Panels & Furniture March/April 2022

IMALPAL-P&F-cover-188x195-NEW.pdf 1 2/3/22 8:36 PM 

www.panelsfurnitureasia.com 

MARCH/APRIL 2022 

M 

Y 

Y 

Y 

IMALPAL GROUP RENEWS 

THE BRAND IDENTITY 

Imalpal Group is a story made of bonds, positive 

connections between companies and customers. 

Synergies that, project after project, have made us 

grow to be the Group we are today. 

We certify this milestone with the change of the 

value, history and concreteness of the companies 

that make up the Imalpal Group and broaden its 

horizons, thus becoming a 360° partner for its 

customers. 

IMALPALGROUP 

www.imalpal.com

SINCE 50 YEARS, 

GROWING EXCELLENCE 

IN WOOD PROCESSING 

MACHINERY 

We supply complete systems for the production of PB, MDF, 

OSB, insulation boards, pellets and pallet blocks worldwide. 

From the high-quality construction to the use of advanced 

process control software, Imalpal pursues excellence in every 

aspect of product design. 

The attention, care and experience of each company of the 

Group made us grow and become a 360° partner for any business, 

capable of providing complete and tailor-made projects. 

www.imalpal.com

Y O U R S M A R T P L A N T 

PRODUCE SMARTER 

Using a holistic approach, CEBRO combines digitalization and advanced 

plant engineering with operational excellence and sustainability solutions. 

That makes your plant smart. 

Watch the video at cebro.dieffenbacher.com to discover 

what CEBRO can do for you.

CONTENTS 

CONTENTS 

PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA (ISSUE 2) 

March / April 2022 

08 

Editor’s Note 

10 

News 

Market Report 

18 

Supply and demand of US hardwoods stepping up 

after two years of struggle 

Environmental Report 

20 

Adopting three pillars of sustainability for furniture 

industry 

In Person 

24 

Inheriting Taiwan’s woodworking machinery heritage 

28 

“This is your story”: Building a sustainability message 

with Climate Positive Now 

Product Highlight 

30 

Finishes to enhance wood substrates 

32 

Uniclic for faster and simpler furniture assembly 

Panel Manufacturing 

34 

Better insights with EVORIS and CEBRO 

38 

Full range of machinery and complete OSB-PB-MDF 

plant by IMAL PAL 

42 

Boosting manufacturing productivity with artificial 

intelligence 

44 

GreCon 3D Particleview: Non-contact, threedimensional 

wood particle measurement 

45 

Individual strengths combined to provide all-round 

panel-sizing solutions 

Furniture Manufacturing 

46 

New Industry 4.0: Integrated modular solutions for 

production of whole-house customised furniture 

48 

A closer look: Boosting efficiency through digital 

solutions 

50 

Choosing the right edgebanding technology in a 

volatile furniture market 

Materials 

52 

ACRE: Made with rice hulls, works like wood 

Recycling 

54 

Wood recycling: From waste to resource 

Flooring 

58 

Rethinking floor inspection with innovative camera 

and lighting technology 

Structural Elements 

60 

Clayton Community Centre 

Columnists 

64 

Stability of adhesive force for veneer edgebanding 

glue 

67 

Principal risks affecting the sustainability of the 

timber industry 

24 

52 

70 

Calendar of Events 

71 

List of Advertisers 

20 

4 Panels & Furniture Asia | March / April 2022

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Find Find your your supplier here! here! 

Find Find your your supplier 

Quí vị đang tìm nhà cung cấp nguyên Find your here! here! 

liệu? supplie 

Quí Quí vị vị đang đang Quí tìm tìm vị nhà đang nhà cung cung tìm cấp nhà cấp nguyên cung cl 

These companies can supply you with exceptional 

hardwoods from Canada 

These companies can supply you with exceptional hardwoods from Canada 

Những công ty này These These có thể companies cung cấp can These nguồn can supply companies supply gỗ cứng you you with chất can with exceptional lượng supply cao you từ hardwoods with Canada 

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Những Những công công ty này ty Những này có thể có công thể cung cung ty cấp này cấp nguồn có nguồn thể gỗ cung cứng gỗ cứng cấp chất nguồn chất lượng lượng gỗ cao cứ 

r supplier here! 

à cung cấp nguyên liệu? 

QWEB_pub_HAWA_2019_2.qxp_Layout 1 19-10-02 1 19-10-02 14:32 14:32 Page 1Page 1 

QWEB_pub_HAWA_2019_2.qxp_Layout 1 19-10-02 14:32 Page 1 

with exceptional hardwoods from Canada 

ấp nguồn gỗ cứng chất lượng cao từ Canada 

commonwealthplywood.info 

forexwoodgroup.com 

primewood.com 

rlumber.ca rlumber.ca 

caspencer.com 

rlumber.ca rlumber.ca 

rlumber.ca 

To know more about East Canadian Hardwood species, 

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you are invited to visit our website. To know Eastern Canadian more Canadian about hardwood Eastern hardwood species, Canadian species, 

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và trao đổi Để thêm tìm Để hiểu tìm với hiểu chúng thêm thêm về tôi các tại triển lãm VIFA, gian hàng G630 

Để về chủng các tìm chủng hiểu loại thêm loại gỗ cứng về gỗ các cứng từ chủng vùng từ vùng bờ loại Đông bờ gỗ Đông cứng Canada, Canada, từ vùng vui lò bờ vu 

và trao và trao đổi thêm đổi thêm với chúng với và chúng trao tôi đổi tại tôi thêm triển tại triển với lãm chúng lãm VIFA, VIFA, tôi gian tại gian hàng triển hàng G630 lãm GV 

astern Canadian quebecwoodexport.com/en/products/hardwood-lumber/ 

species, www.quebecwoodexport.com 

us at VIFA, stand G630 

www.quebecwoodexport.com 

www.quebecwoodexport 

ỗ cứng từ vùng @QuebecWoodExport bờ Đông Canada, vui lòng @QuebecWoodExport đến gặp 

Quebec Wood Export Bureau 

tôi tại triển lãm VIFA, gian hàng G630 

Partner: 

Partner: Partner: 

Partner:

here! 

ấp liệu? nguyên liệu? 

m nal from Canada hardwoods Canada from Canada 

cao từ ng Canada chất từ Canada lượng cao từ Canada 

Woodalize 

your project 

Distinguish 

hardwood species, 

G630 

ng i Đông lòng đến đến gặp Canada, gặp vui lòng đến gặp 

630 IFA, gian hàng G630 

Canadian Hardmaple 

.com

FROM THE EDITOR 

Making 

sustainability 

a priority 

Three months into the new year and recent 

news about the environment have not been 

optimistic. Deforestation in the Amazon 

rainforest reached record levels in January; 

research by NewClimate Institute and 

Carbon Market Watch showed that a few 

conglomerates such as IKEA and Amazon did 

not meet their net-zero claims. It is easy to 

feel discouraged with all the disheartening 

news, so let us take comfort in the fact 

that out there, at least in the wood and 

woodworking industry, there are still firms 

that are ramping up their sustainability 

efforts. 

Some woodworking companies have 

begun to ensure that their processes are 

sustainable. For instance, CEBRO and EVORIS 

by Dieffenbacher are smart environmental 

technologies that can support a plant’s 

sustainability while improving board quality, 

increasing output and saving costs (p.34). 

On sustainable forest management, Ken 

Hickson cited examples of South East Asian 

forestry firms and organisations that take 

sustainability seriously, championing the 

three pillars of sustainability — socially just, 

ecologically sound, and economically viable 

— in the furniture industry (p.20). 

And if companies are looking for ways 

to display their sustainability efforts and 

champion climate positivity, Climate Positive 

Now is a new framework that they can adopt. 

In this era of social media and advertising, 

“having a clear-cut, easily digestible way to 

tell our sustainability story” is key, as Kenn 

Busch, founder of Climate Positive Now 

believes (p.28). 

In this issue, we have a new column dedicated 

to wood recycling. Jose Matas, segment 

manager of Tomra Recycling, introduces the 

ins-and-outs and benefits of waste wood 

recycling — prolonging material circulation, 

reducing the need for additional lumber, 

saving cost and energy in recycling as opposed 

to processing virgin wood (p.54). But recycling 

is not the only means of reducing our reliance 

on virgin wood. Coming up with a new material 

can just be as effective, and that is what 

Modern Mill has done (p.52). ACRE works, feels 

and looks like a typical wood panel, but it is 

made purely with discarded rice hulls, without 

relying on trees for wood or wood fibres. 

Whether such actions will bear fruit is still 

unknown. But one thing is certain: the wood 

and woodworking industry can still do much 

more in mitigating climate change, and the 

efforts outlined in this issue are only the 

starting point. 

YAP SHI QUAN | Assistant Editor 

PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA 

PABLO SINGAPORE 

Publisher 

William Pang • williampang@pabloasia.com 

Senior Editor 

Josephine Tan • josephine@pabloasia.com 

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Yap Shi Quan • shiquan@pabloasia.com 

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Pang YanJun • yanjun@pabloasia.com 

Graphic Designer 

Goh Meng Yong • mengyong@pabloasia.com 

Circulation Manager 

Shu Ai Ling • circulation@pabloasia.com 

PABLO BEIJING 

General Manager 

Ellen Gao • pablobeijing@163.com 

PABLO SHANGHAI 

Editor 

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Getting what you need can be complex. We make it feel easy. 

Why do so many customers continue do business with us? Because we care. As we’ve seen, 

the hardwoods industry can be difficult. When it is we are a rock-solid source 

of service and support. We put in the time, make the extra call, do whatever we can 

to solve our customers’ problems and meet their needs. 

We care, that’s why they do business with us. 

northwesthardwoods.com

NEWS 

NEW DIGITAL JOB FOLDER BY HOMAG 

BRINGS TRANSPARENCY TO WORKSHOPS 

HOMAG has released a new web application 

called productionManager, a digital job folder 

that gives every operator in the workshop 

access to information about each job. It 

also makes the current status of individual 

components transparent for everyone involved. 

The productionManager is developed in 

response to the overwhelming information 

about jobs, parts lists, assembly information, 

drawings and construction plans that 

carpenters and joiners have to manage in a 

woodworking shop. With the web application, 

operators can bundle all the information about 

a single job centrally and gather productionrelevant 

data in one place, replacing numerous 

paper documents in production. 

According to HOMAG, any employee with a 

laptop or tablet at hand can access the data: 

items, assemblies and components, including 

the relevant drawings and information. Changes 

can be entered quickly and are available to all 

users immediately. Drawings, images or further 

supplements can also be added to any job. 

Furthermore, users of the productionAssist 

Feedback application can define individual 

stations in the workshop at which feedback on 

the current status of the individual component 

or item should be given. Feedback can be 

The productionManager 

gives everyone access to 

information about each 

job (Image: HOMAG) 

submitted to the application by scanning using 

a hand-held scanner or tablet, or by clicking on 

the application. 

Within the application environment, 

productionManager acts as a central application 

in the background and ensures that the correct 

information appears in the correct place in 

the work preparation department and the 

workshop. 

For instance, users of the intelliDivide 

optimisation software for cutting or nesting 

can transfer the parts for cutting directly 

to intelliDivide. Also, if the company 

manages its panel and edge materials 

in the materialManager web application, 

productionManager uses this data. And if the 

Cutting Production Set, Nesting Production Set 

or Sorting Production Set are already used at 

workstations, the user can transfer data to these 

workstations, to the productionAssist application 

used there. These production workstations 

will report the processing progress directly to 

productionManager. 

The digital job folder can be integrated into any 

existing workshop environment with minimal 

adjustments necessary in the software landscape 

or the machine pool. Cost-wise, the usage of the 

web application can be billed monthly or annually, 

and can also be cancelled within these cycles. P 

VIETNAM WOOD AND FURNITURE EXPORTS 

TO US EXPECTED TO HIT US$10 BILLION IN 2022 

Exports of wood and furniture products from 

Vietnam to the US are expected to reach US$10 

billion in 2022, according to Vietnam Plus. The 

prediction is based on the development trend 

from 2021. Wood and furniture exports to the 

US surged 22.4% in 2021 to $8.8bn, 87.6% of 

which was from wooden furniture, according to 

data from the General Department of Vietnam 

Customs. 

Experts have said that efforts from businesses 

in maintaining production, with support from 

the government amid COVID-19 challenges, are 

what will propel this expansion trend into 2022. 

Even so, challenges are still imminent, such as 

trade remedies, shortages of containers, and 

high logistics costs. As of now, the cost for each 

container to be shipped to the US is on average 

$20,000-30,000, which is four times that of the 

previous years. 

Bui Hui Son, Minister Counselor and Head 

of Vietnam Trade Office in the US, has 

advised businesses to continue innovating 

and improving product quality to meet US 

consumers’ demand, while also ensuring the 

environmental friendliness of their products. He 

also stressed the need to digitalise and pivot to 

e-commerce as a bulwark against competition 

and trade measures. P 

Source: Vietnam Plus 


NEWS 

PAFC CONGO BASIN 

REGIONAL CERTIFICATION 

SYSTEM ATTAINS PEFC 

ENDORSEMENT 

The Pan African 

Forest Certification 

(PAFC) Congo Basin 

regional system has 

been endorsed by the 

Programme for the 

Endorsement of Forest 

Certification (PEFC), 

which it claims is the 

“world’s first” PEFC 

endorsed regional forest 

certification system. 

Logo of the Pan African 

Forest Certification (Image: PEFC) 

The PAFC Congo Basin comprises PEFC-member countries Cameroon, 

Congo, and Gabon, as their shared language and similar forestry 

conditions enable them to share one system. Through this system, they 

can maximise their impact and reach, share resources and knowledge, and 

reduce the costs in developing and running a forest certification system. 

“Being part of a regional scheme is a tremendous opportunity for PAFC 

Cameroon. We are supported by the other PAFC members and help them 

back in return, leading to more efficiency in our actions,” said Reine 

Edwige Anjembe, president of PAFC Cameroon. 

“Having one system covering three countries means more significant 

market access to operate. Furthermore, the training process is more 

efficient and better value for certification bodies, as auditors only need 

to be trained on one standard,” said Brice Severin Pongui, president of 

PAFC Congo. “In terms of accreditation, having one system simplifies the 

process, as only one accreditation programme needs to be opened for the 

sub-region.” 

Following the endorsement of the regional system, the three PAFC 

organisations will work on its implementation and support companies 

in their certification process. An auditor training will be organised in H1 

2022, along with the promotion of the PAFC Congo Basin system to a 

broader audience through company training and an open house day. 

Another key element of the coming months will be to develop national 

interpretation guidelines and a guide regarding carbon stock mapping 

and greenhouse gases emissions. These activities will help companies 

better understand the sustainable forest management standard and its 

requirements. 

The system development was led by the International Tropical Timber 

Technical Association (ATIBT), in collaboration with PAFC Cameroon, PAFC 

Congo, PAFC Gabon, and Olam, another PEFC international stakeholder 

member. P 

Panels & Furniture Asia | March / April 2022 11

NEWS 

TOMRA RECYCLING 

TEAM DEDICATED TO 

STRENGTHENING 

POSITION IN WOOD 

RECYCLING SEGMENT 

Tomra Recycling has been tapping into 

new opportunities to maximise the use and 

recycling of waste wood. Besides the launch of 

a new deep learning-based sorting application 

capable of separating wood by type, the 

company has also established a team focused 

on the wood segment. 

Joining this team is Jose Matas, segment 

manager of wood at Tomra Recycling, who 

commented: “The current market development 

offers an opportunity to wood-based panels 

manufacturers. Using high-quality recycled 

materials allows them to produce superior 

quality wood-based panels, achieve higher 

yields and outputs while profiting from 

considerable cost reductions, preserving 

natural resources, and decreasing CO2 

emissions.” 

The primary use of recycled waste wood is 

currently in particleboard manufacturing. 

The wood-based panel industry, according to 

Tomra Recycling, aims to meet market demand 

and improve product quality by increasing 

recycled content, resulting in a twofold benefit 

for the manufacturer. The company added that 

Tomra Recycling’s 

AUTOSORT technology 

(Image: Tomra) 

recycled wood is “up to 40% cheaper than 

fresh wood” and generally dryer, which results 

in a decrease in energy consumption during 

the drying stage of the panel production. 

For particleboard manufacturers, the 

quest to increase recycled content and 

promote sustainable wood management 

requires optimised processes and advanced 

technologies to recover pure material 

fractions from a waste wood infeed stream. 

The ideal solution that Tomra Recycling 

suggested consists of two sorting systems 

– a high-throughput unit for removing inert 

material and metals, and an optical sensor 

with an integrated deep learning technology 

to separate waste wood into different material 

grades. 

As such, Tomra Recycling offers the X-TRACT 

that allows recyclers and particleboard 

manufacturers to remove impurities like 

inert materials, metals, and glass with x-ray 

transmission (XRT) technology. The company 

has also developed GAIN, which is designed to 

detect, analyse, and separate non-processed 

wood and processed wood. Equipped with 

AUTOSORT, GAIN identifies and separates 

the medium-density fibreboard (MDF) 

found in processed wood streams, therefore 

producing individual wood fractions of the 

highest possible quality for being used in the 

production of particleboards and MDF boards. 

Fabrizio Radice, vice-president and head of 

global sales and marketing at Tomra Recycling, 

concluded: “The team’s expertise, combined 

with our latest technologies, will help recyclers 

and particleboard manufacturers meet 

both market demands and exploit the full 

potential of their operation while minimising 

environmental impacts. In the following years, 

we are going to invest a lot in this promising 

segment and aim to see that the waste of one 

company becomes a valuable resource for 

another.” P 

POSITIVE OUTLOOK FOR MALAYSIAN 

FURNITURE INDUSTRY 

A report by Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) 

Research has provided a positive outlook for the 

Malaysian furniture industry in 2022, although it 

will continue to face some challenges. 

The general outlook is due to several factors 

that include the relaxation of movement 

restrictions which allow furniture manufacturers 

to resume operations and address their supply 

chain issues. There is also robust demand 

in North America driven by work from home 

arrangements and the trade diversion from the 

US-China trade dispute. However, challenges 

such as rising raw material costs, persistent 

labour shortage and concerns on labour 

practices continue to cloud the outlook, 

according to the HLIB Research. 

Furthermore, due to severe flooding in parts 

of Peninsular Malaysia in mid-December 2021, 

rubberwood harvesting and transport are still 

disrupted, so prices for logs and sawnwood are 

likely to rise. The research unit noted that the 

country’s wooden furniture export earnings in 

the first 10 months of 2021 declined by almost 3% 

year-on-year to RM$8.15 billion, due to the lower 

production from June to mid-September 2021 as 

a result of movement restrictions. 

The US continues to be the largest export market, 

making up 62.8% of the total export value. Costs 

of raw materials like rubberwood, glue, steel, 

foam, leather and packing materials had been on 

an increasing trend since Q4 2020. P 

Source: ITTO 


NEWS 

SIEMPELKAMP RECORDS 

€855 MILLION ORDER 

INTAKE IN FY2021 

With its business units in machinery and 

plants, casting technology, and nuclear 

technology, the Siempelkamp Group 

recorded an order intake of €855 million in 

FY2021, exceeding its previous year’s intake 

of €552.7m. 

“Our realignment in the area of sales, process 

organisation, and global manufacturing 

excellence, which was initiated in 2020, has 

proven its worth in all areas and has borne 

fruit in 2021,” said Martin Stark, CEO of the 

Siempelkamp Group. 

Siempelkamp was also able to achieve 

numerous sales successes in the competence 

fields of metal forming presses and 

composite presses. In total, 24 large-scale 

plants were ordered across all areas. 

Within the wood-based panel industry, 

Siempelkamp continues to push forward the 

realignment of board production. Climate 

change and the scarcity of resources require 

solutions for the use of alternative raw 

materials. Depending on their local raw 

material supplies and their market situation, 

wood-based panel producers can resort 

to new, resource-saving processes. The 

company’s innovation concept focuses on 

the topics of environmental technology and 

recycling. 

In the area of digitalisation, the company 

has provided a digital product portfolio 

which increases the cost efficiency 

of customers and optimises product 

quality. Siempelkamp was also able to 

initiate a digital turnaround in the casting 

technology segment: The melting process 

and the dismantling concept were optimised, 

processes rethought. 

In 2022, Siempelkamp will continue its 

path of implementing new processes and 

investing in its realignment. 

“Our global production network with 

locations in Germany, Italy, the Czech 

Republic, and China is characterised by the 

idea of efficiency as well as our commitment 

to customer proximity and top quality,” 

commented Samiron Mondal, managing 

director of Siempelkamp. “Our concept 

of global production management, which 

we launched in 2020, is having a positive 

impact here. On the one hand, in a diversified 

market, we provide precisely the support 

that is tailored to the raw material supplies 

and the needs of our customers. On the other 

hand, plant operators benefit from a holistic 

concept which ensures quality and efficiency 

in all areas from the use of resources to 

logistics.” P 


NEWS 

ARGOS SOLUTIONS TO SUPPLY LAMINEX 

WITH NEW GRADING SYSTEMS 

Laminex, a producer of wood panels and 

laminate products based in Australia, has 

selected Argos Solutions’ automatic grading 

systems for their melamine production lines. 

The Argos Grading System automates the 

inspection of surface defects on decorative 

surfaces. The optical inspection system checks 

the surface for defects and monitors the 

production process continuously. 

“These systems will optimise our production 

even further,” said Graham Andrew, general 

manager of operations at Laminex. “We know 

that the Argos systems are fast and accurate, as 

well as easy to install and operate. Being able to 

trust advanced camera technology inspecting 

our panels, as opposed to relying on the human 

eye, will enable us to increase production speed, 

reduce downgrades and enhance the quality. All 

factors that will benefit both our production and 

our customers.” 

The relationship between Argos and Laminex 

goes back to 2005 when Laminex purchased their 

first grading system. Over the years, the company 

has grown and the need for high-quality 

inspection systems has increased. The two new 

systems will be an addition to their melamine 

production and will be delivered in 2022. 

“In Laminex, we say that ‘Every Australian 

deserves great quality design’,” said Andrew. 

“The systems from Argos will strongly contribute 

to keeping that promise.” 

Terje Haltbakk, managing director of Argos 

Solutions, concluded: “For Argos, it is a 

confirmation of trust and satisfaction with our 

systems and service that Laminex yet again 

chooses Argos. We welcome this opportunity to 

continue our relationship with one of the leading 

producers to the Australian market and look 

forward to still being a part of delivering quality 

products to their customers.” P 

PROFILCUT Q: THE MULTIFUNCTIONAL PROFILE TOOL SYSTEM 

Leitz has launched a multifunctional tool 

system called ProfilCut Q, which comprises 

ProfilCut Q, ProfilCut Q Premium, ProfilCut Q 

PLUS, ProfilCut Q PLUS Premium and ProfilCut 

Q Diamond. It is designed for the production of 

windows, doors or furniture, for batch-size-one 

productions as well as for the machining of high 

quantities in profile machining. 

The ProfilCut Q tool system consists of 

disposable systems and re-sharpenable 

constant systems, which enable economically 

optimal solutions to be created to customer 

requirements. The tool system’s exchangeable 

knives are made of carbide with Marathon highperformance 

coatings, which increases tool life 

and reduces unproductive machine downtime. 

All models can be combined to achieve an 

effective economic overall solution. 

with the same number of teeth, resulting in 

reduced machining times of up to 50%. 

The ProfilCut Q PLUS tooling system was 

developed for large production volumes 

with high running metre outputs. Six tool lives 

per profile knife enable a cost reduction of 

up to 20%, with a cutting speed of 90m/sec. 

ProfilCut Q PLUS also comes in another version, 

ProfilCut Q PLUS Premium, with a cutting speed 

of up to 120m/sec. 

Using polycrystalline diamonds to machine 

abrasive materials, ProfilCut Q Diamond 

combines an aluminium tool body and 

re-sharpenable, diameter and profile 

constant diamond cutting edges. It can be 

re-sharpened up to five times and ensures 

that the diameter and profile of the 

cutting edge remain unchanged even after 

sharpening, with a tool life up to 20 times 

longer than carbide systems. P 

The ProfilCut Q can be deployed by wood and 

wood-derived material processing companies 

with table milling machines, angular systems, 

conventional CNC and standard machines. The 

basic model achieves cutting speeds of up to 

90m/sec. 

ProfilCut Q Diamond 

With the ProfilCut Q Premium, Leitz has taken 

into account applications where maximum 

performance is the priority. Due to the clamping 

system and with the help of a wear-resistant 

coating of the tool body, cutting speeds of up to 

120m/sec can be achieved. Due to the increased 

cutting speed, larger feed rates are achieved 

ProfilCut Q Premium 

ProfilCut Q Plus 


NEWS 


NEWS 

AKZONOBEL 

LAUNCHES NEW 

INTERPON W RANGE 

FOR HEAT SENSITIVE 

WOOD SUBSTRATES 

AkzoNobel, a producer of paints and 

performance coatings for various industries, 

including the wood industry, has launched 

Interpon W, a range of powder coating 

solutions that can change how designers 

and manufacturers work with heat sensitive 

substrates (HSS) such as wood and plastic. 

Interpon W was developed in AkzoNobel’s 

Global Competence Centre for powder on 

HSS in Como, Italy. Bringing benefits beyond 

physical attraction and with sustainability 

as the standard, Interpon W includes the 

Interpon W Core, Flex Pro, Fast, and Fast Pro. 

According to the company, the range is designed 

so that even challenging shapes and substrates 

can be given a seamless, consistent finish and 

all-around protection. They enable furniture, 

kitchen and bathroom products or building 

and construction materials to be protected and 

enhanced in minutes. 

The Interpon W range utilises various 

innovations to achieve results, including 

ultra-low bake technologies that deliver indoor 

and outdoor products with optimal chemical, 

scratch, liquid and heat resistance, and a lower 

thermal curing process that offers higher 

weatherability and gloss retention for the more 

challenging applications. These innovations are 

used for Interpon W Core and Interpon Flex Pro 

respectively. 

The technology behind the Interpon W Fast 

and Interpon W Fast Pro powder coatings 

takes advantage of AkzoNobel’s capabilities in 

UV curing. UV curing systems combine a low 

temperature curing a range of 80-120°C with 

a short curing time of 2-5 minutes to deliver 

optimal efficiency, as reported by AkzoNobel. 

The full range allows materials such as 

medium-density fibreboard (MDF), high-density 

fibreboard (HDF), plywood, oriented-strand 

board (OSB), natural wood, and gypsum board 

or plasterboard to benefit from a powder 

coating that has reduced volatile organic 

compounds (VOCs) and have high utilisation of 

material of up to 99%, with any overspray able 

to be recycled. And being a powder coating, all 

sides can be coated at once, ensuring consistent 

edge coverage and reduced reworking time. This 

process also reduces the cost per unit. 

Daniela Vlad, managing director of Powder 

Coatings at AkzoNobel, said the company is 

committed to continuous innovation: “Through 

innovation and worldwide market development, 

we are creating solutions that are transforming 

the potential of low cure powder coatings, 

and taking sustainable solutions and business 

performance to new heights. 

“In close cooperation with a global network 

of powder coating line manufacturers, we will 

help you from start to finish in creating and 

implementing a fully-operational coating line. 

This includes understanding the products and 

processes required, and the financial benefits 

you can expect. It also includes supporting 

you with staff training and ensuring a smooth 

integration between the powder and coating 

line.” P 

STORA ENSO AND KOSKISEN PRODUCE 

FULLY BIOBASED FURNITURE BOARD 

Finnish plywood manufacturer Koskisen marks 

the first company to start using the biobased 

binder NeoLigno by Stora Enso in its new 

sustainable product family. Koskisen and Stora 

Enso’s cooperation has resulted in a biobased 

furniture board, called Zero Furniture Board. 

NeoLigno is a binder made from lignin, a fully 

biobased organic polymer that comes from wood. 

According to Stora Enso, the company ensures 

that the wood it uses comes from sustainably 

managed, traceable forests with the Forest 

Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for 

the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) 

chain-of-custody and ISO 14001 certifications. 

Koskisen uses the NeoLigno to replace 

fossil-based resins used in furniture boards. 

Both the furniture board raw material and 

the binder are sourced from the production 

process flows of both companies. This results 

in all raw materials of the Zero board being 

entirely biobased. Koskisen is also the first 

company to utilise NeoLigno in industrial 

production. 

“Our new Zero product family meets the 

rising demand for biobased solutions from 

both domestic and export markets. These 

new products allow furniture manufacturers 

to offer alternatives with improved 

sustainability and health security,” said Timo 

Linna, head of product management and R&D, 

Koskisen. 

Previously, as a byproduct of the pulp industry, 

lignin has been typically utilised as bioenergy 

in energy production. NeoLigno serves as an 

example of how Stora Enso increases the value of 

lignin without increasing the use of wood. 

“Stora Enso has been refining lignin commercially 

since 2015. NeoLigno is our first own binder 

that replaces fossil-based adhesives,” said Lauri 

Lehtonen, head of innovation of Stora Enso’s 

biomaterials division. 

The Zero Furniture Board will be commercially 

available in Q3 2022. P 


NEWS 

REORGANISATION 

IN STRUCTURE 

OF DEUTSCHE MESSE 

Deutsche Messe has responded to the 

ongoing challenges facing the trade fair 

industry and has taken the past few months 

for its reorganisation. 

In the course of this reorganisation, the 

organisational structure was divided into 

four business units, including Trade Fair 

and Product Management and Sales. 

The overall management and strategic 

orientation of the trade fair portfolio of 

LIGNA, INTERSCHUTZ, parts2clean and 

SurfaceTechnology GERMANY is now part of 

Trade Fair and Product Management, and 

will in future be within the responsibilities of 

Hendrik Engelking. 

Christian Pfeiffer, previously global 

director of LIGNA and Woodworking 

Shows, will be responsible for the sales 

division as senior vice-president. This 

business unit will be responsible for 

customer acquisition for Deutsche Messe’s 

entire trade fair portfolio. 

Stephanie Wagner, the new head of 

LIGNA, will be responsible for the project 

and thus for the content and operational 

management. She has been with Deutsche 

Messe for more than 10 years and was most 

recently LIGNA project director. She has 

taken up the position of head of LIGNA with 

retroactive effect since December last year. 

“We are delighted that Wagner is filling 

this strategically important position,” 

explained Engelking. “She is a familiar face 

in the wood industry and will continue the 

successful cooperation with our exhibitors, 

partners and customers.” 

Wagner also commented: “After a long 

period of an empty trade fair calendar and 

online-only formats, we are looking forward 

more than ever to finally being able to offer 

Henrik Engelking (left) and Stephanie Wagner (right). 

Image: LIGNA 

presence platforms again with LIGNA 2023 

and with the LIGNA.Conference this summer. 

We all missed the personal exchange and 

networking on site.” 

The next LIGNA will be held from 15-19 May 

2023. Prior to this, the first Rosenheim LIGNA. 

Conference will be held on 1 and 2 Jun 2022. 

The event is being organised by Deutsche 

Messe in conjunction with the Rosenheim 

Technical University of Applied Sciences, 

an educational institution for the new 

generation of professionals in the fields of 

wood technology. P 


MARKET REPORT 

Supply and demand 

of US hardwoods 

stepping up after two 

years of struggle 

By Judd Johnson, 

managing editor, Hardwood 

Market Report Publications 

Business for US hardwoods is not 

unlike business for most other 

industries. It is shaking off the effects 

of holiday seasons when order flows 

are typically slow. It is also shaking off 

impacts on manufacturing and other 

activities disrupted or even shuttered 

by COVID-19 and its variants. 

Importantly, there is a shifting 

mindset about COVID-19, since 

humans must learn to live 

productively, but safely, in the 

presence of this virus. There has 

been progress on that front. Business 

for US hardwoods is moving 

forward. What that means is there 

is a commitment by US hardwood 

producers to manufacture and 

process the sizes, qualities, species, 

and volume of lumber required by the 

marketplace. 

last year as the second largest 

market destination for US exports 

of hardwood lumber. Volumes to 

Vietnam were down approximately 

22% to 412,748m 3 . However, Vietnam 

might not stay at third place ranking 

for very long. Manufacturing in this 

country is rebounding, backlogged 

raw material supplies are being 

consumed, and new orders are being 

booked for replacement inventory. 

There is no way to know how US 

exports of hardwood lumber will 

end for the whole of 2022. But there 

are strong evidence volumes will 

increase to meet growing worldwide 

demand for wood household fittings, 

furnishings, and fixtures. 

US exports of hardwood lumber 

to China during 2021 totalled 

1,116,428m 3 , a decline of 11% 

from 2020. China certainly had its 

share of workflow disruptions due 

to COVID-19. China also endured 

a typhoon that shut down activity 

at one of the world’s busiest ocean 

ports. But the declining trend in 

US exports of hardwood lumber 

to China goes beyond COVID-19 

and weather, alone. The trade war 

has been impactful. Additionally, 

The level of demand has grown, 

overall. Consumption of US hardwood 

lumber has increased markedly in 

North America. Not surprisingly, 

most of the growth is in the US, but 

demand from Canada and Mexico 

is higher. US exports of hardwood 

lumber to Mexico in 2021 ramped up 

36% over 2020 to 347,539m 3 . Exports 

to Canada were 641,610m 3 last year, 

which was 49% more than in 2020. 

Between this increase to Canada and 

shutdowns that derailed business in 

Vietnam, Canada surpassed Vietnam 


MARKET REPORT 

China’s economy has slowed from 

its torrid rate of growth, with the 

real estate market contributing to 

an imbalance. Industries allied to 

China’s residential construction 

industry have seen that part of their 

business cool off. 

Figure 2 

29,000,000 

27,000,000 

25,000,000 

Consumption of Hardwood Lumber by Major US Markets 

and Total Supply of Hardwood Lumber 

Consumption 

©2022 HMR 

Total supply 

While the outlook for world growth 

in demand for US hardwood lumber 

is generally positive, there is less 

certainty among industry sources 

about sharply increased business 

with China in 2022. There are 

reasons to think it might. China has 

the largest consumer group in the 

world, and providing furnishings for 

newly formed households, alone, 

is substantial in itself. China is also 

the world’s manufacturing hub for 

wood products — even if the actual 

manufacturing is outsourced to 

other countries. Where reservations 

come in about meaningful increases 

in demand from China is the recent 

track record of declining imports 

from the US. Until this market 

proves otherwise, US exporters 

can only be hopeful for increased 

business. 

RESPONSE OF US HARDWOOD 

MARKET SUPPLY TO DEMAND 

Figure 1 shows a general decline 

in production in 2019 from 2018, 

a 7.2% that stemmed from the 

US-China trade war. From there 

the effects on sawmill operations 

from COVID-19 are clear; output 

from eastern US hardwood 

sawmills dropped to a historic low 

annualised rate of 10.2 million cubic 

metres in May 2020. 

Production has since rebounded 

from that low point, though it has 

not fully recovered. Notably, eastern 

US hardwood sawmill output 

slipped in September last year, and 

then levelled off during the final 

three months of 2021. This is the 

exact time when the Delta variant 

and subsequently the Omicron 

variant of COVID-19 broke through 

in the US. 

Cubic Meters 

23,000,000 

21,000,000 

19,000,000 

17,000,000 

15,000,000 

13,000,000 

But there are two key things to take 

away from production rates at the 

end of 2021. First, production over 

the last five months of 2021 averaged 

over 17 million cubic metres. Second, 

the upward trend in US hardwood 

sawmill production was only delayed. 

Figure 2 is a snapshot of the supply 

and demand relationship for each 

year represented. What the image 

misses is how business conditions are 

developing at the end of the year. For 

2021, the graph highlights the gap is 

closing between supply and demand. 

But by the end of last year, supply and 

demand were trekking even closer 

than what the data points for 2021 

indicate. 

The US hardwood lumber supply 

system is working. The trajectory 

for business is set. Recovering 

economies worldwide and surging 

demand for housing in the US and 

Canada will fuel demand for building 

components, interior fittings, and 

furnishing. Growth could potentially 

last for years. 

How much of that demand will be 

served by China, Vietnam, and other 

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 

South East Asian nations is uncertain. 

How much of these manufactured 

goods will come from Mexico, 

Turkey, or other source countries? 

How demand for wood household 

building materials and furnishings 

will increase in other parts of the 

world this year is another unknown, 

but there is great potential it will. 

The opportunities for business 

growth are alluring. The results will 

begin to take shape and become 

much clearer these next few months 

and possibly elevate the demand for 

US hardwood lumber to pre-COVID 

levels. P 

Hardwood Market Report (HMR) 

is the leading source of pricing 

and market information for 

North American hardwoods. It 

has provided reliable, expert 

analysis of pricing and market 

trends to hardwood companies 

throughout the world since 1922. 

Sample copies and subscription 

services for HMR and all other 

HMR publications are available 

online at www.hmr.com. 


ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT 

Adopting 

three pillars of 


for furniture 

SDG 12: Responsible consumption 

and production. Achieving economic 

growth and sustainable development 

requires that we urgently reduce our 

ecological footprint by changing the 

way we produce and consume goods 

and resources. The second is SDG 

15: Life on land. Forests cover 30% 

of the Earth’s surface, provide vital 

habitats for millions of species, and 

are important sources for clean air 

and water, as well as being crucial for 

combating climate change. 

industry 

By Ken Hickson 

It is worth reminding ourselves that 

the furniture or furnishings industry 

is the third-highest user of wood in 

the world, behind the construction 

and paper industries. This means 

that demand for certified forestbased 

materials such as paper and 

timber is increasing. 

This is where sustainable forest 

management (SFM) comes in, and 

why it is important for everyone in 

the furniture supply chain. 

SUSTAINABLE FOREST 

MANAGEMENT 

So exactly what do we mean by SFM? 

Forests cover 30% of 

the Earth’s surface 

and provide vital 

habitats for millions 

of species (Image: 

Suryawan) 

When you make and sell — or even 

sit on — a wooden chair, do you take 

time to think about where the wood 

has come from? Which species? Which 

forest? Who cut down the tree? 

When you watch a television 

commentator or a Zoom conference 

attendee working from home, sitting 

in front of an imposing bookcase, do 

you wonder where the timber came 

from to make that item of furniture 

to house those titles? 

There are at least two Sustainable 

Development Goals (SDGs) by the 

United Nations (UN) that should 

be on the minds of all furniture 

manufacturers, suppliers and 

retailers over the world. The first is 

Forest Europe, the Ministerial 

Conference on the protection of 

forests in Europe, came up with this 

definition which has been adopted 

by the UN Food and Agriculture 

Organization (FAO): “The stewardship 

and use of forests and forest lands in 

a way, and at a rate, that maintains 

their biodiversity, productivity, 

regeneration capacity, vitality and 

their potential to fulfil, now and 

in the future, relevant ecological, 

economic and social functions, at 

local, national, and global levels, and 

that does not cause damage to other 

ecosystems.” 

For the Programme for the 

Endorsement of Forest Certification 

(PEFC), SFM is the benchmark 

standard for national forest 

certifications. It sets out the 

requirements that national 



standards and their development 

process must meet to achieve PEFC 

endorsement, and must include the 15 

responsibilities: 

• Maintenance, conservation and 

enhancement of ecosystem 

biodiversity 

• Protection of ecologically 

important forest areas 

• Prohibition of forest conversions 

• Recognition of free, prior and 

informed consent of indigenous 

peoples 

• Promotion of gender equality and 

commitment to equal treatment of 

workers 

• Promotion of the health and wellbeing 

of forest communities 

• Respect for human rights in forest 

operations 

• Respect for the multiple functions 

of forests to society 

• Provisions for consultation with 

local people, communities and 

other stakeholders 

• Respect for property and land 

tenure rights as well as customary 

and traditional rights 

• Compliance with all fundamental 

international labour organisation 

(ILO) conventions for worker rights 

• Working from minimum wage 

towards living wage levels 

• Prohibition of genetically modified 

trees and most hazardous 

chemicals 

• Exclusion of certification of 

plantations established by 

conversions, including conversions 

of ecologically important nonforest 

lands, like peatlands 

• Climate positive practices such 

as reduction of GHG emissions in 

forest operations 

national regulations, manage risk, as 

well as meet at least two of the SDGs. 

PEFC positively contributes to achieving 

the SDGs as it works towards the full 

potential of forests for a sustainable 

world. 

CONSUMER DEMAND FOR 

SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS 

It is also clear that consumers now 

demand sustainable products and are 

willing to rethink their buying habits to 

incorporate environmental and social 

product benefits into their buying 

decisions. This places added pressure 

on furniture supply chains, including 

those in authority who set the standards 

and police the rules and laws. 

Many companies are finding that forest 

certification is a tool that can ensure 

global market access for timber and 

improve the livelihoods of the people 

that depend on the forest. 

Wikkie Netten, South East Asia private 

sector regional manager of PEFC 

Asia-Pacific, who is responsible for 

driving awareness and working with 

forestry supply chain stakeholders in 

the region, posed this big question: 

While the demand for certified products 

is growing and timber trade rules are 

tightening, should we wait for consumer 

demand to kick in, or do we all take a 

lead in protecting our forests and our 

future? 

“By working together, we can 

continue to expand the areas under 

SFM, and at the same time keep the 

timber trade alive,” insisted Wikkie, 

reminding us that globally only 13% of 

forests are currently certified, leaving 

87% vulnerable for land grabbing, 

deforestation and land conversion. 

She believes furniture manufacturers, 

suppliers and retailers can all play a 

critical role to improve their trade and 

be the voice for all people that depend 

on the forest for their livelihood. 

Consistent with the SDGs, PEFC 

reinforces that given the importance 

of forests to the planet, sustainable 

management is essential to ensure 

society’s demands do not compromise 

the resource. SFM offers a holistic 

approach to ensure forest activities 

deliver social, environmental and 

economic benefits, balance competing 

needs and maintain and enhance 

forest functions now and in the future. 

Forest certification is the tool to prove 

this and to connect the consumer 

with the sustainable origins of their 

products. 

We can see that SFM creates outcomes 

that are socially just, ecologically sound 

and economically viable – the three 

pillars of sustainability. 

Surely that is important for everyone 

involved in the timber trade and the 

furniture industry? It is no longer a 

“feel-good” consideration but an 

alternative for a business to meet 

Image: Yoshihiro Kazumoto 



1 2 

We have an example from South East 

Asia, where a company in the forestry 

business takes SFM very seriously 

to meet or even go beyond the 

requirements of certification. 

FIRE MANAGEMENT 

For APP Sinar Mas Group, a supplier of 

timber, pulp and paper in the region 

and an advocate of PEFC certification, 

it takes its role in fire management 

very seriously and highlighted in its 

statement: “Fires harm the economy, 

the environment and most importantly 

people’s lives. This is never acceptable. 

Forest fire poses a serious threat 

for APP. As a company reliant on 

supplies of pulpwood, it makes no 

commercial sense for APP suppliers 

to start fires to clear land. Forest fires 

destroy plantation wood, and we 

have already suffered major losses 

through damage to plantation wood. 

Together with our suppliers, we have 

been working to implement forest 

fire prevention measures across our 

suppliers’ concession areas before the 

dry season.” 

Saleh Husin, managing director of 

Sinar Mas, stressed the importance of 

integrated fire management, which 

comprises four main strategies, 

namely prevention, preparation, 

early detection and rapid response. 

As he said in their Integrated Fire 

Management MAFZ Booklet: “We hope 

that with better preparation and solid 

collaboration between the private 

sector, the government, the police 

force and the National Armed Forces, 

as well as the local communities, we 

will be able to protect Indonesia’s 

forests from wildfire disasters.” 

SUSTAINABILITY ROADMAP FOR 

FURNITURE 

Besides this example of a plantation 

company meeting UN, FAO as well 

as PEFC standards for SFM, there are 

also significant moves to get furniture 

companies in Singapore and South 

East Asia to adopt sustainable practices 

and processes. 

The ASEAN Furniture Industry Council 

(AFIC) has embarked on a four-year 

roadmap with PEFC to improve 

sustainability outcomes throughout 

the furniture supply chain in the 

region. 

As was said at the time of the 

announced partnership in July 2021, 

consumers worldwide demand 

sustainable products across a variety 

of fields, and every industry must 

adapt to satisfy their requests. 

Furniture customers are no different, 

and sustainable furniture is a highly 

sought-after product. Furniture supply 

chain sustainability and responsible 

procurement are critical to ensuring 

that we all benefit from the many 

products that forests provide now 

while ensuring these forests will be 

around for generations to come. 

PEFC Asia-Pacific’s Netten explained 

that while procurement policies might 

not be common in the region yet, 

this is the first step to developing a 

sustainable furniture supply chain: 

“Procurement policies enable 

countries and companies to cast their 

voice and set goals, which with help 

from PEFC can assist in a stepped 

approach to reach higher sustainability 

standards together.” 

As the Singapore Furniture Industry 

Council takes over the chairmanship 

of AFIC, we are already seeing 

progress towards the key goals of 

the partnership, which are to raise 

awareness on the importance of 

sustainably sourced forest and treebased 

materials which subsequently 

boost demand for certified materials; 

build capacity in the wood-based 

supply chain to facilitate members 

and companies to reach sustainability 

goals; support companies who want 

to demonstrate legal and sustainable 

sourcing with PEFC certification; 

improve knowledge sharing between 

PEFC and AIFC members; and build 

visibility for AFIC and PEFC. 

It all goes to show that the furniture 

industry in Asia is getting ready to 

adopt practices that are good for 

business as they also meet the triple 

bottom line – People, Planet and 

Profit. Not surprisingly, these are 

consistent with the principles of SFM, 

which is to create outcomes that are 

socially just, ecologically sound and 

economically viable: the three pillars of 

sustainability. P 

Legend 

1 SFM requires the 

free, prior and 

informed consent 

of indigenous 

peoples (Image: 

I Wayan Sumatika) 

2 Globally, only 

13% of forests 

are currently 

certified, leaving 

87% vulnerable 

for land grabbing, 

deforestation and 

land conversion 

(Image: Rico 

Yuliyanto) 


IN PERSON 

The newly elected directors and supervisors of Taiwan Woodworking Machinery Association 

Inheriting 

Taiwan’s 

woodworking 

machinery 

heritage 

With plans to strengthen Taiwan’s 

woodworking machinery 

industry, including digitalisation 

and boosting media presence, 

Joe Chang, the newly elected 

chairman of the Taiwan 

Woodworking Machinery 

Association, has much in store to 

expand the industry domestically 

and internationally. 

By Yap Shi Quan 


IN PERSON 

“A RICH HERITAGE” 

The Taiwan Woodworking Machinery 

Association (TWMA) has been representing 

Taiwanese woodworking machinery 

manufacturers since 1986. As its new 

chairman, Joe Chang, who was elected in 

February this year, is about to shoulder 

over 40 years of Taiwan’s woodworking 

machinery legacy with the responsibility of 

bringing it to greater heights. 

But Chang is no stranger to the 

woodworking machinery scene in Taiwan, 

having been in it for more than 34 years: 

“I inherited my father’s company, Kuang 

Yung Machinery, which was established in 

1960. I belong to the second generation, 

and my son has also joined in as the 

third-generation successor. I am very clear 

with the current industry environment 

and future challenges. The woodworking 

machinery in Taiwan has a rich heritage; 

some companies that have been running 

longer even have their fourth-generation 

successors joining in.” 

Chang described briefly to Panels & 

Furniture Asia the history of TWMA, 

explaining that the association was 

initially called the Taiwan Association of 

Machinery Industry (TAMI). TAMI held its 

first woodworking machinery exhibition 

in Songshan Airport in Taipei, Taiwan, 

which had earned them more than NT$1 

million (US$37,000). 

Back in 1981, Taiwan’s export value of 

woodworking machinery was about 

$1.3 billion (US$48 million). Currently, 

the export reached an all-time high 

of $25bn (US$910 million) in 2021, 

and Taiwan is ranked fourth in the 

global woodworking machinery export 

rankings, behind Germany, China and 

Italy. Chang explained that such a high 

ranking is credited to the first generation, 

who has created a good foundation for 

the second and third generations to build 

upon. The ranking can also be attributed 

to how the second- and third-generation 

successors are earnest at studying, 

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Panels & Furniture Asia | March / April 2022 25 

2022-02_Plattenaufteilsaegen-02_60x234.indd 1 25.02.2022 11:51:15

IN PERSON 

developing innovated products, 

and expanding Taiwan’s market 

globally. 

“I can envision Taiwan’s 

woodworking machinery still 

having a place in the world for the 

next five years. The new second-, 

third- and fourth-generation 

successors will continue developing 

their companies,” said Chang. 

STRATEGIES GOING FORWARD 

Chang observed that the Taiwan 

woodworking machinery industry 

is currently facing a few challenges. 

First, the rapid growth of China’s 

woodworking machinery scene is 

threatening Taiwan, and traditional, 

low-end machines made in Taiwan 

are being replaced by China’s 

machines. Second, Taiwan’s 

machineries are mainly in a single 

unit and lack smart elements — 

the industry has not caught up to 

Industry 4.0 standards. And lastly, 

the industry is having trouble 

recruiting talented people. 

and use the government’s resources 

in helping member vendors adapt 

to future digital needs sooner.” 

Beyond domestic strategies, 

Chang is also hoping to strengthen 

TWMA’s media presence to reach 

untapped global audiences with a 

365-day, 24-hour virtual showroom 

platform: “For people who are 

looking for Taiwan woodworking 

machinery products or require 

Taiwan woodworking machinery 

production services, they can find 

the products and solutions through 

this platform.” 

He has also identified key countries 

for market expansion, and 

concluded: “The first country [we 

are hoping to strengthen relations 

with] is Vietnam. Since 2021, the 

exports of Taiwan woodworking 

machinery into Vietnam ranked 

fourth, with the figures declining by 

10% compared to 2020. China has 

become the first place in importing 

[our machinery], and Germany is 

second. Australia, Japan, India, 

Russia and the UK rank fifth to 

tenth respectively, all of whom 

are growing substantially and are 

markets for Taiwan to strengthen 

relations with. Of course, the 

growing industries of central and 

southern America, Europe, and 

North Africa are also big markets we 

have to take note of.” P 

To address these issues, TWMA 

will help its member vendors to 

improve product competitiveness, 

adopt smart machine elements, 

cultivate talent by using 

government and school resources 

and liaise with research institutes. 

In fact, TWMA has already begun 

digitalising the industry in 2020, 

joining forces with Taiwan Smart 

Manufacturing to pivot into 

automation. 

“Digitalisation is an unstoppable 

trend in the future,” Chang 

elaborated. “The woodworking 

machinery industry has to 

introduce it since it can replace 

veterans and provide remote and 

virtual marketing and after-service 

solutions. 

“What the association needs to do 

is to share the knowledge with the 

members. We also need to provide 

a sharing platform for everyone, 

Joe Chang, the new 

chairman of TWMA 


FROM SAWN TIMBER TO FINISHED PRODUCT 

No matter what product you have to produce, we have the wood for you. Global Timber 

can deliver many different species from Europe, North- & South America, and Africa. 

Contact us for a good offer. 

Dù bạn sản xuất bất kỳ sản phẩm nào, chúng tôi cũng có gỗ cho bạn. Global Timber có thể cung 

cấp nhiều loại gỗ khác nhau từ Châu Âu, Châu Mỹ và Châu Phi. Vui lòng liên hệ với chúng tôi để 

biết thêm thông tin chi tiết. 

Per Friis Knudsen 

pfk@globaltimber.dk +60 111 429 7073 

www.asia.globaltimber.net

IN PERSON 

“This is your story”: Building 

a sustainability message 

with Climate Positive Now 

As end consumers increasingly 

demand firms to be sustainable, 

the value of crafting an appealing, 

engaging sustainability story 

increases. What if there is a 

framework which businesses can 

use to display their commitment 

to sustainability? Climate Positive 

Now is one such framework, 

and its founder Kenn Busch tells 

Panels & Furniture Asia all about it. 


What exactly is Climate Positive Now? 

Kenn Busch: Climate Positive Now describes 

a category of products and their impact on our 

world, as we have always produced them. It is 

a movement towards toward a more liveable 

planet created by wiser choices in furniture 

and construction materials, and the best 

sustainability story any building product can 

tell that will resonate especially with younger 

consumers. 

Climate positive is a term being promoted by 

furniture brand IKEA and a growing number 

of global brands, and currently, it is used by 

North American composite wood-panel and 

decorative surface suppliers to describe their 

products. It began as a more understandable 

way to say carbon negative, describing any 

process or product that stores more CO2 out of 

the atmosphere than is released, which can be 

confusing to consumers. The great thing about 

climate positive is it also takes the conversation 

beyond carbon to include other benefits of a 

product, company or industry. IKEA plans to be 

climate positive as a company by 2030. Others 

are shooting for 2040, 2050, and beyond. It is 

a huge effort to become climate positive as a 

company, especially a global retailer. 

To be clear, Climate Positive Now is not a 

certification. Rather, it is a framework within 

which we can tell a science-based story about 

the inherent advantages of working with wood. 

It is also a fresh way to take the conversation 

beyond, “Is it recycled and can I recycle it”. 

When designers and consumers think about 

new office furniture, a new kitchen, closet or 

residential furniture, we want them to think 

very hard before deciding how much high 

carbon-footprint materials like glass, metal, 

concrete or solid surface they want to use. 

Currently, there are eight companies backing 

the movement, with more coming onboard. 

How will they contribute to the initiative, 

and more pertinently, to becoming climate 

positive? 

Busch: Any company that contributes to 

increased specification and longer use of 

composite wood panels is part of the story — 

all stakeholders, if you will. So, if you produce 

formaldehyde resins for composite wood, 

this is your story; same if you make panels 

or laminates, value-added components, or 

furniture with these materials. If you design 

with these products, this is also your story. 

It is important to note that the Climate Positive 

Now story applies to our products now, without 

having to change anything about the way 

the manufacture or use these materials. Our 

sponsors are contributing by helping to spread 

the word, and teaching their own sales and 

marketing teams how to lead with this message 

any time they’re talking to industry colleagues 

and customers. With every company that joins, 


Kenn Busch offering perspectives on 

sustainability to North America’s furniture 

manufacturers at the Executive Briefing 

Conference in Denver, Colorado 

IN PERSON 

Asia and South East Asia panel industry, but I 

do know that composite wood panel plants are 

quite modern, and that producers are working 

to do right by their global customers. As with 

any product, shipping can be a large part of 

its carbon footprint, so that measure might 

impact the carbon benefits of wood products. 

Conversely, shipping pre-sized parts reduces the 

carbon footprint not just by saving weight and 

space, but by reducing handling, manufacturing 

and packing in destination markets. 

I will work with them to create a deep-dive story 

that’s specific to their role in the Climate Positive 

Now movement. 

Why are aspects of storytelling, branding and 

education crucial to Climate Positive Now? 

Busch: Designers and consumers are usually 

confused by the alphabet soup of green 

certifications and labels, to the point that it is 

actually detrimental to making real progress. 

The decorative panel industry has a long 

history of making our products and their 

makeup confusing to designers and consumers. 

For example, melamine faced chipboards 

(MFC), melamine boards, low-pressure 

laminate, direct-pressure laminate, modified 

polytetrafluoroethylene (TFM) and thermally 

fused melamine (TFM) are all the same exact 

material. 

Having a clear-cut, easily digestible way to 

tell our sustainability story is therefore key. 

Education and promotion are what it is all about 

— Climate Positive Now is the online home for 

the universal version of the story, and it is our 

chance to finally all be singing the same song, 

one that our industry can, and should, own. 

Two of the phrases that I use often in talking 

about climate positive are “Waste wood 

made good” and “Celebrating materials that 

go beyond sustainable”. Wood by its very 

nature is climate positive, so unless there are 

inefficiencies in your process, this story applies 

to you, especially in your regional markets. 

Trees regenerate and grow largely on their 

own, produce oxygen along the way, and 

create healthy forest ecosystems that support 

countless species. Manmade decorative surfaces 

like laminates replace rare and fragile veneers 

where better performance is needed. The carbon 

sequestered remains stored by these panels — 

40lb or approximately 18.1kg in a 4x8 sheet of 

particleboard, 45lb or approximately 20.4kg in 

medium-density fibreboard (MDF) — until they 

are burned or allowed to decompose. Because 

of their density, these composite wood products 

store about twice as much carbon as the same 

volume of solid wood. If we are able to invent or 

even discover a new technology with all of these 

advantages, it would be earth-shattering news! 

Our only challenge is to be able to tell this story 

at every level of our value chain. A big part of this 

is helping designers and consumers understand 

the context — that we are talking about products 

that are Climate Positive Now, not companies or 

industries. Not yet, anyway. 

In your experience, how would you rate the 

performance of composite wood panels in 

Asia and South East Asia? 

Busch: I am not intimately familiar with the 

“Climate Positive Now 

is the online home for 

the universal version of 

the story, and it is our 

chance to finally all be 

singing the same song, 

one that our industry 

can, and should, own.” 

Kenn Busch 

Founder of Climate Positive Now 

What do you hope to achieve with this 

movement? 

Busch: We plan to get more surface and board 

suppliers to endorse this message of “We build 

with materials that are Climate Positive NOW”, 

because several furniture and cabinet producers 

in North America want to include it in their own 

marketing. They tell me they want to see enough 

of their suppliers getting behind this message. 

Already, some companies are using the logo and 

messaging on their own websites and in their 

communications. 

Ultimately, when you see a newly remodelled 

hotel lobby, we would love to have a Climate 

Positive Now plaque hanging near the check-in 

desk, or having the logo on every box of flat-pack 

furniture that is shipped, hanging it on display 

furniture in retail stores, and on the vans used by 

custom-closets installation crews — this is what I 

would love to see happen in the next five years. 

Fun fact: When I had our logo designed, I 

suggested something that would look good as 

a plaque in a hotel lobby, a retail furniture hang 

tag, or a tattoo. The designer went with the 

tattoo idea. In fact, I’m getting mine next month! 

Who’s with me? P 


PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT 

Finishes to enhance 

wood substrates 

Wood is a versatile material with various 

functions, and wood finish is equally diverse. 

Wood finishing refers to the application 

of a protective layer to the bare wood 

substrate to protect it from different natural 

and manmade factors, and make it easier 

to clean or sanitise. It also gives wooden 

surfaces a desirable appearance, capable of 

creating wooden designs to make them look 

attractive, perform well for a longer time and 

enhance their durability. 

Teknos believes that selecting the 

right materials and finishes can make 

substrates easier to maintain with 

additional protection. The selection 

of appropriate coating materials must 

take into consideration the following 

aspects as well: characteristics of the 

wood materials; functionality of the final 

product; performance properties such as 

adhesiveness to a substrate, to be protected 

from abrasion, chemicals or stains, moisture, 

UV radiation, and others; requirements 

to health, safety and environment; and 

specifications and production processes 

related to application conditions, equipment 

and personnel. 

By far the most common material used for 

kitchen cabinets is wood. Kitchen cabinets 

are fundamental parts of all modern kitchen 

layouts. There is a selection of substrates 

ranging from solid wood and wood-like 

materials, such as melamine, mediumdensity 

fibreboard (MDF) and veneer that 

are used for the manufacturing of kitchen 

cabinets, providing end users with choices to 

complement the interior of their new home or 

renovation project. Depending on the types 

of wood used, it will change the look and cost 

of the kitchen design. 

Melamine starts with a compressed wood 

particle core. It is then covered with a resin 

and paper finish that can be manufactured 

to embody various styles and colours. 

Engineered products using melamine 

are less expensive, such as high-pressure 

laminate (HPL) or thermally fused laminate 

(TFL) that are melamine fused with MDF, or 

particleboard, which are made from wood 

chips. 

MDF is made from recycled fibres, wax, and 

resin pressed together and sealed through a 

high-pressure system. 

Solid wood is a material from a natural 

source that comes in various species and 

hardnesses including, oak. birch, maple, 

walnut, among others. 

Wood veneer is a thin layer of solid 

hardwood stripped from a log. Veneers 

could come in various thicknesses from 

0.1-5mm which are typically pressed and 

glued to fibreboard or particleboard to 

create flat panels. 



Pros 

Cons 

Melamine MDF Solid Wood Wood Veneer 

• Low-cost option 

• A variety of design versatility 

• Low physical resistance 

• Prone to water damage 

• Durable and strong 

• Smooth surface with no knots 

or grain 

• Prone to scratches and chips 

• Unable to support too much 

weight 

Table 1: Comparing the pros and cons between melamine, MDF, solid wood and wood veneer 

• Range of natural colour 

• Strong and long-lasting 

• Expensive 

• Reacts to humidity, causing it 

to crack or warp 

• Mimics the look and feel of natural 

wood 

• Costs less than solid natural wood 

• Prone to water damage 

• Prone to formation of cracks 

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF 

SUBSTRATES 

Besides getting the kitchen design 

components to flow together, 

understanding the properties of the 

substrates upon selection can help 

ensure ideal results in design and 

practicality (Table 1). 

ENHANCE THE LONGEVITY OF YOUR 

SUBSTRATE 

Teknos’s paints and coatings are 

made in light to provide an optimal 

aesthetic look together with practical 

effectiveness when applied to kitchen 

cabinets. The company has formulated 

solutions to overcome the drawback 

properties of substrates: 

1. UV and Hydro UV Systems on MDF 

board 

Teknos’s solutions on the MDF 

board work to bring out an 

aesthetic finishing suitable for a 

stylish kitchen. These products 

are designed in Teknos Malaysia 

with two different applications 

methods which are roller and spray 

applications, to provide high-quality 

scratch resistance. MDF boards are 

typically prone to scratches. 

The application guidelines for 

Teknos UV pigmented white roller 

system are: 30-35g/m² with UV Filler 

611, two layers of 23-30g/m 2 

with Uvilux Sealer 661, and 

10-12g/m² with UV Topcoat 651. The 

application guidelines for Teknos 

Hydro UV pigmented white spray 

system are: two layers of 150g/m² 

with the Waterborne Spray 

Primer 274 and Waterborne 

Spray Topcoat 454. 

Advantages of Teknos UV and Hydro 

UV pigmented white solutions 

include: flexibility in design, colour 

and functionality; toughness and 

high-quality protection against 

scratches, with a pencil hardness 

test that recorded H-2H and >3H; 

good surface resistance against 

water; instant curing, as reported 

by Teknos, which improves product 

capacity with increased production 

line speeds; and good adhesion to 

various wood substrates. 

2. UV Clear System on Solid Wood 

Teknos UV Clear System coated on 

solid wood brings forth its natural 

wood colour without sacrificing any 

properties. This product enhances 

and protects solid wood from reacting 

to humidity which would cause it to 

crack and warp over time. 

The application guidelines for the UV 

Clear System are: 30-35g/m² with UV 

Filler 611, two layers of 20-25g/m² 

with Uvilux Sealer 248, and 60-80g/m² 

with UV Spray Topcoat 654. 

According to Teknos, all the above buildup 

recommendations passed “all the 

quality performance standards”, such 

as ASTM D3359B Adhesion cross-hatch 

removal, DIN 68861 Part 1B Chemical 

Resistance, ASTM 1211 Cold Cycle and ISO 

15184 Pencil Hardness – Gardco. P 

Hydro UV pigmented white spray 

system on MDF board with profile 

UV Pigmented white roller system 

on flat MDF board 

UV Clear spray system on solid wood 



Uniclic for 

faster and simpler 

furniture assembly 

Ease of installation, intuitive assembly 

methods, and fewer fittings in building 

furniture are in demand with end users 

now, as people are spending more time 

at home after the COVID-19 outbreak 

and investing more in home furnishing, 

fitting-outs, and fixing and replacing of 

old furniture. 

Uniclic for furniture, a click system that 

makes assembly work more intuitive, 

is said to offer the above. It reduces 

preparation and assembly times, and 

less damage or mistakes will occur 

during assembly. 

Developed by Unilin Technologies, 

Uniclic for furniture is a tongue-andgroove 

technology for connecting 

two furniture panels at a 90° angle. 

The tongue-and-groove profiles allow 

furniture panels to be assembled 

by either angling or snapping them 

together without the need for tools, 

fittings, screws or glue. Furthermore, the 

tongue-and-groove profiles are milled 

directly into the material itself, which 

ensures a sturdy connection. 

The click technology 

is designed for 

different kinds of 

furniture, such as 

drawers and cabinets 

(Image: Reform) 

The Uniclic connection is designed 

for materials that can be machined 

with a profile, such as particleboard, 

medium-density fibreboard (MDF), highdensity 

fibreboard (HDF), solid wood, 

engineered wood and plywood. It can 

be used for various kinds of furniture, 

such as storage, wardrobe, drawers, 

kitchen, bathroom, office, and others. 

THE CONCEPT 

The assembly of two furniture panels 

containing a click connection is, as 



Uniclic works by connecting two 

furniture panels at a 90° angle 

Unilin claimed, “as fast as counting to three”, and installing can happen 

in three steps: insert, angle inwards, and angle back to vertical. 

The company further pointed out that the Uniclic connection is stronger 

than a traditional assembly system because the joints interlock 

along the entire assembly length instead of only on two fixing points. 

Additionally, since the connections are milled into the material itself, no 

connection or fixation points are visible, giving the furniture a higherend 

look. 

CIRCULAR TECHNOLOGY 

For Unilin, creating a sustainable society means focusing on prolonging 

the lifecycle of product, as well as limiting the use of non-renewable 

materials. With the Uniclic system, de-installation and re-installation 

of furniture becomes simpler while minimising damage. This ensures 

the reuse of furniture that will facilitate the transition from a singleuse 

product economy to a reuse product economy, maximising the 

furniture item’s lifespan. 

Since the click connection is milled into the wood itself, this also 

ensures minimal need for non-renewable raw materials such as plastic 

connections, metal screws and nails, or glues. This not only keeps the 

ecological footprint of the furniture to a minimum, but also maximises 

the recycling possibilities at its end-of-life stage. 

REFORM CABINETS WITH MODULAR VERSATILITY 

Unilin Technologies has licensed this technology to manufacturers 

and furniture companies. For instance, Reform, a design company 

specialising in kitchen solutions, uses panels with the Uniclic for 

furniture technology for their cabinets and kitchen modules, making 

the assembly intuitive and time-effective for a quick and uncomplicated 

user experience. 

According to a spokesperson from Reform, people who have never 

built cabinets before would be able to assemble the cabinets as fast as 

professionals and carpenters: “In the end, you will pay less for a hired 

installer or save money by doing it yourself.” P 


PANEL MANUFACTURING 

Better insights with 

EVORIS and CEBRO 

The CEBRO smart plant concept and EVORIS digital platform 

by Dieffenbacher are poised to help wood-based panel 

manufacturers better understand and control their plants. 

standardised interfaces that collect 

and process sensor and actuator 

data — including camera footage — 

EVORIS gives manufacturers more 

insight into their production and 

processes. Artificial intelligence 

(AI)-supported analysis of live data 

is just one way that EVORIS helps 

plant operators better understand 

and control their plants and make 

important decisions more quickly. 

EVORIS is a browser-based, 

open system. With its modular 

application structure design, EVORIS 

is extendable and updateable. 

All applications use an intuitive 

interface and can be securely 

EVORIS Start Center 

With an aim to improve plant 

management for wood-based panel 

makers, Dieffenbacher introduced 

the CEBRO smart plant concept that 

combines digitalisation and advanced 

plant engineering with operational 

excellence and sustainability solutions. 

CEBRO’s advanced plant engineering 

solutions include intelligent heat 

recovery concepts such as reusing 

heat from the press and dryer exhaust 

air elsewhere in the production 

process, to reduce energy costs and 

emissions and increase profit. To help 

manufacturers achieve operational 

excellence, CEBRO uses optimised 

processes and technologies that 

improve board quality, increase 

output, save costs and support a 

plant’s sustainability. With wood 

recycling solutions and new energygeneration 

and smart environmental 

technologies, CEBRO also helps 

manufacturers find the balance 

between economic and sustainability 

goals to build a better future for 

business and the environment. 

Complementing the aforementioned 

solutions is the new digitalisation 

platform EVORIS. Based on 



operated from any mobile or desktop 

device within a plant’s network. EVORIS 

is built on three pillars — Connectivity 

and Transparency, Analysis and 

Condition Monitoring, and Prediction and 

Optimisation — and a Services and Support 

package. 

The first step to digitalisation is creating 

connectivity and transparency. The EVORIS 

platform combines the manufacturerindependent, 

open iba system and the 

EVORIS Start Center. In the iba system, all 

plant data is collected and processed at a 

central point. Applications are fed data to 

give insights into the production processes 

via trending tools and various reporting 

possibilities. 

Detection. It uses AI to detect deviations 

from automatically defined target values 

for plant parameters. This enables plant 

operators to react to anomalies and 

prevent potential errors before they occur, 

thereby maximising plant availability. 

The third pillar is about prediction 

and optimisation. One key application 

is Quality Prediction — an AI-based 

self-learning system that supports 

manufacturers in reaching the ideal board 

150x210mm--CORRECTED-MARAPR.pdf 1 18/2/22 11:21 PM 

quality. It predicts specific board quality 

parameters during production to help 

operators spot irregularities and take 

countermeasures to reduce rejects, save 

resources, and increase productivity. 

The Services and Support package, 

which is complimentary according to 

Dieffenbacher, simplifies getting started 

with EVORIS and maximises its benefits. 

Dieffenbacher designs and implements 

EVORIS jointly with customers based 

The second pillar consists of various 

analysis and condition monitoring 

tools for better understanding, faster 

troubleshooting and higher plant 

availability. For example, manufacturers 

can use the Curve Analysis application to 

see complex relationships in the production 

process. Another application is Anomaly 

Forming station of Swiss Krono’s particleboard line 

in Menznau, Switzerland. Swiss Krono Group was the 

C 

first wood-based panel producer to use EVORIS 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 



on their requirements and needs, 

provides initial training and offers 

ongoing support and consulting. 

New applications will enhance 

the EVORIS experience; functional 

developments for existing 

applications and security updates 

are also part of the Services and 

Support package. 

Swiss Krono Group was the first 

wood-based panel producer to use 

EVORIS. Thomas Folchmann, head 

of manufacturing execution system 

(MES) at Swiss Krono, elaborated: 

“The first presentation of EVORIS 

from Dieffenbacher almost 

sounded like a view into the future 

to me. There was discussion about 

self-learning systems, anomaly 

detection, new types of sensors 

and much more. 

“So far, we are using the iba system 

and the quality prediction and 

anomaly detection applications. 

Through automated laboratory 

data imports and model retraining, 

quality prediction becomes better 

and better. Anomaly detection 

also learns automatically and 

informs us in case of deviations, 

identifies possible reasons, and 

often warns minutes or hours 

before production downtimes 

occur, giving us the chance to 

avoid them. We see great potential 

in EVORIS to improve the efficiency 

of our production.” 

EVORIS will be expanded with 

analysis and condition monitoring 

applications like Zeroing Check 

and Pressure Insulation to detect 

potential machinery defects of 

the continuous press. Plant-wide 

condition monitoring will power 

up preventive maintenance 

measures, while the Actual 

Value application will enable 

users to scan the equipment 

identifying symbol (EIS) number 

of a component directly at the 

machine and view all the live 

values usually viewable only 

in the control room. Another 

application under development 

is Particle Size. Particle size has 

an influence on board quality and 

can indicate machinery defects or 

wear, such as for screens, chippers 

and flakers. The application will 

make particle size and distribution 

measurements available online in 

real time, avoiding a delay of hours 

with laboratory measurements. 

Dieffenbacher reported that EVORIS 

is available for any wood-based 

panel plant regardless of the 

equipment manufacturer, panel 

type, and whether it is a new or 

existing plant. P 

From above: Anomaly 

Detection application; 

Quality Prediction 

application 


IN VIETNAM’S 

FURNITURE 

CLUSTER 

www.bifawoodvietnam.com 

NEW DATE: 8-11 AUGUST 2022 

NEW 

VENUE 

WTC Binh Duong New City Expo 

Lot A19, Hung Vuong Street, Hoa Phu Ward, 

Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong Province, Vietnam 

Google Map 

QR code 

Exhibition Site 

WOOD & WOODWORKING MACHINERY EXHIBITION 

Enquiries For International Exhibitors 

Pablo Publishing & Exhibition Pte Ltd 

3 Ang Mo Kio Street 62 

#01-23 Link@AMK, 

Singapore 569139 

Tel: (65) 6266 5512 

Email: williampang@pabloasia.com 

info@pabloasia.com 

WeChat 

Jointly organised by 

• BINH DUONG FURNITURE ASSOCIATION (BIFA) • PANELS & FURNITURE Group 

BINH DUONG FURNITURE ASSOCIATION 

Photo: elena rouame, helena lopes, guzman barquin/unsplash


Full range of machinery 

and complete OSB-PB-MDF 

plant by IMAL PAL 

PAL technical departments to ensure 

a complete design of the engineering 

projects. All of the automation parts are 

supplied by IMAL, and are designed in 

three electrical departments: the first 

designs the motor control centre (MCC) 

electrical cabinets, the second designs 

the programmable logic controller (PLC) 

software, and the third designs the 

supervisory control and data acquisition 

(SCADA) software or human-machine 

interface (HMI) computer visualisation. 

For the production of LSB panels, IMAL 

supplies a complete production plant at 

the IPAN facility in Italy and has a system 

inside the OSB formers to distribute the 

resined material over the two surfaces 

of the board. According to the company, 

the LSB panel may be regarded as a 

“top-quality” particleboard or even an 

OSB board that may be laminated, as it is 

an OSB board where the two surfaces are 

coated with fine material. 

From above: IMAL PAL Group’s technical engineering department; IMAL PAL Group’s PLC & SCADA department 

The IMAL PAL Group, consisting of IMAL, 

PAL and GLOBUS, supplies orientedstrand 

board (OSB) or particleboard 

production lines that can manufacture 

and supply all the equipment — not 

only from the debarker through to the 

after-press area, including the dryer, 

but also the electronic online quality 

controls and the laboratory equipment. 

For example, in the case of a complete 

OSB or light-strand board (LSB) plant, 

PAL manufactures the debarker, 

screening equipment, and the forming 

line; GLOBUS manufactures the flaker 

Disk Strander; and IMAL manufactures 

the belt dryer, gluing system and 

equality and measurement controls, 

in addition to the continuous press 

and handling system. The IMAL 

continuous press is manufactured in 

Italy and equipped with parts that are 

of European origin. Around a hundred 

engineers are engaged in the IMAL and 

IMAL also produces a belt dryer with 

energy recovery that ensures a moisture 

content of 2% at outfeed. This particular 

dryer runs at low temperatures, and as 

such, the electrofilter is not required, 

and with a maximum dust emission level 

of 5mg/m 3 , volatile organic compounds 

(VOCs) are below the maximum 

level requirements with a working 

temperature of less than 100°C. To date, 

30 belt dryers have been supplied in 

Europe and one in Asia. 

The screening area where the PALpatented 

Quadradyn screens are 

installed is used in over 90% of the OSB 

lines in Europe. The IMAL resination for 

OSB production distinguishes itself from 

the old American system as it does not 

require spinning heads or glue sprayers 

driven by rotating motors, but applies 

a high-pressure system to spray the 

resin. This means that electric motors 



From left: IMAL Belt 

Dryer; GLOBUS OSB 

Strander 

do not have to be installed inside 

dusty environments like that of the 

glue blender. Hence, the gluing area 

may be certified as ATEX 22, where an 

explosive atmosphere from a mixture of 

combustible dust in the air is not likely 

to occur. 

In addition to the mat weighing scale 

and moisture meters, an x-ray operated 

system is installed on the forming line, 

called PSD 400 or Power Scan Device. It 

controls the weight per area of the mat 

utilising x-rays, and detects any foreign 

contaminants potentially inside the mat, 

thus protecting the steel press belts 

from damage. 

At the infeed to the press, the 

Dynasteam system is fitted to inject 

steam into the mat to reduce the 

press factor and achieve a better 

distribution of the heat. In the case of 

LSB production, a second Dynasteam 

is installed to “iron” the strands, so 

that small particles may be applied to 

the top surface. A double diagonal saw 

produced by IMAL cuts the master panel 

to the size required after it has been 

pressed. 

A board weighing scale with 

thickness gauge and blister detector 

manufactured by IMAL is installed in the 

after-press area. The company declared 

that it has installed approximately 

CONTI-SCALE X 

Non-contact Panel Scale 

Measurement of area weight 

GERMAN TECHNOLOGY 

Calculation of panel weight 

Required space for installation 

only 335mm [13.2“] 

WIDE RANGE OF MEASURING SYSTEMS 

FOR ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTION 

www.electronic-wood-systems.com 



1 

2 

3 

4 

870 thickness gauges worldwide with over 7,000 

measuring heads. The IMAL Delamination Board 

control, also called Full Blister Control, monitors 

the surface of the board with “100-plus ultrasonic 

controls” to cover the entire surface. 

5 

IMAL also offers a full range of laboratory 

equipment, including the IBX800, a laboratory 

workbench for testing the physical properties of 

a board in accordance with European standards. 

The company can offer any kind of laboratory unit, 

including a laboratory press and laboratory former. 

The laboratory former has been designed to form 

particleboard or medium-density fibreboard (MDF) 

mats of a suitable size, which are then pressed in 

the laboratory press. Another unit prepares board 

samples for conducting laboratory tests. This 

machine automatically cuts, sands and marks the 

samples with a QR code for a safe preparation with 

minimised error preparation, to reduce accidents 

where operators cut samples by hand for testing 

purposes. P 

Legend 

1 OSB Screen Quadradyn 

2 OSB Blender 

3 OSB Forming line 

4 OSB Continuous press 

5 Dynasteam Mat Steam 


Canadian 

Hardwoods 

quebecwoodexport.com/discover-quebec-hardwood/


Boosting 

manufacturing 

productivity 

with artificial 

intelligence 

A production 

plant’s workflow 

with Smartech’s 

Autonomous 

MaNEWfacturing 

Suite 

Smartech is a global technology 

company that set its footprint in 

the panel-board manufacturing 

industry more than 10 years ago with 

its SmartWax technology. Since the 

first installation it showed success as 

demand for cost-saving and resourcefriendly 

equipment increased with the 

scarcity of raw material and supply 

chain difficulties. 

Most industries and businesses 

around the world are talking about 

digitalisation or Industry 4.0, and there 

are efforts being made towards the 

implementation of technologies into 

the modern world of business. This 

trend has already started several years 

ago, but since COVID-19 appeared, it 

has been accelerating as technology is 

required more than ever to maintain 

governments, industries and businesses, 

as travelling restrictions and shutdowns 

inhibit people’s movement in engaging 

operations. 

Beyond Industry 4.0, Smartech with 

its new technology is talking about a 

solution to improve manufacturing 

productivity — it is a development 

into the full automation of artificial 

intelligence (AI) and big data in the 

wood-panel industry. 

Manufacturers today face varied 

operational, personnel and competitive 

challenges that limit the value they can 

extract from their production facilities. 

Inconsistent quality of raw materials, 

poor operational stability, product quality 

defects, bottlenecks, an ageing workforce, 

shortages of skilled workers, and other 

critical issues are common. 

Smartech’s Autonomous MaNEWfacturing 

Suite for production plants can alleviate 

the aforementioned issues, enabling 

manufacturers to get more out of their 

existing production lines. 



Upgraded Performance Levels 

SmartPress continuously updates its machine learning 

algorithms to bring performance levels that match and 

surpass outcomes from proficient production teams. 

Differences between shifts fade and new operators can 

reach the performance levels of experienced associates. 

Extensive production experience is assimilated into the 

SmartPress package, obtaining higher productivity and 

stabler operation. 

acquisition (SCADA) levels, while 

correlating the operators’ decision– 

making on production process 

segments. This step can operate on 

historical data or initiate logging of 

current production processes. 

Next is to train the Ultimate Operator 

AI engine on the plant data. The 

Ultimate Operator combines machine 

learning and reinforcement learning 

algorithms to assimilate huge amounts 

of data, to tune the AI models for 

rollout specifically to the site. 

Capacity [sqm/min] 

AFTER- AUTONOMOUS OPERATION 

BEFORE- MANUAL OPERATION 

Time 

The SmartPress package, part 

of Smartech’s Autonomous 

MaNEWfacturing Suite, exploits deep 

learning and reinforcement learning 

algorithms to leverage process 

historian, knowledge management, 

and plant-wide control data to 

improve plant performance. Following 

a short implementation period, 

SmartPress delivers decision-support 

guidelines for operators to improve 

productivity in real time. Then, with 

operator authorisation, SmartPress 

autonomously and directly controls 

critical production processes. 

Implementation of autonomous 

control leads to increased 

productivity, enhanced quality, and a 

stabilised production line, delivering 

increased value to manufacturers. 

With the Autonomous MaNEWfacturing 

Suite, the implementation occurs via 

three steps: 

First, Smartech quantifies baseline 

performance by collecting and 

analysing production data from the 

programmable logic controllers (PLC) 

and supervisory control and data 

Third, the Ultimate Operator provides 

recommendations as decision 

support to operators and then directly 

controls the process setpoints, with 

no disruption to the operators’ 

workflow. The Ultimate Operator 

optimises performance according to 

the business goals set by management, 

such as minimising production costs 

and maximising throughput and 

quality. In parallel, it brings stability 

to the production process, ultimately 

improving the financial performance of 

the site. 

In conclusion, the Autonomous 

MaNEWfacturing Suite drives a cycle 

where data from critical production 

processes is continuously transformed 

to value. P 

“At Smartech, we are far beyond Industry 4.0. 

We are writing the next chapter of the 

industrial revolution with our latest 

development, where we use AI and Big 

Data to improve dramatically the quality 

profitability and efficiency at the plant. 

The SmartPress package operates 

on-premise and communicates 

with the existing plant control and 

monitoring systems. Utilising AI 

algorithms, SmartPress consistently 

self-updates, continuously improving 

the performance of critical production 

processes. 

With our Autonomous MaNEWfacturing 

System and the Ultimate Operator, 

we are opening a new era in the 

panelboard industry.” 

Hansjoerg Prettner, 

Vice President Europe and Asia-Pacific, Smartech 



GreCon 3D Particleview: 

Non-contact, 

three-dimensional wood 

particle measurement 

Users of the 3D Particleview appreciate 

that the proportion of particles that 

are too thick can be determined 

because these endanger the panel 

quality. With this information, the 

customer can initiate countermeasures 

to ensure product quality. Also, 

the ratio of surface area to volume 

allows the amount of glue used to be 

optimised. 

The 3D Particleview 

can determine 

chip geometry 

automatically and 

without contact 

With the help of the 3D Particleview 

measuring device developed by 

Fagus-GreCon, a German manufacturer 

of measuring equipment and fire 

protection systems, chip geometry can 

be determined automatically and 

without contact. 

This parameter for both product 

quality and process control had to be 

measured manually in the laboratory 

at the expense of time. Based on the 

measured values, the customer can 

optimise the production of chips and 

the resulting chipboards. 

The 3D Particleview has already been 

in used in numerous wood-based 

panel plants and also in research 

facilities. According to Torben 

Marhenke, team leader of R&D in the 

measurement technology business 

unit at Fagus-GreCon, the customer 

feedback they received had been 

positive. 

“INNOVATION OF THE YEAR” AWARD 

The 3D Particleview received the 

“Innovation of the Year” award from 

the US Engineered Wood Technology 

Association (EWTA), the trade 

association for suppliers to the North 

American wood-based products 

industry. With the “Innovation of 

the Year” award, EWTA recognises 

innovations from companies that help 

reduce production costs, increase 

productivity and improve product 

quality. The 3D Particleview was 

selected as the winner by votes from 

plant managers whose companies are 

members of the American Plywood 

Association (APA), the North American 

association of engineered wood 

manufacturers. 

“We are honoured that the EWTA and 

the plant managers from the APA, 

who voted for us, recognised the 

3D Particleview as the product 

innovation of the year,” concluded 

Eric Peterson, CEO of Fagus GreCon. 

“This confirms the focus we have 

taken towards improving production 

optimisation and quality for our 

customers worldwide.” P 



Individual strengths 

combined to provide 

all-round panel-sizing 

solutions 

Anthon and Anthon Handling Systems 

(AHS) have been operating jointly on the 

market for two years. Anthon specialises 

in machines, systems and complete 

production lines, including software 

solutions for the panel processing 

industry, ready for the Industry 4.0 

era. The company established AHS at 

the Hemmoor site in Lower Saxony, 

Germany, which resulted from the 

takeover of assets in January 2020 of the 

insolvent J.B. Anlagen. 

Headed by Klaus and Ove Lange, 

Anthon’s development and production 

are based in Flensburg, Schleswig- 

Holstein, Germany, and its products are 

sold globally. At its headquarters, the 

company employs a total of around 180 

people, and in Hemmoor, 68 employees 

work for the company. 

Today, Anthon is a partner to various 

industries, including panel production, 

the furniture industry, wood-based 

materials industry, and building 

materials industry. The focus of the 

product portfolio continues to be 

panel-sizing technology; in particular, 

panel saws with a cutting height of 

180-320mm, through-feed saws with 

several sawing units, and batch-size-one 

systems. AHS complements the product 

portfolio with its feeding and stacking, 

conveying and sorting, as well as 

packaging and strapping competencies. 

Development, design and software 

programming are also available in-house. 

The merger has enabled the individual 

strengths to be combined, and as a 

result, they now see themselves in a 

position to present an all-round package 

to a variety of customers. P 


FURNITURE MANUFACTURING 

New Industry 4.0: Integrated 

modular solutions for 

production of whole-house 

customised furniture 

The two-powered-by-one nesting workstation 

The China International Furniture Machinery 

& Furniture Raw Materials Fair (CIFM) / 

interzum guangzhou will be held on 18 Mar 

2022 at the Pazhou Canton Fair Complex in 

Guangzhou, bringing manufacturers from 

all corners of the world to show the industry 

how they will move forward in the global 

furniture manufacturing industry chain amid 

global challenges and uncertainties. 

Woodworking machinery manufacturer 

Nanxing Machinery will display its 

workstation solutions consisting of sizing, 

edgebanding, drilling and sorting tailored for 

whole-house custom furniture production, 

adopting new approaches to break down 

Industry 4.0 software and hardware into 

several extensible unit workstations 

according to working procedures and 

functions. Customers can flexibly choose 

the required units as needed, or link up 

different workstations to form a complete 

Industrial 4.0 smart production line. This 

module-based solution is cost-effective, 

stable and efficient, and is practicable and 

easy to implement, thereby enhancing the 

manufacturing strength and competitiveness 

of furniture manufacturers. 

TWO-POWERED-BY-ONE NESTING 

WORKSTATION 

The two-powered-by-one nesting workstation is 

a cutting solution for the production of wholehouse 

custom furniture under batch-size-one 

production mode. Consisting of two NCG2812L 

machining centres and an outfeed robot, it is 

flexible, easy to implement, space-saving and 

cost-effective. The raw material sheets are 

stacked on a set of lifting platforms in front, 

and the supervisor receives the order data flow 

of advanced planning and scheduling (APS) to 

automatically call the processing programme. 

After performing auto-alignment and autolabelling, 

the plate is automatically distributed 

and fed to the waiting area through the roller 

according to the real-time production situation, 

and the feeding suction cup of the NCG2812L 

machining centre pulls the plate to the working 

area for top drilling, grooving, and cutting. 

Then, the plate is discharged to the unloading 

table, waiting to be sorted by the robot, before 

being transported to the next process through 

the conveying table. 

The entire station is organised through the 

automatic control system Supervisor to 

perform cooperative labelling, sizing and 

unloading and discharging. The supervisor 

control interfaces with the manufacturing 

execution system (MES) to exchange the 

board processing data and receives real-time 

scheduling data from APS for calculations, to 

adjust and match the production capacity in 

time. A single shift can process 200-300 large 

boards, saving space, labour, and cost, and is 

easy to implement. Moreover, in the processing 

aspect, the cutting-by-milling tool can save the 

subsequent squaring process, featured by high 

processing quality, stability, and lower error 

rate. The software optimisation also improves 

board utilisation rate while saving costs. 

EDGEBANDING WORKSTATION AND LASER 

EDGEBANDING 

For the cabinet body edgebanding process 

under batch-size-one production mode, 

Nanxing will exhibit a left and right 

edgebanding connection composed of 

two PC-controlled smart edgebanding 

machines NB7PCGM-PC. It can complete 

the edgebanding of two sides for boards of 

different sizes at one time, and automatically 

adjust the thickness of the edgeband by 

scanning the code. The colour of the sideband 

can be switched flexibly and the real-time 

feedback of the machine status to the 

supervisor control can also be enabled. 



Left and right edgebanding connection 

composed of two NB7PCGM-PC 

Nanxing’s NB-Laser 10 

as XML, MPR, BAN, among others, thus 

optimising the coordination of various 

agencies. According to Nanxing, the average 

efficiency of the drilling workstation can 

reach more than six pieces per minute, and 

more than four pieces per minute for slotting 

and drilling. Such speed is 2.5 times faster 

than the traditional stand-alone machine, 

and the whole machine is more compact with 

a smaller floor space. 

The NCB612DPL for auto-labelling and sorting 

NB-laser 10, Nanxing’s PC-controlled 

automatic laser edgebanding machine for 

the edgebanding requirements of cabinet 

doors of high-end custom furniture, will also 

make its debut at CIFM. Laser edge sealing 

technology uses a laser edgebanding adhesive 

layer composed of special polymers as an 

alternative to hot melt adhesive. Nanxing 

reported that the laser instantly melts the 

reaction layer of the edgeband, without the 

glue application process or glue line, which is 

waterproof, heat-resistant, and eye-pleasing. 

The machine is also equipped with a set 

of polyurethane reactive (PUR) devices, 

which enables the rapid switch between 

laser and PUR to meet the needs of different 

edgebanding processing. 

DRILLING AND SORTING WORKSTATION 

The drilling process of whole-house custom 

furniture production requires flexibility and 

processing accuracy in the equipment. To 

answer that requirement, Nanxing Machinery 

has customised the double-station six-sided 

computerised numerical control (CNC) drilling 

machine NCB612DPL for batch-size-one 

production, and the machine is connected to 

the sorting workstation. 

The corresponding processing data is 

retrieved by automatically scanning the QR 

code or barcode on the plate. Subsequently, 

the plate is allocated to the corresponding 

waiting area for processing, according to the 

processing situation of the station. Both the 

left and right stations have two drill blocks 

and one spindle at the top, one drill block 

and one spindle at the bottom. Hence the 

whole machine has four upper and two lower 

drill blocks, and four spindles working at 

the same time. Moreover, powered by the 

artificial intelligence (AI)-algorithm of the 

third-generation smart operating system, 

it can recognise various file formats such 

After drilling, the plates are transported into 

the sorting workstation. For sorting, a robot 

and a double-layer conveying platform are 

used, and after the plate is automatically 

scanned to retrieve the order information, the 

robot will sort it to the corresponding shelf 

from the lower conveying platform. After the 

order is complete, the complete stack of plates 

will be discharged to the upper conveying 

table, to be transported to the packaging 

process. The double-layer conveying table has 

one entry and one exit to ensure that the fed 

and discharged plates do not interfere with 

each other, improving the transport efficiency 

without manual intervention. 

In 2022, home furnishing manufacturing will 

usher in an era with advanced software and 

hardware to enhance manufacturing strength 

and competitiveness. The workstation 

solutions for whole-house custom furniture 

production breaks down Industry 4.0 into 

scalable modular smart workstation according 

to working procedures and functions. Nanxing 

Machinery is committed to providing these 

solutions and will present the modular 

application of Industry 4.0 in interzum 

guangzhou 2022. P 



A closer look: 

Boosting efficiency 

through digital 

solutions 

HOMAG, with its suite of management software applications 

and digital tools that debuted in Asia in 2021, aims to partner 

with its manufacturing customers in adopting the Industry 4.0 

model. Two customers have integrated HOMAG’s tools into their 

workflow to optimise and streamline factory processes. 

between Japan and Vietnam impossible. With 

MMR Mobile, Oda has been able to check the 

performance of the machinery from anywhere in 

the world, at any time. 

With clearly arranged graphics and a userfriendly 

interface, the MMR Mobile application 

was easy to use and the team at Hoso required 

little to no training. As Oda commented: “Once 

the HOMAG Vietnam team connected the 

machinery to tapio – the cloud system hosting 

the application – I could see all the real-time 

data on my phone right away.” 

MMR MOBILE 

The MMR Mobile application provides 

manufacturers with an overview of their 

machinery’s performance without being 

physically present at the factory. Using a 

smartphone or tablet, users can remotely view 

key performance metrics such as the main 

utilisation level, parts performance, as well as 

the condition of the machines. 

Hoso Sangyo is a Japanese manufacturer of 

wooden interior products such as cabinets, 

tabletops, kitchens and wardrobes. Before 

their trial of MMR Mobile, the operating rate 

of their factory could only be evaluated based 

on estimations and intuition. According to 

Hoso’s president Ryuji Oda, having reliable 

data on the machinery operation rates has 

been useful in increasing overall production 

efficiency. 

With its factory operating in Vietnam, Hoso’s 

ability to have a detailed remote overview of 

their machine operations proved essential 

especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, 

when border restrictions made travel 

MMR Mobile can be connected to “tapio-ready” 

HOMAG machinery with a powerControl V2 

control system. The tapio cloud system serves 

as the digital backbone of HOMAG’s digital 

platforms and tools. As an open digital ecosystem 

that powers the woodworking industry, tapio 

can connect machinery and applications across 

different manufacturers and brands. 

Besides providing an overview of the machines 

in operation, MMR Mobile also allows users 

to select different evaluation periods for the 

identification of performance trends and 

potential areas of improvement, to continually 

maximise machine capabilities. This, according 

to Oda, provides Hoso with a competitive 

advantage. 



“The operating status of the equipment can 

be tracked clearly on an hourly, two-week, 

three-month or yearly basis,” said Oda. “From a 

sales point of view, this data will be an indicator 

of capital investment, and a weapon for the 

company’s growth.” 

SORTING PRODUCTION SET 

HOMAG’s sorting assistant, the Sorting 

Production Set, aims to help manufacturers 

reduce the time-consuming process of 

searching for the right parts for assembly, 

packaging or further processing. Using 

a barcode-scanning system, the Sorting 

Production Set can automatically sort 

workshop components into respective racks 

and compartments and, via a tablet, provide 

operators with an overview of the components 

needed for each order. 

At Simfur Design, an end-to-end woodworking 

solution provider based in Malaysia, the 

digitalisation of this process benefitted their 

factory operations in multiple ways. Previously, 

the sorting of parts was done manually on 

the floor by workers. This not only utilised 

a significant amount of floor space of their 

1,500sqm factory and made it difficult for 

workers to identify missing parts, but it also 

increased the chance of damage to panels due 

to excessive handling. Especially when multiple 

batch-size-one orders run concurrently, their 

workers found it difficult to keep track of all the 

parts and tell each order apart. 

By integrating the Sorting Production Set 

into their workflow, they achieved a smart, 

standardised sorting method that minimised 

prolonged assembly time and any delayed 

fulfilment of orders. 

“A sorting task that used to take two workers 

an hour to complete now takes one worker 

just 20 minutes, as less time is needed to find 

missing parts and match the correct batchsize-one 

parts,” said Jason Sim, project and 

factory manager at Simfur. “The Sorting 

Production Set also completely removes 

the chance of human error in the workflow, 

as workers now sort the parts based on a 

barcode scan instead of manually reading 

the barcodes and figuring out which panel 

belongs to which compartment.” 

The digital assistant and digital job folder 

ProductionManager were connected to 

Simfur’s existing HOMAG iX 3D design 

and production software and were fully 

operational by the workers within a week. 

Upon implementation, workers had an 

overview of ongoing orders, the bill of 

materials of each order, the sorting progress, 

as well as where each component had been 

sorted to at all times. 

Legend 

1 The MMR Mobile 

application 

2 The Sorting 

Production Set aims 

to reduce the timeconsuming 

process of 

searching for the right 

parts 

3 Using a barcodescanning 

system, the 

Sorting Production 

Set can automatically 

sort workshop 

components into 

respective racks and 

compartments 

2 

3 

“The Sorting Production Set is an extension of 

HOMAG iX’s integration in our production, and 

provides our assembly team with the additional 

help to perform their job accurately and 

efficiently,” concluded Sim. 

LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGY FOR GROWTH 

Amid this era of digital transformation, the 

combination of engineering expertise, service 

and software will be key to accelerating how 

data is harnessed to make the manufacturing 

process faster and more reliable than before. 

The digitalisation of manufacturing processes 

and the application of the Internet of Things 

(IoT) can translate to better operational 

stability, the ability to scale and adapt to 

industry demands, as well as ensure consistent 

product quality. By positioning themselves to 

take advantage of the latest developments and 

leveraging the expertise of technology partners 

with integrated solutions, woodworking 

companies will be able to reap various benefits 

and open up new growth opportunities. P 

1 



Choosing the right 

edgebanding technology 

in a volatile furniture market 

By Dun Deng, senior technical engineer manager, Henkel China 

Photo: Henkel 

In every manufacturing process, there is the 

potential to improve and refine processes in 

pursuit of greater efficiencies or better product 

qualities. New technology will emerge that 

promises to deliver these gains, but early 

adopters often end up paying the premium for 

investing before solutions are economically 

available at scale. Often, the high costs of 

being early to invest means that first movers 

fail to profit from moving first. And this is 

precisely the challenge facing furniture makers 

when considering the rapid evolution of 

edgebanding. 

For an industry heavily reliant on conventional 

hot melt adhesive edgebanding, technology 

changes pose questions as to whether to adopt 

new methods and where to invest. On one 

hand, technology advances with polyurethane 

reactive (PUR) hot melt adhesives are making 

conventional approaches even better and 

more cost-effective. On the other, the industry 

has seen alternative methods emerge like laser 

edgebanding, which uses specialist laser banding 

machines to melt adhesives on special edging. 

The advantage of laser edgebanding is its 

ability to create fine joins, which in some cases 

can provide a visual impression of higher 

quality. While manufacturers may present 

their customers with promises as to the quality 

of their materials and the longevity and, 

increasingly, the sustainability of their products, 

these first impressions can have a major impact 

on consumers. Does this perceived quality 

advantage mean that manufacturers should 

invest in laser edgebanding instead? Perhaps 

not — especially as the costs of being an early 

adopter can be prohibitive. 

Today, the high capital expenditure required 

to invest in laser banding machinery means 

that for most manufacturers, there may be a 

risk in investing in different technology. The 

advantages of being first to market must be 

weighed against the high cost and whether any 

capex spend can be recovered through better 

sales or premium product pricing. It is also a 

risk to assume that any investment in expensive 

plant machinery will not be superseded by 

superior solutions that make a return on 

investment less likely. In the highly competitive 

and volatile market for furniture manufacturing, 

these are tough decisions to ponder. 

EVOLVING TRADITIONAL EDGEBANDING 

These questions of cost and risk explain why 

more conventional edgebanding with hot melt 

adhesive still dominates the market. However, 

a major reason is that there has been exciting 

progress in this area too. Thanks to continuous 

progress in edgebanding processes, equipment 

precision, adhesives and edging materials, 



Reaction Principle 

Edgebanding with 

EVA hot melt adhesive 

Thermoplastic, physical reaction, 

reversible 

Edgebanding with 

PUR hot melt adhesive 

Reactive polyurethane, crosslinking 

chemical reaction, irreversible 

Equipment Ordinary edgebander PUR glue melting system + ordinary 

edgebander 

Equipment Investment Low Relatively low Very high 

Laser edgebanding 

Thermoplastic, physical reaction, 

reversible 

Laser generator + high-configuration 

edgebander 

Working Temperature 180-210°C (open type) 130-150°C (semi-open type) 500-800°C (enclosed type) 

Price of Edging Tape 0.5-1.8 yuan/m 0.5-1.8 yuan/m Small batch > 4 yuan/m (imported 

brand) 

Price of Glue 10-30 yuan/kg 55-75 yuan/kg 0 

Glue Consumption 200-300g/m 2 70-150g/m 2 0 

Quality of Edgebanding Poor Good Best 

Bonding Strength Low (60-100N) High (>140N, final) Medium (100-130N) 

VOC Emission 100-200g/litre

MATERIALS 

ACRE: Made with rice 

hulls, works like wood 

Kitchen cabinets made 

with ACRE panels 

Wood has been gaining attention in 

recent years for its sustainable and 

renewable properties as a material, but 

just as important is how forestlands 

need to be protected. Deforestation, 

illegal logging and unsustainable timber 

harvesting can put a huge strain on 

forests, leading to depletion of resources 

over years. 

To lessen the strain, some firms have 

taken on the challenge to develop 

alternative, sustainable building 

materials without relying on wood 

or wood fibres. And Modern Mill is 

one of them. Enter ACRE, a substitute 

material made with upcycled rice hulls, 

while offering “all the conveniences 

of composites with the performance, 

warmth and durability of wood”, declared 

Kim Guimond, CMO of Modern Mill. 

ACRE by Modern Mill looks, feels 

and works like a wood panel, but 

with a catch — it is produced 

entirely with rice hulls, making 

it a sustainable 

alternative to 

engineered 

or solid wood 

panels. 


What sets ACRE further apart from 

engineered wood products is that its 

manufacturing process is free of phenol, 

formaldehyde and adhesives, or any 

wood fibres, according to Modern Mill. 

Instead, it uses a polymer blend that 

provides ACRE with its strength, while 

the rice hulls provide weather-, waterand 

pest-resistant qualities — qualities 

that engineered or solid wood do not 

normally possess on their own. 

Speaking with Panels & Furniture Asia, 

Guimond explained: “ACRE is also 

ensured not to splinter, rot or crack. 

Because of its specific manufacturing 

process and ingredients, ACRE products 

offer a homogeneous edge crosssection, 

meaning that the edges do not 

require special treatment and do not 

need to be sealed or laminated.” 

Garden chair made 

with ACRE panels 

WORKING WITH ACRE 

ACRE has a uniform texture, and with 

regular woodworking tools, can be cut, 


MATERIALS 

sanded, fastened or nailed, glued, and 

stained or painted just like wood. It 

comes in sheets or panels, trim, decking 

and siding, and can be used in most 

applications similar to wood, such as 

for flooring, cabinets, fencing, furniture, 

among others. It is also recyclable. 

Another point to note is that ACRE 

products are meant for finishing 

applications, and are not suitable 

for load-bearing or construction 

purposes. Guimond stressed and further 

recommend building professionals to 

observe local building codes before 

using ACRE in any building projects. 

When sanding, Guimond suggested 

that a face mask and eye gear should 

be worn. More importantly, because 

different applications require different 

specifications of ACRE, builders and 

designers should consult Modern 

Mill before beginning a project, as 

she elaborated: “We recommend 

that builders and designers read our 

technical information prior to building 

with ACRE and follow our guidelines on 

proper storage, packaging, and disposal. 

“ACRE’s technical specifications and a 

manufacturer safety data sheet are also 

available on the Modern Mill website. It’s 

important to consult these resources to 

ensure ACRE is fit for purpose.” 

“EVERY BOARD KEEPS A TREE 

STANDING” 

Modern Mill sources their rice hulls 

from local rice farmers in Fernwood, 

Mississippi, US. By working with them, 

the company aims not just to bring 

innovation to the building products 

industry, but also to divert waste and 

create an additional revenue source 

by using the farmers’ discarded rice 

hulls, thus being sustainable while also 

bringing jobs to the local community. 

and other terrestrial ecosystems and 

accelerate their restoration, and to halt 

forest loss and land degradation by 

2030. According to Guimond, a majority 

of private working forests in North 

America are committed to meeting the 

2030 challenge, to a sustainable future 

by properly managing their forests. 

“From the locally sourced discarded 

rice hulls to our zero-waste 

manufacturing facility, we are charged 

with lessening the demand for wood 

products. By doing so, products like 

ACRE lessen the strain on trees and 

forests, and help to ensure that wood 

should be sourced from sustainably 

harvested forests,” said Guimond. 

“Every board keeps a tree standing.” 

AVAILABILITY 

ACRE, with its low-maintenance and 

longevity qualities, is utilised among 

building and design professionals, 

as elaborated by Guimond: “With the 

current fluctuations in wood prices, 

coupled with supply chain issues, we 

see this as an excellent opportunity 

for building, design, and specifier 

professionals to make alternative 

and sustainable choices without 

compromise.” 

ACRE is currently available globally. 

Guimond is confident that the varied 

climate market like Asia-Pacific – arid, 

semiarid and temperate – can allow 

ACRE to deliver “a stable woodalternative 

product that will last”. P 

References: 

1. UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021. Glasgow 

Leaders’ Declaration on Forests and Land Use. 

Decking installation using ACRE 

And by entirely using discarded rice 

hulls, the company manages to avoid 

cutting down and using trees in their 

production. This is in line with the 

recent deforestation goals outlined by 

COP26, which is to conserve forests 

Vertical siding 

using ACRE 


RECYCLING 

Wood recycling: 

From waste to resource 

A 360° perspective 

on wood recycling 

With over 15 years of experience 

in wood-based solutions and 

production, Jose Matas joined 

Tomra Recycling as segment 

manager in 2021 to advance 

the material recycling and 

circularity of waste wood for 

the panelboard industry. His 

international experience with some 

of the world’s largest wood-based 

producers offers a unique insight 

into the challenges and future of 

the industry. 

WOOD IS OMNIPRESENT 

Have you ever asked yourself how 

many everyday items are made of 

wood? It is probably much more 

than you think, and for good reason: 

wood is a highly versatile resource, 

used to create a variety of industrial 

and consumer products, ranging 

from furniture, panels, construction 

materials, paper-cardboard, and 

others. One of its main applications 

lies in particleboard manufacturing, 

an industry that is very promising and 

experiencing high demand but is facing 

challenges at the same time. 

With today’s skyrocketing prices 

for fresh wood and raw material 

bottlenecks, money is no longer 

growing on trees but can be found 

in recovered lumber and recycled 

wood content. Given the current 

virgin material prices in the wood 

segment and increasing environmental 

concerns, we need to turn to wood 

waste as a resource and gateway 

to new, sustainable business 

opportunities. Waste wood comes in 

huge quantities around the world and 

holds potential as a secondary raw 

material source for the wood industry. 

As particleboard manufacturers 

strive to secure profits, they look to 

companies like Tomra Recycling for 

processing expertise and technology 

that help them change their approach 

and use recycled waste wood for 

production. 

NO LONGER A WASTED RESOURCE 

Today, most waste wood is used for 

fuel, with only a small portion recycled. 

But the trends are starting to shift. 

Wood recycling rates greatly vary from 

country to country and depend on the 

respective markets and infrastructures. 


RECYCLING 

Most waste wood 

is used for fuel with 

only a small portion 

recycled, but trends 

are starting to 

shift today 

In the UK, 4 million tonnes of waste 

wood are generated per year, of which 

only 1.3 million tonnes are recycled, 

2.5 million tonnes turned into biomass 

and the rest exported. We see a similar 

scenario in southern Europe: Italy 

collects about two million tonnes of 

wood per year and recycles 63% of this 

amount into panels. This results in two 

million tonnes of CO2 savings and less 

wood waste being landfilled. In the US, 

on the other hand, approximately 18.1 

million tonnes of wood waste have been 

generated, and only 17% of the amount 

was recycled in 2018. 

The discrepancy across countries is 

significant and leaves opportunities 

untapped. Particleboard manufacturers 

who have tapped into this potential 

by integrating waste wood sorting 

solutions in their plants or supply chain 

have benefitted from tremendous cost 

savings and a constant source of input 

material. 

WOOD IS GOOD, RECYCLED WOOD IS 

BETTER 

High-purity recovered wood chips offer 

the panelboard industry undeniable 

advantages. First and foremost, recycled 

wood is up to 40% cheaper than fresh 

wood and generally dryer, leading to 

energy savings during the drying stage 

of the particleboard manufacturing 

process. Moreover, recycling waste 

wood prolongs material circulation 

and reduces the need for additional 

lumbering. While higher grades of wood 

chips can be used for material recycling, 

lower-grade waste wood can replace 

conventional fossil energy sources. If we 

keep recycled wood in continuous reuse, 

we can close the loop in particleboard 

production, therefore supporting the 

transition from a linear to a circular way 

of waste wood management. 

MEETING FUTURE DEMAND 

The benefits outlined previously 

are no stranger to the industry. 

WASTE WOOD GRADES 

In the UK, recovered lumber is 

classified into the following four 

categories defined by the Waste 

Wood Ordinance: 

Grade A: Non-processed wood and 

the cleanest among the 

wood classes. 

Grade B: Processed wood and 

composite material. 

Grade C: Contaminated wood used 

as biomass for energy 

production. 

Grade D: Hazardous waste that 

has to be disposed of and 

treated separately. 

Grades A and B materials are usually 

found in waste wood and can be 

used to produce industrial and 

consumer products. Materials of 

grades C and D on the other hand are 

only suitable for energy recovery. 


RECYCLING 

Wood-based panel manufacturers 

are on the quest to increase recycled 

content in their production processes 

to ensure economic viability and 

reduce their dependency on virgin 

material. At the same time, they are 

looking to maximise output and keep, 

or even extend, their margins that have 

gotten increasingly thin because of 

the historic-high prices for fresh wood. 

Consequently, they are asked to expand 

their production volumes to cover their 

costs and operate profitably. 

Unfortunately, this is easier said 

than done. The lack of infrastructure 

in some countries, combined with 

material shortages, makes it hard 

for producers to access material 

and drive up production. While the 

waste wood collection, sorting, and 

recycling in central Europe are more 

developed, there is still a lot of room 

for improvement. Countries outside of 

Europe can use these best practices as 

a beacon to develop and invest in waste 

wood recycling. Establishing a wellfunctioning 

and smooth supply chain 

that includes waste wood recycling 

is vital to the future of wood-based 

products and the circular economy. 

GET IT SORTED 

Having worked in the wood-based 

panel industry for 15 years, 

I experienced firsthand that 

particleboard manufacturers aim 

to increase recycled content. What 

sounds like a hard-to-achieve goal 

is feasible when the right processes 

and sorting technology are in place. 

Unlike conventional methods, it takes 

a leap of faith to upgrade processing 

capability. Since joining Tomra, I have 

experienced the potential our sorting 

machines offer the industry. I like to 

call them “recovery drivers” because 

they are an indispensable component 

of any recycling or manufacturing 

plant. Equipped with the latest 

technologies, they allow for the 

recovery of high-purity fractions from 

waste wood after it has been collected 

and chipped. Recovery is fine, but only 

high-precision, sensor-based sorting 

of non-processed wood provides the 

necessary secondary raw materials 

for the manufacturing of high-quality 

particleboards. Therefore, removing 

all contaminants and separating the 

stream by wood grade is decisive. 

GRADE A PERFORMANCE 

Wood-based panel manufacturers 

looking to manufacture high-quality 

particleboards target a clean Wood A 

fraction in the sorting process because 

it is the only material class that delivers 

the necessary purity and features. 

Tomra’s x-ray transmission and nearinfrared 

(NIR) technology remove 

contaminants such as inert materials 

and metals, and its newly developed 

wood chip application has enabled 

the accurate separation of Wood A and 

Wood B. With trained neural networks, 

sorting software based on deep learning 

can detect, analyse, and separate wood 

grades, and even recover mediumdensity 

fibreboard (MDF) fractions from 

the processed waste wood stream. But 

the neural network does not stop there: 

its collective knowledge grows with 

every object it has scanned and sorted. 

The pool of information constantly 

grows and enables the system to 

perform tasks more effectively over 

time — even with constantly changing 

material compositions. 

Deep learning technology advances 

sensor-based sorting and offers a futureproof 

solution. Unleashing its power will 

enable us to find solutions for current 

difficult-to-sort materials and support us 

in bringing recycling to the next level. 

FROM 360ᵒ TO 420 

As the first part in a column series, we 

have highlighted the benefits recycled 

waste wood has to offer the wood-based 

panel industry. In the following editions, 

we will dive deeper into the points 

outlined here, explore the technologies 

used, reveal the power artificial 

intelligence (AI) and deep learning holds 

for wood recycling, and explore the 

differences in the global marketplace. 

Don’t forget: Wood is good, recycled 

wood is better. P 

References: 

1. Wood Recyclers Association. 

2. Rosewood 4.0. Rilegno: National Wood Collection and 

Recycling Network. 

 

Recycled wood is 

generally dryer than 

fresh wood, thus 

saving energy during 

the drying stage 

of manufacturing 

particleboard 


Try Canadian Wood 

Hãy Dùng Thử Gỗ Canada 

www.canadianwood.com.vn

FLOORING 

Rethinking floor inspection 

with innovative camera 

and lighting technology 

ColourBrain Flooring 4.0 

by Baumer Inspection 

The inspection of laminate flooring planks 

has been part of Baumer Inspection’s 

portfolio since 2003, which comprises 

inspection systems for process control 

and defect detection of furniture panels, 

decorative papers, floorboards and surfaces 

or edges of furniture parts worldwide. 

With the further development of the 

ColourBrain Flooring system, the change 

and trend in laminate flooring production 

towards structured surfaces with the natural 

appearance of a wood structure were taken 

into account. 

Therefore, in the further development of the 

ColourBrain Flooring 4.0 system, Baumer 

Inspection has focused on the following 

goals, which have been implemented: 

DEFECT DETECTION 

The focus of the system revision is on 

defect detection even on highly structured 

surfaces. Milling defects, such as “mousing 

teeth” or edge chipping, are a defect 

category in the profiling area. Both lead 

to a downgrading of the planks and are 

additionally alarmed so that the machine 

operator can minimise the cause of the 

defective milling. 

In addition, the use of UV LED lights enhances 

the contrast between transparent and milky, 

as well as missing overlay layers so that 

weaker and smaller defects in the overlay can 

be detected. 

ASSIGNMENT OF DEFECTS TO PROCESSES 

A new feature of ColourBrain Flooring 4.0 is 

the assignment of defects to processes in 

which they primarily arise. Among others, a 


FLOORING 

A poorly milled edge 

with “mouse teeth” 

on the left and two 

edges chipping on 

the right 

distinction is made between: profiling 

defects, such as defects on the edges 

and profiles; coating defects, such as 

pressed decor particles, contamination, 

as well as overlay defects and paper 

misalignment; and handling defects, 

such as damage or scratches. 

Display of defects 

with detailed 

information that 

occurred in the set 

period 

While the cause of profiling defects 

can be at least partially eliminated, 

thus reducing costs, the flooring 

manufacturer usually does not 

influence the development of coating 

defects. However, all detected defective 

planks are rejected regardless of 

their cause. The various defects are 

automatically assigned to defect groups 

by the inspection system. Quality 

matrices are used to set the tolerances 

for each defect group. 

USER INTERFACE 

The Flooring 4.0 system features 

a new, intuitive graphical touch 

user interface. The Baumer Cockpit 

provides an overview of the current 

production. The inspection results 

with the plank qualities, defect logs 

and the production statistics are 

displayed scalable over different 

periods — from a single view of 

the plank up to a period of several 

minutes or hours. 

SIMPLIFICATION OF PRODUCT DATA 

MANAGEMENT 

By using templates, Baumer Inspection 

brings order and clarity to product data 

management. Similar structured planks 

are grouped so that there is minimal 

need to find suitable inspection settings 

for hundreds or thousands of different 

flooring items, but only for a handful of 

templates. 

SMART GRADING 

Smart grading with tolerating harmless 

events, such as loose particles and loose 

milling residues, leads to an increase in 

the first-choice rate. Harmless incidents 

such as loose or fluttering particles 

are detected by the inspection system 

independently, classified and tolerated, 

so that the plates are not degraded in 

these cases. 

SYSTEMATIC COMPARISON OF SYSTEMS 

Consistent data management enables 

systematic comparison of several 

Flooring 4.0 systems in a plant or group, 

thus ensuring that the same article 

is assessed with the same criteria in 

different lines or locations. 

COMMISSIONING AND MAINTENANCE 

TIMES 

The Flooring 4.0 is calibrated and preset 

in a standardised manner at Baumer 

so that commissioning can be carried 

out quickly, and with the shortest 

possible line downtime, according to 

the company. 

SELF-MONITORING FOR 

OPERATIONAL SAFETY 

Due to the self-monitoring functions 

and the reporting of changes such 

as temperature rise, lighting drop, 

failure of computers, cameras, lights 

or deposits on lights or mirrors, a high 

level of operational reliability can be 

achieved. 

Baumer recommends that the function 

is optimally complemented with the 

systems ColourBrain V-Shape 4.0 for 

checking the bevel coating of the bevel 

after coating application in the profiling 

line, and with ColourBrain Clip for 

checking the correct clip insertion after 

clip assembly. P 


STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS 

Clayton 

Community 

Centre 

Clayton Community Centre is the first Passive 

House-certified community centre in North 

America and the largest non-residentialcertified 

project in Canada, designed by 

architecture and design firm, hcma. 

Location: Surrey, 

British Columbia, Canada 

Client: City of Surrey 

Architecture and 

design firm: hcma 

Project architect: Aiden Callison 

Partner-in-charge: Melissa Higgs 

Building area: 7,000m 2 

Structural timber supplier: 

Western Archrib 

Structural Wood Systems 

Timber supplier: 

Seagate Mass Timber 

Text: hcma 

Designed around people, the 

Clayton Community Centre 

combines four aspects of the City 

of Surrey’s community services 

— recreation, library, arts and 

parks — in an integrated facility. 

The social fabric of the culturally 

diverse and rapidly growing 

Clayton Heights neighbourhood 

led to a design that focuses on 

providing gathering spaces to 

Image: Andrew Doran 



support community connections. 

The mix of spaces, imagined and 

developed in close engagement 

with the community, combines 

arts and culture programming 

including performing and visual 

arts spaces with recreational 

activities such as a gymnasium, 

fitness centre and a branch library. 

These services are supported 

by shared social spaces, as well 

as spaces for community-led 

programming — for instance, a 

community kitchen and garden, a 

workshop, a café, child-minding, 

preschool, and childcare spaces. 

Previously operating through 

different funding and staffing 

models, the four key services now 

work collaboratively in the new 

centre under a new governance 

structure, facilitated as part of the 

design process. 

SITE AND SYMBIOSIS 

Clayton Community Centre situates 

itself as an extension of the forest on 

the site and draws on these qualities 

for its design. The roof and building 

envelope mimic the tree canopy to 

unify the four traditionally siloed civic 

services underneath, with a leaf-like 

heavy timber structure that spans 

across the interior. The interlocking 

members of its pinwheel components 

metaphorically and structurally gain 

strength by all components being 

interconnected. 

Beneath the canopy is a space for 

discovery and learning that physically 

responds and evolves with changing 

activities. The centre also champions 

social inclusivity, offering universal 

washrooms, universal change rooms, 

and best practices in wayfinding and 

signage. The facility is pursuing the Rick 

Hansen Foundation Accessibility Gold 

Certification, a programme that focuses 

on improving accessibility in the built 

environment of Canada. 

BUILDING PERFORMANCE 

hcma, the architecture and design firm 

that designed the centre, expressed 

that pursuing Passive House was a 

huge ambition. It is, according to 

Passive House Canada, the “most 

rigorous energy-based standard in 

the design and construction industry”. 

As a relatively new standard in North 

America, most existing Passive House 

projects are residential, so designing a 

76,000sqft community centre to these 

standards was charting new territory 

— especially without compromising 

design excellence or operational 

efficiency. 

To achieve Passive House Certification, 

maximising energy efficiency was 

critical. 

The roof and building envelope are designed with a leaf-like 

heavy timber structure (Image: Ema Peter) 



The building’s compact form benefits 

both the programmatic aspects of the 

building and Passive House targets by 

minimising the surface area of the floor, 

walls, and roof relative to the volume 

of the building that needs to be heated 

and cooled. Spaces on site were placed 

according to both their programmatic 

usage and natural light requirements, 

respecting their corresponding internal 

heat gains and required solar heat 

gain. Careful design of shading was 

necessary while being balanced 

against other key drivers for spatial 

arrangement and glazing. 

All of these needs influenced the 

orientation of the building and the 

location of the programme elements 

within. P 

All images are credited to doublespace photography 

unless otherwise stated. This article was first published 

on hcma’s website and is reproduced here with 

permission. 

3 

1 

4 

2 

Legend 

1 Clayton Community Centre is the first Passive House-certified 

community centre in North America 

2 The centre situates itself as an extension of the forest on site 

3 The centre champions social inclusivity, offering universal 

washrooms and changerooms (Image: hcma) 

4 Four aspects of community services — recreation, library, arts and 

parks — are combined in an integrated facility 


21 - 24 September 2022 

JIEXPO Kemayoran Jakarta ▪ Indonesia 

ifmac.net 

BOOK 

YOUR SPACE 

NOW!

WOOD CLINIC 

Hello Mr Shim, 

I am working for a company supplying adhesives, and am 

responsible for sales of woodworking adhesives. Recently, a wood 

factory produced small round tables with 20mm-thick mediumdensity 

fibreboard (MDF) with mahogany veneer facade and edged 

with mahogany veneer, adopting our ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) 

hot melt adhesive. However, we have received complaints that the 

adhesive force is unstable, and poor local adhesive force is found 

after painting, while the same problem was not found when other 

customers use the same batch of hot melt adhesive. I hope you can 

tell us some factors that affect the stability of veneer edgebanding 

glue and some suggestions for improvement. Thank you! 

Sincerely, 

Mr Chen 

Stability of adhesive force 

for veneer edgebanding glue 

Shim Yee Shin is a specialist consultant 

in the woodworking and panel industry, 

with more than four decades of experience 

in the field. He graduated from Taiwan’s 

National Chun-Hsing University with a 

major in forestry in 1973, and has since 

accumulated a wealth of experience 

through his work in various countries 

across South East Asia and Greater China. 

Mr Shim now runs his own consultancy 

firm providing ad-hoc consultancy services 

and bespoke training workshops. Prior 

to this, he was Henkel’s Woodworking 

Adhesives technical service director for 

the Asia-Pacific region. 

Mr Chen, thank you for your letter. Factors 

causing the unstable bonding force of the 

veneer edgebanding glue are briefly described 

as follows, according to the information you 

provided: 

UNSTABLE SUBSTRATE PROCESSING 

QUALITY 

If the precision of producing round tables with 

20mm-thick MDF and the trimming of edges 

with a single-axis planer is not well-controlled, 

there will be the following defects. When 

edging with the veneer, if the adhesive force 

is not strong enough, it will risk foaming and 

degumming in local areas. 

Coarse mark: If the operator rotates and 

trims the round table at an uneven speed, 

it will cause coarse marks and lead to 

unstable adhesive force (Figure 1). If there 

are such orders for a long period of time, it is 

recommended to use an automatic planer, 

which can improve the quality and output of 

the round table trimming. 

Knife jumping marks: When trimming the 

edge using a single-axis planer, the template 

must be kept stable and close to the collar 

of the planer. If there is a gap between 

the template and the collar, there will be 

jumping marks, which causes poor edging 

adhesive force. A fixed and skilled operator 

is recommended to operate the planer to 

improve the quality of the trimming. 

Hit-and-miss: If the setting of the band saw 

or the single-axis planer is not in place, and 

hit-and-miss occurs during edge trimming, 

it will result in poor adhesion of partial edge 

sealing. It is recommended to check the 

template regularly to ensure that there is no 

damage and to check the set accuracy. 

Non-right angle: If there are residual wood 

chips on the template, or the round table 

board is not flat enough on the template, 

these cause the edges to be trimmed at a 

non-right angle, leading to poor adhesion of 

the edgebanding glue. 

UNSTABLE QUALITY OF THIN VENEER 

If the veneer has the following quality 

problems, it will cause poor adhesion force 

when edging with the veneer, leading to 

local foaming and degumming: 

Moisture content: Excessively high moisture 

content of the veneer edgeband will lead 

to poor adhesion force of edgebanding. 

It is recommended to check the moisture 

content of the veneer edgeband before use, 

and a scope of 8-10% is recommended. 

Unstable thickness: When the thickness 

of the veneer is uneven or the tolerance 

of different batch numbers differs greatly, 

if the edgebander uses the edgebanding 

tape to apply glue, the amount of glue 

applied will be uneven, causing partial poor 


WOOD CLINIC 

Figure 1: Knife 

jumping and coarse 

marks after MDF 

trimming. Failure 

to rotate the round 

table close to the 

gluing roller and keep 

it stable when gluing 

will result in uneven 

glue application 

adhesion force. It is recommended 

to check the thickness of the veneer 

edgeband before use. 

Veneer extracts: The use of species 

with high resin or rich in extractive 

as veneers or substrates will result in 

poor adhesion. It is recommended to 

test when using this type of veneer, 

two weeks after edge sealing and 

painting are confirmed. If the glue 

force does not change, quantitative 

production can start. 

Fleece backed: Veneer edgebanding 

tape with paper or non-woven 

backing has the following 

shortcomings that will lead to 

insufficient adhesive force, resulting 

in local foaming and degumming: 

Poor control in the backing process 

of veneer, such as the insufficient 

amount of glue applied and 

Figure 2: If the veneer backing is not resistant to water or solvent, the 

paper backing can be peeled off when in contact with water or solvent. 

insufficient pressure-holding time, 

among other reasons, will result in 

poor adhesion of veneer backing. It is 

recommended to check the adhesive 

force on the back before use. 

The adhesive used for the back of 

the veneer edgebanding tape is not 

resistant to water and solvent, thus 

causing foaming and degumming 

when spraying solvent-based paint 

(Figure 2). It is recommended to 

check and confirm that the water 

and solvent-resistance of the back 

of the tape meet basic requirements 

before use. It is ideal if it can meet 

the European D3 grade for the 

classification of wood glues in nonstructural 

applications. 

PRECAUTIONS FOR OPERATION OF 

MANUAL EDGEBANDER 

Setting of tank temperature: 

Check the set temperature of the 

tank and the thermometer. After 

confirming that it is correct, set 

the heating temperature according 

to the supplier’s regulations, and 

check regularly to ensure that the 

temperature of the hot melt adhesive 

is normal. 

Setting of glue amount: Generally, 

the amount of glue applied to 

MDF is about 170-180g/m 2 , and 

the amount of glue applied to 

chipboard is about 200-250g/m 2 . It 

is necessary to adjust the amount of 

glue according to the site situation. 

The operating staff must be stable 

and be close to the knurled roller 

when rotating the round table 

to complete the glue application 

and ensure that the glue is evenly 

applied (Figure 1). 

Knurl Roller: Ensure that the heating 

temperature of the entire knurl roller 

is normal, and there is no sawdust 

stuck on it, which will cause uneven 

application if there is. 

Nip roller: Check that the nip roller 

is not damaged to ensure normal 

operation. The operator must be 

stable and close to the knurled roller 

when rotating the round table to 

complete the edging. 

Contour line: Adjust the height of 

the collar on the nip roller to reach 

the width of the edgebanding. 

Speed control: The operator of the 

manual edgebander must be skilled, 

and the glue application and the 

fitting edge must be closely matched. 

The veneer edgebanding process 

must be completed in between the 

liquid film and plasticity stages. If the 

process is slow and the adhesive film 

solidifies when edging, it will cause 

false bonding (Figure 3). 

IMPROPER USE OF HOT MELT 

ADHESIVES 

The failure to follow the supplier’s 

datasheet when using hot melt 

adhesive will lead to the following 

shortcomings: 

Irregular temperature control: 

Arbitrary setting of glue tank 

temperature, damaged glue tank 

heater, and excessively high local 

temperature of hot melt adhesive 

will cause problems such as smoke, 

strong odour or discolouration 

of the adhesive, resulting in poor 

edge sealing force (Figure 4). It is 

recommended to check the glue 

tank heater and the temperature 

of the hot melt adhesives regularly 

to ensure they are normal. Set the 

heating temperature according to the 

supplier’s regulations. 

Failure to add glue: In the scenario 

where the operator forgets to add 

glue and the glue tank is already 

lower than the minimum storage 

glue, adding too much glue and 

increasing the heating temperature 

to accelerate the process will cause 

the hot melt adhesive to coke and 

carbonise. This affects the adhesive 

force (Figure 4). 

Mixing different types of hot-melt 

adhesives: The arbitrary mixing 


WOOD CLINIC 

Figure 3: Temperature of hot melt adhesive drops immediately after 

gluing, and the edgebanding process must be completed within the 

interval from the liquid to plasticity stage since the film solidifies 

immediately 

Figure 4: The carbonisation and discolouration of the hot melt adhesive 

when the temperature of the hot melt adhesive tank is set too high 

of two different types of hot melt 

adhesives will cause the adhesive to 

deteriorate, discolour or weaken. It is 

not recommended to mix different types 

of hot melt adhesives unless approved 

by the supplier’s technical department. 

Poor maintenance of glue tank: If 

the carbonised hot melt adhesive is 

not cleaned and not removed from 

the surrounding of the glue tank, 

this will cause discolouration or poor 

adhesion of the hot melt adhesive. It is 

recommended to thoroughly remove 

the carbonised hot melt adhesive and 

sawdust in the glue tank regularly, and 

check the glue temperature in the glue 

tank and the set temperature of the 

thermometer to ensure that they are 

normal. 

Unstable workshop temperature: 

When the workshop is lower than 

15°C, the film will become brittle. 

Additionally, during hot weather, if 

the operator uses a cold fan to blow 

the knurled roller of the edgebander 

forcefully during operation, it will 

shorten the opening time of the hot 

melt adhesive film. Consequently, the 

solidification of the liquid adhesive 

film will accelerate, shortening the 

time of plasticity, thus causing false 

bonding of the veneer edging and 

resulting in poor adhesive force 

(Figure 3). 

Influence of paint on adhesive force: 

EVA hot melt adhesive has low solvent 

resistance, so it is necessary to pay 

close attention to each link during 

edgebanding to ensure the ideal 

quality. Appropriately reducing the 

amount of paint when spraying primer 

can improve the anti-solvent effect 

of EVA hot melt adhesive, or hot melt 

adhesive with stronger anti-solvent can 

be used. 

Table 1 

Refer to Table 1 for a list of pros and cons 

of reactive hot melt, polyurethane (PUR) 

hot melt, amorphous polyolefin (APAO) 

hot melt, and EVA hot melt. 

I hope you will find helpful the above 

knowledge about thin veneer edgebanding, 

based on the information you provide. P 

Sincerely, 

Shim Yee Shin 

Hot melt adhesive PUR hot melt APAO hot melt 

adhesive 

Glue cost 

Strength of 

bonding 

Heat and cold 

resistance 

High cost, special 

equipment with high 

mileage required 

Excellent. Suitable for a 

variety of substrates and 

edge bands 

The cost is about 1.5 

times higher than that 

of EVA 

Very good. Suitable for 

some oily veneers 

Excellent, from -20-150°C Good, from -10-130°C Poor 

EVA hot melt 

adhesive 

Low cost, suitable 

for common 

edgebanding 

Moderate 

Anti-solvent Excellent Good Moderate 

Operation 

temperature 

Viscosity value/CPS 

at 30°C 

110-120°C 

High temperature not 

suitable for thin plastic 

skin edgebanding 

Low to medium 

temperature 

15,000 60,000 5,000 or more 

Environment Harmless Harmless Harmless 

Specific Gravity 

(S.G) 

Softening point 

temperature (T°C) 

Nil 

Higher specific gravity 

of added filler 

Higher specific gravity 

of added filler 

Poor High Low to medium 


SUSTAINABILITY 

Principal risks 

affecting the 


of the timber 

industry 

Inspiring the next “material 

revolution” by creating sustainable 

and high-performance materials 

from oil palm waste, Peter Fitch 

together with IOI have set up IOI 

Palm Wood to commercialise this 

untapped potential. 

Sometimes it helps to try and think 

strategically and to try to identify the 

key trends that impact businesses, 

stakeholders and markets over the 

short, medium and long term. This is 

often referred to as “risk management”. 

RESPONSIBLE AND SUSTAINABLE 

FORESTRY PRACTICES 

Climate change, the loss of biodiversity 

and environmental degradation present 

significant risks to the global economy 

and the business environment. 

Companies are expected to increase 

their positive impacts on the 

economy, social development and 

the environment. In addition to 

this the timber sector is expected 

to practise sustainable forestry as a 

carbon sink, to reduce air pollution, 

and to protect biodiversity, water and 

soil. 

The demand for sustainable products 

that have been reliably certified 

is increasing. The development of 

supply chain certification systems such 

as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), 

the Programme for the Endorsement 

of Forest Certification (PEFC) and 

the Malaysian Timber Certification 

Council (MTCC) will require uptake 

from product manufacturers and this 

will be driven by customer demand. 

The adoption of strict ESG standards 

by many multinational companies 

such as Unilever, IKEA, Mars, Nestle, 

among others, will require due diligence 

from the supply chain and product 



Figure 1: Timber 

is still the most 

environmentally 

friendly material for 

furniture production 

manufacturers. The complexity of these 

chain of custody and downstream 

processes will lead to increased costs 

but should be viewed as necessary to 

ensure transparency and to build longterm 

customer loyalty and trust. 

The good news for our industry is 

that the climate footprint of timber 

is much smaller than other materials 

commonly used in the production 

of furniture (Figure 1). For example, 

in a recent study timber makes up 

approximately 70% of the volume 

in a typical furniture item, yet only 

contributes 25% of the climate 

footprint of that furniture item. Other 

materials which represent a lower 

volume and include metals, plastic, 

and fabric contribute a relatively 

higher climate footprint of 30%, 25% 

and 20% respectively. 

Companies large and small are 

increasingly required to report on 

their sustainability. This can be for 

regulatory requirements, stakeholders 

disclosure or simply because it is 

the right thing to do. Taking a closer 

look at the sustainability report from 

IKEA, a benchmark global leader in 

terms of ESG reporting, we see in 

Figure 2 that materials, production 

and transportation are unsurprising 

significant contributors to greenhouse 

gas emissions (GHG). What is probably 

more surprising is that the consumer 

usage and end-of-life contribution 

is also very high. By 2030, the global 

population is expected to reach nearly 

8.6 billion. This means that more and 

more people will look for a chance for 

a better life. In a world that already 

uses resources requiring more than 

one planet’s worth, billions of new 

consumers will put an even greater 

pressure on the planet. In many parts 

of the world, consumption is growing 

at an unsustainable rate. And while 

many people are escaping poverty, 

many also lack access to affordable 

housing. Unsustainable consumption 

and wastefulness will be one of our 

biggest challenges: How can we 

continue to grow and enable more 

people to live better everyday lives 

within the boundaries of the resources 

available on our planet? 

MANUAL LABOUR AND HUMAN 

CAPITAL 

The timber sector, including furniture 

manufacturing in Malaysia, is heavily 

reliant on manual labour, which makes 

the industry vulnerable to shortages of 

workers. The risk of labour shortages 

not only causes lost revenue but 

also limits future growth. Risks will 

increase going forward due to growing 

international regulations and customer 

interest in ethical labour practices. 

These issues have already been raised 

in the plantation, glove, and electronics 

sectors. These are the higher 

profile industries which are being 

highlighted at the moment, however 

the timber and furniture industry 

will not be spared future scrutiny. All 

manufacturers should be expected to 

comply with audits on ethical labour 

practices, including fair wages, freedom 

of association, acceptable working 

conditions and human rights. 

One of the ways to mitigate the 

over-reliance on low-cost labour is 

through digitisation and the embracing 

of the Fourth Industrial Revolution 

(IR4.0). Alongside Malaysia’s pledge to 

transform into a high-income nation 

by 2030 through socioeconomic 

transformation via the use of 

technology, it has become an urgent 

priority that we prepare ourselves for 

this radical change. We should strive to 

create a better working environment 

which is less labour-intensive, yet 

futuristic whilst dispelling the 3D 

— dirty, dangerous and demeaning 

— misconception in order to attract 

local workers. Our workforce needs to 

be equipped with the aptitude for the 

changing nature of work. 

THE NEED FOR BUSINESS RESILIENCE 

The timber industry needs to remain 

resilient in the wake of challenges from 

supply chains, pandemics, anti-tropical 

timber lobbies, regulatory compliance, 

global competition, alternative 

materials, and others. 

Volume in Typical Volume Furniture in Typical Item Furniture Item 

Material Climate Material Footprint Climate Footprint 

5% 

15% 

5% 

15% 

20% 

25% 20% 

25% 

10% 

10% 

70% 

70% 

30% 

25% 30% 

25% 

Timber based Timber Plasticbased Metals PlasticFabric 

Metals Fabric 

Timber based Timber Plasticbased Metals PlasticFabric 

Metals Fabric 

re 1.0 

st ber environmentally is still the most friendly environmentally material for friendly furniture material production. for furniture production. 


IKEA Climate Footprint 2020 


Materials 40% 

Production 

15% 

Transport 

12% 

Retail Operations 

Home Use + 

Product End of Life 

3% 

30% 

Figure 2: IKEA 

calculated its 

total GHG to be 

25 million tonnes. 

CO2 equivalent 

percentages have 

been rounded 

Probably the best way to mitigate these risks 

to our business is to remain engaged with our 

stakeholders. Some examples on how we can 

leverage this relationship is by listening and 

taking note from our: 

Customers: Our business growth depends on 

customers who support our products. 

Employees: Human capital is one of our 

biggest assets and we need to invest and 

develop this asset to ensure business success 

and a transformation to IR4.0. 

Communities: Our business should provide 

measurable support and benefits to the 

communities where we operate. 

Suppliers: Our suppliers should ensure 

ethical and sustainable production and 

procurement processes, together with good 

health and safety practices. They provide 

critical inputs for our business to function. 

Regulators/Industry Associations: 

By engaging with government, nongovernment 

and industry associations, 

we can position the industry to catalyse 

common interests in order to create 

effective policies and best practices within 

the industry. 

Shareholders: Business strategies should 

be geared towards creating sustained value 

for both shareholders and investors, done 

through strategic investments, thus ensuring 

business continuity and growth. 

There are many challenges within our 

industry but by mitigating the risks and 

engaging with our stakeholders, we find that 

the future also has many opportunities. P 


EVENTS CALENDAR 

Events Calendar 2022–2023 

Dubai WoodShow 

Dubai, United 

Arab Emirates 

2022 

MARCH, 15 – 17 

MARCH, 18 – 21 

China International Furniture 

Fair (Guangzhou) 2022, Phase 1 

Guangzhou, China 

MARCH, 28 – 31 

China International Furniture 

Fair (Guangzhou) 2022, Phase 2 


Photo:Wael Hneini / Unsplash 

India Wood 

Bangalore, India 

Malaysia International Furniture Fair 2022 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

Holz-Handwerk 2022 

Nuremberg, Germany 

JUNE, 02 – 06 

JULY, 06 – 09 

JULY, 12 – 15 

AUGUST, 08 – 11 

Photo: Ashkay Nanavati / Unsplash 

IFMAC & WOODMAC 2022 

Jakarta, Indonesia 

Xylexpo 

Milan, Italy 

SEPTEMBER, 21 – 24 

OCTOBER, 12 – 15 

OCTOBER, 18 – 21 

VietnamWood 2022 

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam 

NOVEMBER, 20 – 22 

Photo: Warren Gold Swain / Unsplash 

MARCH, 28 – 31 

Interzum Guangzhou 


WOOD TAIWAN 2022 

Taipei, Taiwan 

APRIL, 28 – MAY, 12 

MAY, 19 – 22 

Qingdao International Furniture Fair 

Qingdao, China 

MAY, 25 – 27 

DOMOTEX Asia / CHINAFLOOR 2022 

Shanghai, China 

JUNE, 01 – 03 

Carrefour International du Bois 

Nantes, France 

Photo: Thomas Tucker / Unsplash 

BIFA Wood Vietnam 2022 

Binh Duong, Vietnam 

Indonesia International Furniture Expo 

Jakarta, Indonesia 

AUGUST, 25 – 28 

Korea International Furniture & Interior Fair 

(KOFURN) 

Korea 

FMC China 2022 

Shanghai, China 

AUGUST, 18 – 21 



125th NHLA Annual 

Convention & Exhibit Showcase 

Ohio, United States 

Photo: The Shestarters Guide / Unsplash 

Malaysian Wood Expo 2022 

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 

Hanoi Wood Vietnam 

Hanoi, Vietnam 

2023 

JANUARY, 16 – 21 

imm Cologne 2022 

Cologne, Germany 

FEBRUARY, 09 – 11 

MARCH, 02 – 05 

DelhiWood 

New Delhi, India 

MAY, 09 – 12 

interzum Cologne 

Cologne, Germany 

MAY, 15 – 19 

LIGNA 

Hannover, Germany 

Photo: Azlan Baharudin / Unsplash 


INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 

PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA • March / April 2022 

COMPANY PAGE COMPANY PAGE 

Anthon GmbH 33 

Baillie Lumber 11 

BAUMER Inspection GmbH 69 

BIFA Wood Vietnam 37 

Cabinet Vision South East Asia 17 

CMC - Carpenterie Metalliche Colzate Srl 13 

LEUCO Ledermann GmbH & Co KG 25 

Nanxing Machinery Co., Ltd 2-3 

Northwest Hardwoods 9 

PEFC 61 

Quebec Wood Export Bureau (QWEB) 6-7, 41 

Shanghai Wood-based Panel Machinery Co., Ltd 15 

DIEFFENBACHER Industriemarketing GmbH 1 

Electronic Wood Systems GmbH 39 

Technik Associates, Inc 

Teknos (M) Sdn Bhd 

IBC 

OBC 

Forestry Innovation Investment Ltd. 57 

Global Timber Asia Sdn Bhd 27 

IFMAC & WOODMAC Indonesia 63 

TOMRA Sorting GmbH 72 

Union Brother (China) Ltd 23 

Yalian Machinery Co., Ltd 5 

IMAL SRL 

FC, IFC 

IMEAS spa 71 

Kuang Yung Machinery Co., Ltd 35 

ai161597024816_EN_PFA_IMEAS_202105.pdf 1 17/03/21 09:37 

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NO. 288-3, Sec. 1, Dafong Rd., Tantzu Dist., Taichung 42756, Taiwan 

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http://www.hipoint.com.tw 

E-mail: hipointmachinery@gmail.com / hptmac@gmail.com

Panels & Furniture March/April 2022

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