Taking Lock Tech Further Forestia

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.

Forestia 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 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.

The packaging system line itself consists of numerous complex modules and components and the line contains multiple manipulators for the packing and unpacking of products using foil machines, robotic arms and stretch-wrapping machines.

The new manufactured packaging system line is also designed to pack wooden plates onto pallets. The capacity of the new packaging system designed especially for Forestia by ‘Goldpack’ is unmatched and represents one of the most advanced packaging system lines of its kind in the world. Having a good packaging system line and being able to provide strong protection for products is vital in today’s demanding marketplace, where precise packaging needs to be optimised at every stage of the packaging process.

Taking the rough with the smooth

There are certain applications for wall and ceiling panels which require strong and solid panels that are able to withstand consistently rough and tough treatment. These include for example storerooms, garages, machinery rooms, farm laundry rooms, dairies and bake-houses. Forestia’s ‘Elitex’ range features a smooth hard surface which is comprised of unique melamine-coated wall panels that ensure that walls in tough environments are not easily damaged.

In addition, the Elitex wall panels have a moisture-resistant core which has been thoroughly tried and tested at every stage of manufacture. As well as being robust and suitable for screws and other fittings, they are also ideal where requirements for hygiene and tough cleaning regimens are essential. The new Forestia ‘Elitex’ panels are also now equipped with a special locking profile for added strength and flexibility.

Endless variety

Forestia is well known for its endless variety of high quality chipboard pre-applied wallpaper products. These are divided into three distinct product collections. The company’s ‘Trend’ collection is designed for those who want the very latest in fashionable and stylish prepapered panel designs.

The ‘Classic’ collection comprises classic, decorative finishes and surfaces. This collection offers unlimited combinations where the classic stripped wallpapers come with co-ordinating plain wallpapers to provide exclusive and enduring results.

The Forestia Basic Collection is comprised of simpler decorative finishes with understated patterned surfaces for delicate, light and timeless rooms. These finishes are equally at home in private or public environments. n

For further details of Forestia’s latest innovative particle board panels and pre-papered wall panel products visit: www.forestia.com