making for a better business

machinery from Holzher making a difference

Panel processing has never been easier for Dave Roberts of Prefinished Surfaces Ltd since he purchased his panel processing CNC machine from Holzher back in June 2019. Part of the Dynestic range of panel processers, the Holzher 7505 has worked “very well” says Dave, whose business makes solid benchtops using products such as acrylics, substrated laminate and Corian.

“We do some kitchens but mainly commercial fitouts and the 7505 is really fit for purpose in our operation,” Dave comments. Dave, who has been in the industry for nearly forty years, set up his latest venture back in late 2015 in Henderson, Auckland. “Demand had been steadily increasing since we started and the need for a quick, precise, high flow CNC processing machine leading to good turnround time, had by mid 2019 become essential. We were impressed with the 7505 with its technical aspects and price. This combined with the problem free install, commissioning and training from Mike and Rajan at Technical Machinery Services (Techms), New Zealand agent for Holzher, made for a really good deal.”

Templating is a key aspect of bench manufacture. The 7505 is run with Alphacam software from Cam Solutions (NZ) Ltd. “It’s robust but flexible software provided the digital templating for the 7505. It makes the whole process effective,” says Dave. The 7505 offers some key benefits for the business. A three axis machine with up to 3.7m for the X axis and 1.58m for the Y axis, allows for variable board size while the integrated position linear tool changer offers a choice of twelve tool positions. A solid gantry design offers high precision and the promise of a long service life. “A great safety feature is the LED machine lettering with operating status display,” comments Dave. The heart of the machine has a high performance spindle with a ceramic bearing and a fully equipped drilling head with up to twenty four drilling spindles and grooving saw in the X and Y direction. “The machine has all round been problem free and a great asset to facilitate high flow nesting.” The 7505 gets well used and demonstrates real flexibility.

Next to Prefinished Surfaces and connected by a cut in the adjoining wall is Alternate Manufacturing (AML) who manufacture kitchens, cabinetry and shopfittings. They use the 7505 when it is not being used by Prefinished Surfaces. The interesting thing here is they use different software from Cabmaster Software. “A real feature of the machine is that it has such a user friendly interface with lots of useful information. Our arrangement with Prefinished works really well,” says AML Director Andy Crake. AML, who use their own tooling with the machine, have found the machine to be a “cut above” what they formerly used.

That’s not all Prefinished Surfaces Ltd have by way of equipment from Techms. They also installed a Nestro dust extraction unit for the factory and a wall saw from the Holzher Sector series which has proved to be an efficient, space saving addition to the factory. With a powerful 4 kW sawing motor and high speed cutting cycles in auto mode, it has been a good time saver. It provides for a finished cut quality which is ready for immediate edgebanding. The business has grown since 2015 to now have eight staff and demand has continued right through Covid 19. “We see a steady workload down the track so hopefully that will continue. It encourages me to look to further capital investment as time goes by.”

For further information contact Dave Roberts at Prefinished Surfaces Ltd, 29 Keeling Rd, Henderson, Auckland Ph 022 274 7621 or email dave@prefinishedsurfaces.com