TAKING LOCK TECH FURTHER Forestia is a market leader in the design and manufacture of particle board systems for walls, floors and ceilings. In partnership with other companies, Forestia has pioneered tailor-made, locking technologies for easy installation that enhance both the strength and versatility of its products, as Philip Yorke reports.
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orestia is one of Scandinavia’s leading suppliers of particle board construction products. It was founded in Norway almost 50 years ago and has been in the ownership of the Bygma Group ASA since 2006. Today the company produces particle boards in a variety of thicknesses and sizes for flooring, interior walls and ceilings. Forestia also supplies both foiled and unfoiled particle boards for a variety of industries including the furniture and construction industries. Forestia’s capacity for particle board production is more than 3,000,000 square metres per year. Quality assurance is guaranteed in accordance with the relevant ISO certifications and also in accordance with the PEFC Chain of custody of forest-based products. The company’s on-going success can be attributed to a number of things including its commitment to sustainability, a continuous focus on product development and unrivalled customer service.
Unique 2G locking technology Earlier this year, Forestia signed a ‘milestone’ licensing agreement with another leading Norwegian particle board producer: Valinge. As a result, it is now launching a range of special particle board subfloors with a uniquely developed version of Valinge’s 2G locking technology. By adding the 2G mechanical locking system on the 104 Industry Europe
long side of the company’s subflooring, Forestia becomes a pioneer in meeting the growing demand for particle board products that offer easy installation, high quality and outstanding performance. Terje Sagbakken, CEO of Forestia said, “It’s great to make everyday life easier for our customers, both from a cost and installation perspective. It is important for us to be innovative and develop solutions which make the handling of our products easier and better for our end-users. Our expertise in raw materials, combined with Valinge’s knowledge of precision locking technologies, made us come up with the best possible solution for click-in, load-bearing subflooring” The unique 2G locking systems by Vilinge is one of the most used and appreciated systems in the world for floating installations of laminate, wood and resilient flooring. However angling installation of the long side also offers many advantages for subfloors. By customising and adjusting the profile there has now been created a basis for a whole new patented collection of subfloors. This in turn allows the remarkable 2G locking technologies to be developed still further by Forestia.
Advanced, tailor-made packaging systems This year Forestia invested more than two million euros in an advanced packaging system for its broad product portfolio.
