Panels & Furniture Asia September/October 2020

September / October 2020, Issue 5 | Panels & Furniture Asia MATERIALS | 41
With a strong belief that automation can
ensure the highest quality conformity
at the lowest production cost while
eliminating operator errors, 3RT
constantly applies the latest Industry
4.0 developments in a pragmatic way
through software updates.
Each production unit consists of a
series of integrated modules that
works seamlessly in one continuous
process. Two robots manage the
entire production process, monitored
from a centralised HMI console. The
production unit only requires two
people to operate, compared to 20 to
30 workers in a traditional sawmill.
Torreele also emphasised that
3RT does not manufacture finished
wood products but instead produces
The process is
similar to the idea of
3D-printing – wood
products with the
properes of hardwood
can be manufactured
in just a day instead
of chopping down a
tree that takes decades
or even a hundred
years to grow,
— Peter Torreele,
managing director of 3RT
the hardwood material and provides
the technology to manufacturers who
are interested to produce Designer
Hardwood products themselves.
“Our suppliers are plantation and native
forest owners and our customers are
wood manufacturers. We develop the
‘production recipes’ in our Innovation
Centre, based on the plantation species
and the requirements of our customers.
We then produce these new hardwoods
in our Digital Production Units, either
owned by ourselves or licensed to the
customer.” 3RT has a global partnership
with Bosch which manufactures, installs
and maintains 3RT’s digital production
units around the world, as well as
Siemens to ensure that 3RT stands at
the forefront of advanced automation,
IoT developments and data analytics.