrahan, Les Field, John and Heather
Allwood In 1979 Australian Trade Equipment was sold to Wickman and for John and Jake things weren’t the same. John decided he should do something else and left without much of a plan. He said, “What do I do now?” and started Allwood Machinery selling second hand machines in competition with
Barry Gabbett who started his second hand machinery business almost the same week. Jake joined John a short time later as his business partner. Recently Barry Gabbett said, “It’s not well-known, but the week we started Gabbett machinery, John Cover and Jake Martin started Allwood machinery. I didn’t know them then and only met them several months later, but we’ve become great friends and still get together from time to time.” John said, “We started out in a rented factory in Regency Park here in Sydney, next to Parker Furniture. We bought second-hand machines at auctions and stored them until we could sell them. There was a decent market for second-hand equipment back then. We battled on for a few years selling second-hand machinery until we moved into new equipment with Michael Weinig. That kicked off our new machinery sales. We also had Stefani and Celaschi; in fact, our first major sale was a Celaschi double-end (tenoning) line worth $200,000 we put into Corinthian Doors. In those days this was a very big deal. Our competitors then were Austral; Forrest; ACME; McPhersons and Wickman who was our major competitor. We started importing Biesse machines in the 32 mid 1980’s.”
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4 Commercial Joiners reveal how Empower Factory Productivity & Scheduling Software has transformed factory productivity and profit By Sean O’Sullivan, B Com (Hons) Otago University
PEPPERTREE FURNITURE (ADELAIDE, SA) MARK TOZER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
“At 10 weeks of using Empower Software we got 46% increase in factory productivity, at 6 months we had got to a 86% increase and at 3 years we had got a 100% increase in factory productivity. On factory productivity increases alone generated by Empower Software our annual profit has increased by approximately $200,000”
Key Points • Empower is the tool that our factory staff use to bring their jobs in on budgeted time • Our factory staff culture is far better as a result of being time and job focused • Each factory staff member gets paid bonus for meeting their personal productivity goals. This comprises capping their downtime and meeting times on jobs each week • The brilliant thing about how Empower has worked for me from day 1 of putting it in, is it simply reported area by area, in small bite size pieces each issues that I could address, precisely where I needed to start focusing to get things in order and up to scratch, which I simply followed through on • We have used Empower accurate actual times on products to go back and accurately cost our labour and set consistent margin across our products and quoting. This has enabled us to significantly increase our profit margin across our sales.
PREMIER FURNITURE (SYDNEY, NSW) PETER LANGFORD, MANAGING DIRECTOR
“Empower Software has made a substantial improvement to factory productivity and bottom line and we would not be without it”
Key Points • Our factory staff have really stepped up to the mark and consistently meet and beat the budgeted times on the factory PCs, using Empower • Empower provides factory staff with a tool to be aware of their own productivity • The software is brilliant at staff performance reviews • We give individual factory staff reports on their weekly productivity. This is invaluable feedback to them to keep their productivity up • Empower gives us accurate times on jobs to allow us to carry out a sensible job cost (ie back cost) on completed jobs so we can refine our future budgeted labour in our costings and quotations • Empower is designed specifically for my role as production manager to ‘track, report and substantially increase factory productivity’ and it certainly works for us • Empower times are the truth and accurate – with evidence on issues I act immediately • Empower is the most positive thing we have done in 10 years • It certainly makes guys on the factory floor focus on their jobs and their times Core Products Manufactured (or Core Business)
Wide range of standard and custom office furniture
Any Key Background Information
2009 Empower Software was recommended to us, a factory productivity software and consultancy business, which had 10 years experience in our industry and a solid track record of increasing their clients factory productivity by 15 to 80%.
Core Products Manufactured (or Core Business)
Panel and Steel Tube Framed Furniture
Any Key Background Information
We operate the largest retail outlet for commercial furniture in South Australia
# Factory Floor Staff
20
# Factory Floor Staff
15
# Total Staff
25
# Total Staff
20
Annual Revenue (approx)
$4 Million
Annual Revenue (approx)
Confidential
Factory and Office Size m2
4100m2
Factory and Office Size m2
Large
# of CNCs
We run two Sleco beam saws, two Biesse borers, one SCM edge bander and a Stefani edge bander
# of CNCs
2
Geography Serviced
All Australia
Staff Times on Jobs Recording prior to Empower
Our production manager Robert advised “prior to 2009 we were attempting to run our factory and our labour the manual way, which was no different to how factories were run in Australia over 100 years ago. Stepping up to using factory PCs and time tracking software has been a quantum leap in professionalism and productivity for Premier Furniture
Geography Serviced
All States
Staff Times on Jobs Recording prior Our factory staff manually filled in their lie to Empower sheets at day end Years in Business
35
Staff Groups Tracked on Empower
All Factory Staff
Years using Empower
9 years to date (at 2018)
Years in Business
Since 1959
Number of PC’s on the factory floor with Empower on
8 @ 2nd hand PCs plus we have Empower on our CNC machines
Staff Groups Tracked on Empower
All staff in all work centres throughout the factory floor
Number of our Managers using Empower
3
Years using Empower
12 months to date (as at Jan 2011)
Estimated Factory Productivity Increase on Empower
I thought that my factory was productive before putting in Empower but really had no way of knowing whether I was productive or not at the time. Looking back on it I now know that my factory was terribly unproductive prior to Empower.
Number of PC’s on the factory 4 floor with Empower on Number of our Managers using Empower
2
Estimated Factory Productivity Increase on Empower
Substantial improvement to both our factory productivity and our annual profit
TASKER JOINERY (SYDNEY, NSW)
FINECUT JOINERY (SYDNEY, NSW) MITCHELL BLACK - PRODUCTION MANAGER
GREG TASKER, MANAGING DIRECTOR
“We have achieved a 25% increase in our staff and factory productivity”
Key Points “Using Empower we are getting 20% more joinery out the door each month. Our business consultant confirmed that a 20% increase in our factory productivity would increase our annual profit by an estimated 60%”
Key Points • For the first time in many years I enjoy coming to work, because the Empower system has my entire business monitored and well in control. I am no longer stressed as I used as I used to be, due to inadequate monitoring. I now feel as if my management, office staff factory staff and site staff are now “in the same boat and rowing in the same direction” • At 2 years of using Empower our factory productivity has increased by an estimated 20% • When I finally retire I will be able to pass on to my son a business with far better: systems and controls and a business that is far more: productive and profitable
• It has been much easier and more accurate for us to provide clients with an ETA, especially when using both Empower Time Tracking and Job Scheduling Software • Empower and the factory PCs force factory staff to be aware of their budgeted and actual times on each job and take responsibility for jobs they work on • Our factory staff are aware of how long they are taking on a job realise the importance of finishing on time • Empower has helped management and the sales team ensure that our prices are accurate as far as our labour component is concerned Core Products Manufactured (or Core Business)
White Good Appliance Displays mainly
% Production is custom made - one off designs (each job different to the last)
100%
# Factory Floor Staff
5
# Total Staff
13
Annual Revenue (approx)
Confidential
Core Products Manufactured (or Core Business)
Interior fit outs, commercial joinery and kitchens
Factory and Office Size m2
1000m2
# of CNCs
1 CNC and 1 computerised panel saw
% of Jobs Custom One Offs
100%
Geography Serviced
# Factory Floor Staff
8
Mostly Sydney and NSW, however we go nationwide
# Total Staff
13 2.3 Million approx.
Staff Times on Jobs Recording prior to Empower
No form of time tracking previously
Annual Revenue (approx)
Years in Business
18
Associations and any positions held
FIAA
Staff Groups Tracked on Empower
Factory staff, pre production staff in office and site workers
Years using Empower
3 years
Number of PC’s on the factory floor with Empower on
3
Factory and Office Size m2
800 square metres approx.
# of CNCs
1
Geography Serviced
Sydney mainly
Staff Times on Jobs Recording prior to Empower
Factory staff manually recorded their times on jobs daily
Years in Business
31
Associations and any positions held
Housing Industry Association
Staff Groups Tracked on Empower
Office, factory and site staff
Years using Empower
2
Number of PC’s on the factory floor with Empower on
2 PC’s
Number of our Managers using Empower 3 Estimated Factory Productivity Increase on Empower
Number of our Managers using Empower 3 Estimated Factory Productivity Increase on Empower
Using Empower we are getting 20% more joinery out the door each month
We have achieved a 25% increase in our staff and factory productivity. We have maintained production levels and not had to replace 2 staff that left (1 position in factory and 1 on site), so our current 8 staff are doing the workload of our 10 staff previously. This is a 25% increase in staff and factory productivity.
Please contact us anytime for an information package, a software demonstration or pricing Founding Director Sean O’Sullivan B Com (Hons) +64 27 2284211, phone anytime sean@manufacturingandengineering.co.nz
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Icons Clockwise from left: With SCM, Grecon and Weinig reps. John, Jake and John Hanrahan.
Evans, Stevens, Hanrahan, Rowe, Burns, Horeau, Hill, Sellman, Bevan.
In 1985 all the European brands were sold by agents. Wickman had Morbidelli, now part of the SCM Group. They also had IMA, now with Wood Tech Group, and Leitz tooling, now owned by Leitz themselves. Wickman, Allwood and Gabbett all carried some product from the current SCM Group and at some time Allwood and ACME carried Weinig. Forrest Woodworking Equipment sold Biesse and Martin Panel saws; and Homag Group machines, as did Allwood and ACME who also sold CMS and DMC, now both part of the SCM Group. In 1987 Allwood were appointed sole agents for the entire SCM range of machines and sold them for twenty-five years. Austral Engineering sold Alberti, Bacci and Rye, all brands no longer prominent here. Altendorf and the now-defunct Wadkin operated themselves. J.C Walsh sold IDM at the time and is still in business. In the mid to late 1980’s John and Jake separated Weinig Australia and Allwood and operated them as two separate companies; Weinig for solid timber and Allwood for flat panel. This was the start of the CNC revolution and Allwood was in on the ground floor. The only way was up, and John and Jake ran a very successful machinery company for over 25 years. Jake said, “We’ve had our ups and downs and that’s business
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but through it all we’ve kept growing. We’ve put on more staff, eventually reaching 75 people across Australia and New Zealand; and we’ve moved to bigger premises, always covering more of the country and more of our customers.” John adds, “It just happened, it developed from one week to the other. We never expected it to get as big as it did. Our major influencers were Dieter Kura of Weinig and Renzo Bastoni of SCM and later Biesse, who had a fantastic rapport with Australian customers.”
All the People In 1988 the first AWISA show was held at the wool stores in Yennora in Sydney’s West. AWISA, the association, was up and running with help from John and Jake. John Tiddy
was chairman at the time and with Richard Small; Robert Schloeffel; Peter Rowley; John Bainbridge; Bruce Evans, the show was virtually ‘on the road.’ In those early days many of today’s industry personalities learnt their ‘trade’ with Allwood. Some of the names you may remember are Les Field; Gary Spillane; Geoff Sellman; John Burns; Michael Stevens; Ron Smyth; Jeff Hill; John Hanrahan; Steve Horeau; Sam Rowe; Mark Bevan and Neil Forbes. In 1992 Bruce Evans had started Leda Machinery with some help from John and Jake. The fledgling company was struggling to find its feet in Adelaide, so John and Jake bought Leda and after five years sold it to Barry Gabbett. Barry sold Leda back to Bruce
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only a few years ago and Bruce has since sold it to his staff and retired. Bruce said, “I rate John and Jake as two of the biggest driving forces in the industry in the last 45 years; they were game-changers.”
African photographic safari’s in places like Botswana, camping at night and going out early morning and afternoons to see the wild animals. This year he and his wife Margaret plan to visit Mongolia.
Around 1998 Weinig approached John and Jake to buy Weinig Australia and this company is now managed by Neil Forbes, a former employee of John and Jake. The first manager though was a Brit named Barry Hughes. John said, “It was the right time, they wanted to expand and put in more stock so we thought OK, you boys can do it now.” Then in 2001 Biesse approached Allwood and became Biesse Australia with John and Jake staying on for a further two years before retiring from the industry. Jake did have a small company he called Auswood Machinery but after a year he sold all his stock to Barry Gabbett. John and Jake are still partnering and dabble in real estate in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Over the years John and Jake had accumulated some industrial real estate including the buildings in Wetherill Park currently occupied by Wood Tech Group and Weinig.
On the other hand, John plays some golf and while he says he’s no professional, he is planning a trip to the British Open in Northern Ireland this year so he can’t be all that bad. He also owns a modest boat and is involved in horse racing. In his youth he played sub-district rugby with friends such as Les Field and Bruce Evans so this year he also plans to go to the rugby World Cup in Japan. He and Jenny, his wife of fifty years is planning trips to Maui and Tuscany.
Above: Jake out with the club
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Above: Jake with 3-time world Superbike champion, Troy Bayliss
Out and about Jake is now an avid motorcycle enthusiast and spends some time riding on and off-road with a group of friends. He can often be found in scuba gear in such places as Mexico and the Bahamas, where he swims with tiger; bull; hammerhead and lemon sharks. He’s even dived in Greenland! He likes to go on
They’ve all earned a holiday or two. For nineteen years Jake was never home for Margaret’s birthday. It falls in May and that’s either a show in Milan or Hannover. Of course, the two girls have been intimately involved in the business, either as organisers or hospitality events but quite often, late into the evening they could be found at the telex machine communicating with the principals in Europe in different time zones, making sure orders were placed or that customers got an answer to a question by the next day. In the woodworking machinery supply industry, there has never been a story quite like that of Allwood’s and maybe there never will be again. John Cover and Jake martin are as highly regarded as any individual who has ever sold a woodworking machine. Over the years they have concerned themselves not only with the health of their own business but with the well-being of the industry they’ve served. Most if not everyone who has ever sold a machine will have been touched by both John and Jake. Theirs is a story of honesty and openness that was once visibly demonstrated at the Power House Museum in Sydney’s Darling Harbour where John stood up in front of his customers and said, “We can do better.” And yes, they did. ❚
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Product Update
Gerni puts worker safety first One of the greatest difficulties builders face is keeping the work site safe and clean during the building process but the Gerni ATTIX 33 M-Class Industrial dust extractor takes care of that problem. The dust extractor offers safety solutions for all dust classifications and are designed for demanding dust extraction for L and M Class dust levels for applications such as construction dust, concrete, plaster, fibre cement, wood, metal, liquids and slurries. L Class (low risk) dust includes simple house dust and materials such as soil.
The occupational exposure limit for L Class dust is >1 mg/m3, which means you need a dust extractor that catches 99 per cent of the dust. M Class (medium risk) dust includes wood dust, dust from repair compound, filler and clear coats, dust from cement, concrete and tile cement, quartziferous materials such as sand and pebbles, and even paints such as latex and oil paints. The occupational exposure limit for M Class dust is >0.1 mg/m3, which means you need a dust extractor that catches 99.9 per cent of the dust. The Gerni ATTIX 33 M-Class Industrial extractor is compliant with Australian Health and Safety guidelines for dust extraction in construction environments, please check with your state’s Health & Safety guidelines for more details about dust extraction. This high performance, easy-to-use dust extractor takes productivity, efficiency and meeting workplace Health and Safety standards to a new level. Safety is maximised through clever innovations such as a Push & Clean semi-automatic filter cleaning system, durable and washable M-class PTFE filter using a new generation of non-stick membranes, reliable filtration efficiency of fine dust particles and no dust emission from exhaust air or power tool during filter cleaning cycle.
A minimum of 99.9 per cent of fine dust particles are captured by the machine, in keeping with both L and M class dust extraction requirements. The Gerni ATTIX 33 M-Class Industrial extractor offers automatic link-up with your power tools with the Auto On/Off power outlet and the dust extractor automatically starts when the power tool is used making it ideal for electric drilling, sanding or cutting tools. It is robust and easy to handle, which also makes it easy to transport from one site to another. It offers flexible storage solutions for tools and accessories, so everything you need is at hand, including easy fixation of tube, hose and power cord with flexible rubber straps, and innovative hose and cable hook for easy and quick storage and transportation. The Gerni ATTIX 33 M-Class Industrial extractor offers a superior cleaning performance, increased air velocity in both hose, nozzle and tool connector, easy service and low maintenance cost because the same filter is used for wet and dry pick-up. It is available exclusively at Bunnings. â?š
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Product Update
Which Neolith style is for me?
“Neolith Iron Corten is one Neolith style that has been popular for months. This colour draws inspiration from a rusted iron look. I have seen this style growing in popularity for use outdoors, especially as facades, feature walls and features around barbeque areas.” But what if you don’t want the status quo? There is more to Neolith than the popular styles. With designs that draw inspiration from Marbles, Granites and other exotic stones, as well as, timeless elements such as timber, concrete, metals and sand, Neolith has a style and finish for every look. David goes on to explain some other popular Neolith colours and the hidden jewels in the Neolith range. “Neolith’s newly released Blanco Carrara BC02 and Zaha Stone are also popular, especially with home renovators. These two Sintered Stones are elegant representations of white and grey marbles, rounding out the Neolith Classtone range.”
Above: Neolith Zaha Stone With 38 colours available in four different finishes, Neolith is perfect for every project. Transforming imagination into functionality, Neolith is more than a breath-taking Sintered Stone. This surface is scratch, stain and heat-resistant, as well as, impervious to chemical cleaners and easy to clean – making it perfect for the kitchen! With so many colour options to choose from, it might be hard to pin-point the colour for your dream home. Recently, we chatted with CDK Stone’s Director, David Onesti to discuss which Neolith styles are current on trend. “Neolith has a colour for everyone and for every design. Whatever look you are going for in your home, Neolith has a colour and finish to suit you. Right now, there are three Neolith styles that are clearly dominating the Australian design community.”
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David continues, “Neolith Estatuario is by far the most popular style in the range. With a bright backdrop and elegant marble veining, it is hard to go past the sense of luxury Neolith Estatuario adds to a home.” Neolith Estatuario is characterised by its combination of thick and subtle marble veining. This contemporary twist on a classic radiates tranquilly and harmonises with light, dark and timber elements effortlessly.
“There are some undiscovered gems in the Neolith range too. I personally love Neolith La Boheme’s representation of Labanese cedar and I have seen this stone used perfectly in creating a uniformed floor from the kitchen out to an alfresco.”
Below: Neolith Blanco Carrara
“The industrial look is still a popular choice for many renovators. Neolith Beton takes the timeless look of concrete and turns it into a modern masterpiece. Beton adds character and maturity, as well as, a tone base to your home,” David explains. Moving on from popular grey and white stones, David explains a bold Neolith colour that is on the rise.
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Product Update
“Another favourite of mine is Neolith Nero Zimbabwe. This style has a subtle combination of black and dark grey tones, but the focal point is the textured surface. This style works perfectly for splashbacks and cabinetry.” Whatever design you are after for your dream home, Neolith has a colour for you. This premium Sintered Stone is ideal for adding a sense of luxury to your next project. ❚
Above: Neolith Estatuario
goCabinets Set to Unveil “eBay for the Australian Cabinet Maker” Australia’s leading online cabinet ordering service, goCabinets is preparing to release its game changing new functionality to transform its service into a one-stop-shop equivalent to an eBay for the Australian Cabinet Maker. For the past 6 years goCabinets has been providing cabinet makers and the trades with the ultimate platform for expanding their businesses by allowing users to completely customise, instantly quote, and
order flat pack cabinetry online for their client projects. This advanced and freeto-use functionality has led to increased growth in users across the country. goCabinets have now set their sights on expanding the platform itself with the impending activation of an eCommerce platform to ensure the service can supply the needs of the smallest or largest aspect of a job. “We’re really excited for what this eCommerce platform will allow our users to do” says goCabinets project manager, Justin Collins. “We’ve always prided ourselves on the fact that a cabinet maker can order a single customised cabinet or 50 whole kitchens from the comfort of their desk. We
used to say you could order everything but the kitchen sink, well now you can order that too.” The goCabinets eCommerce platform will provide users the flexibility and freedom to expand their order beyond cabinet products: • Hardware • Appliances • Glues & Screws • Services • Secondhand machines/tools “The capability will be limitless, if a manufacturer wants to offer a box of beer on the system then they technically could. How many users would add a box of screws, extra hinges or even additional edge tape onto an order if they could?” Additions like the goCabinets eCommerce platform, consistent updates to the service and an ever-expanding reach of aligned manufacturers certainly reveals goCabinets’ strong ambition. An ambition and commitment to advancing a cabinetmaking and building industry that is fast accepting online ordering as a way of the future. To be one of the first to access this new eCommerce platform, visit the goCabinets website and register for your free account. ❚
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Product Update Area gripper FMHD: Easy to maintain & effective in timber construction Schmalz is extending its portfolio of efficient vacuum solutions for fully automatic handling in the wood-working industry with the area gripping system FMHD. This gripper is robust, easy to maintain, and – by virtue of its integrated vacuum reservoir – uses very little energy.
upon request. The workpiece should have a width of at least 50 millimeters to ensure that the gripper can lift it reliably. In the Schmalz portfolio, the FMHD fits in between types FMP and SBX. It is lighter than the SBX and equipped with a tighter suction cell grid but at the same time more robust than the FMP. The FMHD features a favorable priceto-performance ratio and it can be easily integrated into older installations.
Schmalz developed the FMHD for handling of naturally growing workpieces in challenging environments, such as those in the sawmill industry. The gripper can transport cut or planed goods before and after processing as well as glued boards and walls for prefabricated houses. It is connected via a hose connection to an external vacuum generator, generally an electric vacuum blower or vacuum pump. Internally installed valves keep the installation costs low.
Furthermore, the FMHD is exceptionally easy to service: A folding quick-change suction plate permits drying the sealing foam separately from the gripper. At the same time, the interior spaces of the gripper are easily accessible for clearing out saw dust or other residues. Time-consuming refitting operations on the gripper are rendered unnecessary. A quick-change adhesive film further permits worn-out sealing foams to be replaced effortlessly and with no cleaning required. The operator may see maintenance and standstill times reduced by up to 70 percent.
As an option, Schmalz can equip the gripper with NFC (near-field communication). This provides significant data from the system to the operator’s mobile end device in real time. As a result, process control is facilitated and faults are discovered quickly, before expensive damage is incurred. ❚
By virtue of its compact dimensions and low weight, this gripper is ideally suited for operation with gantries and industry robots.
Schmalz offers the gripper in standard lengths of 1,040 and 1,250 millimeters however custom dimensions are available
MiTech Advantage is Australia’s newest service provider for Cabinet Vision. Whether you are a business who already utilises Cabinet Vision, or you are new to the program, MiTech Advantage can help ensure you make the most of your software investment and start seeing improved returns and greater efficiency.
Gain the advantage with Cabinet Vision
MiTechs goal is to offer you the best service and support, whether it be during the initial implementation stage, training new and existing staff, updating to the latest version or improving your existing system. Offering personalised, flexible options to suit your business needs, you can be sure of consistent support and quality results. With over 16 years using and supporting customers with Cabinet Vision, MiTech can help your business be in control, more efficient and improve the bottom line. ❚
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Product Update
Timberline Bathroom Products ‘Make it Easy’ Based in Armidale, NSW, family-owned and run Timberline Bathroom Products continues to go from strength to strength as one of Australia’s largest bathroom vanity manufacturers. Their range of bathroom products can be found at stores such as Harvey Norman, Beaumont Tiles, Domayne and independent bathroom retailers nationally. Operations Manager, Marius van der Walt says one of the company’s priorities in order to continue growing and expanding is securing suppliers whose commitment to customer service matches theirs. “We are growing 30 percent year on year. We recently built another factory and are already starting to outgrow it! One of the cornerstones of our success is partnering with suppliers who help us meet or exceed our goals. They become, in effect, a secret weapon for us.” Industry outlook When asked about the future of the flat panel/cabinet industry, Marius says a lot more technology is being applied. “We’re going to end up with as many IT-savvy
people as tradies in the factory. Automation is becoming huge moving forward. Also, a lot of our energy goes into finding ways to be greener and more socially and environmentally friendly, so we are always exploring new materials, techniques and expertise. Manufacturing in many places is dying but we’re bucking the trend. Some of our 26 apprentices go on to do two trades (panel manufacturing and building demountable homes). We’re currently investigating doing more machining and that type of production in the housing side as well.”
According to Marius, manufacturing bathroom vanities is a recession-proof market. “When there’s a boom, there’s a big market for new builds. In a bust cycle, people renovate so there’s always demand for what we offer.” The importance of aligning with likeminded suppliers Timberline discovered the Panel Tools Online stand at AWISA 2018. “From our first experience with Panel Tools Online, we’ve found that they run their business with a similar culture to ours,” Marius says. “When you’re used to providing really good customer service, you know when you’re getting it and when you’re not. Our rep, Fraser Killen has been very proactive from the beginning in terms of not doing the hard sell. His visits to our facility always bring more value to the partnership and our machinists can always call him up and get the information they need instantly in terms of things like feeding speed rates and new types of tooling for different types of
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Product Update
material. We do in-house design here and when we need a tool, Panel Tools Online get a sample to us the next day.”
has halved. The cutters last twice as long and produce a very clear cut. We can actually machine faster than before, so our production cycle times have sped up by about 25 percent. Our lead times are often half or faster than our competitors; we offer five days from order to dispatch and we need tooling that can keep up with that. Xtreme Blue does.” 25 percent improvement in production cycle times Marius says the team are particularly impressed with PTO’s Xtreme Blue range of products which they use on MDF and chipboard. “It’s a really good cutter,” he says. “We cut a lot of panels and all our cutting is done on CNC routers, so we go through quite a bit. Since we started using Xtreme Blue, our replacement time
Timberline Bathroom Products intends to enjoy its partnership with Panel Tools Online for the long-term. “They’re a good fit for us,” Marius explains. “Our motto is ‘making it easy’ and they do the same. It’s easy to get the right tool for a specific application, they’re easy to deal with and all this takes some of the headache out of running a factory that uses as many machines as we run.”. ❚
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Product Update
My Machine Hub website road-test Online is the place to be these days and the new ‘My Machine Hub’ website promises to simplify the research stage of anyone looking at purchasing a new machine. You may still have to speak to a real person at some stage, especially if you’re putting together a production cell, but you can save a lot of time with this very handy online tool. There are other similar sites already operating but My Machine Hub is targeted only at the furniture and wood working industries; you won’t find a tractor on this site and you won’t have to wade through machines you’re not interested in either. Getting onto the site is easy, just type in www.mymachinehub.com and you’re there. No log on or password is necessary unless you need to upload or manage an account or compare machines and, in that case, you will need to provide your company details. The website has a clean, stylish and uncluttered feel about it with nine dropdown menus. From the home screen you can go directly to ‘Compare Now’ for machinery comparisons or scroll down for links to Ligna, a few magazines including this one, and consulting services. Further down you will find featured products and the latest news.
categories and you can search by brands, and all the major suppliers I could think of are already there. For some examples, entering Homag came up with 24 machines; Biesse gave me 41 machines and Leda gave me 35. One of the primary reasons you would look at this site is to compare machines. You might have received a brochure from a sales person, or maybe picked one up at a trade show; although suppliers are more likely now to have them online now. The My Machine Hub website saves you the time of looking at multiple supplier websites, so you can narrow your search down to a reasonable number of possibilities to examine in detail. You can compare machines either from the ‘Compare Machines’ tab, or by looking at individual brands where to can click ‘Add to Compare’ and a blue ‘Compare List’ tab pops in from the side of the screen. I compared an Altendorf with a KDT panel saw and instantly found out what was in stock; machine table sizes and a list of specifications of each machine.
“The My Machine Hub website saves you the time of looking at multiple supplier websites, so you can narrow your search down to a reasonable number of possibilities to examine in detail.” From the ‘Compare Machines’ tab you can enter a machine type, let’s say ‘flatbed nesting machines’ and a comprehensive list comes up. You can click on any machine you are interested in and have a look, then click ‘Add to Compare’ or you can click a scale symbol on the picture and simply add the machine to your list. I chose six different brands and was able to instantly get an idea of the machines that most suited my wish-list. The only issue I had
Moving onto the discussion forum tab I entered a short piece in ‘General Industry Chit Chat’ about the interzum and Ligna shows in May and this went off simply and smoothly. People can search for your chat by entering tag words that you specify. I hope this takes off because this is an excellent way for the industry to communicate. You can find machines by looking at
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with my small PC screen was that with six machines, two were off the edge of my screen and I had to scroll left and right to view two of them, but you can achieve this easily enough with the mouse. If you discount a machine, delete it from the list and you will eventually have two or three machines that you can pursue with the supplier. You can do this directly from the website and some suppliers even have a live chat so you can talk with them directly. I spoke with the developer and software products are about to be added, along with stone and other types of machinery. This is only going to get better and better; it’s terrific and I love it. ❚
UNIQUE CLIP ‘N’ CLEAN SYSTEM
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Interview
Every Goal a Winner Interview with Ron Smyth
WOODTECH Group’s Ron Smyth started out machining components for a commercial joinery in Brisbane. Now, as a major supplier of machinery and equipment it would be a safe bet to say he knows the industry from the ground up.
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he WOODTECH Group is one of the few remaining machinery and equipment suppliers that are wholly controlled from within Australia. Over the years the major players from Europe have bought out their Australian agents and now operate their own branches in
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Australia, selling their range of machines. WOODTECH Group is different in that they supply a choice of machines and equipment from a diverse selection of well-known brands from around the World. Supplier recently interviewed Ron Smyth about the WOODTECH Group and his involvement in the industry since he started out as an apprentice wood machinist in 1982. Ron’s trade experience was spent machining joinery and cabinet components for a large commercial joinery in Brisbane. In 1984 the industry was just starting to ramp up with high-tech equipment and while the older employees weren’t keen on the new
technology, young Ron was eager to learn. Ron’s early experience was programming and setting up leading brands like Morbidelli point-to-point CNC; Giben beam saws; HolzHer edge-banders and Griggio equipment. Because of his enthusiasm and commitment to the technology, he was made foreman in the fourth year of his apprenticeship, responsible for leading 22 people in the factory. It was here that Ron learnt that the industry was changing, and that technology would be the ‘workforce’ of the future. Shortly after completing his apprenticeship Ron was approached by Wickman Australia’s Michael Dicker to join his service team. It was here that Ron developed his appreciation for service and understood what this means to the industry, both as a user and as a provider. Wickman closed their doors in 1992 and two years later Ron started at Allwood Machinery with John Cover and Jake Martin where he served for ten years. When Allwood was sold to Biesse in 2001 Ron continued, first in sales and then as Managing Director when John and Jake left two years later. After twenty years with Allwood/Biesse, Ron left in 2013 to buy into the WOODTECH Group where he is now Group Managing Director. The WOODTECH Group’s turnover is based on 70% machine sales and 30% service and other industry support. The group currently supplies over a dozen different brands of machinery from all corners of the globe. Ron calls it an “Independent group of experienced partners” where every brand is of equal importance. While no machine dominates, the Anderson brand currently accounts for the highest turnover with sales of over seventy routers every year! The group also sell some of the highest performing machines available
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Interview
in the Schelling and IMA product. These are used extensively at Nobilia Kitchens in Germany where one of their two factories produce 120,000 more kitchens every year than the whole of Australia does. Supplier is informed that Nobilia spend 70 million Euro’s ($112 million Australian dollars) every year on machines and most of it comes from IMA Schelling.
“WOODTECH technicians are in every State, close to the machines they install... we prefer the human connection where our technicians can often be contacted directly by the customer.”
Above: Mezzanine System; Service is a major part of the WOODTECH story. The group doesn’t just fix problems but actively works with their customers to provide a service that predicts upcoming service requirements to prevent costly machine downtimes. In Queensland for example, the group employs only two sales
Below: IMA Schelling
persons but twelve service personnel and this ratio is indicative of all their branches Australia-wide. They buy parts from the original suppliers and this is not necessarily the company that built the machine. These parts could include bearings, hoses or electronics that are made by some of the World’s leading companies and this saves their customers money. Pretty much everyone working with the group has been a trades-person at one time, such is the group’s focus on having people that understand what their customers need. Ron says, “WOODTECH technicians are in every State, close to the machines they install. We believe a centralised service system is not always ideal; we prefer the human connection where our technicians can often be contacted directly by the customer.” Two years ago, the group started quoting on production lines inclusive of board storage; CNC machining; edge-banding; flowthrough drilling and hardware insertion and robotic sorting systems. Ron says there are about 120 companies in Australia that have invested in this level of automation and an equal amount capable of adopting it right now. He says, “We’ve seen production double and sometimes triple as a result of
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Interview Below: Anderson GS Series
this level of automation” but concedes that massive gains are not always possible despite what some others may tell you. Ron explains, “Where’s the extra work coming from? You’re going to have to take it from someone else and this may not always be possible. We recognise this and work with our customers to create a balance; turning the labour costs you’re spending into machines and adding to the bottom line.” One example of what the WOODTECH Group was able to do is a Sydney company that were out of space but needed to grow. They didn’t want to move because everyone knows where they are. The solution was to replace three existing nesting machines with two high-performing Anderson machines with the super-fast magnetic drive system delivering 1,500 parts per machine per shift. A Barbaric board store was installed as a mezzanine system and the parts were sorted and lowered
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through the floor onto the production line (see mezzanine picture). The bottom line was production increasing from 2,000 parts per shift to 3,000 parts per shift, extra floor space; three operators on the CNC machines and only one operator on the edge-banders. The WOODTECH Group was founded in Queensland in 1992 by the directors Derek Van Der Kley and John Van Gilst of D&J Woodworking Machinery. Sam Shatkhin and Norm Wharton started up in Melbourne about the same time. The WOODTECH Group directors include Ron Smyth of RJS Machinery in Queensland; Ron Smyth and Scott Hickey of SJR Machinery in New South Wales; Ron Smyth and Scott Hickey of RSJ Machinery in Victoria; Matthew Hodge of ITC SA in South Australia; Ron Smyth and Tim Matthews of RT Machinery in Western Australia. In the last five years WOODTECH Group established the Queensland branch;
followed by Sydney, Perth and Melbourne in successive years, doubling the number of people and tripling the group’s turnover in this short period of time. Ron says, “We don’t need every furniture manufacturer on our books to be successful. What we think is important is that we do business with the right sort of companies, those we can set up properly to last twenty years. We could be one of the last suppliers in Australia to view machine purchases from a user’s point of view; looking to satisfy Australian conditions and needs. We’re certainly not a sausage factory supplier; we need to make every goal a winner.” He continues, “We’d like to think that buying through a local supplier is like going down to the local butcher instead of the supermarket; you get a better price; a much better product and better service, and the profits stay here in Australia.” You can’t argue with that. ❚
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Education
The State of TAFE
Tens of thousands of young Australians are not in TAFE courses compared to five years ago. Rising tuition fees and TAFE colleges closing down ‘unprofitable’ training courses has left the trades with a serious shortage of skilled labour.
T
he Hon. (John) Giovanni Domenic BARILARO, MP recently said “Let’s look at the facts about TAFE. A few years ago a Certificate III course cost $350. Now, a school leaver pays $1,300 for the same qualification and if it’s a second qualification, expect to pay over $4,000. For a diploma in Nursing in today’s smart, skilled World, expect to cough up $15,000.”
Victorian Liberal Government slashed nearly $300 million from the state’s TAFE colleges, resulting in full time teachers being replaced by sessional teachers; courses being axed completely and student fees doubling in many cases. In addition, the time a student would attend a TAFE college and the amount of time he/she would have access to an actual teacher was in many cases slashed. Similar cuts occurred in other Australian states over a number of years.
There was evidence of rorting and financial mismanagement clearly available later than these cuts in 2014 when a Sydney based private provider received $111 million in funding and produced only 117 diplomas, effectively costing the Australian taxpayer almost a million dollars per graduate! Even two years after that rort came out; Kelsey Munro of the Age reported that “It is costing taxpayers on average seven times more to educate a student at a private vocational college than a public TAFE, according to new analysis of federal government figures.” This was in spite of the evidence presented on TV by the ABC where an employer said that workplace assessors come out and spend a few minutes to assess dozens of hours of trade courses. One wonders how TAFE Colleges are struggling to make ends meet with a business model like that. At the launch of the Australian Conservative party’s Victorian branch in Melbourne in August 2017 Senator Cory Bernardi spoke about Universities and TAFE Colleges offering courses based on perceived income for the training provider. He said that some courses have thousands of graduates while only a few hundred ever got a job in that profession or trade. Students sign up to a course, often based on the popularity of that course. Bernardi said that the University or
The costs of vocational training have risen alarmingly but the system itself hasn’t worked well for years. It might even be failing to deliver what Australian industry is desperately in need of; skilled workers. Look back over even a few years and you will find dozens of instances where the system has broken down. At the end of April 2012 the
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FOR SALE
A HIGHLY PROFITABLE JOINERY BUSINESS.
A change of pace Every now and then comes an opportunity that seems almost too good to be true, but it could be just the thing that you are looking for. In the Southern Highland region of New South Wales an existing business opportunity is becoming available. The owner for the last 30-years is retiring and wants the successful joinery business to continue, producing custom built high end domestic joinery. This is a business that is well-known and respected and would suit an operator looking to build a lifestyle in this very beautiful part of Australia. With house prices in Sydney averaging $1.14 million and Melbourne almost $900,000 there is plenty of opportunity to obtain a very comfortable property in the Southern Highlands for around $600,000 giving you a great start. Couple that with a profitable business suiting up to four persons with a substantial amount of future projects already in place for 2019. The current owner of the business is offering a handover period to ensure a smooth transition for the new owner. The workshop is large and has a comprehensive range of equipment, tools and working stock of everyday items such as hardware and board of all types and thicknesses. Long term clients are aware the business is to be sold and support the change, mostly due to the age of the existing owner. This is a unique opportunity for someone or a couple in their mid-thirties and upward, with some experience running a business or someone with drive and ambition. A cabinet making or joinery background would be essential as the work is varied and interesting. All the hard work is done and everything is in place for the right person to continue on. The jobs are mostly local and there are long term existing business relationships with some of the biggest and best custom builders in the area. It’s an established business that, in many ways, could be a blank canvas for someone to grow the business. If you are looking for a change of pace, you will not be disappointed. FOR CONFIDENTIAL DETAILS
Contact Vicky Cammiade at Supplier magazine 03 9890 0815 or email vicky.cammiade@elitepublishing.com.au
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Education
going to be paid for training delivered, which means we will have to reduce costs.” No mention of the fact that the TAFE students were disadvantaged or might suffer as a result of the issue; only that their funding would be cut!
TAFE colleges should be publishing data on the percentage of graduates who actually found a job and this would be a better way to spend taxpayer’s money. Bernardi also suggested that if the job rate for graduates of that course fell below a certain percentage, the University or TAFE College should refund half the fees they got for that course. He said this would make the training provider look to putting the public money into courses that actually benefitted commerce and industry. Mike Rowe is an American actor known mainly for his work on shows like “Dirty Jobs” and “Somebody’s gotta do it.” In 2017 Mike said that the “cookie-cutter” approach to promoting higher education led to thousands of graduates with expensive degrees from excellent schools, but no prospects in their chosen field, and no way to pay off their student loans. Millions of Americans still view a career in the trades as some kind of “vocational consolation prize,” a bias as misguided as any other prejudice. Stephen Parker wrote in the academic journal ‘The Conversation’ August 2017 that “Universities have become too vocational in nature; too focused on jobs and that the vocational education sector is reeling from 15 years of funding cuts and the aftershocks of failed free-market experiments. Numbers
Supplier May/June 2019
in trade apprenticeships and traineeships are plummeting. Less than 30% of vocational students in Australia work in the areas in which they studied.” A few months later this view was supported by John Quiggin; Australian Laureate Fellow, University of Queensland who wrote in January 2018 that “Vocational education in Australia is in a state of crisis. Traditional models of on-the-job training (apprenticeships and traineeships) are in decline. The most obvious effects have arisen in the for-profit sector itself, where most of the leading large-scale providers have been exposed as essentially fraudulent operations, exploiting government subsidies and leaving students with worthless qualifications. However, the pressure to respond to market competition has also had damaging effects within the TAFE sector.” In July last year Pallavi Singhal reported in the Sydney Morning Herald that “Students and teachers at TAFE NSW will be affected after more than 400,000 marks were not entered into the agency’s failing student management system in an issue that could also affect funding.” TAFE NSW’s managing director Jon Black’s response was that “With over 400,000 marks not entered across our 10 instances of [EBS], we are simply not
In another Singhal article August last year TAFE teachers reported having to bring their own toilet paper and teaching supplies to school, or having to ‘steal’ them from other departments. A spokesman for TAFE NSW denied the claims but then Jon Black came out and emailed teachers “Review your planned expenditure and eliminate costs or activities that do not support essential business activities.” In April last year TAFE SA was reported by the ABC that “TAFE SA lost sight of the quality of its training courses as it pursued a single-minded focus on costcutting, according to an independent review of the training provider commissioned by the former Labor government.” And if you think the situation is getting any better, consider the June 2018 media release by the Australian Education Union that said “The future of Australia’s TAFE system, which has provided vocational education for millions of Australian plumbers, nurses, child care staff and other workers is under significant threat due to a dire lack of government funding. The TAFE system has taught generations of Australian workers how to keep the country running. However the TAFE system itself now needs repair after governments cut funding by more than 15% between 2007 and 2016.” In opposition leader Bill Shorten’s response to last year’s Federal budget Shorten said “It (the Liberal party budget) contains a sneaky new $270 million cut to TAFE.” Late last year Robert Bolton wrote in the Financial Review that “Skills education in NSW is in crisis, with business complaining of difficulty in working with TAFE, enrolments falling and an independent report arguing
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51
Education
a massive reorganisation several years ago has returned the organisation to a discredited, centralised structure against the recommendations of three earlier government reports.” Damning commentary indeed, but evidence that TAFE in Australia still has a long way to go before it can proudly stand before the Australian manufacturing sector and announce that they can provide a quality training system that meets the needs of industry at a price everyone can afford. And as a footnote, the Victorian Government proudly announced 48 free TAFE courses in 2018 and while furniture making makes the list of pre-apprenticeship courses on offer, it doesn’t make the full apprenticeship list. In fact, there appears to be NO manufacturing apprenticeships on the free list, unless you classify engineering as a manufacturing trade. ❚
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52
Overseas News
Concelo® wins international Red Dot Design Award
F
ollowing on from winning the Gold Star Award at AWISA 2018, Concelo by Hideaway has been awarded the prestigious international Red Dot design award. The New Zealand-designed and manufactured Concelo bin was one of more than 5,500 entries submitted from 55 countries for the highly-regarded international design competition based in Essen, Germany. Entries are judged by an international jury panel of 40 experts who only award the sought-after Red Dot seal of quality to products that feature an outstanding design. Hideaway Bins, is a 100% family owned and operated business run by daughter
and father team Jamie and Allen Bertelsen. Jamie says the goal was to design the best bin possible for the home owner. “It took seven years of research, development and testing but the result is a paradigm shift for a kitchen appliance that is used 20 to 30 times a day on average. We believe Concelo will ultimately change the way the industry will look at rubbish management in the kitchen - a bucket in a drawer will no longer be good enough, as homeowners are far more aware of the need to deal with waste in a smart way,” she says.
The installer-friendly door adjustment and new runner system have received positive trade reaction. The speciallydesigned synchronised soft close runners are concealed in sleek aluminium profiles to match the look and closing action of premium drawers. The over extension runner design makes it possible for the bin to be mounted at bench height, whilst allowing the back bucket to be removed independent of the front bucket, clearing bench overhangs up to 35mm.
The company’s investment in R&D has been a crucial part of their success. “We couldn’t have made this fabulous design without the hard work and commitment of our small R&D team. We also used a small focus group of cabinet makers and designers who gave their time to provide feedback on our early designs.” The Red Dot design award reinforces the feedback that cabinetmakers and homeowners have been giving Concelo.
What truly set Concelo apart in the judges’ comments was the Active Lid design. Hidden from sight inside the cabinet, the Active Lid controls odours and can be removed simply for cleaning with the push of a button. Along with the Clip ’n’ Clean trays, the lid can be washed in warm soapy water and clipped back into position in seconds, eliminating potential dirt traps in difficult spaces. Concelo is more than just buckets in a drawer and overcomes the most common issues – including grime and odours associated with the most-used but leastthought-about kitchen appliance. The award winning Concelo Range is available through distribution partners Hafele, Nover and Galvin Hardware. ❚
Supplier May/June 2019
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53
Overseas News
PYTHA presents Version 24
areas etc. to be created very quickly and conveniently in the “Curves” menu. The “smart equalizer function” will let you easily adapt doors, shelves and drawers of different widths to match.
After PYTHA won the “Best Stand Award” at the IFFS- International Furniture Fair in Singapore earlier this year with its outstanding, eye-catching design, it will now be presenting its Version 24 at the upcoming Ligna exhibition. With Version 24 of the 3D-CAD System, PYTHA presents a full solution for all wood working industry needs. It has been enhanced by many powerful functions, providing a faster and more efficient workflow.
Above: Best stand award at the IFFS
You can now personalize the whole user interface. MyPYTHA previously allowed you to compile your own menu. To simplify the PYTHA interface, you can now hide individual functions that you don’t need. Last but not least: it is now possible to switch languages while constructing your scene - without restarting the software. A great tool for the collaboration of multilingual teams. ❚
The PYTHA modeler now offers a faster plot sheet function, which allows details to rotate and an explosion view, without actually exploding the 3D models in the design. Panoramic images can now also be calculated in the PYTHA modeler. Without further editing you can view the resulting image file on your computer, smartphone or Tablet using the standard panoramic apps. Version 24 sets new standards with the PYTHA parametric design. It is significantly more powerful and flexible, and with the “PYTHA rib function” it allows frames for counters, curved walls, round seating
Desire for change and progress is in the air at Xylexpo After the decision to bring the exhibition timeframe to four days (from Tuesday 26 to Friday 29 May 2020), a new logo has been officially launched, twenty years after the rebranding from Interbimall to Xylexpo and the introduction of the logo that has characterized the international exhibition until the latest edition in 2018.
Supplier May/June 2019
So, as of 2020, a new age is opening with a visual symbol that represents the mission of the event, i.e. tools to process wood and wood-based materials, while adding a modern, contemporary, clean and linear style.
represents our identity: a practical, modern event where exhibitors and visitors can recognize each other immediately and easily, staying focused on their business, namely the demand and supply of innovation”, said the exhibition manager Dario Corbetta. ❚
“We decided to “clean up” the old logo and create an easy-to-read, stronger image that
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54
Overseas News
Demand for American Hardwood species continue to grow
T
he latest figures released by the American Hardwood Export Council suggest that the preference for American species in Australia and New Zealand continues to go from strength to strength.
markets with volume increases of 50 per cent in Australia to 712 cubic metres and over 400 per cent in New Zealand in what appears to be a response to a shift to a richer palate amongst designers and architects in the region.
US hardwood lumber exports to Australia increased by 21 per cent in 2018 and to New Zealand by 11 per cent to a value of USD 15.6 million and USD 6.65 million respectively on the previous year. At the same time, across Oceania the volume of American hardwood veneer imports increased by 25 per cent and flooring by 24 per cent.
American red oak, the lesser-known but more abundantly available cousin of white oak, is also of growing interest amongst importers with a volume increase of just under 20 per cent in Australia. Rod Wiles, Regional Director for the American Hardwood Export Council says of the figures “American red oak is the one to watch. It is the most widelyavailable species in the American hardwood
American white oak continued to dominate for both Australia and New Zealand, a reflection of an enduring global and local trend for this blond timber. However, American walnut also saw a boost in both
forest and has similar characteristics to white oak. The grain is more open and it is actually more suitable for staining than white oak, which makes it a more versatile choice in many ways. We are fielding a lot of enquiries from the more savvy architects and designers about this species, which is one of the reasons we’ve decided to make it the focus of our Denfair collaboration in Melbourne this June”.
“Australia and New Zealand remain important markets for us” he adds. “Not only does the demand continue to be strong but the designers and architects are very sophisticated in their understanding and use of different species. They appreciate the advantages and limitations and also value the strong environmental credentials of US hardwoods. We are delighted that our industry can supply raw materials that meet their exacting needs.” ❚
Supplier May/June 2019
www.suppliermagazine.com.au
55
Overseas News
Interior Design & Production Software
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Cornerstone Maxx is a corner cabinet solution that is easy to assemble, convenient and functional. Based on the principles of universal design, it utilises the kitchen corner’s interior space in an incredibly tidy manner, and with greater convenience than ever before. Since its market launch, the corner cabinet solution has attracted a great deal of attention. The consistently positive feedback, received both from customers and fitters, has already been confirmed with the awarding of numerous prestigious prizes including the German Design Award 2018, two awards in the Universal Design competition 2018 and the Goldstar Awards Honourable Mentions at AWISA. The innovative system places the contents on two straight shelves in front of the cabinet. The often poorly-utilised, or even completely unutilised spaces in the corner cabinet can be accessed with great ease. This has no impact whatsoever on the surrounding cabinets, since Cornerstone Maxx only swings in front of its own carcass, and in so doing, PAM, the power-assisted movement system, uniquely supports the motion sequence. With energy storage support
and end-damped infeed and outfeed, it opens and closes almost automatically and noiselessly. Cornerstone Maxx also satisfies the highest design requirements. Thanks to its filigree design, the fastening system is nearly invisible, yet it simultaneously achieves a load capacity of up to 25 kilograms per shelf. The shelf bottoms have a modern straight-line look and don’t come with any unnecessary or annoying indentations. What is more, they can be loaded using a large surface area, thereby making optimal use of the storage space. Cornerstone Maxx is available for different carcass and door widths, thus ensuring that it also satisfies different country-specific requirements. As regards installation, Cornerstone Maxx is extremely effective. The system consists of just three parts and doesn’t require a second mounting point - a single standpipe provides maximum stability, in addition to allowing simple height adjustment, even after installation. In addition, Vauth-Sagel achieves all of this with fewer screws and fewer drill holes – not only does this save time, it also provides valuable storage space. ❚
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FITECMA 2019 Wood, furniture, forestation & technology international fair Buenos Aires, Argentina http://feria.fitecma.com.ar/es/
reproLIGNUM 2019 International trade fair of materials, semifinished products, equipment and technology for the wood industry Zagreb, Croatia www.reprolignum.drvo.hr/
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AfriWood Kenya 2019 Woodworking and furniture manufacturing exhibition Nairobi, Kenya www.expogr.com/afriwood/
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WMF 2019 International furniture machinery and woodworking machinery fair Shanghai, China https://10times.com/wmf-shanghai
17-20 AWFS Fair 2019 Woodworking products, services, new technologies Las Vegas NV, United States http://awfsfair.org/ 23-25 ForMobile 2019 International trade show for the furniture and wood industries Sao Paulo, Brazil www.formobile.com.br/en/home.html
AUGUST 2019 15-18 Forst Messe 2019 International forestry fair Luzern, Switzerland www.forstmesse.com/htm/home.htm
10-13 DREMA Furnica 2019 International trade fair of machines and tools for the wood and furniture industries Poznan, Poland www.furnica.pl/en/ 12-14 Afriwood Tanzania 2019 Wood machinery and tools, materials & supplies, furniture machinery Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania www.expogr.com/tanzania/ woodexpo/
Web: www.suppliermagazine.com.au, www.infotile.com PUBLISHER Vicky Cammiade Email: vicky.cammiade@elitepublishing.com.au ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Trudi Woodward Email: trudi.woodward@elitepublishing.com.au EDITORIAL For editorial enquiries please email: info@elitepublishing.com.au EDITOR Philip Ashley Email: philipneilashley@yahoo.com.au CIRCULATION For circulation enquiries please email: info@elitepublishing.com.au PRODUCTION For artwork and production enquiries please email: production@elitepublishing.com.au
18-21 VietnamWood & Furnitec 2019 International woodworking industry fair, furniture, fitting components & accessories exhibition Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam www.vietnamwoodexpo.com
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