Perfection in wood Kronospan

PERFECTION IN WOOD

As the world’s leading manufacturer of wood-based panels, Kronospan is both a pioneer and a reliable partner. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to managing director of Kronoflooring Lampertswalde Markus Oberbauer to find out how this is being achieved.

Established in Austria in 1897, Kronospan started out as a family-run company. Whilst the ownership structure has evolved over the past more than 110 years, Kronospan remains committed to delivering the type of quality products and service that its founders created, allowing it to deliver its flooring products worldwide quickly, effectively and affordably.

Kronospan has also remained true to constant investment in innovation which, over more than a century, has resulted in many forward-thinking products and techniques which have often become industry standard. Managing director Markus Oberbauer told Industry Europe, “As we have invested so much for so long, we have steadily and consistently grown above and beyond the market, allowing us to create an integrated operation with every last detail perfected over time. We have pioneered many of our industry’s key advances and will continue to do so through product development and our passion for innovation.”

Globally acting, locally responsible

Today, Kronospan manufactures its woodbased panels in 29 sites across 25 countries worldwide and employs more than 11,000 people. Generating an annual turnover in excess of €3 billion, Kronospan is now seeing emerging markets representing 55 per cent of this figure. Mr Oberbauer continued, “We also have a history of utilising new market opportunities, so this is something we are very experienced in. We are used to catering for a changing world, both in terms of geographical developments in world markets and design trends in flooring.”

Kronospan specialises in manufacturing wood-based panels and is the global leader in many categories within the industry, including the production of particleboard, medium density fibreboard, laminate flooring, resins for wood-based panels and oriented strand board. The company also produces a number

of speciality and decorative paper and other associated products such as melamine-faced panels, worktops, wall panels, window sills and lacquered high density fibreboard.

Mr Oberbauer explained how this product portfolio has developed over time. He said, “Our products are used in everything from flooring and furniture to timber-framed houses, with wide applications across the flooring, furniture and refurbishment industries. We’re proud to say that we are perfectionists in everything we do, which has meant that we satisfy our customers’ needs at affordable prices, react quickly to market and technology changes and provide a service-orientated portfolio of products in the wood-panel sector and related added value products.” Adding flooring to the mix

Kronospan’s added-value products are also supported by the variety of flooring options designed and manufactured by Kronoflooring GmbH Lampertswalde, a dedicated flooring company under the Kronospan umbrella. Widely represented in DIY stores, the specialist flooring trade as well as in specialist store segments with a wide range of wood-based material products for floors, walls and ceilings worldwide, Kronoflooring is the world’s leading producer of high quality laminate floorings and panels which are primarily wood-based. A recently launched innovation from Kronoflooring is its Mystyle concept, which is an independent brand within the company that is dedicated to luxury wood flooring. Mr Ober-

bauer explained, “Mystyle is a way of life which we call ‘passion and living’. It’s for people that want high-quality comfort flooring in an exclusive style, without forgoing the appeal and charm of natural wood. We believe Mystyle represents a perfect synergy between the resilience and abrasion-resistance of laminate flooring and the allure and warmth of natural wood. Mystyle is a blend of laminate and real wood flooring.”

Kronoflooring will continue its innovation-led strategy with new presentations in Hannover at the Radisson Blue hotel during Domotex 2012. For the new products they wanted to create a special atmosphere. Therefore they chose an exclusive location where they plan to highlight a number of fresh concepts: • Discover the new stunning Vintage collections. • Feels real – rustic additions to the Super Natural family. • Reminisce the time-worn designs in the Castello Classic range. • Customise your interior space with “Mix & Match Flooring”.

They will also be delivering updates to their well-known Krono Original Floor range.

All about reliable quality

A key aspect of the Kronospan group’s ongoing success is its commitment to maintaining the highest standards across the operation, in many cases going over and above the requirements of the industry to create its own industry-leading standards. With regular and consistent quality control throughout every stage of the design, development and delivery process, Kronospan customers are able to rely totally on the products and services.

Mr Oberbauer added, “At each point in the process chain we are testing and retesting, with our independent testers confirming that we exceed quality regulations. We hold a vast number of compliance certificates for our materials, our processes and our products. We also have the CE mark certification, which is a Europe-wide label that signifies compliance with the relevant health and safety requirements.” n