ARCHIDPLY FACTORY

REPORT
MMBC - VENEERS AND PLYWOOD

ZAIN-1NS19AT052
SAFFAN-1NS19AT043
BILAL-1NS19AT027
VARSHA=1NS19AT051
INTRODUCTION

A site visit to Archidply factory in Chintamani was

organised on 29th September 2022.
We were welcomed and briefed by the factory
manager about the company and their products.
Established in 1976 , Archidply Industries Ltd.
has made a name for itself in the list of top
suppliers of block board ,commercial plywood in
India. The supplier company is located in
Bengaluru, Karnataka and is one of the leading
sellers of listed products.
Archidply Industries Ltd. is listed in Trade India's
list of verified sellers offering supreme quality of
Ply & Block Board ,Lamy Board etc. Buy block
board ,commercial plywood in bulk from us for
the best quality products and service.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of the factory visit was to help us

understand the following

Plywood and veneers as construction and

design materials
Knowledge on plywood and veneers in market

To understand their types, uses and prices

To understand the manufacturing processes

To gain practical knowledge - to understand

and visualise the theory taught in class
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers
or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with
adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to
90 degrees to one another.

This alternation of the grain is called cross-graining

and has several important benefits: it reduces the
tendency of wood to split when nailed at the edges; it
reduces expansion and shrinkage, providing
improved dimensional stability; and it makes the
strength of the panel consistent across all directions

Smaller, thinner, and lower quality plywoods may only

have their plies (layers) arranged at right angles to
each other. Some better-quality plywood products will
by design have five plies in steps of 45 degrees (0,
45, 90, 135, and 180 degrees), giving strength in
multiple axes.

Smaller, thinner, and lower quality plywoods may only

have their plies (layers) arranged at right angles to
each other. Some better-quality plywood products will
by design have five plies in steps of 45 degrees (0,
45, 90, 135, and 180 degrees), giving strength in
multiple axes.

In woodworking, veneer refers to thin slices

of wood and sometimes bark, usually
thinner than 3 mm (1/8 inch), that typically
are glued onto core panels (typically, wood,
particle board or medium-density
fiberboard) to produce flat panels such as
doors, tops and panels for cabinets,
parquet floors and parts of furniture

It is basically a thin decorative covering of

fine wood applied to a coarser wood or
other material.
● Archidply sources its raw materials from India and also imports them from abroad. Example:
● Santosh veneer is imported from Africa.
● Few motherboards for these veneers few motherboards for these veneers are imported
from Taiwan and Indonesia.
● Teak is imported from Burma.
● Zari kota is imported from Brazil and is very expensive.
● Samples of various varieties of veneers were shown, like the natural vanities of
veneers,combination of natural varieties, fumed veneers, metallic variety, customised
varieties.
● Plywood, mdf, hdf, particle boards were shown and taught
● Standard size and thickness of veneered ply available in market is usually 2.4mx1.2m 8’ x
4’) and 3.4mm to 4mm respectively

Usually veneers have 20% wastage but customised veneers have a wastage of 50% to
60% and are hence costlier

The factory uses 2000l litres of water per day.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS OF VENEER PLY BOARDS

Steps involved in the manufacture of veneer ply boards are:

1. Sourcing and cutting of raw material
2. Softening of wood
3. Slicing
4. Drying and storage
5. Smoking/ fuming
6. Cutting and taping
7. Adding adhesives
8. Compressing under high pressure
9. Removal of tape
10. Inspection

STEP 1: SOURCING AND CUTTING OF

RAW MATERIAL

Raw materials are sourced from India and abroad and are
brought in to the factory as cylindrical logs which are
inspected and then cut into triangular sections of similar
sizes called beams in the saw miller
STEP 2: SOFTENING OF WOOD
● Waste wood and jackfruit branches
are burnt in the furnace at 120 deg
celcius to heat oil.
● The heat energy generated from
this hot oil is used
for the boilers.
● The cut beams are added into
boiling water in the boiler to
soften them
● This softening process helps in
easy slicing of the
wood into sheets

STEP 3: SLICING
● The softened wooden beams are sent to
the slicer where they are sliced into 0.3mm
to 0.4mm thick sheets
● One cubic ft. of wooden beam produces 30
sqm. of veneer
● Slicing of different parts of the beam gives
different grain pattern

STEP 4: DRYING AND STORAGE

● The sliced sheets are dried in the dryer for

30 to 40 seconds in one session to remove
moisture and their natural oils
● The drying process helps prevent formation
of mold and also helps to be glued easily to
the motherboard
● The sheets are covered in black polythene
and stored to prevent moisture absorption
 STEP 5 : SMOKING/ FUMING
● Fuming of veneers is done to provide rich,
warm and elegant look and to mainly
enhance its colour
● This is done in the fuming tank which is
maintained in vacuum under 100 to 120
deg celsius
● The veneers are exposed to ammonia
vapours. This is done by putting the
veneers into a cage and placing it into the
fuming tank containing liquid ammonia
● The tank is then closed for 24 hrs and 600
sqm of veneer can be fumed at once

STEP 6 : CUTTING AND TAPING

● Automated cutting machine is used to cut
the veneers into strips of sheets having
right angled sides and straight edges
● These strips are taped side by side on one
side to get the standard size and are called
veneer layons

STEP 7 : PRECOMPRESSING OF MOTHERBOARDS

● The motherboards are compressed

under high pressure in compressors to
achieve the thickness required
(standard : 4mm)
● The thickness of the boards depends on
the number of times it is passed through
the compressor
● Thinner boards an be achieved by
passing it through the compressor
multiple times and increasing the
pressure if required
STEP 8 : ADDING ADHESIVES AND REPRESSING

● Adhesives are rolled onto the

motherboard and the veneer layon is
stuck to the former with the tape side
being exposed on the face
● These veneer boards are then
pressed in hot press machine (20
boards at once) to strengthen the
bonding

STEP 9 : REMOVAL OF TAPE

● The tapes on the veneer are
removed by adding water on to the
sheets and scraping them off using
brooms.
● When the water is added to remove
the tapes, any cracks or gaps in the
board can be easily identified and
can be sent for repressing
● The removal of tapes is a manual
process

STEP 10 : INSPECTION AND QUALITY CHECKING

● Once the boards are

manufactured they are inspected
and checked for any defects.
● If there are any defects in the
final product they are sent back
for correction
 PRELAMINATED PARTICLE BOARD

● Lastly lamination process of particle board was shown

● Laminate sheets are used as protective layers to stick on the particle board
● Once this is done they are passed through a compressor which is maintained at
120 deg celsius temperature and 10 kg pressure