PW 0523 digimag

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TIME TO STRETCH THE LEGS I

n May, I depart for my 17th consecutive Ligna in Hannover, Germany. If the pandemic hadn’t canceled the event in 2021, I suppose this would have been 18. Regardless, I’m sure by now you’re thinking this guy must be getting up in years.

I know there must be many other Americans who have a longer consecutive Ligna attendance streak than me. But I know of only one—Fred Kurpiel, who is co-chairman with me of the PELICE event held in the off-Ligna year, and who had stints with Siempelkamp and Imeas in addition to his long-ongoing academic and consulting work.

I also know of one person who also will be attending his 17th Ligna in a row—Cole Martin, sales manager at Dieffenbacher. In fact, Cole and I attended our first Ligna in 1989, and we met there when he was a product manager for Küsters and I was headstrong into moving Panel World onto the international stage. I remember the exact moment I met Cole on the Ligna floor, and we discovered we had each graduated from Auburn University—Cole in 1976 and me in 1977.

Looking back, it’s not surprising that I met Cole at Ligna in 1989, because I was making the rounds of all the continuous press manufacturers at the time. Continuous presses were coming on strong in the composite board sector, and Küsters was a continuous press pioneer, and at that Ligna it was emphasizing its new profile control system on its twofold design continuous press.

Siempelkamp made no bones about its priority at Ligna ’89, considering the theme of its display was “Continuous Pressing with Siempelkamp ContiRoll.” At least a dozen were in operation worldwide by then, including several at Louisiana-Pacific facilities in the U.S. A few years earlier, LP kingpin Harry Merlo had said to me of the continuous press, “It’s the thing of the future.”

Speaking of continuous presses, a lot of people at Ligna ’89 were speaking of the Bison Hydro-Dyn continuous press, and in particular about two of them nearing installment in the U.S. at a new particleboard plant in Mt. Jewett, Pa.

called Allegheny Particleboard, the brainchild of forest products physicist Volker Stockmann, who almost brought in Weyerhaeuser as his partner, before that fell through, leading to General Electric as a major investor.

But by no means was my first Ligna only about continuous presses. Remember the spindleless veneer lathe? Raute had fine-tuned it enough by then to display and operate a 5 ft. production lathe on the show floor. It drew massive crowds.

I could go on and on, which back then Ligna seemed to do, while the late international sales rep for Panel World, Alan Brett, showed me the ropes. We didn’t have a booth for many Lignas, so we put on a lot of miles, during and after the show. Today, and for many of the previous Lignas, Alan’s son, Murray, and I have worked out of our booth, while Murray’s wife, Liz, has handled the booth duty.

We all hope to see you there. PW

Ligna was also a first for Coe Manufacturing in 1989. That looks like VP Ralph Gage, who passed away seven years ago.

Plywood & Panel World, Inc. harmless from and against any loss, expenses, or other liability resulting from any claims or lawsuits for libel violations or right of privacy or publicity, plagiarism, copyright or trademark infringement and any other claims or lawsuits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Plywood & Panel World, Inc. neither endorses nor makes any representation or guarantee as to the quality of goods and services advertised in Panel World. Hatton-Brown Publishers, Inc. reserves the right to reject any advertisement which it deems inappropriate. Copyright ® 2023. All rights reserved. Reproduction

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ROSEBURG ANNOUNCES MASSIVE INVESTMENT

In a much anticipated announcement, Roseburg Forest Products revealed in mid-April its plan to invest $700 million during the next four years to upgrade and expand its manufacturing operations in southern Oregon, including the construction of a MDF facility in Dillard, current site of multiple operations and where the company was founded nearly 90 years ago.

The total investment package includes the creation of two new manufacturing plants, and technological improvements and upgrades at existing plants in rural Douglas and Coos counties.

The total project represents the largest known investment in manufacturing in rural Oregon, and one of the largest private capital investments of any kind in the state’s history, according to Roseburg.

“Across the business, Roseburg is embracing advanced manufacturing and leveraging new technology and methods to make our current products and develop new ones, with the goal of ensuring we remain competitive in the global market,” Roseburg President and CEO Grady Mulbery said. “I want to thank our partners at the Governor’s office and Douglas and

Coos counties for helping make this historic investment possible.”

Nearly 200 people gathered at the Douglas County Fairgrounds for the announcement. In attendance were Allyn Ford, Roseburg owner and board chairman, and representatives of the state and county agencies who worked with Roseburg on the project.

The investment includes two new highly technical manufacturing plants at the company’s Dillard Complex, located just south of Roseburg, Ore. Dillard MDF will use wood residuals from Roseburg’s local mills and other regional mill suppliers to manufacture standard medium density fiberboard (MDF) panels, as well as thin high density fiberboard (HDF), often used in cabinetry, doors and other applications. The plant will produce panels with a thickness range from 2 mm to 28 mm.

“HDF is a new product for Roseburg that meets ➤ 10

Roseburg will build a MDF facility at its Dillard, Ore. complex.

growing customer demand for domestically manufactured panels of increasing thinness and strength,” Mulbery said. “Dillard MDF will be one of the most technologically advanced plants of its kind in the world, and it alone represents $450 million of our $700 million investment.”

Dillard Components will convert specialty MDF panels manufactured at Roseburg’s MDF plant in Medford, Ore. into Armorite Trim, a finished exterior trim product for residential and shed use. This is an innovative, new product currently unavailable within the industry or market. Roseburg will invest roughly $50 million in this plant.

The two plants together will be capable of producing the following:

l MDF panels: 175MMSF per year on a ¾ in. basis, or 310,000 m3 per year

l Primed Armorite exterior trim: 70MMSF per year on a ¾ in. basis, or 124,000 m3 per year

l Interior molding: 90 million feet per year

Roseburg currently owns and operates

three MDF plants in North America.

The company anticipates that both new plants will begin operations in 2025, and will employ approximately 120 once completed.

The remaining $200 million of the investment will go toward improvements at existing Roseburg plants in Oregon over the next four years, including significant upgrades at its plywood plant in Riddle, Ore., including two new lathe lines and a new hardwood plywood line; and a new dryer at its plywood plant in Coquille, Ore.

“These operations are all key parts of our integrated platform in Oregon, starting with our timberlands, and including our primary processing plants making lumber and plywood, as well as our secondary plants that use wood residuals like sawdust and chips to make value-added products such as MDF, ensuring the full utilization of our precious timber resource,” Roseburg Director of Government Affairs Eric Geyer said.

In June 2022, Roseburg revealed that it was exploring the feasibility of locating

an additional MDF plant or other residual-based operation within its Western operating footprint. That study, combined with a years-long strategic assessment of company operations across the state, resulted in the decision to make this investment in southern Oregon.

“Not only are we proud of our long history in this region, but our focus on advanced manufacturing and innovative technology makes us an excellent fit for the future of Oregon’s manufacturing sector as well,” Mulbery said. “Our use of robotics, computer programming, and other advanced manufacturing tools aligns Roseburg with the high-tech evolution of manufacturing in this state.”

Founded in 1936, Roseburg Forest Products is a privately-owned company and one of North America’s leading producers of particleboard, medium density fiberboard and thermally fused laminates. Roseburg also manufactures softwood and hardwood plywood, lumber, LVL and I-joists. The company owns and sustain ably manages more than 600,000 acres of timberland in Oregon, North Car-

olina and Virginia, as well as an export wood chip terminal facility in Coos Bay, Ore.

DATES ANNOUNCED FOR NINTH PELICE

The next Panel & Engineered Lumber International Conference & Expo

cluding wood products producer personnel, exhibitor personnel, and representatives from investor, consulting, academia and a range of other sectors associated with the structural and non-structural wood products industries).

Executives, plant managers, project managers, engineers, human resources and other personnel from wood products producer companies attend presentations delivered by dozens of industry personnel on a range of topics including mill project developments, technologies, economics, markets and prod-

In addition, 100 exhibitor companies will set up in the Grand Ballroom North adjacent the meeting rooms. All of the exhibitors are classified as Gold, Silver or Bronze sponsors and participate in the sponsorship of the numerous food functions and promotions that complement PELICE.

PELICE 2024 has begun exhibitor sponsorship book-

ings while making initial contacts with conference speakers.

PELICE will once again be immediately preceded by the Wood Bioenergy Conference & Expo on March 12-13 at the Omni Hotel. Many exhibitors and attendees participate in both events. Attendee registration will open this summer.

MERCER GAINS

CLT CONTRACT

Mercer International Inc. reported it has signed its first major mass timber project contract with a large consumer products retailer. The project, which is composed of cross-laminated timber panels, glue-laminated beams and connector elements, is expected to utilize four months of capacity at Mercer’s Spokane, Wash. facility on a one-shift basis over the course of 2023.

Mercer didn’t reveal the name of the customer, but it’s possible it is Walmart for Walmart’s new home office campus in Bentonville, Ark. Walmart and mass timber producer Structurlam re- ➤ 90

Senior VP Operations at Roseburg, Jake Elston, makes a point during the 2022 edition of PELICE.

SWANSON AT SPRINGFIELD COMMITS TO OVERLAY PRODUCTION

Mill is running well six years after reaching full operations.

BY DAN SHELL

SPRINGFIELD, Ore.

Closely watched as one of two major plywood plant rebuild projects following disasters in 2014—a tornado at a plant in Mississippi in April and a fire at Swanson Group’s plant here in July—the Swanson plywood plant here really hit its stride several years ago after becoming fully operational in 2017, says Swanson Group President and CEO Steve Swanson. The facility is a top supplier of HDO and MDO plywood products and a top tier plywood producer overall.

After announcing the rebuilding project in January 2015, the Swanson Group sought to get the facility back up ASAP. Considering the economic climate and overall market strength, Swanson says it was a bit of a “desperate time” for the company, and he couldn’t build the mill “by just throwing everything at it” like major capital projects in the past.

As the mill started up in 2016 and first began peeling, Swanson leveraged

production immediately, first selling green open market veneer, then dry veneer as the various production equipment came on line.

“Finally we started laying up some product (late 2016), but all the while we were trying to preserve our market share in overlay,” Swanson says. During construction the company had leased the old Pacific States Plywood plant nearby to make some basic, onestep overlays. Not the best idea, since the facility wasn’t designed for it, he says. “But we were able to make some product there.”

Swanson also moved a small amount of overlay production to its Glendale, Ore. commodity plant. Again, both situations were less than ideal, but the commitment to the overlay market remained.

The same commitment has come into play more recently: As sheathing prices skyrocketed several years ago, Swanson could have halted its overlay program, reduced costs and chased the market with almost all sheathing products.

Some of the sales staff wanted to do just that, but the company didn’t. “Instead, we stayed with our overlay program and actually increased our overlay

Panel upgrade department readies product for higher end overlay application; Swanson’s Springfield plant operates extensive veneer and panel processing to improve quality and efficiency.

market share during that time,” Swanson says, adding that many mills that had dabbled in overlay products made the switch to sheathing, which provided even more of an opening to expand overlay output.

“We gradually increased prices as costs have gone up, and we have maintained a margin in that product,” Swanson says. “I think today we’re the largest overlay producer in North America, certainly from a single facility.”

OVERLAY FOCUS

The Springfield facility had produced some overlay product prior to the fire and rebuild, and the overlay commitment was built into the new plant following the acquisition of Olympic Panel Products (OPP) in 2015.

“We had done some overlay here before the fire, but it was mainly one-step,” Swanson says, adding that the OPP purchase wasn’t to operate the plant at Shelton, Wash. “We bought it for some of the equipment, the product knowledge and customer base.”

The acquisition also moved Swanson into two-step overlay production. The plant installed an 8 ft. Raute film press for two-step overlays as part of the rebuild, and is currently putting the finishing touches on installation of a rebuilt

10 ft. film press to further refine its twostep program.

The plant produces one- and two-step and one- and two-sided overlays, with more than 50% in concrete forms of various grades. Additional markets include sign-ready material, roll-up truck door panels and other industrial applications.

“This is not a real high production mill,” Swanson says. “We make around

10MMSF (3⁄8 in.) a month, with 80% of that being overlay and the rest in sheathing. You need to make some sheathing whether you like it or not.”

The Springfield plant, which Swanson considers a “specialty” mill, complements and works well with the company’s Glendale “commodity” mill.

The Springfield plant peels almost twice as much a month (18-20MMSF) as it presses (10MMSF), and the veneer has to go somewhere. “We have veneers we produce but don’t really want here. We consume some of it here as sheathing, but Springfield is not a sheathing mill, so we’re better off trucking it to Glendale,” Swanson says.

The Glendale plant takes a larger log, while the Springfield plant is limited to 23 in. diameter. The Glendale plant also peels more species, including hemlock, white fir, spruce and pine.

The two plants trade veneer grades as needed, and at times Glendale veneer has been shipped to Springfield for automatic plugging, then shipped back for layup. The arrangement works for both facilities and helps the company as a whole. “Each plant could survive on its own, but working together they really complement each other,” Swanson says.

Swanson also sells surplus green and dry veneer into local markets.

Since it peels almost twice as much as is pressed each month, the plant sells its surplus veneer on open market.

Meinan lathe, peeling and composing line helps ensure plant handles almost all full and half sheets.

SWANSON ON THE ISSUES

Personnel Challenges— struggled like everybody else, but we’ve been able to by and large meet our production goals. We’ve stayed staffed up but it’s not easy. Probably 80-85% of our workforce is very stable, and the rest of it not so much. We have a lot of turnover at the entry level. Some of that is pandemic related, and some related to the remedies government put in place, and as those government programs have expired people seem to be more willing to work.”

Swanson Group operates manufacturing plants in Glendale, which is small and remote—population 864 as of 2021; Roseburg, a large small town of 24,000 with adjacent communities to

Valley with almost 400,000 residents.

“Glendale is pretty remote, but we don’t have a lot of competition down there,” Swanson says. “Roseburg is probably the most stable work force. In Springfield there’s more availability, and we’re also doing some work sharing and developing programs for college kids, for example.”

The company leader says he’s also optimistic about the younger generation of employees. “There’s this mind-set they don’t want to work, but a lot of younger people don’t mind working once they get exposed to it.” He adds the mind-set goes both ways: Younger potential employees

conditions and a much better paycheck than many other industries can provide. “When you walk through this mill, it’s a different experience—open, clean, well lit and safe. We pay a lot of attention to safety,” Swanson says.

Log Supply— “Logs in Oregon are tight and getting tighter. After the 2020 fire season that burned around half a million private acres, a lot of the damage was in the timbershed that feeds this mill, or the timbershed that feeds the Roseburg mill. There’ve also been some curtailments, but it’s going to be a battle going forward,” Swanson says.

He mentions both the proposed statewide Forest Accord that will affect management of all Oregon forests, and the new habitat conservation plan proposed for the Oregon’s state forests that includes timber harvest uncertainty.

“The new Forest Accord is going to impose another (harvest) reduction. You can’t have wider streamside buffers without reducing harvests,” Swanson says. “We’re not big buyers of state timber because the bulk of it is to the north, but (effects of the state forest habitat conservation plan will ripple through the market) some of those mills will be coming south looking for wood.”

Swanson says he looks for more consolidation in the industry. “The very best will survive, and we’ll go from there. We think we’re right there (as a cost-effective producer). We par-

During

a late winter Panel World visit to Swanson Group’s Springfield, Ore. plywood plant, company President and CEO Steve Swanson discussed issues and challenges facing his company and the industry overall.

Mass timber—“No, we’re not doing anything,” Swanson says of entering the mass timber market. “We looked at CLT as an option when this place burned in 2014, commissioned a study but never really finished it before we decided it just wasn’t for us. It’s not that I don’t believe in it. I think long term either mass plywood or mass timber will grow and grow, but at the time for us we couldn’t wait around. We felt like CLT was a specialty project in itself. Also, about the same time we had bought OPP and we decided that’s what we were going to do—more overlay business.”

Carbon credits— “I think carbon credits are smoke and mirrors, and to go further—some of it has actually gone up in smoke,” Swanson says. He mentions Oregon and California have both sold some carbon credits for timberland. “Once you’ve sold the carbon credits and the forest burns up, now what? How does that work?”

In addition to the fact that carbon credits don’t actually reduce emissions at all, Swanson believes that if such a practice becomes widespread or concentrates in an area, “If you

lock up a portion of your trees, now you’re selling less volume into the market, and you force up the price of what you do sell.” Swanson says he can see why an investment group might pursue such a policy, “But I don’t think it’s doing anything for the environment, and it sure isn’t supporting the timber industry.”

Closing Swanson Aviation—Swanson Group closed its aviation division in October 2022 after operating mostly firefighting crews for more than 25 years. Swanson said the decision hurt since he had started the division himself in 1996. “It was a good business for a lot of years, but we had gotten to where we were subsidizing it,” he says. “Firefighting policies are changing, and that was really the only money in the business. Right now there are too many rotor craft out there for what the FS and BLM will offer contracts for. It will probably swing back at some point, with more and bigger fires.” The way the business is now, you need to either be an owner operator with low overhead or a really large company with many crews to make a go of it, he adds.

Succession—“We have a multi-gen-

erational plan here,” Swanson says. “I can’t do anything about what’s going to happen 20 years from now; I like to think I can (he’s 69). But I intend to be in this business as long as I can.” He shares that years ago he sort of picked out a retirement year, but as it got closer he decided it was too soon. When he told his son Chris, Swanson Group Executive Vice President, that he wouldn’t be stepping down as soon as he thought, Chris said he knew it all along. “We work hand-in-glove, we enjoy each other’s company, and our mantra is he does everything I don’t want to do,” Swanson says with a smile. He notes that the father and son have divided duties and work more as co-CEOs.

“Sales and marketing are his major focus, and he really loves that part of the business,” Swanson says. “I continue to focus more on the finance side and log acquisition.” He adds that at this stage of his career he’s really enjoying working closely with his son. “He’s really the one you should be talking to today: He knows way more about this plant and what we do here than I do. He’s 41 and ready to take over whenever he needs to.” PW

Swanson Group’s Springfield plant was the first in North America to install Meinan Machinery’s full veneer peeling and composing line, and Swanson calls the lathe and its innovative full-length drive system an “amazing machine.”

includes three clippers, two in-line composing systems and an automatic knife changer.

Coming off the lathe, 8 ft. sheets are clipped out and flow overhead, past a Ventek moisture meter, and on to two flat bin stackers. A slitter roll cuts random

independent clippers. Those clipped pieces then flow to two in-line composing machines that produce 4x4 sheets. The system feeds to two five bin stackers.

A workhorse Raute 28 section dryer handles as much production as possible, feeding to a Ventek grading and mois-

The plant’s two-dryer setup includes a Raute 28 section unit installed new in 2018 and a Coe dryer rebuilt by Westmill Industries. 17

ture meter system, Metriguard machine, and on to a 14-bin Raute stacker.

A Coe M72 dryer salvaged from the fire and rebuilt by Westmill Industries handles 4, 8 and 10 ft. sheets and operates with a Westmill controls and heat exchanger system. Material coming off the M72 dryer runs under a Ventek moisture meter and is hand-pulled.

Dry veneer can be sorted for grade improvement and plugged on a Raute two deck P-2 plugging machine. The plant includes a Hashimoto composer as well as a veneer scarfing line for producing 9-10 ft. veneer for layup.

Swanson believes the peeling line’s composing system adds value throughout, making the dryers more efficient and also providing some labor savings by handling fewer and larger sheets.

The plant is currently operating two 30-opening Spar-Tek commodity presses (8 ft.), a 30-opening 10 ft. commodity press, a 24-opening 8 ft. Raute film press and an 18-opening Raute 10 ft. film press.

An Argos panel patch line and repair system with Con-Vey material handling equipment was installed after Panel World’s 2017 visit.

Key suppliers include Globe spreaders, Willamette Valley Co. edge seal system and Samuel strapping system. Arclin provides overlay papers.

Looking back almost 10 years from the 2014 fire through the design, construction and startup phases to the current well-running Springfield plant that’s hit its stride, Swanson says it’s satisfying to see the company’s plans, combined monumental efforts and strategies come to fruition.

One important factor is the plant’s overall design, handled by Swanson Group Vice President of Manufacturing & Engineering Jeff Remington. “We did the concept design ourselves, and he did a fantastic job laying it out,” Swanson says.

“We start at one end with the logs, work straight through, everything all goes one way and you end up at the other end,” Swanson says. As a testament to the plant’s design, he adds, almost six years into full operations nothing has revealed itself as needing to be changed or “fixed” as a result of the original design.

The pre-fire facility was old and had a lot of design compromises that come with working around old structures, Swanson says. “So when you get a chance to re-do one from the ground up you hope you do it right—and it looks like we have.” PW

Improvements at the facility include this new office.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following companies submitted these editorial profiles and images to complement their advertisements placed elsewhere in this issue with regard to the Ligna event in Hannover, Germany, May 15-19. Please refer to those advertisements for web site and contact information. All statements and claims are attributable to the companies.

ANDRITZ

With a focus on environmental responsibility, Andritz, the Austria-based technology and service leader, is partnering with its customers to develop innovative solutions for new front-end systems (wood yard, chip storage, chip washing, pressurized refining, and wastewater evaporation). Through its offerings, which include thermal and electrical energy savings, IIoT connectivity, and smartplant networks, Andritz is helping its clients to achieve sustainability targets and make use of resources as economically and efficiently as possible.

Andritz has extensive experience in handling annual plants and coping with their special biological properties. Raw materials such as bagasse and bamboo are an excellent alternative furnish to produce high-quality fibers for panelboard production that fulfill not just market but also sustainability aspects. However, annual plants often have high levels of impurities or bulk weights that differ significantly from wood chips as well as the special material flow behavior that make it essential to install a tailor-made process, especially in the first part of the production line. Andritz provides complete capabilities ranging from engineering to equipment supply to erection and startup of these systems.

Thanks to several process improvements Andritz technologies ensure low consumption of electrical and thermal energy in MDF fiber production. These technologies may be part of new systems, but can also be retrofitted into existing installations:

l Center steaming for high-capacity plants to ensure best raw material treatment before entering the digester

l Smart plug screw feeders which achieve the highest dewatering efficiency even for incoming raw materials with high moisture content

l Steam regulation module (SRM) for maximum heat utilization in the digester

l Steam recovery system (SRS) for reuse of surplus steam in the blow line

l Reduction of wastewater by means of Andritz evaporation technology

Andritz is very active in developing solutions compatible with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) including its innovative Andritz Maintenance Interval Guide Organizer (AMIGO) to help maintenance personnel increase efficiencies and lower the operating costs (e.g., automating cleaning sequences; monitoring wear of critical components; condition monitoring of bearings, lube oil, and cooling water systems; refiner plate pattern recognition).

In addition, new SMART products improve product performance, such as dewatering efficiency and steam recovery. Connected in a proper way, these IIoT solutions contribute to complete autonomous plant operation.

An advanced wear protection added in the pressurized refining system helps to offset the potentially high wear due to pressurized flows and abrasive raw materials especially by processing annual plants.

Hall 26, Booth D27

ANTHON

Flensburg-based Anthon GmbH invites its international customers and partners to exchange ideas at Ligna, and will be using two core pieces from large-scale plants to demonstrate new technical possibilities.

“This year we are at Ligna for the 23rd time and repeatedly represented with two trade show booths,” says Klaus Lange, long-time managing director of Anthon GmbH. He has already been there in person 22 times.

The mechanical engineering company from northern Germany traditionally uses the leading trade show as a platform for high-quality industry exchange.

“We build machines for the success of companies by capturing their visions and turning them into system solutions,” Ove Lange, managing director of Anthon GmbH, adds to his father. An intensive exchange is part of this, he says. It is the most important basis for dynam-

Anthon emphasizes panel cutting and sizing technologies.

Andritz complete front end material processing technologies

ic further development of products and thus often the starting signal for successful business processes. For Anthon, Ligna is the most important leading trade show for communication about technical innovations and business ideas.

At the two booths in Hall 14 G60 and Hall 26 D50, Anthon will be demonstrating technical innovations of the Anthon saw on the basis of core pieces from large-scale plants. In the furniture production sector, a new concept for increased operational reliability in the panel-sizing process will be presented, whose overall unified function can be experienced virtually. For the panel industry, Anthon will present what is probably the largest sawing unit ever built. It has a cutting height of 320 mm and has already been realized for two customers in Germany.

In addition to experts in the field of cutting, contact persons for handling and robotics will be present. For the first time since the acquisition of JB Maschinen- & Anlagenbau GmbH, now Anthon Handling Systems GmbH, in 2019, Anthon will present itself together with the new subsidiary as a cooperation unit.

Hall 14, Booth G60 (Plant core piece furniture production)

Hall 26 D50 (Plant core piece panel cutting)

ARGOS SOLUTIONS

Argos Solutions is revolutionizing the panel industry by offering manufacturers a faster, more accurate, and more efficient way to grade and repair panels.

Argos Solutions has been providing advanced grading solutions for the wood industry for several years. Their cutting-edge technology enables panelboard manufacturers to automate the grading process for plywood, particleboard and other panel products. The most recent development includes a grading system specifically targeted toward laminate flooring.

The surface grading technology not only improves the quality of the final product but also reduces material waste, enabling the manufacturers to utilize more of the wood and optimize their production. Over the past years, the company has delivered systems worldwide to a wide array of customers including Kastamonu, Uniboard, Tolko, Egger, Pfleiderer, Arauco, and Laminex to mention a few.

At Ligna Argos showcases a demo system for the surface grading of panels, allowing attendees to see the technology in action. The demo will showcase the speed, accuracy and consistency of the system and highlight how it can benefit manufacturers of all sizes.

One of the most significant advantages of Argos Solutions’ automated grading system is the pace at which it can grade panels. Compared to traditional methods, the system can grade panels at a faster rate, eliminating the need for manual grading. Additionally, the automated grading system is much more consistent and accurate, ensuring that panel producers can deliver the desired quality to their customers. The reduction in downgrades has a direct impact on a manufacturer’s bottom line by reducing material waste and improving the efficiency of the production line.

l Argos Solutions’ panel repair system is changing the way manufacturers approach panel repairs, making the process more accurate, faster, and eliminating most of the downfall caused by poor manual repair quality. As a leading provider of panel repair systems, Argos Solutions is at the forefront of this technology and is dedicated to helping manufacturers improve their operations.

Traditionally, panel repairs involved operators manually using putty and other materials to fill in damaged areas. This process is time-consuming and requires a significant amount of labor to complete. However, Argos Solutions’ panel repair system makes repairs more accurate and faster, using 50-60% less poly and putty. The system enables manufacturers to allocate human resources to other operations, improving overall production efficiency and reducing production costs.

The panel repair system is faster than traditional repair methods, reducing the time required to complete repairs. This increased speed means that manufacturers can repair more panels in less time, improving overall production efficiency.

Hall 26, Booth E49/1

BAUMER

Baumer presents the compact, simple and intuitive ColourBrain Panel 4.0 system for coating lines.The ColourBrain Panel 4.0 system is the small and smart version for the optical inspection of uncoated and melamine-paper coated fiberboards after pressing and edge trimming in the longitudinal run. FlashingSkytechnology enables precise evaluation—independent of the conveyor belt. Due to the reduced size to the minimum, the system can be easily integrated into existing transport. The components are inspected on both sides for decor defects and damages with a reliable and stable detection performance. A distinction can be made between process-related defects, such as heat streaks or paper misalignment, or sporadic individual defects, such as contamination. Inspection of the synchronous pores is already integrated in the system.The offset between decor and embossing structure is determined

Argos automated surface grading for laminate flooring

and nontolerable offsets are alarmed.

Predefined interface protocols for machine-to-machine communication to other systems within your production line offers a high degree of flexibility. Q-Live enables consistent data generation and the evaluation of sorting results, as well as the comparison of your quality standards in a plant or across the group.

Your benefits at a glance:

l Small installation length, low working height—only a small gap in the transport is needed

l Standard belt or roller transport sufficient—no vacuum transport neccessary

l Blowing off and exhausting as cleaning are sufficient

l Q-Brain classification of defects and allocation in the production process

In addition, Baumer presents the new generation of its ColourBrain Flooring 4.0 inspection system for the flooring industry for the first time at a trade show—equipped with the latest patented technology, enhanced defect detection and with a new, intuitive user interface. It is optimally extended with system for the inspection of the bevel coating of the V-joint directly after the coating application in the profiling line.

The new ColourBrain V-Shape 5.0 inspection system is the logical further development of bevel lacquer inspection in flooring production. It is designed for integration into flooring lines and is suitable for the high production speeds in a very harsh environment that prevail there. Due to the possible connection to the Q-Live management system, analyses for process optimization are possible in just a few steps.

BIELE GROUP

Biele Group is an international company that develops turnkey projects and complete plants (providing their own manufactured hydraulic presses) for the woodworking industry (plywood, HPL, particleboard, furniture, doors, flooring, lightboard and solid wood applications) and building sector (fiber cement, gypsum, mineral fiber and insulating material applications).

Whether the client requires custom press technologies, trimming-sanding solutions, material handling, advanced data management, or complete plant development, Biele provides turnkey solutions from concept and design to installation and startup.

Headquartered in Spain with local sales and technical support subsidiaries in Atlanta, Ga., USA, and in China, Biele provides full service for projects developed all over the world.

For panel manufacturers, Biele will show at Ligna the latest innovations related to the pressing operations for plywood, HPL and EIR technology. In plywood, Biele’s main expertise starts after the drying operation up to the final packaging of the line, including layup lines, prepress and multi-opening presses, trimming and packaging processes. Also, before the dryer, Biele has developed and installed dewatering presses that have been proven as a way of big savings in energy consumption as the drying time is minimized. For furniture manufacturers, Biele shows the latest generation lines focused in high speed feeding and stacking systems, fully automatic outsorting and insorting systems, and fully automated packing lines organized in a modular way in order to fit with the customer’s requirements as they can be installed in different stages.

Regarding the door industry, Biele manufactures turnkey complete lines, both for residential doors and architectural doors. Biele is flexible to the customer’s needs in a way that the projects can be focused on both high production rates with big batch sizes and smaller production rates where every door can be different from the next one (batch size 1).

In recent years Biele has become an expert in complete turnkey press lines for manufacturing lightboard panels using different type of glues for the bonding operation, i.e., PVAC and PUR.

In addition, Biele develops solutions for building material manufacturers. For this industry, Biele has been developing and producing turnkey lines for companies processing materials like gypsum, fiber cement, mineral fiber and fiber glass, starting from the motherboard, up to the final stacking, boxing and palletizing, with high output and flexible performance, according to customers’ needs.

Regarding Industry 4.0 solutions, Biele Digital is specialized in the development of advanced solutions that bring intelligence to production plants and helps technicians in optimizing processes. Biele provides valuable insights, deep performance tracking, production management and energy efficiency softwares, as well as smart vision and robotic solutions. These solutions can be for Biele designed lines or for third-party production lines, and they can be connected to any kind of systems.

Hall 26, Booth C62

Hall 15, Booth G67

Biele showcases its latest advancements in pressing operations.

Baumer new ColourBrain 4.0 for flooring inspection

BÜTTNER

Büttner Energie- und Trocknungstechnik GmbH—part of the Siempelkamp Group—has a long and storied tradition: August Büttner founded the company in 1874 in Krefeld, Germany.

Büttner operates globally as a supplier of burners, drying and energy systems as well as environmental technology, delivering single solutions or complete plants at the highest technical level to countless facilities around the world, particularly for the production of wood-based panels (particleboard, OSB, MDF, insulation board), as well as the production of pellets, in the sugar industry, in the field of biomass fuels and in various other industries.

Büttner’s product portfolio comprises drying systems for numerous types of bulk solids and fibers as well as drum dryers, tube bundle dryers, flash tube and belt dryers. In the field of energy systems, the product range includes thermal oil heaters and steam generators for the utilization of biomass, dust and primary fuels, and customized multi-fuel combination burners for dust, gas and oil.

In 2022, Büttner took the next logical step and expanded its product range in the field of environmental technology, emphasizing its status as a manufacturer of complete plants. A new branch office was founded in Kaiserslautern (Germany), and along with its experienced team of specialists at the new location, Büttner designs and manufactures both dry electrostatic filters (DESP) to separate ash from hot flue gases in energy plants and wet electrostatic precipitators (WESP) to reduce particles and volatile emissions from the waste air emitted by drying and press systems. This gives new customers the opportunity to focus on energy efficiency and the reduction of emissions during the planning and design stages of their plants. The new competence team will also be able to help current customers in regard to the modernization, conversion and extension of their existing plants.

Büttner is committed to service: Whether single components or a turnkey energy system, dryer or burner, the Büttner Service Center (BSC) assists as a reliable partner throughout the entire life cycle of the plant, offering modernization and performance optimization for plants and burners of every make. Büttner Energie- und Trocknungstechnik GmbH is committed to setting pioneering standards in the fields of energy, drying and environmental technology.

Hall 26 Booth E27

CERATIZIT

With our customers at the heart of all we do, CERATIZIT is committed to providing innovative carbide solutions for wood and stone working, metal cutting and many other applications. While we have always been driven by the desire to increase our customers’ efficiency, we know full well that business as usual is no longer enough. We must go further.

For us as a company, this means making sustainability a top priority and we have made it our mission to ensure that this planet is still worth living on in the years to come. That is why we aim to be the sustainability leader for the hard metals and cutting tool industry by 2025.

To meet this ambitious objective and become truly sustainable, we are implementing an array of sustainability measures along the entire value chain. However, these efforts are not limited to our in-house measures, as we are also applying these to partnerships moving forward in order to set new standards in cooperation.

l Climate neutral by 2025

The first phase of our sustainability journey will focus on reducing our carbon footprint. This means going the extra mile to minimize our carbon footprint and become climate neutral by 2025—including a 35% reduction in emissions. By 2030, we aim to reduce our corporate carbon footprint (CCF) by 60% over our 2020 figure. Our most ambitious target, however, is achieving “net zero” by 2040. Through comprehensive internal measures and actions along the entire supply chain, we aim to reduce our CCF by a total of 75%, thereby beating the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement by 10 years.

l Switch to green electricity and hydrogen

We have already begun our journey toward net zero by focussing on electricity, which we have identified as one of three key levers to quickly reduce our carbon footprint. In 2022, we used sustainable sources to satisfy more than 90% of our electricity

CERATIZIT is tooling a sustainable future.

Büttner has expanded its environmental technology offerings.

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needs—and are on pace to reach nearly 100% by the end of 2023.

The second step toward reducing our carbon footprint lies in the sourcing of hydrogen, which is primarily required in the production of raw materials. Instead of cracking natural gas to obtain grey hydrogen, moving forward we will use green hydrogen, which is an eco-friendlier alternative as it is produced from water by electrolysis and with green electricity.

l Recycling beats virgin raw materials

The third major lever is the continuous increase of raw materials remaining in the carbide production chain. By expanding the amount of recycled materials used, we are able to achieve a significant reduction in both energy use and carbon emissions compared to reprocessing primary raw materials. Furthermore, the increased use of recycled materials helps secure our supply chain With a current recycling rate of more than 80%, we intend to increase the proportion of raw materials that remain in the production chain to more than 95% by 2030.

If you would like to learn more about our initiatives and embark on a new era together with us, visit us at Ligna.

Hall 27, Booth B60

CMC TEXPAN

CMC Texpan, a worldwide leader and supplier of machinery and plants in the wood-based industry, will attend Ligna at the Siempelkamp headquarters stand, as its Italian subsidiary.

In recent years the concepts of environmental impact and sustainability and energy savings have been on the agenda and have become priority issues. That is why during Ligna, CMC Texpan is focusing on one of its patented star products: the EcoFormer SL. This optimized wind forming system for surface layer particles makes it possible to reduce operating costs and at the same time maintain excellent quality.

The main advantages of EcoFormer SL are the blower pipes with horizontal impact of airflow on flakes that make a better separation, and multiple fans—instead of only one—allowing a better adjustment of the airflow. Moreover, in order to optimize the separation, the adjustable blowers have different air speeds in different height levels and a high wind forming chamber allows for a perfect separation of finer and coarser flakes.

EcoFormer SL can be installed in an existing plant thanks to the similar overall dimensions. Thanks also to the improved cross weight distribution there is a material saving and lower costs; in the meantime the reduction of pressure loss and power consumption guarantees lower energy-related costs. Last but not least, the round-section blowers allow easy cleaning with no more material build-ups.

Our technicians will be present at Ligna in order to provide information concerning EcoFormer SL or any other data about CMC Texpan’s range of products. Texpan looks forward to welcoming visitors, clients and friends.

Hall 26, Booth E27

CON-VEY

Con-Vey has been a key player in the engineering and manufacturing of automated production lines for more than 75 years. Established in 1946, Con-Vey has been instrumental in supporting the building products industry with their cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions.

One of Con-Vey’s most notable production lines is the Automated Plywood Panel Repair Line, which they manufacture in partnership with Argos Solutions from Norway. These repair lines have been highly effective in reducing labor and consumable costs, increasing production volumes, and improving quality and downgrade percentages. In the face of labor shortages in recent years, these repair lines have become increasingly valuable to the industry.

Con-Vey’s commitment to supporting the building products industry is further reflected in their production lines for other materials such as OSB, LVL, MDF and particleboard. These lines include sawing, stacking, packaging, and value-add services that enhance production efficiency, quality and sustainability.

Con-Vey’s innovative spirit is also evident in their latest offerings, Con-Vey Connect and Reliability+. Con-Vey Connect is their in-

CMC Texpan EcoFormer SL wind forming system

Con-Vey is revolutionizing the building products industry with innovative production lines and services.

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dustry 4.0 data management platform that can be integrated into new or existing production lines. It captures data and provides customers with insights to help them improve performance and operational efficiency. With Con-Vey Connect, customers can make informed decisions to optimize their production and reduce costs.

Con-Vey Reliability+ encompasses several services backed by their engineering and field service teams, including project management, field service, remote service, and engineering services. Reliability+ gives customers access to expert support for their production lines, ensuring that they remain operational and efficient.

Con-Vey’s commitment to innovation and customer service has helped them become a trusted partner for the building products industry. Their focus on reducing costs, improving quality, and increasing efficiency has made them a leading manufacturer of automated production lines. As the industry continues to evolve, Con-Vey will undoubtedly continue to offer innovative solutions that address emerging challenges and support sustainable growth.

Hall 26, Booth H57

CROSS WRAP

As a wood board manufacturer, your end product is highly valuable. Whether you are producing plywood, veneer, MDF or OSB, the boards need to be packaged efficiently for transportation, handling and storage. You wouldn’t want to lose any product to damages during the transportation or storage, would you?

The Cross Wrap board packaging line ensures durable protection of boards and keeps your product safe during handling and storage. Cross Wrap automates the packaging of a variety of stacked board sizes, all on the same line.

Cross Wrap’s innovative, efficient, and cost-effective method packs board stacks using only stretch film. No straps, or corner and side covers required. Our packaging method provides “all sides covered” packaging protection that safeguards the boards from damage during demanding handling and transport conditions. You don’t have to worry about the elements, as the cross-wrapping method prevents any moisture from entering the package. The wrapping film we use is also 100% recyclable.

The many optional features of the CW board packaging line offer ways to increase production rate, lower material and labor costs, and improve the automation level and material quality. The Cross Wrap board packaging line eliminates the need for manual packaging operation. It also reduces the dependence on multiple packaging materials, and minimizes potential damages caused by traditional handling and transport and storing methods.

The durable wrapping film also provides a more visually appealing wrapped package, plus an option to enhance your company’s image with branded film wrap. An optional labeling robot makes sure all necessary information, including your company logo, is easily visible from the side of the stack.

Cross Wrap currently has 600 machines running in 60 countries. Our first machines were delivered in the early 1990s and are still running like new—this speaks volumes about the robustness, quality and durability of our solutions. Machine lifetime is guaranteed with high-quality service, including maintenance, operator training, and spare part packages.

Swing by our booth at Ligna for an in-depth machine tour, ask about our optional features, and get to know our top-class service products, while meeting our Cross Wrap team.

Hall 26, Booth A40

DIEFFENBACHER

Wood-based panel manufacturers eager to fast-track their success will want to visit with Dieffenbacher during Ligna to learn about the new smart plant concept CEBRO. Using a holistic approach, CEBRO combines the new digital platform EVORIS and advanced plant engineering with operational excellence and sustainability solutions.

EVORIS enables wood-based panel manufacturers to digitalize their production plant-wide and independent of make and manufacturer. Comprehensive analyses of live data help plant operators better understand their plants and make important decisions more quickly. The results are higher plant availability, optimized board quality, fewer rejects, reduced use of wood, glue and other expensive raw materials, lower produc-

The Cross Wrap board packaging line has been a reliable solution for the wood board industry for more than 20 years.

Dieffenbacher smart digital platform EVORIS

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tion and energy costs, and fewer CO2 emissions. Ligna attendees can learn all about this in the presentation “How artificial intelligence is transforming the wood-based panels industry” on “LIGNA.Stage” on Monday, May 15 at 11:20 a.m. in Hall 12.

Pilot customer and development partner Swiss Krono is a strong advocate for EVORIS. “In our particleboard plant in Menznau, EVORIS has delivered stunning results. Within nine months, the system was able to predict board quality reliably. Within a year, we were able to increase our productivity, substantially reduce glue consumption, avoid downtime and significantly improve the efficiency of the plant,” says Swiss Krono CEO Martin Brettenthaler. Consequently, Swiss Krono also commissioned Dieffenbacher to retrofit EVORIS for its existing MDF plant in Menznau.

CEBRO’s advanced plant engineering solutions, meanwhile, help customers create smart synergies within a plant. Intelligent heat recovery concepts, such as reusing heat from the press and dryer exhaust air elsewhere in the production process, reduce energy costs and emissions and increase profit.

To help manufacturers achieve operational excellence, CEBRO uses optimized processes and innovative technologies. Examples include a new forming station for particleboard production that improves board quality through increased spreading accuracy; the EVOsteam steam preheater, which increases capacity by up to 20%; and the new belt dryer, which is particularly sustainable thanks to its low thermal energy consumption. The use of low-calorific energy from waste heat also helps to save costs.

CEBRO also helps manufacturers find the right balance between economic and sustainability goals to build a better future for business and the environment. Wood recycling solutions, which help free manufacturers from dependence on fresh wood supplies, are one way that Dieffenbacher supports economic success and sustainability. Others include smart environmental and new energy-generation technologies that save costs, cut emissions and reduce a plant’s carbon footprint.

Hall 26, Booth C41

DUNHUA BYTTER TECHNOLOGY

Dunhua Bytter Technology Co., Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yalian Machinery Co., Ltd, was founded in 2010, and covers an area of 42,000 square meters with a construction area of 8,500 square meters. It is a high-tech company with capabilities in research and production, with emphasis on developing belts for the continuous press.

We have independent, mature and advanced technology for producing special steel. Product quality standards are fully in accordance with the European industrial standards. As one of the world’s high strength steel professional manufacturers, our production has been inspected strictly by the long-term conditions of high temperature, high pressure, corrosion and other harsh environments at the working site.

l Explanation of steel belt thickness

In the continuous press production line of Siempelkamp in China, we use 3.0 mm thick steel belts instead of 2.7 mm thick steel belts to produce MDF. The main advantages are as follows:

—When hard glue or other hard objects enter the slab, the resistance to deformation of steel belts with a thickness of 3.0 mm is better than that of steel belts with a thickness of 2.7 mm.

—Steel belt with a thickness of 3.0 mm can withstand higher surface pressure.

—The use of 3.0 mm steel belt on production lines in China shows that there is no significant change in the torque of the press. The torque of the press is greatly related to the lubrication of the steel belt and small roller rods.

Hall 26, Booth B65

DÜRR SYSTEMS

Dürr is a global supplier of turnkey clean air solutions that meet stringent emissions regulations, improve process performance and protect thermal downstream equipment. The engineered wood products industry relies on Dürr for effective emissions control of particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from dryers and press vents.

With thousands of systems installed worldwide in many process industries, we have the knowledge to provide an optimized solution engineered to meet specific needs. Our designs are modular, operator-friendly, and cleanable, including alkali-resistant ceramics and corrosion-resistant materials of construction to suit the application.

Panorama of Dunhua Bytter Technology steel belt factory

Dürr offers advancements in Wet ESP and RTO emissions technologies.

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Dürr is a single-source supplier offering optimized systems, including the Oxi.X RC regenerative thermal oxidizer (RTO) to control VOCs, combined with our Part.X PW wet electrostatic precipitator to remove sub-micron particulate and fumes from dryer and energysystem gas streams with unparalleled uptime and reliability. Wet scrubbers provide high-efficiency particulate removal for dryers, press vents, and energy systems, thereby preventing buildup on the connecting ductwork and downstream equipment.

We further confirm our commitment to the wood products industry with the availability of a pilot unit scrubber/wet ESP/RTO for testing process slipstreams to determine the optimal pre-filtration and RTO ceramic bed configuration.

The Dürr aftermarket services team delivers right-from-the-source expertise. Our people are skilled in helping you maintain your equipment by recommending upgrades and rebuilds of your existing equipment to optimize its efficiency and performance, which reduces energy costs.

Our full spectrum of service offerings includes preventative maintenance, parts and technical support, oxidizer media care, catalyst and carbon testing, and heat recovery solutions.

Hall 26, Booth G77/1

ELECTRONIC WOOD SYSTEMS (EWS)

Electronic Wood Systems (EWS) offers a complete range of quality inspection systems featuring high precision, robustness, system integration and low maintenance. “Our innovations and the development of practice-oriented solutions for engineered wood productsare based on applied research,” reports Konrad Solbrig, Head of Technology Wood-based Composites of EWS.

Reliable inline measuring and control systems are a key factor for Industry 4.0 in wood-based composite production. At this, process control can only be as good as the employed data of the integrated measuring systems. The measuring tasks in panel production are versatile and challenging. Respective devices have explicitly to consider environmental, material, and process conditions.

Many measuring tasks are performed by X-ray systems whereas no one-fits-all gauge exists. An X-ray panel scale installed in the outfeed section, e.g., differs from an area weight gauge for mat forming. In the forming line, foreign body detection comes in addition with its very special requirements. All X-ray devices feature respective detector design, beam geometry, energy settings, and calibration parameters. EWS has engineered leading X-ray scanners which individually meet the requirements of particular tasks in panel production.

The outstanding MultiEnergy technology has core feature of the modern EWS X-ray devices and enables variable measuring parameters within one and the same gauge by automatically adapted X-ray energy to current area weight. It can be compared to utilising a micro scale for small objects and a respectively large unit for heavy-duty stuff.

The new flagship device EcoScan NEO for mat inspection in the forming line was developed in cooperation with Siempelkamp. It represents one complete system with independent X-ray devices for individual tasks comprising – high-precision area weight measurement by self-adjusting flying measuring heads – intelligent foreign body detection across the board by self-learning algorithm.

The plant of the future will be fully-automated with minimized operator interaction. Hence, modern X-ray measuring systems are self-adjusting based on recipe information to provide consistently high measuring precision along a wide production range already today. Eventually, the application of capable measuring systems facilitates material savings and paves the way to the fourth industrial (r)evolution in wood-based composite production.

Hall 26, Booth E49

FAGUS GRECON

Material shortage, rising producer prices and highquality standards: The list of challenges in the wood panel industry is long, but now there is an equipment solution to help in these areas.

The GreCon FORMATOR automatically homogenizes the material distribution of the formed wood-based mat so that improvements in panel quality and significant savings of material, process and logistic costs are achieved.

A high forming accuracy is gained by a combination of a segmented scalper and an X-ray scanner (MATCONTROL HF, previously called the DIEFFENSOR). Both systems are integrated in a control loop so that the mat can be, for the first time, homogenized automatically.

GreCon continues to enhance its FORMATOR capabilities.

EWS X-ray technology for task-oriented applications in panel production

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The MATCONTROL HF determines the weight per unit area of the whole mat with high resolution and regulates the segments of the scalper to the appropriate position. Thus, spreading fluctuations are considerably reduced, and the panels become more homogeneous. Due to the precise weight per unit area measurement by the MATCONTROL HF, not only the material added for sanding, but also the nominal value can be reduced. Material savings of up to 5% can be realized while the product quality is maintained. The clear reduction of spreading fluctuations leads to less strain of downstream production facilities. The service life of working tools, such as sanding belts, saw blades or milling heads, will increase. Panel surfaces become more homogeneous and thus better for coating. The consumption of lacquer is reduced.

Unlike other X-ray scanners, the patented calibration procedure for foreign body detection is based on basis weight values, which enables intuitive and practical setting of limit values. With a segmented scalper, Fagus GreCon provides a solution that actively intervenes in the production process to homogenize the basis weight distribution measured by the MATCONTROL HF across the entire width. The lateral distribution of the material—and in this case the variations in the marginal areas—is not only controlled and regulated automatically by using the FORMATOR, but also possible to set it specifically according to the product.

Since 2013, the FORMATOR has proven to be a resource-saving tool for the MDF, OSB and particleboard industries.

Hall 26, Booth C42

GRENZEBACH

For decades, fiberglass, mineral wool, cotton batt and Styrofoam insulation have been mainstays to help boost the energy efficiency of buildings in the United States. Although satisfactory to meet building code requirements, they do present drawbacks both environmentally and healthwise. For example, OSHA requires a cancer warning on all fiberglass products, and skin, eye and lung irritation are common hazards. Issues with installing cotton batt insulation include ill-sizing of the pieces requiring compression into place, reducing R-value. Most insulation materials are non-recyclable and contribute to indoor air quality issues.

The demand for better environmental performance of buildings to offset rising energy costs, support sustainability, and improve indoor air quality is driving the need for more ecofriendly insulation materials. This is accentuated by the massive number of existing buildings that are either entirely uninsulated or in need of serious renovation. The insulating material that has generated the most interest recently among builders to support these objectives is wood fiber.

Made from wood chips, wood fiber insulation has physical properties equal to or better than insulation material from inorganic materials. Here are some of the key advantages:

l Thermal Performance

l Moisture Control

l Sound Insulation

l Carbon Footprint

l Easy and Safe Installation

The challenge that builders in the U.S. have experienced with wood fiber insulation is the lack of manufacturing facilities in North America. Wood fiber insulation could only be obtained from Europe, at a significant cost to cover freight.

This situation, however, has changed. Grenzebach, a world leader in process systems for manufacturing a wide range of insulation materials, is also located in North America (Newnan, Georgia) since 1980. Grenzebach can serve North American companies more directly. Grenzebach is one of the first companies to provide machinery for wood fiber insulation manufacturing in North America.

The company has set high standards in terms of equipment performance and product quality, providing a full range of equipment and systems for producing, processing, and finishing of wood fiber insulation materials. As a full-service partner, Grenzebach provides indepth know-how and expertise throughout the equipment’s entire lifecycle.

The market for wood fiber insulation in North America is poised for growth, as evidenced by the overwhelming push for sustainable building, energy conservation and a more health-conscious public. Companies who are intimately associated with the raw materials needed to produce wood fiber insulation are best positioned to capitalize on this trend. These include for example sawmills and plants that manufacture wood products such as plywood and fiberboard. Fortunately, these plants can be built turnkey right here in North America by Grenzebach.

Such producers are uniquely positioned to leverage the turnkey plant manufacturing capabilities of experienced companies like Grenzebach, with decades of experience building wood fiber insulation plants throughout Europe. Hall 26, Booth F45

The wood fiber insulation industry in North America is poised for growth with process machinery manufactured by Grenzebach.

HYMMEN

Hymmen presents its latest developments in surface technology, building on the recent successes of its digital printing technology on an international scale. In the last 12 months , six new JUPITER digital printing lines featuring Digital Lacquer Embossing (DLEplus) technology have been sold. This means that there are now more than 50 JUPITER digital printing systems in operation. For the flooring industry, Hymmen has developed three possible finish options: Viscoelastic topcoat (AC5 S42 Taber), corundum (falling sand), and wear layer lamination. All surfaces emphasize 100% synchronous pore structures.

Hymmen experts will also be available to discuss the proven press technologies, liquid coating, calendar coating inert and laminating equipment, as well as digital printing of décor paper with water-based inks using the SATURN Digital Printing Line. Samples of end products manufactured using these technologies are available for examination, as are film recordings of production equipment in real operation. Double belt press technology has recently enjoyed unabated attention in the laminate manufacturing market: Only in the fiscal year 2022, Hymmen had six continuous HPL lines in its order backlog.

The combination of process expertise with the manufacturing know-how of individual components from gluing to multi-daylight presses and conveying and handling technology at Hymmen has already led to individual plant projects in the area of engineered wood. There will be an opportunity at Ligna to discuss more details on projects that have been successfully implemented and the possibility of new project planning.

Another focus at the booth is equally relevant to all Hymmen-owned as well as external machinery and equipment. “”This is the smart2iindustry intelligence solution for cloudbased monitoring and analysis of all relevant process parameters to optimize the entire production,” summarizes Dr. René Pankoke, owner and CEO of Hymmen. People will be able to experience the live application of smart2i in real time at the booth. This is done via virtual access to real production data.

IMAL PAL GROUP

The IMAL PAL Group will be at the long awaited 2023 edition of Ligna, the biennial trade fair for the protagonists of the wood industry in Hannover, Germany. The 900 m2 stand will showcase some of the top-selling equipment, from online quality control systems to blenders, refiners, separators and more. Amongst these there will of course be the latest evolution of the “all in one” Cyclops optical sorter based on NIR detection technology equipped with compressed air blowers and the artificial intelligence to remove contaminants.

A truly innovative model, it may be integrated with the metal detector, blower and X-rays, used to remove all kinds of contaminants from the wood flow such as plastic (including black plastic), rubber, foam, stones, metals (including stainless steel) and laminated chips. Thanks to the new module with which it is equipped, it is possible to control up to four users, amongst which are NIR, VIS, ABAS utilizing the same classification algorithms. Thanks to the Cyclops technology, MDF panels can be produced extremely efficiently from recycled wood!

For the chipping area you will be able to discover both the drum chipper MTG and the re-chipper (RMG), designed to digest all types and sizes of wood logs and materials: With the re-chipper even the smallest rejected wood materials will be processed. The knife ring flaker (SRC) will also be on show—the must have machine for producing high quality particleboard and able to process OSB microstrand. The Globus patented wobble spreader disc is the guarantee for a perfect chips distribution.

Moreover, the Dynasteam, a system which injects dry steam into the mat before it is pressed to accelerate the polymerization of the glue molecules, increasing production capacity as a result by as much as 30%, will be featured.

The MMW (Millimetre Wave Scanner) was first launched in 2019 but has evolved significantly since then. Installed online, the MMW monitors mat weight distribution as well as moisture content, thickness and weight of the panel after the press. Extremely accurate, it provides details for each layer in the case of PB and OSB production without the application of X-rays or radioactive sources.

Not only panels: We will be presenting new and modern lines for the production of pallet blocks and pressed pallets, ideal for giving value to recycled wood. The DynaPelletPress will be on show for the pellet industry, a press which can reach a flow rate of 12 t/h with softwood and a diameter of up to 1200 mm.

We shall not reveal any more but those of you who are interested in laboratory equipment will find a real scale version of our Smartlab including the lab equipment required to produce a sample board.

Hall 26, Booth D62/D72/E71

Hall 26, Booth F28

Imal Pal presents machinery from raw materials processing to board production.

The DLEplus Hymmen-Collection shows high end digital printing and structuring.

IMEAS

In the four years since the last edition of Ligna, IMEAS has improved its range of EvoL sanders and developed original technical proposals aimed at new market segments.

IMEAS has recently introduced its own solution designed for sanding Glulam beams on four sides, developing a specifically conceived side sander, called EvoL-Side, for working the beam sides currently up to 700 mm (28 in.) thick but with the possibility of even higher thicknesses. The conception of the EvoL-Side makes it possible to adapt it to various useful working widths and therefore to be combined with a conventional sander for working the upper and lower faces of the Glulam beam.

Compared to other solutions available on the market, the IMEAS solution works large section beams (currently 2600x700 mm or 104x28 in.) as well as combining the sanding of Glulam beams, CLT and solid panels in a single line, offering significant savings in terms of space, investment and operating costs.

In the CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) panel segment, growth continued both in terms of market shares (to date we have more than 40 machines and 76 sanding heads) and technology, with continuous technical improvements designed to keep up with the demands of market. Today the EvoL-CLT series offers a range of useful widths of 3200 mm (10 ft.) or 3600 mm (12 ft.), the ability to process thicknesses up to 400 mm (16 in.) (and more upon request) and a full integration with factory planning and management systems

In the field of sanding MDF, particleboard and plywood panels, the EvoL range has been expanded with new configurations and has undergone modifications designed to further improve performance, ease of use and to meet specific applications. For example, important orders have given us the opportunity to introduce the possibility of a machine opening of up to 700 mm (28 in.), and to reach sanding speeds of 150 m/min, especially important for fine thicknesses for which IMEAS guarantees workability from already 1.5 mm (1/16 in.). Finally, we introduced the variant with a working width of 3200 mm (10 ft.) and a 4000 mm (158 in.) abrasive belt length, specifically designed for the North American market.

Also, great progress has been made in the field of factory automation and integration. Thanks to the numerous experiences gained in the CLT sector and to the continuous improvements made to the IMEAS “Full Control System” (FCS) concept, today we can offer our customers a complete hardware and software package capable of communicating with advanced factory management systems to control the sanding process in a completely autonomous way, minimizing human intervention, errors and substantially improving the quality and consistency of the product, constantly exchanging data and information to allow real-time monitoring of the production status.

INTEC

Headquartered in Bruchsal, Germany, INTEC Engineering has made a name for itself in the field of heat transfer and power generation in past decades and proves day by day the quality, reliability and flexibility of its environmental friendly technologies, especially in the wood industry.

For the manufacturing of wood-based materials such as particleboard, MDF, OSB, LVL as well as in the production of plywood, veneer and pellets, INTEC Energy Systems provides the necessary equipment to supply the customer’s production with thermal oil, steam, hot water or hot gas.

The INTEC systems can be operated gas or oil fired for one heat transfer media alone, or with solid fuel firing as entire energy center for single or different heat transfer media.

INTEC biomass firing systems are designed specifically for biomass like wood waste, wood chips, bark, sanding dust, sawdust, production waste, supplemented by other various biomass up to other solid fuels like coal, plastics, sewage sludge or municipal waste.

The heat generation is complemented by power generation systems. This comprises individual power ORC generation modules up to complete power or CHP plants.

Customers all over the world are successfully operating INTEC step grate and fluidized bed firing systems. Depending on the customer’s requirement, different components with different capacities may be combined due to modular design, achieving a very high

Hall 26, Booth E58

INTEC provides heat energy systems for all wood-based materials.

IMEAS EvoL glulam sander

flexibility also with larger capacities than indicated below.

Our experience in the wood industry makes us a well-known key supplier for:

l Gas or oil-fired thermal oil heaters, vertical or horizontal, up to 30 MW

l Gas or oil-fired steam and hot water boilers in water tube design up to 100 bar pressure

l Waste heat recovery systems for thermal oil, steam, hot water

l Biomass-fired energy plants for the production of hot gas, thermal oil, steam or hot water with capacity up to 100 MW

l Biomass and waste fired power plants to generate electricity up to 20 MW

l ORC turbines for power generation

l Secondary circuits for press heating

l Modernization of thermal oil, steam or other energy plants

l As well as complete engineering of fully integrated thermal oil plants including the distribution to the consumers

More than 100 employees are working worldwide in the INTEC Group and develop, produce and shape your individual inquiry into a perfect solution.

IPCO

IPCO will use Ligna 2023 to highlight the service and support services it provides to press manufacturers and WBP producers alike. The stand will feature a dedicated productivity center, manned by WBP belts specialists, where repair and maintenance techniques will be explained. Tools on show will include the company’s Shotpeener Pro, a portable unit used to restore deformed steel belts to a totally flat condition, without interrupting production.

The next generation Shotpeener Pro incorporates a number of technical advances, resulting in increased blasting effect for faster results. Flattening capacity has been increased by 30%, enabling the restoration of belts that might previously have been beyond repair. And the entire process has been reconfigured to reduce cleaning requirements and enable safer, easier operation.

IPCO will also be highlighting the QuickDisc Plus 500, a repair tool used for removing the damaged area of a belt and cutting out a replacement disc from the spare section that the company supplies with every belt. This self-contained cutting and welding system can be used to repair damaged areas up to 480 mm in diameter on steel press belts.

As well as carrying out repairs, IPCO engineers can help end users achieve maximum return on investment through planned maintenance and preventative work.

With a global service network, IPCO’s teams can provide immediate support if a problem does occur. And more serious issues can be handled by IPCO’s Press Priority Team, specialists who can offer practical support anywhere in the world at short notice.

IPCO has been supplying steel belts for double belt presses for more than 100 years, and has been behind many of the advances in technology that have driven the development of the modern WBP industry.

Today, IPCO supplies press belts in two main steel grades: 1100C and 1650SM. The different characteristics of these grades enable the company to deliver the optimum combination of tensile strength; elasticity and thermal conductivity; and resistance to corrosion and general wear and tear.

The company’s production facility in Sandviken, Sweden is certified to ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001:2018. Press belts can be manufactured in thicknesses from 1.2 - 3.5 mm, and up to 4,620 mm wide.

The manufacture of wide belts involves welding two or even three belts together longitudinally—top and bottom—to create a belt of the required width. The belt is then ground to meet critical thickness tolerances and achieve the required surface texture. The higher the quality of manufacture at this stage, the lower the requirement for post production grinding on the end product, so IPCO’s ability to produce premium quality belts can have a significant impact on the overall productivity and profitability of a press operation.

l IPCO is a world-leading manufacturer of precision scattering systems and will use a demonstration model to explain the benefits of this technology. The company’s ScatterPro C model is used for corundum scattering, a key process in the production of abrasion-resistant flooring. The system ensures uniform distribution of a precise quantity of powder over the full width of the substrate.

l IPCO will also be highlighting the role that its steel belts and High Precision Tracking (HPT) system can play in delivering faster, more precise digital printing. Research carried out by Fraunhofer IPT has shown steel belts to be as much as 6x more stable than plastic. This performance is further enhanced by the use of a tracking system accurate to +/- 0.1 mm and capable of operating at belt speeds up to 300 m/min.

Hall

26, Booth D58

Hall 26, Booth F62

Repairing belt deformation using IPCO’s advanced Shotpeener Pro.

LIGNA

JOHN KING CHAINS

Power feed debarker conveyors manufactured by well-known OEMs such as Andritz are one of the most demanding chain applications on the planet. Our assistance was requested from Andritz engineering teams in Uruguay where they were experiencing dramatically reduced operational lifetime of their customer’s power feed chains, resulting from a multitude of both environmental and operational factors. In this instance the operating conditions are unusually aggressive, a continuous 24 hour operation with high concentration of silica, carried over from the processed material, low PH levels and continual shock loading of material. A combination of high abrasion, corrosion and impact all contribute to what could be argued as one of the most challenging mechanical operating environments on the planet.

The project involved redesigning and replacing standard materials and construction (WH155/HTH) with our WHM155/IBR Welded Bush, complete with hot riveted pin grease facility, optimum materials and selective hardening over the contact areas.

The main problems experienced before King’s involvement was excessive and accelerated wearing on the side plates, manually welded attachments becoming detached, and premature bush and pin wear. The side plates proposed and later supplied by our team entailed uprating standard carbon steel to a high carbon alloy steel; and pins and bushes with further through hardened and selective hardened on the contact zones, all King Timber standards.

Introduction of grease facility complete with JKG1436M, a superior quality, calcium sulphonate complex grease with exceptional load carrying capacity, containing molybdenum disulphide which provides increased protection against load and added protection against component wear in very dusty environments, was essential during the running-in period and later offering extended protection against ingress of abrasives and heavy loading.

With improved material specifications, uprated heat treatment/techniques implemented by our South American technical team, we have been able to extend the chain service life from nine to currently 24 months without to this date any further technical intervention. In support we were supplied with a letter of conformity from the responsible plant engineer qualifying this case of improvement and continued support from the King Timber Team.

Hall 26, Booth D11

LEDINEK

Ligna. Here we go again!

Organization of taking part at a trade fair, especially one as big and as important as Ligna, is always quite a challenge and starts many months before the event itself. But as the nature of fairs has also changed over time and everyone expects the atmosphere at a fair to be optimistic and relaxed, I have decided to concentrate in this article on our goals and wishes for Ligna 2023 rather than going into serious technical discussion. For that there will be plenty of time at other occasions.

As a multi-decade exhibitor at Ligna fair, Ledinek has always participated in this special event in good spirits and with high hopes and has always tried to freshen up our stand for our customers and fair visitors. In that light, this year we have along with presenting our newest products, concentrated even more on the social aspect of the fair, spending time with our customers and enjoying their company. We believe that trust is crucial in business, therefore we perceive customers as our long-term partners and friends. Accordingly, we have adapted our appearance at the fair visually as well as in our minds.

With a new design and arrangement of the stand, we want to express our core values and add to one’s imagination, hoping our guests will feel welcome and comfortable and enjoy our hospitality. We are also looking forward to the already traditional Slovenian party at our stand, featuring our traditional food and beverage as well as traditional alpine folk music performed live by a famous Slovenian music band. If you still don’t know how to dance polka, learn it!

We are always proud of the exhibited machines as they are the result of our innovative solutions and hard work. This year our Ligna exhibits will be less in number, but by no means less impressive. As our main focus is on development, you will be able to see that a period of four years has been very busy and fruitful for us. Although we would love to present all our latest develop-

Andrej Holc, sales engineer responsible for Ledinek representation at Ligna (and the author of this Ledinek article)

John King power feeding South American panel production

LIGNA

ments, for space reasons we limited the number to three. We are showing three representative equipment pieces that cover the three main areas of our production program: planing, finger-jointing and pressing, which make us a major global CLT & GLT plant builder.

I believe these are enough reasons for you to visit Ledinek at Ligna; let me only add the detail that the weight of all three pieces will sum up to 85 tons, and the heaviest one will approach the 50 tons weight.

In all these years from 1977 when we first took part at Ligna till today, we have reinvented ourselves many times through our products as well as in our appearance, but our core has always been the same and pushes us to be innovative and build powerful and durable machines.

See you soon at Ligna!

Hall 27, Booth C20

LIMAB

LIMAB is the market leader in non-contact thickness measurement of wood-based panels. We started in 1979 in Gothenburg, Sweden and today make our own laser sensors and in-house mechanical system solutions and specialized software for the four different industries we are focusing on.

Our PanelProfiler system is an excellent in-line quality control tool for all types of panels, like MDF, plywood, OSB, particleboard, hardboard and engineered wood products. The system can help improve both the products and process in presses, sanding and finishing lines.

The unique laser based PanelProfiler thickness measurement system is nearly maintenance free. There are no moving parts such as contact rollers that wear and require expensive replacement and frequent cleaning.

The system is available in several versions including single and multiple fixed position measurement tracks, traversing single track and automatically width adjustable outer tracks for varying product widths. It is also possible to install up to three measurement stations combined in, and displayed on, one single system computer. This is very useful in sanding lines before/between/after sanders to see how much has been sanded off and for quick trouble shooting help for out-of-tolerance conditions.

All measurement frames are unique in that they are temperature stable due to special materials and system design. Therefore the high measurement accuracy remains constant over time and ambient temperature changes, without the need for constant recalibrations.

The user-friendly system software displays real time panel thicknesses numerical and graphical, in 2D and 3D, with clear out-of-tolerance indication and alarms. Panel flatness, width and length can also be calculated. Trend diagrams, product recipe handling and data logging of important panel data is standard.

There are many advantages with non-contact measurement technology, some of which can be mentioned:

—High accuracy for all types of products, also for thin and rough surfaced panels

—No wearing parts means low maintenance costs and low total cost of ownership.

—No scratch or dirt marks on panels

—It measures the whole panel length, from the very front edge. It doesn’t need to wait until contact is made and leveled out. Depending on speed, in some systems several feet are missed with contact rollers.

–Temperature stable design gives stable measurements also in continuous and high speed lines.

We are very happy to welcome you at our stand and discuss suitable solutions for your requirements.

Hall 25, Booth H45

Hall 26, Booth F07

LONGONI ROBERTO

Longoni Roberto e figli s.r.l. (LRF) is working in the field of plastic decorative laminates (HPL, CPL), melamine faced panels (TFL, LPL), and finish foils. Being highly specialized in the production process of these components, LRF supplies the machineries, materials and technology suitable to meet the specific demand of each client.

l Know-How:

—Supply of know-how for the production of resins and impregnated papers for special applications in HPL, CPL and short cycle lamination (exterior grade, phenol-free resins, liquid and solid overlay application for laminate flooring, high glossy hot-hot cycle lamination, anti-fingerprint effect)

—Feasibility studies and cost analysis including advanced technologies and of the sources of alternative raw materials or semifinished products

l Studies for lowering the production costs

LIMAB headquarters and operations in Gothenburg, Sweden

LIGNA

l Studies for making changes on existing plants to improve performance and the quality of products.

l Materials:

—melamine, phenol, ureic and melamine resins

—plasticizing agents

—release, wetting, special application agents, etc.

—decorative press plates

—press pads

—decorative paper

—finish foil

—aluminum foil

—overlay

l Machinery:

— LRF supplies brand new, second-hand or reconditioned machinery, according to the customer’s needs.

—LRF can make an evaluation of a second-hand plant still working or no longer in use and offer a project based on the working parts of the plant integrated with other machinery brand new or reconditioned.

—LRF and its partner companies supply complete turnkey plants, technical assistance for dismantling, reconditioning, erecting and starting up plants, including after-sales service for raw materials, consumable products and spare parts.

Since 2003 LRF has been the exclusive agent for the export of the paper impregnation lines of NTST Forestry Machine Manufacture & Installation Co., Ltd.

Our recent joint venture, Nuove Technologie Si Tong Co. Ltd., has developed further, implementing new Italian technology and design. Our latest generation of impregnation lines is the best choice for companies with a high demand on quality, performance and price advantage.

LRF has recently developed the industrialization of LAMIDRY technology, a patented solution to treat decorative and kraft paper surface with dry resin, that gives totally new perspective in the lamination industry.

Compared to standard wet process, LAMIDRY uses less resin, avoids polluted emissions, reduces energy consumption and machinery investment cost.

l Phenolic LAMIDRY Coating

—No phenolic fumes to be treated

—200 m/min speed in 30 m long treater

—No liquid resins, just resin powder

The LRF philosophy is to provide up to date solutions complying to a basic principle: highest quality at minimum cost!

Hall 26, Booth H07

MEINAN MACHINERY WORKS

Celebrating our 70th anniversary, Meinan was established in Japan in 1953 to develop new methods to automate the plywood manufacturing process. Today Meinan is an employee-owned company with many worldwide patents that revolutionized the plywood industry by using automation to lower labor costs and increase quality.

The original innovators of composing technology to join random width veneer into full sheets, Meinan also developed the world’s first veneer peeling line with in-line green veneer composing to provide a completely automated green end solution. The company recently celebrated the sale of its 100th tape edge composer, for taping green or dry veneer.

Ligna visitors will learn how Meinan’s automated state-of-the-art technology positively impacts raw material, product quality, manpower, glue, and energy costs.

Meinan fully automatic veneer peeling lines are in operation worldwide, featuring the Meinan veneer lathe with circumferential drive system to provide higher full sheet recovery, better veneer quality and extremely close thickness tolerance. The unique circumferential drive system allows spindleless peeling with usable veneer to the 2 in. core, with no log spinouts.

The newest automatic Meinan lathe lines feature 3-D vision scanning with PC optimization on the log charger, automatic knife changing for faster and safer operation, automatic clipping to rapidly clip, sort and stack full veneer sheets by moisture content, and automatic handling of random-width veneer using in-line green veneer composers for splicing into full veneer sheets, provid-

Meinan looks forward to gathering at Ligna.

Longoni Roberto provides lamination materials and technologies.

ing increased dryer utilization and significant labor savings.

Meinan also manufactures face veneer lathes with automatic reeling, scarf composers, sanders, grading systems, and automatic layup lines. Our equipment and production methods can be found in panel and engineered lumber plants throughout the world, producing veneer, plywood and LVL from various raw materials with significant process and efficiency improvements, and most importantly—fast payback.

We invite you to visit our booth to talk with us about improving your veneer and plywood production processes.

Hall 26, Stand G61

MINDA

After a long developmental period beginning a few years earlier, MINDA—a plant specialist with more than 40 years of experience—won the order at the end of 2018 to build, install and set up a new CLT production line at the XLAM Industrie site in Mignovillard, France. Delivery and installation began just over a year after order placement, and commissioning took place in January 2020. Due to unexpected Corona interruptions, the production startup was delayed to May.

A key requirement of the customer was to have spacesaving production facilities in an existing hall. The finger-jointing outfeed and the remaining production sections were placed in a new hall.

The line consists of a compact package feeding with two qualities: a manual marking station and the infeed to the finger-jointer. The finger-jointer and the production control system receive the production data in advance from the work preparation system.

Behind the finger-jointer, MINDA takes over the lamellas and tracks each one from this point on in the MINDA MCS overhead control system. The lamellas are then stored in a multi-level storage area. After the finger-joints are cured, the lamellas are fed to a lamella planer. Lamellas for the cross layers are produced in multiple lengths, cut to the needed size and then collected to layers.

The cross and length layers are centered and pre-compressed on the two pick-up stations. A following vacuum gantry places the layers in the appropriate sequence on the laying table. The one-component PUR glue is applied by a driving gantry. Once a press package has been completed, it automatically runs into the TimberPressX 334.

The front and side pressure systems close all gaps between the loose lamellas. The CLT panels can be produced between a length of 26 and 54 ft. and a width of 7.8 to 11.2 ft., fully automated without any manual intervention and without any pattern. After buffering, the CLT panels are transported to the CNC machine.

MINDA delivered the first CLT line to Eugen Decker in Morbach, Germany in 2011. Meanwhile, MINDA lines can be found on almost all continents. CLT panels can be produced on MINDA lines in batch size 1. Each panel can be a different length and width—infinitely variable—and of any possible layer structure. There are no manual setups to be done in the press area—everything is fully automated.

The high-speed version of the TimberPressX introduced in 2019 has become an integral part of high-performance lines. The potential use of even faster glues (and thus shorter pressing times) allows a capacity increase of up to 30%.

Hall 26, Booth F27

Hall 27, Booth F38

MODUL SYSTEME

Modul Systeme supplies used and reconditioned machinery for the wood-based panel industry, ranging from single machines to complete plants (MDF, OSB, particleboard, insulation and wood cement board). Modul’s portfolio also includes downstream manufacturing machines such as sanding lines, coating plants, board separation lines and panel production lines.

In addition, Modul Systeme provides a comprehensive package of engineering, technical services and equipment for the panelboard industry. Further services including logistics, dismantling, installation and commissioning of complete equipment are offered.

Another key aspect is the modernization of existing plants to increase capacity and improve quality—with so-

Modul Systeme knife ring flakers

Minda TimberPressX and CLT production

lutions tailored to the customer’s requirements, regardless of age and type of the installation. Based on the long experience of its personnel, Modul Systeme can source the best suitable machines and engineer them to a complete line, considering the client’s needs and raw material supply.

Additionally, Modul Systeme operates one of the largest warehouses for second hand panelboard machinery worldwide. Come and visit our warehouse in Springe near Hannover. A shuttle service from Ligna fairgrounds is available on request.

“Be smart, buy second hand” is Modul Systeme’s longtime motto that still applies to this very day. A mix of reconditioned and new equipment has turned out to be an attractive and economical solution for our customer’s benefit.

Hall 26, Booth D27

MOISTTECH

Fluctuating moisture levels can cause significant changes to the quality of various types of manufactured wood products. These inconsistencies mean the final product will have varying quality levels depending on where in production they were created. Near-infrared (NIR) technology is the best solution to accurately measure the moisture levels of multiple applications, offering a solution that meets all quality control factors.

MoistTech Corp. manufactures the diamond standard in moisture measurement sensors, service and support. Accurately detecting moisture levels frequently throughout the process allows for line adjustments as needed that improve the overall functionality and efficiency of the facility.

MoistTech’s NIR sensor provides a non-contact measurement process that is insensitive to material variations such as particle size and material height and color. With more than 40 years of experience, our equipment stands above the competition by providing continuous, reliable readings with zero maintenance or overheating issues, no external accessories for operation and the ability to have unlimited licensing to the software.

MoistTech provides plug-and-play operation by providing sensors that require a one-time calibration with a non-drift optical design, allowing operational personnel to confidently make line adjustments based on real-time measurements. Connected directly to a PLC if desired, a MoistTech moisture control system creates a closed loop process within your facility.

l Increased Quality: Working within the acceptable ranges of moisture will result in a superior product and increase the plant’s efficiency. MoistTech equips manufacturers and producers with the data needed for optimal performance.

l Energy Efficient:Implementing a MoistTech moisture detection system will assist the facility in saving energy by preventing unnecessary energy consumption and reducing the amount of waste produced.

l Consistency: Consistency and quality come together with proven data to provide better products. Learn about MoistTech and how direct moisture measurement can instantly improve your production line:

Hall 26, Booth B27

MÜNZING

MÜNZING’s FENTAK product line is a broad selection of specialty additives for use in the wood processing industry. Our wide range of additives are used in a number of applications, including decorative and industrial laminates, wood panels and engineered wood.

All products are specifically designed to either help enhance the properties or appearance of the final product or improve the production process. Discover our portfolio consisting of defoamers, catalysts, release agents and wetting agents, dyes, pigments, plasticizers, fillers, sealants, coatings and plywood putties.

Hall 26, Booth D28

MÜNZING specialty additives for all wood production

MoistTech moisture measurement at OSB dryer flange

LIGNA

OMECO

Since 1960 Omeco has manufactured more than 600 veneer dryers. Many improvements have been implemented, making them even more efficient and productive. Some are listed below:

—insulated flooring allowing less heat energy consumption, higher drying temperature, easier cleaning and less civil work

–smoke chambers to allow dryer to work with very high air drying moisture without steam leaks

—frequency inverters for the fans to optimize drying air flow

—radiators with extruded finned tubes for best heat exchange

—air drying moisture control to save energy not leaving dumpers open all the time and also improving veneer quality

—high temperature condensate system to make it possible to feed the boiler with hotter condensate reducing fuel consumption

—IHM control for every dryer parameter to make it easier to obtain the best result from the dryer with different types of veneers

—continuous veneer moisture detector to control automatically the final moisture of all veneers reducing wet and overdried veneers

—vacuum feeder with up to 22 cycles per minute to load bigger dryers with less manual labor

—grading and stacking lines for high capacity automatic lines

As a reference of drying efficiency, 713kcal and 44Wh per evaporated kg water are examples of heat and electric energy consumptions of Omeco dryers. Dryers can be heated with steam up to 21kg/cm2, thermal oil, hot water, gas burners and also hot gas.

Hall 26, Booth H48

PALLMANN

Pallmann company was founded in 1903 and originally operated as a fully family owned company in the tradition and expertise of seven generations of flour millers and mill designers.

Since 2017, Pallmann is a member of the Siempelkamp group. Together our global presence is ensured by a coordinated sales network for our machinery as well as spare parts and after-sales service.

As pioneers in the field of size reduction, Pallmann has made an important contribution to today’s state-of-the-art of size reduction and material preparation techniques, also resulting in numerous patents of their own. As a specialist in size reduction, we offer the widest range of machines and complete systems for successful preparation of all materials, in order to contribute to an optimized utilization of existing resources and to increased and profitable productivity so you can stay ahead.

Solid and sound technical knowledge, skilled craftsmanship and intensive striving for optimum technical and economical solutions— these are also today typical characteristics of a Pallmann specialist.

Pallmann is one of the leading manufacturers of size reduction machines and systems for the wood products industry. Pallmann designs, manufactures and supplies tailor-made, individual or complete solutions for the processing of raw material for MDF, OSB and particleboard plants. At its headquarters in Zweibrücken, Pallmann operates the world’s largest research and development center for size reduction technology as well as a training and service center. Numerous machines are available for the preparation of various raw materials including subsequent laboratory analysis on individual scale.

More than 1,000 machine types guarantee optimum solutions for a wide variety of different applications. Many years of specific experience of our engineers and reliable results out of more than 45,000 size reduction tests performed in our large research and technology center are a unique basis for safe investment decisions.

l Our newest design for the Ligna 2023:

—EcoPulser – size reduction per shock waves!

Any kind of mechanical size reduction – i.e. grinding, tearing, cutting absorbs energy by friction. The tool-free size reduction method of the EcoPulser, based on shock waves, is an innovative non-contact concept and realizes outstanding energy efficiency.

For more detailed information we welcome you to our exhibit.

Hall 26, Booth E27

Pallmann was founded 120 years ago.

Omeco veneer dryers offer numerous capabilities.

LIGNA

PESSA

Founded in the ’50s and managed for two generations by the Pessa family, PESSA IMPIANTI designs and manufactures machinery and plants for the particle size reduction of wood and preparation of flakes, chips and fiber, mainly used in the WBP, MDF, OSB industry.

Pessa’s Universal Discontinuous Flakers are reliable machines with extraordinary performance, designed to comply with different production requirements to obtain good quality calibrated flat flakes, with superior mechanic characteristics, used for PB and OSB production.

The CBPB panel market is also very interesting, which in recent years has found great acceptance in various applications, such as construction, both indoors and outdoors. This type of composite panel, consisting of cement and a mixture of wood particles (produced by processing the log with the Pessa Discontinuous Flaker in the various models) called Cement Bonded Particle Boardcombines the flexibility of wood with resistance of cement, thus allowing a wide range of applications.

Particular attention is paid to the double cutterhead, which constitutes the heart of the flaker and can be arranged to produce a suitable flake according to the type of panel it is intended for. Reconditioning service of this important machine part is an added value, allowing a performing cutterhead at a lower cost.

Pessa production includes:

l Machines the primary working of wood and recovery of wood wastes (discontinuous flakers for PB, OSB and CBPB, drum chippers)

l Machines for particle comminution (knife ring flakers, hammermills, refining mills)

l Systems for wood feeding, handling and storage

l Extraction, storage and mixing systems for flakes, chips, sawdust

l Auxiliary equipment

l Reconditioning service of the part subject to heavy wear such as cutterheads for flakers, rotors for chippers and impellers for knife ring flakers and refiners.

Hall 26, Booth C75/1

PLYTEC

Recent years have been busy and rewarding for Plytec. With the help of existing, committed and new customers, the company has developed steadily and congregated further experience by handling larger scope deliveries. We have focused on customers’ needs and requests and all the projects have reached a positive goal.

Dry veneer handling, layup, veneer patching and scarf jointing remain Plytec’s main products.

Plytec Oy participates in Ligna together with long-term partner, Elliott Bay Industries from the USA. With us also will be Manitek Oy, a leading Finnish specialist for panel handling machinery. You’ll find our own sales people as well as our worldwide representatives.

Hall 26, Booth G76.

Plytec automatic layup line

Pessa Discontinuous Flaker for OSB

LIGNA

SIEMPELKAMP

Finally live again: Siempelkamp will be on site at Ligna 2023 presenting new technologies and services under the motto “When digitalization contributes to sustainability.” The focus will be on new smart overall solutions, sustainable concepts and the new ContiRoll Generation 9i continuous press system.

The event organizer is not the only one who is pleased to say “It's LIGNA again!” They are joined by the entire Siempelkamp Group, who will be united at the booth in Hall 26.

The umbrella message for Ligna 2023 originates from the Siempelkamp claim “Intelligent engineering for future generations.” It combines digitalization and sustainability, the two current megatrends which make up Siempelkamp’s clear mission to act.

The current Siempelkamp Ligna campaign with its kaleidoscope look illustrates the versatility and correlations within this claim: digitalization and automation, sustainability and resource efficiency, innovation and social responsibility. These topics are key for the success of people, machines, technologies and services in the wood-based panel industry.

So what does this mean for visitors to the Siempelkamp booth? In a multi-sensual “Experience Walk,” the two strategic topic areas can be experienced in the truest sense of the word. New products and approaches to resource efficiency and recycling are presented in the area of “sustainability,” anchored in the topics of “wood/material use,” “emissions” and “energy.” The topic of “intelligent production” will be a focal point in a digital experience room.

l Launch of the IQ digital platform

Siempelkamp will be presenting the new digital platform IQ to the public here for the first time—a digital, holistic overall approach for the plant operator. The entire kaleidoscope of Siempelkamp solutions includes numerous other individual concepts and solutions which will be presented at selected brand and product islands.

l ContiRoll Generation 9i

Of course it would not do for Siempelkamp's flagship to be missing at Ligna. The new ContiRoll 9i will be presented with further developments which redefine the triad of reliability, performance, and a new access concept which is key for plant operators. The new ContiRoll 9i is rounded off with adaptive forming systems that automatically optimize the spreading distribution for MDF and particleboard—without operator intervention.

Siempelkamp is really looking forward to presenting all of this in an informative, immersive way.

Hall 26, Booth E27

STELA

As market leader in low-temperature belt dryers, the long-established company from Lower Bavaria continues to set new technology standards in the industry and is thus a decisive step ahead of its competitors. Following more than 100 years of tradition, stela Laxhuber has improved its tried-andtested technology and brought them to the market

The European pellet industry has been waiting a long time for more energy-efficient production facilities, not just in the field of drying. The technicians at stela Laxhuber drying technology took up the topic at an early stage and found a solution that enables energy savings of up to 55%.

The stela RecuDry system divides conventional technology into two drying areas. The Recu module saturates the drying air optimally by circulation and reheating. A partial stream of the saturated air is fed to the condensation module. The contained - mostly latent - energy warms the fresh air in the condensation module. By using an air-to-air heat exchanger, a large part of the energy used is thus recovered and thus guarantees a highly efficient drying.

The stela RecuDry system makes it possible to retrofit existing plants quickly and cost-effectively, while saving space and making a significant contribution to the reduction of emissions in the drying plant.

The large number of realized projects and the feedback from satisfied customers shows that energy-efficient drying is the key to the economic success of modern pelletizing.

Hall 26, Booth H61

Belt drying from stela offers significant energy savings.

When digitalization contributes to sustainability.

LIGNA

TAIHEI MACHINERY WORKS

Taihei Machinery Works, LTD, located in Komaki, Japan, was established in 1925. We have produced veneer, plywood and woodworking machinery for approaching 100 years. Our products include the horizontal hot press, jet-box dryer, super precision grinding and honing machines and an assortment of innovative woodworking machineries.

We are focused on producing machinery that maintains the highest possible quality veneer/plywood condition while maximizing production capacity. This objective can be seen in our resulting machinery such as our hugely popular horizontal hot press. It has a proven track record of success in Japan, with more than 95% of the Japanese plywood market using our horizontal hot press. We have recently begun focusing our efforts in introducing the horizontal hot press into the North American market, with our installation in Freres Engineered Wood in Oregon drawing attention from plywood companies across the U.S.

Our horizontal hot press has a number of key features which make it the clear choice for a plywood mill looking to increase production quantity while increasing their quality:

1. Fully Automated. Only one operator is required to oversee the machine.

2. Can have up to 120 openings.

3. Due to the horizontal application of pressure, the pressure is applied uniformly on all sheets.

4. Being fully automated, the horizontal hot press is easy and safe to operate.

5. The horizontal hot press does not require a foundation pit, leading to easier cleaning and further increased safety.

At Ligna, we will be showing off our new VR presentation for our horizontal hot press, where you will be able to see our machine come to life before you. When attending, please make sure to spend some time at our booth to learn what Taihei Machinery can do for your plywood mill!

With the horizontal hot press, you get quality and quantity. In other words, you can have your cake and eat it too. Come check us out at Ligna to see the best hot press in the market, alongside our other innovative machineries. Hall 26, Booth J27

USNR

Visit us at LIGNA to experience the future of engineered wood manufacturing technology. You can learn the details about our AI-powered scanning, optimization, and veneer grading systems, along with flexible solutions for panel processing.

Now with deep learning AI technology, developed and proven in our sawmill grade optimizers, the NV4g green-end and GSc2000 dry-end veneer grading platforms have achieved a paradigm shift in solution accuracy. The result is a new level of defect detection that makes grading solutions more accurate and more profitable.

Several deep learning systems are installed and operating with impressive results. Mills are reporting improved grading accuracy and more higher-grade finished products. Deep learning is the ultimate defect classifier; faster to start up, more accurate, and easier to use than a traditional neural net classifier.

l Advances in sheet and random stacking

USNR’s patented invention of the green Multi-Point Diverter System (MPDS) has made green random veneer stacking not only possible but efficient. The MPDS uses data from the NV4g green veneer defect scanner to precisely track and sort trash into the haul back and divert fishtail/random onto the trays. The MPDS can eliminate the tipple section and the cumbersome transitions to multiple trays by loading each tray from discrete divert points. The system is configurable to customer-specific requirements.

USNR’s random stacker significantly reduces head count by automating the stacking process and the eliminating pullers. The system stacks veneer sheets from 6 in. minimum to full size using spike belts (needle belts) instead of vacuum plenums so there is very little dust. Other key benefits include reduced noise and reduced power consumption compared to vacuum-based stackers.

This system helps reduce your veneer drying costs and increase recovery by sorting accurately and stacking precisely with our veneer grade sorting and stacking systems. Available for green and dry applications, USNR stackers deliver the high-speed reliability necessary for today’s toughest veneer handling requirements.

USNR is your source for the latest advances in today’s high-tech wood processing industry.

Hall 25, Booth D65/D69; Hall 26, Booth D08

USNR random stacker stacks veneer sheets from 6 in. minimum to full size using spike belts which reduce dust in the air.

Taihei horizontal hot press can have up to 120 openings.

LIGNA

WEMHÖNER

Wemhöner Surface Technologies, Wemhoener (Changzhou) Machinery Manufacturing and Wemhoener (Changzhou) Machinery Technology invite you to Ligna 2023 in Hall 26. Get inspired about the innovations on the subject of flexible and economical surface finishing solutions. Industrial shortcycle press systems are the central topic at the world market leader for short-cycle press lines.

Other topics include the further development of Wemhöner’s 3D VARIOPRESS technology for the production of furniture fronts and furniture components based on thermoplastic foils. Other topics include lacquering lines, HotCoating systems together with interactive software and hardware solutions, networked manufacturing systems and materials management. We look forward to seeing you!

Technology, quality, innovation—this is Wemhöner for more than 95 years.

Designed and built by Wemhöner:

—Melamine short-cycle press lines

—Wemhöner MasterLine - lacquering- and printing lines

—3D VARIOPRESS equipment with and without membrane

—Surface laminating systems and roller coaters

—Lightweight panel equipment

—Throughfeed press lines in single- and multi-daylight automation

—Special press plants, customized systems

—Laboratory presses

—Handling and logistic concepts

Hall 26, Booth E11

WILLAMETTE VALLEY COMPANY

The Willamette Valley Company (WVCO) is proudly introducing “Liquid Wood,” a novel 2K repair product formulated with primarily bio-based raw materials. This invention culminated from WVCO’s years of expertise in 2K chemistries, biomaterials research, and aligns perfectly with the global motivation toward “green” renewable engineering.

While maintaining adhesion and robustness of a conventional 2K system, Liquid Wood repair mimics wood more closely in stainability, long-term weathering, and aesthetics. Liquid Wood repair will age like the surrounding wood making it the perfect solution for visual repairs that last a lifetime.

Our Liquid Wood products continue to have all the great characteristics of our standard 2K repair products that our customers have been appreciating for many decades:

l Minimal shrinkage

l Strong and durable

l Long lasting

l Sandable in minutes

l Great adhesion

l Paintable

l Stainable

l Smooth surface

l Customizable—matching customer’s needs and process

For more information visit our booth at Ligna 2023 and come meet our Europe team (WILVACO). We look forward to seeing you and discussing how we can partner through service, innovation and integrity.

Hall 26, Booth D08/1

WVCO reveals “Liquid Wood.”

Wemhöner provides surface finishing solutions.

ASSESSMENT OF THE EVER EVOLVING ENGINEERED WOOD INDUSTRY IN 2023

BY RICHARD (DICK) BALDWIN,

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the first part of a two-part series. The first part is intended to update current products and performance of the North American based Engineered Wood Products (EWP) industry, with a focus on the Mass Timber products of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and Mass Ply Panels (MPP). The second part will analyze and forecast market trends, and discuss emerging products and new processes designed to better meet construction needs. Throughout, the two installments will outline the key role that the EWP industry plays in providing cost-effective, environmentally sustainable, and innovative wood products that meet market needs better than conventional solutions.

Minfrequently occur within the conservative forest products industry. In recent years, one of these waves of creativity has started to transform products and processes in Engineered Wood Products (EWP) manufacturing as Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and Mass Ply Panels (MPP) become accepted building materials. These new mass timber products respond to the growing need for innovative, functional, and easy-to-use construction products that provide comfortable living spaces, respect the environment, and contribute to alleviating the shortage of affordable housing.

This article addresses topics such as:

● Societal factors that create a need for innovative solutions to the housing shortage

● Current state of EWPs in use for many years

● Analysis of relatively new mass timber products of CLT and MPP

● How innovative engineered wood products and processes can solve problems better than existing solutions

● The non-financial benefits of wood building materials to the wellness of people and the environment

‘AFFORDABLE’ HOUSING

The Consumer Price Index peaked at 8.9% in June 2022 and has persisted at higher levels than any time since early Reagan administration years. In an attempt to tame the high inflation that erodes purchasing power, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Bank of Canada, and other Central banks have substantially raised reference interest rates. The Federal Funds Target Rate and the Canadian Target Overnight Rate both rose from 0.25% in January 2022 to 4.50% in December. Mortgage interest rates have trended upward as the underlying reference rates increase.

Housing costs have grown quicker than average family income, and a house is increasingly unaffordable for a working family. Data from Freddie Mac defines the current dilemma for those seeking an affordable home. According to Freddie Mac, the average price of a new home has increased by 45% from $375,000 in 1st Quarter 2018 to $543,000 in 4th Quarter 2022. Over that same period, median household income only increased by 14% from $63,000 in 2018 to $72,000 in 2022.

Immediately prior to the pandemic in 4th Quarter 2019, Freddie Mac calculated the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage at about 3.7%. The mortgage rate average fell to 2.7% by the end of 2020 as the Fed increased money supply to maintain personal spending power during the initial Pandemic panic. Demand from unnaturally low interest rates stimulated higher real estate prices, but steady incomes and low monthly mortgage payments galvanized purchases of new and existing houses.

The divergence between housing prices and family incomes has been amplified by the recent doubling of mortgage interest rates from 3.0% at the end of 2021 to more than 6.5% at the end of 2022. Housing starts during the 1st half of 2022 were about the same as in the 1st half of 2021. A new home became unaffordable for many would-be buyers and home starts and

FREDERICK T. KURPIEL, RICHARD (RICH) BALDWIN

Mass timber usage increases during volatile year for homebuilding.

Benson High School, Portland, Ore. (courtesy of Freres Engineered Wood)

purchases significantly declined in the 2nd half of 2022.

High mortgage rates are beyond the control of our industry. However, collaborations between makers, specifiers, and users of building materials will significantly contribute to alleviating the housing shortage. Forest products makers can help increase the supply of affordable, comfortable, and convenient single-family and multi-unit dwellings by fostering the use of new and traditional Engineered Wood Products.

LVL PRICES

Besides plywood and OSB, there are several other EWPs currently in commercial use in North America such as LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber), GluLam (Glue Laminated Timber), CLT (Cross Laminated Timber), MPP (Mass Ply Panels), and PSL (Parallel Strand Lumber). EWPs in Canada and the U.S. are mostly used in construction, instead of as industrial raw materials. Therefore, market demand and production volume is closely correlated with construction activity.

Of these several products, LVL is the

one that is most widely used and the one for which it is possible to gather trustworthy statistics regarding production volume and average price. Statistics show that prices and demand for LVL correlate with construction activity; de-

mand and prices go up when construction activity increases and vice versa. We believe that LVL price and demand trends generally translate to other EWPs.

The Pandemic construction boom lasted from summer 2020 to the middle of

2022. While LVL has peaked and is trending down, prices at the end of 2022 remained much higher than prevailed prior to the Pandemic. After remaining relatively flat at about $20 per ft3 for several years prior to 2021, average LVL price almost doubled to about $37 per ft3 in the 3rd quarter of 2022. In 4th quarter 2022 LVL prices declined by less than 5% to $36 per ft3, which is much better than the substantial price declines for solid lumber, OSB, and plywood.

However, LVL production volume significantly decreased by almost one quarter in 4th quarter 2022 relative to 3rd quarter. As construction activity fell, companies reduced production due to (1) rational decisions to match lower supply with lower demand and (2) lesser veneer availability because of lower plywood production.

North American LVL production almost equals North American LVL usage, with Canada a net supplier to the U.S. About two-thirds of LVL imports to the U.S. originate in Canada, with Belgium, Germany, Brazil, and others supplying relatively small volumes. Import volumes to the U.S. weakened in the 2nd half of the year as prices declined.

LVL production at Chester Engineered Wood, Chester, SC

FUTURE MODEL

The oWOW Company, developer of several projects in and around urban Oakland, Calif., provides a glimpse of the evolving usage of mass timber. A relatively modest initial project using MPP is the retrofit of an existing 5-story at 316 12th St. into commercial space on the bottom floors and 27 residential units on the upper floors. At 1510 Webster St., oWOW is taking advantage of California’s adoption of the 2021 International Building Code that allows mass timber buildings as tall as 18 stories.

The 1510 Webster Street project is more than a conventional structure. Architects and engineers now are working with the builder to construct a mixed-use office and residential building that will become one of the world’s tallest towers built primarily from wood. Eighteen of the 19 floors will be constructed using Mass Ply Panel (MPP) columns and horizontal decking around a concrete core. The project will result in 222 one- and two-bedroom housing units on upper floors with ample retail and commercial space on lower floors. The expectation is total construction costs about 30% less than conventional techniques.

Andy Ball, President of oWOW, cites a company commitment to create high quality residential and commercial experiences for the ‘Sustainable Urban Middle,’ while reducing time and cost compared to traditional steel/concrete construction systems. After breaking ground on October 28, 2022, the Webster Street project is making steady progress with a targeted time to completion of 18 months.

The company has seven wood-based towers ranging from 18 to 24 stories in various stages of development. Ball expects that, as oWOW gains experience, it may be able to reduce completion time to less than half the norm for traditional concrete-steel projects. Prefabricated wood components are key to reducing construction time and on-site labor costs.

Key structural components of the Oakland project, such as columns and decking, are manufactured and customized to customer specifications at

oWow construction, Oakland, Calif. (courtesy of oWow Company)

the Freres facility east of Salem, Ore. in Lyons. The decking MPP (36 ft. long x 10 ft. wide x 5 in. thick) and columns (9 ft. high x 12.25 in. wide x 15.63 in. deep) comply with ANSI/APA PRG 320, the current commercial Standard for Performance for Rated Cross-Laminated Timber.

The 5 in. thick Douglas fir decking product of Freres was chosen over a Eu-

ropean CLT maker that would have supplied 7 in. thick pieces. Given that veneer glued into a solid MPP blank has more predictable structural characteristics than dimension lumber glued into a CLT piece, Freres was able to reduce the decking panel thickness to 5 in. while at least matching the performance of thicker CLT.

oWOW has developed another com-

petitive advantage—a dedicated supply chain. Freres provides the customized wood structural components, while others supply job-specific metal fasteners and other essential pieces. Relative to many other potential mass timber suppliers, Freres is relatively close in geographical terms and substantially controls its supply chain from logging to construction site delivery.

Douglas fir as the primary raw material in MPP is a native western North America species known for its high strength to weight. Freres practices sustainable forestry on its company-owned lands and solely uses mature trees harvested in compliance with environmentally certified practices. The company converts wood fiber into value-added products, with an increasing proportion made into MPP. Freres’ considerable investment of effort and money in introducing MPP continues a 100-year legacy of quality, excellence and meeting customer needs.

CORE EWP

While not all new EWPs have achieved commercial success, today’s popular materials started with an entrepreneur’s idea, struggled for recognition as a better solution, made improvements, and eventually became widely accepted. Plywood, OSB and LVL eventually evolved into sizable industries with billions of dollars in sales and thousands of employees. The new mass timber products of CLT and MPP have started off fast after their North Ameri-

can rollout less than five years ago.

● Plywood: the original veneer-based Engineered Wood Product

Gustav Carlson of Portland Manufacturing Company in St. Johns, Ore. near the Willamette River almost accidentally invented (or perhaps rediscovered) the core technology for EWP. This box factory was built in 1901 to produce wood baskets, crates, and other items from veneer peeled on an 8 ft. Jackson rotary lathe. However, the organizers of the 1905 World’s Fair in nearby Portland challenged local businesses to exhibit some new product at the fair.

Carlson hit upon the idea of creating a veneer-based panel using regional Douglas fir. This was done by peeling logs, clipping the green veneer into 4 ft. widths as the peeler block unwound, and drying the resulting veneer. The rough panel was then assembled by stacking three veneer layers on top of each other with animal-derived adhesive brushed on between the inner layers, with grain direction of the outer layers running length-wise and the inner layer running width-wise. The glued assemblies were then placed into a nearby improvised press before curing overnight.

The resulting veneer-based panels were flat and smooth, and easily sized to a nominal 4 x 8 dimension. The market, particularly door, cabinet, and trunk manufacturers, welcomed the new product. Eventually, water resistant adhesives were invented and plywood became widely used as a construction material in the post-World War II housing boom. Since OSB has widely substitut-

ed for plywood as a construction material, plywood is returning to its roots as an industrial raw material.

Plywood has become commonly used around the world for construction and industrial components, with China about 85% of global production. While Canada and the U.S. are less than 10% of total plywood production volume, in 2022 the North American market for rated softwood plywood may have approached $10 billion.

● Laminated Veneer Lumber

While first commercialized as a Douglas fir based material, LVL is now made from other species like southern yellow pine in the Southeastern U.S., spruce in Finland, and beech in Germany. LVL manufacturing equipment is now included in the catalogues of major European machinery makers such as Dieffenbacher, Raute, and Siempelkamp.

Native Idahoan Art Troutner, in conjunction with his marketing partner Harold (Red) Thomas, founded a company in the 1950s based on Troutner’s need as an architect-builder in Sun Valley, Idaho for long-length, high-strength beams and columns for high end residential structures. Troutner’s initial idea was for a truss using stress rated lumber as top and bottom flanges and steel as the web. This product carried more load per pound of its own weight versus anything on the market.

However, Troutner and Thomas could not find an established forest products maker willing to make, market and distribute the new invention so they started on a shoestring the company that became Trus-Joist. Troutner improved on his original idea. Soon plywood substituted for steel as the webbing (and in the 1980s OSB replaced plywood). Dur-

ing the 1970s, with long length lumber becoming hard-to-find and expensive, he decided to switch to LVL—strength already proven through aircraft propeller usage—as the flange material in a new ‘MICROLAM’ product.

Trus-Joist and MacMillan Bloedel put MICROLAM and related products together in 1991 through a joint venture. In 1999 Weyerhaeuser purchased MacMillan Bloedel, and weeks later purchased all shares of Trust Joist. In 2022, Weyerhaeuser reported LVL seg-

ment sales of $862 million and the total North American market for LVL was in the $2.5 to $3.0 billion range.

● Cross Laminated Timber

In the mid-1990s, the Austrian government sponsored an industryacademia joint research effort that resulted in the development of modern CLT. In the early 2000s, CLT became widely used as improved manufacturing efficiencies, product approvals in building codes, and better distribution channels contributed to product acceptance.

Glue application, Vaagen Timbers, Colville, Wash.

The market now accepts that CLT is a wood construction system equivalent to the masonry and concrete techniques typically used for single-family and multi-story residential and commercial construction in much of Europe.

The European experience shows that CLT construction can economically compete with other construction techniques, including for mid-rise buildings. While the material may cost more than steel or concrete, easier handling and substantial prefabrication reduce on-site labor cost and facilitate rapid project completion. Lighter panels mean that foundations do not need to be as strong and smaller cranes can be used to lift panels.

CLT also has non-monetary benefits relative to standard construction methods. Attributes include superior thermal insulation, sound insulation, and fire performance. Increasingly desirable are the ‘green’ benefits, including carbon capture and the perception that living in an organic wood structure is healthier than a stone, concrete, or steel building.

CLT became accepted for use in North America in 2011 through publication of the binational ANSI/APA PRG

Cross Laminated Timber. The 2021 revision of the International Building Code allows CLT use in mid-rise buildings of up to 18 stories.

As Senior Editor Dan Shell reported in the March 2023 edition of Panel World, the North American CLT industry currently suffers from growing pains. Katerra’s mill in Spokane, Wash. shut down in June 2021 after the parent company filed for bankruptcy protection. Structurlam suspended operations at its Conway, Ark. mill in January 2023 upon losing a sizable contract for supplying materials for Walmart’s headquarters campus. In hopeful signs, Mercer purchased the Katerra mill in 2021 and in March 2023 announced that it won a “major mass timber project contract with a large consumer products retailer.” New projects using CLT are regularly announced and we share Shell’s opinion that patient CLT producers will do fine.

● Mass Ply Panels

The Mass Ply Panel concept was developed through a public-private partnership between Tallwood Design Institute—an Oregon State University

tion—and Freres Lumber Co. State universities participated in order to support the forest products industry that traditionally has been vital to the Oregon economy. After touring European CLT producers, they figured they could make a similar product by making massive plywood sheets, and then gluing and pressing those plywood sheets into large assemblies.

In September 2018, the initial commercial production from the Lyons, Ore. mill was sold as flooring mats for stabilizing construction and well sites. After earning its ANSI/API PRG 320 Structural Composite Lumber classification and inclusion in the International Building Code, MPP has started to be used in construction of mid-rise buildings up to 18 stories.

SHARED ATTRIBUTES

Variables, such as wood fiber grades and dimensions, position (and alignment) within the assembly, and adhesive type, are driven by a recipe engineered to achieve specified structural properties and other in-service needs of the end

Former Katerra CLT facility in Spokane is now operated by Mercer International.

used in LVL, MPP, plywood, or PSL, flakes as used in oriented strandboard (OSB), or lumber as used in Glued Laminated Timber (GluLam) or Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), all engineered wood products share key attributes:

1) Bonded Assembly vs. Solid Wood. A bonded assembly from flakes, lumber, or veneer outperforms a solid wood assembly of similar dimensions, provided there is sound adhesion between wood pieces.

2) Superior Strength Properties from Favorable Tree Species. Certain softwood tree species have long cell structures and readily bond with adhesives, which facilitates superior structural strength and other desirable properties of the end product.

3) Maximize Forest Resource utilization. Wood fiber strength typically varies within a tree, and between trees of the same species. For example, higher ring count (tighter grain) predictably provides greater comparative strength. This higher ring count (tighter grain) in the heartwood and sapwood may occur in suppressed growth areas and where growth has been slowed by general climactic conditions, periodic dry seasons,

and/or poorer forest soils.

4) Optimize Wood Fiber Performance through EWP Assembly.

a) Reassembling lumber and veneer

pieces into an EWP results in a randomized redistribution of the knots, slope of grain, and other natural log defects. The coefficient of variation in strength and

stiffness is less than for solid lumber so less margin of error is required in design.

b) When cleverly utilized with higher-grade fiber on the outside and lowergrade fiber on the inside, performance properties can be maximized while minimizing cost and material usage.

c) Wood grain orientation of different layers is an important attribute because by itself it can create a stronger, more dimensionally stable product.

d) The bonded wood assembly is stronger if thicker and/or made with more layers.

e) Grading, such as visual inspection or ultrasonic machine grading by Metriguard (Raute), GreCon, EWS, or IMAL-PAL, provides assurance that wood fiber raw material and relatively thin finished products meet performance specifications. However, no practical technology exists to non-destructively test thick Mass Timber.

5) Shaping and Machining. In most cases, increasing the quantity of plies or using thinner plies will facilitate machining the EWP end product. This feature will be most apparent when breaking down a large rough billet, such as an MPP piece in which the initial size can

be up to 48 ft. long, 10 ft. wide, and 2 ft. thick.

6) Continuous Improvement. Plywood, OSB, and LVL all were good ideas from the beginning and quickly achieved market acceptance. However, improving the original ideas in areas of product design and marketing have led to commercial success for many decades.

STANDARDS

All EWP products begin with harvesting a tree, then share the six factbased principles to create a product that satisfies an unmet need, or better meets a need than existing answers. These principles provide a foundation for imagining and inventing new products and processes.

The greater the need to manufacture according to stringent requirements, the greater the need for assured product quality and precision from raw material to final installation. Detailed monitoring ranges from initial raw material inspections to auditing all steps of the manufacturing process to proper storage, shipping, and installation of the finished product.

A comprehensive process monitoring protocol is usually based on three levels. First, a specified and documented commercial or product standard. Second, the thoughtful additions of proprietary improvements that make a company’s products better than the competition for particular needs. Finally, the ability to customize the product to a defined customer need.

The 1510 Webster Street project is a case in point. Both bidders manufacture columns and decking according to applicable standards, but low price was only one of several considerations. The contract was awarded to the supplier that earned the customer’s confidence that it could meet its promises regarding product performance and delivery at a higher documented level. The superior Freres bid also promised easier and faster installation at the jobsite.

CONCLUSION

Plywood and LVL were created decades ago by entrepreneurs looking for solutions to problems. Since their inventions as building materials, they

have become billion dollar industries in North America and are now made and used around the globe. The era of Engineered Wood that started at the 1905 Portland World’s Fair continues with the rollout of transformative technologies like Mass Timber.

Further engineered wood product innovations represent a pathway to a sustainable future because renewable wood sequesters the atmospheric carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. This begins with the Circular Economy concept of gathering atmospheric carbon dioxide into a growing tree, manufacturing the wood fiber into products that remain in use for many decades, and at the end of its useful life recycling in an environmentally responsible manner. In addition, less energy (mostly meaning the burning of fossil fuels) is required to manufacture CLT and MPP compared to competing construction materials like steel and concrete.

CLT and MPP not only respect the environment, but have structural and economic characteristics that make these products of choice to “create high quality housing for the ‘Sustainable Urban Middle’ (and other population groupings) that yields a high-quality home and commercial experience.” These highly customizable building materials allow the creation of innovative and comfortable residential structures that are aesthetically pleasing. Developers believe they can complete their projects more quickly than conventional construction methods, with some builders projecting net project cost reductions of more than 30% compared to typical concrete and steel construction methods.

The mass timber products of Cross Laminated Timber and Mass Ply Panels are now coming of age as key construction materials that maximize renewable resource usage, minimize waste, and more quickly allow society to meet the urgent need for affordable housing. PW

Richard F. (Dick) Baldwin, Ph.D, C.F. is Managing Partner of Oak Creek Investments (Texas, USA), and an investor in wood and non-wood businesses. In recent years, he served as General Manager of Chester Wood Products (South Carolina, USA), Moncure Plywood (North Carolina, USA), Omak Wood Products (Washington, USA), and Winston Plywood & Veneer (Mississippi, USA). Dick is Instructor in the Forestry Department of Oregon State University (Oregon, USA) and author of the 2016 industry primer Plywood and Veneer-Based Products.

Frederick T. Kurpiel, Ph.D, MBA is President of Georgia Research Institute (Georgia, USA), founder and Co-Chair of the biennual PELICE (www.PELICE-expo.com) and Wood Bioenergy (www.bioenergy show.com) Conference-EXPO held in Atlanta (next show March 12-15, 2024), and regularly consults for Asian, European, and North American wood panel makers. Previously Fred was President of IMEAS, North American V.P. for Siempelkamp, and Director at APA – the Engineered Wood Association. Fred also is Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Georgia and Adjunct

Assistant Professor at Kasetsart University (Thailand).

Richard W. (Rich) Baldwin, MBA is Chief Investment Officer of Oak Creek Investments (Texas, USA), and regularly consults for Asian, European, and North American engineered wood products makers. In recent years, he served as a strategic consultant for several completed projects including Winston Plywood & Veneer (Mississippi, USA) and CalPlant I (California, USA). Rich was Visiting Professor at Southwest Forestry University (Kunming, China) and previously worked for two Wall Street firms.

PROJECTS

SONAE ARAUCO PLANS NEW PRODUCTION LINE

Sonae Arauco, which is one of the world’s leading suppliers of engineered wood solutions, is investing more than 100 million euros at its Meppen, Germany industrial complex for a new production line for wood fiber insulation materials, including flex insulation, pressure-resistant wood fiber insulation boards, and blow-in insulation.

“Our investment in the Meppen plant is the largest in Sonae Arauco’s history so far,” says Steffen Körner, General Manager and NEE Industrial Operations Director at Sonae Arauco. “Meppen is a key plant for us in Germany because it is where we produce our insulation solutions for construction. And, with this investment, we are not only strengthening its role in the growth of Sonae Arauco’s portfolio for construction, but we are also expressing our long-term commitment to the region of Meppen, as well as to the almost 200 local employees who work at the site.”

Sonae Arauco focuses on the development of sustainable wood-based solutions with high-added value for construction, furniture, and interior design. Every year, for example, the products marketed by Sonae Arauco absorb around 2 million tons of CO2.

“Our wood-based solutions combine an outstanding environmental balance with a robust technical performance,” adds Bernd Runge, Sonae Arauco Construction System Project Manager. “The AGEPAN SYSTEM stands for the highest functionality in combination with sustainability and healthy living. By expanding our range with the new

production line, we are exploiting our potential even better and further driving an environmentally conscious economy of the future. This strategic step gives us the opportunity to be part of the upheaval in the construction industry, in which wood as a material is extremely relevant.”

ARAUCO ANNOUNCES

MDF PLANT IN MEXICO

South America’s Arauco Group placed an order with Siempelkmap for a complete plant for the production of MDF as well as a short-cycle press line

will be built in Zitácuaro in the state of Michoacán, where Arauco already produces particleboard.

The scope of supply starts with truck unloading, silo discharge, mechanical and pneumatic conveyors. Siempelkamp subsidiaries CMC and Pallmann contribute the screening and size reduction technology. Büttner will supply the dryer as well as the energy plant and was particularly convincing with its technical possibilities in the area of energy savings. Another convincing feature was the design of the air-cooled firing grate: It allows for a complete combustion of biomass and thus opens up a

Left to right, José Rojas Opazo, Project Engineering Manager MDF Zitácuaro, Arauco; Daniel Hasemann, Sales Director Siempelkamp South America; Ignacio Garrido, Purchasing Director Arauco; Jonathan Parisotto, Sales Director Siempelkamp Brazil; Tito Jara, Technical Director Arauco; Jurgen Philipps, Speaker of the Management Board Siempelkamp; Armando Espinoza Vargas, Director of Operations Arauco Mexico; Jörg Melin, Sales Manager Büttner

livery spectrum is rounded off by the complete finishing line with cooling and stacking, two storage types, a sanding line with cut-to-size saw, and a packaging line.

Siempelkamp’s solutions for “Production Intelligence” are also integrated in the plant concept for Arauco. The digital control system Prod-IQ contributes to the optimization of the production processes. The engineering is provided by the Belgian Sicoplan subsidiary. The second system, a shortcycle press, will be integrated into the finishing concept.

The preliminary phase was characterized by intensive and cooperative coordination between Arauco and Siempelkamp; the first elaborations were followed by carefully developed fine-tuning of the specifications up to the precise timeline. An on-site meeting at the Zitácuaro location served to perfectly integrate the new plants into the existing infrastructure.

INDIA’S GREENPANEL GROWS WITH MDF

India’s largest MDF manufacturer, Greenpanel Industries Ltd., has ordered its third MDF plant from Dieffenbacher. The new thin-board line based on Dieffenbacher’s smart plant concept, CEBRO, will be added in Routhusuramala, Andhra Pradesh. That’s the same

site where Greenpanel commissioned a Dieffenbacher MDF line with a 56 m long CPS, the longest continuous press in Asia, in 2018. The two companies’ first project, an MDF plant that started up in 2010, pioneered the Indian MDF market with the first continuous woodbased panel plant on the subcontinent.

“Over the last two years, we have increased our MDF production capacity from 500,000 to 660,000 m³, but the demand for our premium-quality boards produced with Dieffenbacher technolo-

gy is still growing significantly,” comments Shobhan Mittal, Managing Director and CEO of Greenpanel. “Because our experience with our first two Dieffenbacher MDF plants was so positive, there was no question that we would order our third plant from Dieffenbacher. The CEBRO smart plant concept was another factor that made the decision very easy.”

The new CEBRO line, scheduled to go into operation in summer 2024, will include a fiber dryer, air grader, form-

Contract signing between Greenpanel Managing Director and CEO Shobhan Mittal, in dark shirt, and Dieffenbacher CEO Christian Dieffenbacher at Dieffenbacher headquarters in Eppingen, Germany

PROJECTS

ing station and forming line, a CPS+ continuous press system including Press Emission Control System, the raw board handling system and the new Wireless STS raw board storage system. Dieffenbacher’s scope of supply also includes the digital service platform MyDIEFFENBACHER and Dieffenbacher’s new plant digitalization solution, EVORIS.

“EVORIS is a great tool that will help us make even better decisions in the shortest possible time,” Mittal says. “That’s why we decided not only to use it in our new line but also to add EVORIS to our existing MDF line in Routhusuramala.”

JIANGXI LULI GOES WITH STELA DRYING

The stela drying system BTU 2/6200-61,5-14/6 is currently being manufactured four times for its Chinese customer, Jiangxi Luli Wood Co., Ltd., which will dry OSB strips for

the production of OSB on four production lines.

With the stela drying plants, a total of 160 tons of OSB strands will be dried per hour from 100% DB to 1.5% DB. The first dryer was shipped to China in 22 containers at the beginning of February; the others are following with commissioning expected to start in autumn 2023.

METRO PLY BRINGS IN FIRST BOARD

On March 4, the Metro Ply Group produced the first board on its new Siempelkamp particleboard plant at the Surat Thani site in Thailand. The company now operates five Siempelkamp plants.

Metro Ply Group, one of the largest wood-based panel producers in Southeast Asia and the region’s largest particleboard producer, operates four particleboard plants (three from Siempelkamp) and five MDF plants (two from Siempelkamp). They are located

in Sai Noi/Nontaburi, Kanchanaburi and now Surat Thani, Thailand’s eighth largest city.

The current project includes the forming and press line including a ContiRoll 8 ft. x 40.4 m continuous press, cooling and stacking line and board intermediate storage. Siempelkamp subsidiary Büttner supplied the dryer and the energy plant. Pallmann contributed the size reduction machines. Sicoplan took charge of planning the entire plant.

“During the assembly and commissioning, we and the team from Metro came together to grow into a single team. For all of us, the focus was on achieving the same goal, and we succeeded in that,” says Torsten Kengels, project manager at Siempelkamp.

The particleboard plant was a greenfield project beginning in May 2022. The region around Surat Thani has the greatest number of rubberwood plantations in Thailand, so the raw material for the new plant will be fed from this abundance.

CON-VEY NAMES PRODUCT MANAGER

Con-Vey announced the promotion of Joe Buck from sales engineer to Product Manager, having been with the company for nearly four years. In his new role, Buck will lead the strategy development and execution of several products at Con-Vey, and will be working closely with the engineering, sales and marketing teams. Buck’s extensive experience in both sales and engineering makes him especially qualified to drive the growth and success of these product lines for Con-Vey.

Dave Larecy, CEO of Con-Vey, comments, “Joe has been a valuable member of our team these last few years, and we’re excited to see him take on this new role. His expertise and dedication to our customers make him the perfect fit for Product Manager, and we’re confident he will excel in this position.”

Jeremy Goebel, Vice President at Con-Vey, also shared his excitement about Buck’s promotion: “Joe is an ex-

tremely dedicated professional who has been an instrumental part of our sales team, and I’m thrilled to see him transition to Product Manager. His deep understanding of our customers’ needs along with his technical expertise will be invaluable in driving our product strategy forward.”

RAUTE APPOINTS MOILANEN AS CPO

Tarja Moilanen has been appointed as Chief People Officer (CPO) and member of the Executive Board of Raute Corp. She will join Raute from Konecranes, where she holds the position of HR Vice President in the EMEA region. She will take over the Raute CPO position on June 1. Moilanen will report to Raute President and CEO Mika Saariaho.

Moilanen has more than 12 years of experience at Konecranes in different leadership roles related to people and culture matters, ranging from business partnering to daily HR operations and expertise roles in rewarding and corpo-

rate responsibility.

Raute’s interim CPO Mia Könnilä will continue in her role until Moilanen joins Raute. Könnilä will then move back to her earlier role as the Head of Raute Finland HR.

DIEFFENBACHER NAMES ENERGY UNIT DIRECTOR

Wolfgang Lashofer has been appointed as the new Managing Director of Dieffenbacher Energy GmbH, which was formed at the beginning of the year following the acquisition of BERTSCHenergy, based in Bludenz, Western Austria. As Managing Director of Dieffenbacher Energy, Lashofer takes over the management of the newly established Energy Business Unit.

“I very much look forward to the tasks ahead of me and, above all, to work with the highly motivated team at Dieffenbacher Energy,” Lashofer says. “The employees are absolute experts in their field and have a track record for creating products and technologies that

enjoy an excellent reputation in the market.” Lashofer previously worked for Andritz Group for more than 35 years.

WMF RETURNS TO SHANGHAI

Shanghai International Furniture Machinery & Woodworking Machinery Fair (WMF) will co-locate with CIFF (Shanghai) at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai Hongqiao, China September 5-8 2023 and serve as a vital platform for the entire woodworking and furniture industry.

More than 300 exhibitors and 30,000 high caliber domestic and foreign buyers are expected to gather at WMF seeking collaboration and staying ahead of the curve in the post-pandemic era.

WMF focuses on five major themes: Furniture Manufacturing Equipment, Wood-based Panel Production Technology, Upholstered Furniture Production Technology, Surface Treatment Technology, and Knives, Blades, Machinery Accessories and Hand Tools.

A series of seminars and forums will be held during the show: “2023 Innovative Technologies and Materials Driving Sustainability and Healthy Life in the Wood Working Industry,” “An Exploration on Recycled New Material Industry Chain” and “2023 National Conference on Flexible and Smart Manufacturing of Upholstery Furniture.”

Registration for WMF 2023 is open now at https://bit.ly/40whwib. All industry players are welcome to pre-register online to enjoy free admission to both WMF and CIFF.

RAUTE PRS R5 PROVING ITSELF

Raute introduced its Panel Repair Station R5 to the plywood industry in 2020. Soon there will be 13 units operating in North America. Measuring 33 ft. by 26 ft., the R5 is no larger than most manual repair cells. It requires no foundations, meaning it can be up and running within two weeks of delivery. By pairing accurate machine vision

with intelligent analysis software to identify defects and apply the precise amount of filler needed, users of the R5 can expect to achieve repair material savings of up to 20%.

Making up to 300 panel face repairs per hour, the R5 automatically routes and fills the topmost panel—trimmed or untrimmed—in a stack of 100, then moves to the next stack.

R5 can be run by a single operator or without any human intervention. Its linear motors have no moving parts, and their bearings are automatically lubricated.

CLIPPINGS

HUNT FP SUPPORTS INNOVATION CENTER

Hunt Forest Products LLC has pledged $500,000 to support the new Forest Products Innovation Center on Louisiana Tech University’s South Campus at Ruston. The Forest Products Innovation Center is slated to become a hub for discovering new methods to capture, produce and utilize the state’s renewable and sustainable forests for generations to come. It was developed in response to the university’s Tech 2030 strategic initiative to create programs and research that bolster collaboration and partnerships within academic areas.

Co-owner and Chairman of the Board of Directors for Hunt Forest Products, Trott Hunt, comments, “We value our current partnership with Louisiana Tech University. We know the collaboration between industry and academia is key to catalyzing innovation, research and growth. Realizing the knowledge-based opportunities the Center will provide for the forestry industry, as well as the important role it will play within the state and local economies, we are happy to expand this relationship by investing in the new state of the art center.”

The facility will bring together faculty and students from diverse areas like Forestry, Chemical and Industrial Engineering, Sustainable Supply Chain Management, as well as other disciplines to collaborate on the challenges that will face the State of Louisiana in the future.

“We anticipate research in new uses of our vast forests to create greater economic opportunities for our state by focusing on more effective and efficient processing of forest products while also contributing to sustainability and a low carbon future,” says Dr. Les Guice, Louisiana Tech President. “This new building will also provide space for research collaborations with the industry and other partners, and each of these initiatives will help our students be better prepared for careers in the forestproducts and other industries.”

“We believe this Center will have a tremendous impact on the forestry industry by connecting people, ideas, research and resources,” adds Jimmy Hunt, coowner and vice-chairman of the Board of

Directors of Hunt Forest Products. “Louisiana Tech has a discovery-driven culture, and we are thrilled to be a collaborating advisor in the development of the Forest Products Innovation Center.”

Hunt Forest Products (HFP) was founded in 1978 as a full-service wood products company. HFP manufactures plywood, lumber and other specialty wood products. Mike Walpole of Ruston has been chosen as the designer for this phase of the building construction.

ROSEBURG ADDS RUSS TO COMMERCIAL TEAM

Roseburg named Lorraine Russ as Director of Structural and Specialty Panels, a newly created role in which she will lead the company’s commercial efforts for softwood and hardwood plywood.

Russ comes to Roseburg with a solid depth of leadership experience in strategic sales planning, product innovation and commercialization, and marketing after more than a decade in the building products industry.

“We are excited to add someone with Lorraine’s mix of sales, marketing, and product innovation acumen to our team,” Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing Doug Asano says. “As Roseburg continues to expand and diversify both geographically and in our product offerings, building a robust and dynamic Commercial Leadership Team will allow us to continue to adapt, innovate and grow.”

Russ joins Roseburg from Carlisle Construction Materials, where she served as general manager of Diversified Products. She previously worked as director of sales for Versico Roofing Systems, and held a variety of positions at Louisiana-Pacific Corp. including director of sales and marketing.

Russ earned her MBA from Belmont University’s Jack C. Massey College of Business and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, where she led the Terps as Captain of the women’s tennis team.

SONAE ARAUCO BEEFS UP SALES/MARKETING

Rainer Zumholte is the new Managing Director for Sales and Marketing at Sonae Arauco Deutschland GmbH. He joins Rui Manuel Gonçalves Correia

(CEO), Dr. Steffen Körner (General Manager and Industrial Operations Director for NEE), and António Fernando Marques dos Santos Gomes de Castro (CFO) in the company’s administration.

Zumholte is recognized for his expertise and extensive experience in the wood-based panels sector. He was responsible for sales in Western Europe core markets as managing director at Pfleiderer Deutschland GmbH, Neumarkt, where he worked for 37 years. Most recently he was appointed to the Executive Board of Westag AG, RhedaWiedenbrück as Head of the Surfaces/Elements division and subsequently appointed CCO of Sales and Marketing.

At Sonae Arauco, Zumholte will be leading the sales area for North East Europe (NEE), with a special focus on the market’s strategy definition and implementation.

ROSEBURG BUILDS EXECUTIVE TEAM

Roseburg named Matt Lawless as Vice President-General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. He joins the company’s Executive Team and will help set strategy and overall direction for the business.

“Matt is an accomplished legal strategist and litigator, and we are fortunate to have him on the team,” Roseburg President and CEO Grady Mulbery says. “He has shown a passion for the business and our industry, and a clear understanding of our strategic objectives. We look forward to his continued contribution to Roseburg’s growth and success.”

Lawless joined Roseburg in November 2019 as Assistant General Counsel. His scope of responsibility ex-

CLIPPINGS

panded in January 2022, when Stuart Gray moved out of the General Counsel role to become Chief Operating Officer for Roseburg.

“Matt has a keen legal mind and deep appreciation of Roseburg’s values and goals as a business,” Roseburg COO Gray adds. “His leadership and skillset have proven invaluable as we address the complex legal issues regarding our timberlands, operations, and ongoing work to expand our geographic footprint in North America.”

Before Roseburg, Lawless practiced law at Arnold Gallagher PC in Eugene, Ore.; and Jones Day in Cleveland, Ohio. He began his career at Howard, Stallings, From, Atkins, Angell & Davis PA in Raleigh, NC. He earned his law degree from the University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, and his bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee University in Virginia.

SIMSBORO MILL NOTED FOR SAFETY

Every year Roseburg recognizes its highest performing manufacturing locations and business groups for their safety achievements, presenting three Safety Excellence awards and one Safety Improvement award. These winning teams receive the trophies to hold for the year as well as a recognition event to thank each team member within those teams.

The Safety Excellence awards evaluate a mixture of proactive actions such as near-miss reporting, behavior-based safety observations, closure of safety corrective action items, as well as results, including D.A.R.T and RIR rates.

The Safety Improvement award recognizes the plant that has shown the great-

CLIPPINGS

est safety improvement over a three-year period.

The winners for 2022 are:

l Safety Excellence (Manufacturing): First Place: Dillard Lumber (Oregon); Second Place: Pembroke MDF (Ontario); Non-Manufacturing: Resources.

l Safety Improvement (All Manufacturing); Simsboro Particleboard (Louisiana)

“Our teams have continued to persevere after enduring and overcoming many challenges over the past few years,” the company states. “All of our team members continue to stay strong on their commitment to step up, take on new challenges, and continue the upward trajectory of preforming better and better each year as a company. We put in the important work on safety and take on these challenges ‘Because We Care’ about each other and getting back home to our families each day.”

SNA ADDS RUPP AS SENIOR RECRUITER

Search North America (SNA), a leading wood products-based search, recruiting and placement firm, has named Dave Rupp as a new Senior Recruiter, mainly focusing on the Western U.S. and Canada. He joins the SNA team with more than 40 years of experience in the wood products industry, working with Fortune 500 companies in North America and abroad. Rupp has extensive experience developing strategic alliances within all levels of the business, government, and environmental communities.

Rupp’s home office will be based out of the Vancouver, Wash. area, while SNA’s main office will remain located in North Carolina. Rupp graduated from The Ohio State University and most recently was a business development director at Advanced Nano Adhesives. While there, he leveraged industry contacts in pressure-treated wood, OSB, particleboard, MDF, EWP, and resin suppliers/industries to move the company forward, promoting a patented technology that improves board properties and water resistance while reducing resin costs.

Founded in 1982, Search North America has placed professionals in every area of the wood products and related industries. From entry-level positions and skilled trades to executive-level roles, SNA helps companies find the talent they need and can help individuals with their next career move.

Richard Poindexter, SNA President and Owner, will continue to specialize in client and candidate relationships in the Eastern and Southern parts of the U.S. and Canada. Carl Jansen, SNA founder, will be stepping into a role as recruiting consultant and business developer.

Rupp can be reached at 360-601-3717; daver@searchna.com

GP CONTRIBUTES TO CLT PROJECT

Georgia-Pacific is partnering with Jamestown, SmartLam North America and the Georgia Forestry Foundation to support construction of the first Georgia-grown mass timber project, 619 Ponce. Delivery of the first beams arrived at Ponce City Market in Atlanta where vertical construction began on the four-story mass timber loft office building.

The building’s columns, beams, and floor slabs are made of local southern yellow pine sawtimber harvested from Georgia forests owned by Jamestown. GP reports this marks the first time southern yellow pine, a species plentiful across the Southern U.S., has been used in a mass timber project.

Georgia-Pacific worked with Jamestown and SmartLam to engineer the use of this species instead of species from the Pacific Northwest or Europe. In fact, Georgia-Pacific was also the first company to begin using southern yellow pine to make plywood panels beginning in the 1960s.

“Since starting as a small lumber manufacturer in 1927, Georgia-Pacific has a rich history of innovation in the building products industry,” says Fritz Mason, president of Georgia-Pacific Lumber. “As pioneers in the use of southern yellow pine, we’re proud to support Jamestown and SmartLam as they work to usher in the evolution of southern yellow pine in mass timber construction.”

The southern yellow pine sawtimber for 619 Ponce was transported to Georgia-Pacific’s sawmill in Albany, Ga., where it was converted into lumber. The lumber was later transported to SmartLam’s mass timber plant in Dothan, Ala., where it was manufactured into cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. The CLT panels are being erected onsite at Ponce City Market by StructureCraft and J.E. Dunn, with building completion expected in 2024.

“Mass timber is a sustainable building material with a low carbon footprint, relative to traditional materials like concrete and steel,” says Catherine Pfeiffenberger, Managing Director and Head of Development & Construction at Jamestown. “Mass timber is also

cleaner to construct, which aids in reducing carbon emissions during construction. Of equal importance, mass timber provides a warm, healthy, and

welcoming work environment for the people who will occupy the space.”

The building will include 85,000 square feet of office space.

cently severed plans for Structurlam as the exclusive supplier to the Walmart multi-building project.

Juan Carlos Bueno, president and CEO, states, “We expect that this is the first of more major projects to come as Mercer’s innovative product line and services become more recognized in the growing mass timber construction space.”

P’BOARD SITE WILL HOST PELLET MILL

Spectrum Energy Georgia, led by members of the Ainsworth family, plans to begin construction this summer of an industrial wood pellet facility in Adel, Ga. and expects to commission the plant 12 months later, or summer of 2024. The plant will operate at the site of an idled particleboard facility.

“One of the principle reasons we chose Adel was for the considerable infrastructure that was on site,” comments President Michael Ainsworth, referring to the truck dumps, Clarke’s buildings for green and dry material storage and

handling. Many of the conveyors in the wood room will be put back into service. They will also use the existing energy system, dryers, and wet electrostatic precipitators (WESPs).

For Phase One only of the project, they will treat all dryer, hammermill, pellet mill, and pellet cooler emissions through an existing biofilter. In Phase Two, they will treat the dryer emissions through a WESP/RTO combination and all other emissions will be handled by the biofilter.

The plant will have the ability to receive and process all forms of biomass, including sawmill residues (chips, sawdust and shavings), pulpwood, top wood, and inwoods chips.

Weyerhaeuser built the particleboard mill in 1968 and sold it to SierraPine in 1999, before the plant shut down in 2014 upon SierraPine’s sale to Flakeboard.

Phase I of the project will build a 600,000 tons annual

production capacity plant that will be increased during a Phase 2 construction to 1.32 million tons annually, which would make the site perhaps the large pellet production facility in the world.

Much of the Spectrum leadership team is no stranger the wood industry. British Columbia-based Ainsworth Lumber became a major producer of oriented strandboard. Michael Ainsworth serves as President of Spectrum and Doug Ainsworth is

Weyerhaeuser installed this biofilter at its particleboard facility in Adel in 1996.

to 5'x12', Internal logistics for fast on-time deliveries

Contact us: Birchland Plywood-Veneer Ltd. TeL: 705-842-2430 • Fax: 705-842-2496 Visit www.birchlandplywood.com to view our “Live Log Program”

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Manufacturers of Decorative Hardwood Veneer Domestic and International Markets Species include: Walnut, White Oak, Red Oak, Hard Maple, Cherry and Birch “Quality is the Lifeblood of our Business” 112 Shelby Ave. ◆ P.O. Box 7 Edinburgh, IN 46124 Phone: 812-526-2671 ◆ Fax: 812-526-5865

E-mail: info@amoshill.com

Website: www.amoshill.com

The mark of responsible forestry

Supplier: SCS-COC-002445 * SCS-CW-002445

Send your ad information on a separate sheet of paper, or send via email, and we will typeset it for you for FREE.

Please be sure to include appropriate contact information so we may contact you for questions and payment.

Make sure to send any artwork that should be included in your ad. It should be a good-quality print or high resolution logo. We will fax or email you a proof before final print for your approval.

15-19 • Ligna: World Fair For The Forestry And Wood Industries, Hannover Exhibition Grounds, Hannover, Germany. Call +49 511 89-0; fax +49 511 89-32626; visit ligna.de.

6-8 • Forest Products Society International Conference, Morgantown Marriott, Morgantown, WV. Call 706-443-1337; visit fpsconference.org.

25-28 • AWFS Fair 2023, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, NV. Call 800-946-2937; visit awfsfair.org.

23-25 • Forest Products Machinery & Equipment Expo, Music City Center, Nashville, Tenn. Call 504-443-4464; visit sfpaexpo.com.

17-21 • American Wood Protection Assn. Technical Committee meeting, Le Meridien Downtown, Denver, Colo. Call 205-733-4077; visit awpa.com.

14-17 • APA-Engineered Wood Assn. annual meeting and Engineered Wood Technology Assn. Info Fair, JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, Palm Desert, Calif. Call 253-5656600; visit apawood.org and engineeredwood.org.

22-24 • Composite Panel Assn. Fall meeting, Lansdowne Resort, Leesburg, Va. Call 703-724-1128; visit composite panel.org.

28-December 1 • Woodex, 18th International Exhibition of Equipment and Technologies for Woodworking and Furniture Production, Crocus Expo, Moscow, Russia. Visit woodexpo.ru.

14-15 • PELICE, Omni Hotel at CNN Center, Atlanta, Ga. Call 800-669-5613; visit pelice-expo.com.

Listings are submitted months in advance. Always verify dates and locations with contacts prior to making plans to attend.

This issue of Panel World is brought to you in part by the following companies, which will gladly supply additional information about their products.