Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2
2011
timber news
nnovation is a buzzword at the moment. Its the subject of conferences, books and expensive consultancy services. Its also seen as the key to a companys success. But the trends of the time are not the primary driving force behind companies focus on innovation. Rather, innovation is one of the most important tools a company has in terms of creating new, more attractive products when the old ones become subject to increasingly stiff competition. In short, its a means of maintaining and hopefully increasing sales.
and logistics model for supplying a million ready-packaged door frame sets to the UK market annually.
contents What can actually be innovative about a plank? New approach required for new factory Efficient loading solution for sensitive products Team spirit creates good business Getting to grips with the supply chain Painted exterior claddings save time and improve quality Ready-painted products sold over the counter save customers time Notices Unsettled spring in solid wood products market Elks annual dip 2 3 7 8 11
But innovation doesnt only apply to the product itself. In Munksund weve built a factory that manufactures window components. There, we first produce knot-free components, a total of almost 50 million individual pieces of wood in a year, which we then twist and turn to ensure that the component that will subsequently become a window frame has exactly the right properties in the right place. With modern technology and process control, we can industrially manufacture a product that was previously made using knowledge of the craftsmanship required for the raw material selected. In Kramfors, together with partners, weve designed a factory for manufacturing a million ready-to-assemble shelving systems each year. Weve also developed an efficient production
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Timber News is published four times a year Editor-in-chief Bjrn Lyngfelt Production Fryklunds Repro & printing Tryckeribolaget Subscribe to Timber News, please contact ingrid.lofqvist@sca.com Feel free to quote us, but please name us as your source.
SCA TIMBER is one of Europes leading manufacturers of wood-based products, with an annual production of 2.2 million cubic metres. The product range is supplemented with service and distribution solutions for customers in the wood industry and builders merchant sector. SCA Timber is part of SCAs Forest Products business area, which produces publication papers for newspapers, magazines and catalogues, as well as pulp and renewable energy. SCA Forest Products also manages SCAs extensive forest holding and supplies SCAs Swedish industries with wood raw materials, in addition to offering cost-efficient transport solutions to SCAs units.
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All potential stumbling blocks have already been analysed, documented and attended to, concludes Frage. But in the case of Gorm, the circumstances were completely different. Everything was new and hadnt been tested before. The requirement was to manufacture a million shelves per year 30 shelves a minute with a high level of uptime. There was no scope for any production line downtime.
It would have been considerably easier to build a facility that manufactures products in steel, says Frage. Wood is a living material, with knots and varying hardness, which makes very special demands.
The entire project, including procurement, planning and commissioning, has been coordinated by SCA Timber. Lennart Wilhelmsson, Development Manager at SCA Timber, is one team
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The bags of screws are fed through, with the right number at the correct speed, to be attached to each shelf.
member who has spent a great deal of time on site in Kramfors. It helps to have several pairs of eyes to see whats going on, he sums up. And many great minds are needed to analyse and deal with all potential flaws. The facility was ordered from local industrial innovation company Nyland Design, whose owner Lars Stenstrm had previously succeeded in pulling off several seemingly impossible projects. He was asked if he thought he could find a solution for this task to design a machine that could produce 30 shelves a minute based on a precise specification of requirements. He said yes without a moments hesitation. Initially, the idea of procuring the technology out in Europe was on the table, but we soon realised that the physical proximity to Nyland Design was an important argument in their favour, says Wilhelmsson.
The timber goes straight from the planing mill to the new cutting line, the lengths successively decreasing. There, tried and tested, well-known technology is used to assess the quality of the timber, sort it and then cut it into the right lengths. But after that stage, everything is completely new. The edge lists come ready cut, four by four in one piece, and are drilled with a tolerance of 0.5 millimetres. From another line come the planks that will become shelves. They are sorted and then nailed to the edge lists.
the bags of screws out of the big boxes they are delivered in from Taiwan, in the right number and at the right speed, required a lot of thinking. At the same time the legs are bound together in pairs and drilled with 28 holes in a single resolute action.
And now its on site: a completely unique and largely automated production line, customised to meet IKEAs requirement of always being able to offer its customers a Gorm shelf, regardless of where in Europe theyre located.
The nailing line is fully automated and uses hydraulics to attach the 300 nails that are used each minute. Thats about 66 million nails a year. As the hardness of the timber varies, we chose to use hydraulics, which presses in the nails to the same depth each time, instead of compressed air, which shoots them into the wood, explains Frage. Following that, a bag of screws and mounting instructions are glued to each shelf before it is packaged, either loose or in a packet complete with legs and diagonal braces. Simply working out a way to get
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such complexity, bugs naturally occur on a regular basis; a fault here and a fault there lead to a third fault that no-one was able to predict in advance. And since the speed of the production line is so high and the bugs occur intermittently over long periods of time, a mobile camera system has been installed that films the tasks in which problems are encountered. The human eye has quite simply no chance of keeping up, says Frage. Now, the operators note down when the fault occurred so that we can find it on the film and see what happened. This is simple and inexpensive we just needed to come up with the idea.
Both Frage and Wilhelmsson also say that staff collaboration has been crucial to achieving successful results. The operators of the new line have been involved from the start theyve heaved the machines into place, laid cables and seen the line take shape.
This means that all new employees have also taken part in the entire process. Theyve not been presented with a finished concept but instead have been involved in building up something unique something that they take great responsibility for themselves. The operators are the best maintenance personnel, says Wilhelmsson, summing up. They help with troubleshooting, can access the control system and make changes, deal with non-functioning cables and change layers. And as theres no need to wait for maintenance staff to tackle any faults that arise, downtime in production is minimised.
we arent quite there yet. Frage estimates that theyve achieved 90 percent of their goal, which is being compensated by some extra time. But for a completely new and untested facility of such capacity, he still considers that the growth in production has been satisfactory. He hasnt received any complaints either. Of course, the aim is to reach 100 percent nothing else will do but with small time adjustments, weve done what we committed to doing. All that remains now is to do the fine-tuning.
Mats Wigardt Images: Olle Melkerhed
Footnote: Gorm was the king of Denmark in the first half of the 900s. He was also father of Harald Bluetooth. According to king Sven Estridsen, Gorm was a dreadful snake who was to a large extent antagonistic towards all Christians.
all those working at the factory have been involved in building up something completely unique.
Lennart Wilhelmsson, SCA
Jan-Erik Frage, Site Manager, and Lennart Wilhelmsson, Development Manager at SCA Timber.
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As SCA Timber grows and the customer base is consolidated, we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of optimising the entire value chain. Flexible logistics is one example. This is why finished components are delivered on cassettes to door manufacturer JELD-WEN in the UK directly from the planing mill at Tunadal Sawmill.
With finished components, its particularly important that the quality is maintained all the way to the
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Wickes is not an every-day customer: we are partners in growth, Paul Oldham states. The Wickes chain of 197 stores UK-wide focuses on the experienced DIY enthusiast and the smaller tradesmen, with its offering of over 4,000 building, decorating and garden-related product lines. Founded on trust built up over recent years, the Wickes-SCA team spirit is manifest in the supply chain for solid timber decking, produced by SCA Munksund sawmill. Product Manager Anders Petersson comments: Its an open and transparent partnership. Were acting as our customers manufacturing unit, as if were part of their business.
Close monitoring of every factor from Britains famously-changeable weather to sawmill production and deliveries. Weekly telephone meetings throughout the main decking sales season bring together a friendly but professional dual-company team, with disciplines ranging from advertising and marketing to procurement and logistics. Wickes Buying Controller Bob Albery relates: The strength of this partnership lies in trust, collaboration, and in the continuity we get from working with SCA. Its a huge advantage that SCA owns the whole supply chain from tree to finished product. The key factors for us are product quality, consistency across operations and delivery, and the ability to maintain the supply chain, even when were way above forecasts.
Seasonality Supply Manager; Tarnia Carson, Category Supply Manager; Akil Panjwani, Garden Category Manager, and Nickki Malkan, Supply Chain Analyst. Team meetings are chaired by SCAs national account manager Nic Attwell, a renowned decking specialist, and include SCAs Paul Oldham on procurement, and David Foster, SCA Timber Supplys head of logistics. Also integral to the SCA side of the partnership is mill liaison & shipping manager Diane Bailey at SCA Timber Supplys Hull facility.
The Wickes side of the dual-company team comprises: Bob Albery; Nicola Bourlet, Buyer; Mike Farrants, Product Manager; Dave Maddison,
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good business
Mike Farrants, Product Manager, Wickes;Nicola Bourlet, Buyer, Wickes; Bob Albery,Buying Controller, Wickes, andNic Attwell of SCA Timber Supply.
The television advertising campaign radiates solid timber quality and appeals to customer desires for a lasting, home-enhancing result. It simultaneously promotes Wickes reputation for quality in the wider marketplace. Comparing Easter 2011 with Easter 2010, sales are exceptionally high. Its a real testament to SCA that they can flex with us and keep us supplied even when were so much above forecast. We also look to SCA for innovation. Future success relies on making life easier for the end customer, so were working together on a readystained decking product. This saves the customers time from installation forward.
Paul Oldham, David Foster and Diane Bailey, SCA Timber Supply.
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Bob Albery also realises the importance of physical access to the future of decking sales: The ordering of decking is still roughly 80 percent storebased and 20 percent by other means, but an integrated offering is essential in todays marketplace, he asserts. Weve opened up a new customerbase through our Big & Bulky supply service, launched last year. Customers can order online or by telephone and have products delivered next-day. Its had a disproportionately beneficial
of end users, explains Martin Cunliffe, Timber Buying Manager at Travis Perkins. In our marketing, decking features amongst a number of solutions in our annuallandscaping brochure, which we present in a format that builders and contractors can use to show their customers. It covers our complete range from softwood decking to composite decking made from recycled wood-based materials and hardwood decking. We promote our
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range through local radio and through other messaging media. Full boat-loads of decking, this time produced at SCAs Bollsta sawmill, arrive at a dedicated Travis Perkins Timber Supply Centre at Kings Lynn on the UKs East Anglian coast, from which theyre distributed across the Travis Perkins 600+ branch network. Forecasting sales in a market including large-scale construction is a totally different science to that used by our colleagues at Wickes. Influencing factors vary as widely as our customer base. The weather and seasonal factors affect smaller trade customers, whilst the macro-economic situation affects larger-scale construction. For example when the UKs recession began, it would have been logical for decking sales to follow the market downwards, but conversely they went up. Thats because decking represents less of an investment than, say, paving slabs, Martin Cunliffe reports.
ification and orders we place: theres no room for manoeuvre. The old-fashioned notion that nearly right is right enough does not work in todays efficiency-driven construction market. Construction companies expect Travis Perkins to deliver, and we expect the same of our suppliers. Martin Cunliffe also sees an emerging hierarchy in the decking product category: Specifiers are being attracted to recycled products which are being promoted by producers as an environment-friendly option. This trend though is a long way from impacting softwood decking markets, he confirms.
Summarising the inter-linking relationship between Wickes, Travis Perkins and SCA, Nic Attwell concludes: Business needs to be profitable for all parties. The seamless integration which SCA and its customers have attained on timber decking shows just what can be achieved when all parties are focussed totally on serving the end-ofchain customer. Text: Camilla Hair Photos: John Attwell
Construction companies expect Travis Perkins to deliver, and we expect the same of our suppliers, says Martin Cunliffe, Timber Buying Manager, Travis Perkins.
Working with construction contractors makes significant demands on the merchantsupplier partnership, Martin Cunliffe relates: We rely on companies like SCA to fulfil precisely the spec-
The continuing project focuses on marketing new products and is being conducted in three phases. The initial stage is to identify and describe successful case studies in the building materials sector. The second is to link them to perceptions and activities at distributor level. The final phase is the identification of key factors for successful product launches, which hopefully will help SCA improve its understanding of the builders merchant market.
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SCA Timbers painting facility has an annual production capacity of 20,000 m3. The boards are heated up for optimal paint penetration and are painted on three sides in the spray box, which has a capacity of 90 running metres of board per minute.
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NOTICES
sca timber makes sawmills more efficient
sca timber is co-ordinating the sawmills Munksund in Pite and Holmsund in Ume into an organisation with joint management. Holmsund sawmill specialises in smaller dimension sawn timber and Munksund in thicker dimension timber. The change means that production will become more cost-effective, which will help make SCA Timber more competitive. Both sawmills only produce pine products. Holmsund sawmill will maintain its production level of around 90,000 cubic metres of sawn solid wood products, but will process more logs than today. Munksund Sawmill currently produces around 430,000 cubic metres of wood products. The changes mean focusing on bigger dimensions but maintaining total production. Productive and cost-efficient manufacturing facilities are necessary for long-term competitiveness. By having different areas of specialisation at the sawmills, we can use both facilities better. Well also be able to make better use of the raw materials in the region, says Anders Nilsson, head of Munksund sawmill and head of the joint sawmill organisation.
in new posts
daniel holmgren, Product Manager for processed wood products at Munksund sawmill, took up a new post on 1 April in SCA Timbers marketing organisation as Key Account Manager. Daniel will be working with sales and supply chain issues in relation to Dovista and Hedlunda Industrier, two of SCA Timbers biggest component customers. Birgitta Bostrm, Product Manager at Rundvik sawmill, will be moving to SCA Skog, taking up a new post as forest manager at Vsterbotten Forest Administration.
lars andersson, Sawmill Manager at Vilhelminasawmill, will be taking over Birgitta Bostrms post as of 1 September 2011 as product manager at Rundvik sawmill.
anders nilsson, sawmill manager at Munksund sawmill, will be taking over the position of sawmill manager at Holmsund Sawmill as of 1 September 2011.
gustav eriksson, Sawmill Manager at Holmsund sawmill, will be taking over the position of Sawmill Manager at Rundvik Sawmill as of 1 September 2011. Sten Olov Andersson, current Sawmill Manager, will be retiring at the beginning of 2012 and will be working on projects within SCA Timber until that time.
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Whitewood 12 months mov. average Redwood 12 months mov. average
Stocks at Swedish sawmills increased in spring 2011. The stock level at the end of April was at an historic average level.
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When the ice breaks in River ngermanlven and the warmth of spring brings nature to life once again, its time for the elks to take their annual dip at Kullberg. There, hundreds of elks swim across the river on their way to summer pasture.
very year at the end of April/ beginning of May, the stomachs of the hungry elks start to rumble. Just over 150 of the beasts make their way across River ngermanlven just below Kjell Mhlers and Irene Hgglunds tourist centre in Kullberg, just north of Junsele in northern Sweden, to their summer pasture. But this year, the elks started stomping around impatiently along the river bank in mid-April. The sudden spring weather had made the ice and snow melt.
Photographer Erland Segerstedt had to hurry to pack his camera. But after three days wait, he was close to giving up. He hadnt seen a single elk in the river. But, at that precise moment, two elks climbed down into the water and
started swimming across the river towards Erland. He lifted up his camera and started snapping away. Later that evening, he saw how another twelve elks did the same thing, but by then, it was too dark to take any photos. Every year we count more than 150 elks swimming across the river, says Mhler. We think there are just as many again that make the crossing, maybe under cover of darkness. He and Irene have lived in Kullberg since 1994, where there is a youth hostel, cottages, a barn for dancing and a barbecue area. Theyve even designed a special elk room offering visitors a view of the spot down by the water where the elks usually turn up prior to crossing the river.
Its likely that theyve taken the same route for thousands of years. On the
neck of land next to the river where the elks now climb ashore, there is a row of trapping pits. Elks take ancient routes that often follow rivers, says archeologist Margareta Bergvall from Murberget (Vsternorrland County Museum) in Hrnsand. For this reason, there were both settlements and trapping pits along the elk route in the Stone Age. But theres unlikely to ever be a rush to see the river-crossing action at Kullberg. Besides, both the elks and the weather are too unpredictable. Waiting day in, day out for the elks to arrive requires patience and plenty of time. We wouldnt want a lot of people here anyway, says Kjell. If there are too many people around, the elks will probably take a different route.
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