Panels & Furniture Asia September/October 2022

NEWS
ALTENDORF GROUP PRESENTS
NEW GENERATION OF EDGEBANDERS
The Altendorf Group has upgraded Hebrock’s
new F- and K-Series edgebanders, which are
said to be faster, more productive and more
efficient than before.
According to Altendorf Group, the K-Series,
inclusive of the K36 and K37 edgebanders,
have undergone upgrades. The former 10-inch
display has been replaced by a 15-inch touch
display with high-resolution 3D graphics.
The upgraded F5
In addition to the glue pot, the machine’s other
units can be viewed in compressed form on one
page, and various settings can be made, such as
regulating the temperature of the glue pot.
Energy consumption is reportedly close to zero
in standby mode. In addition, the feed rate
has improved from 10m/min to 15m/min, thus
increasing production efficiency.
Furthermore, by realigning the cross-cut knife,
or the guillotine, to the first pressure roller,
workpieces with a minimum length of 140mm
can be approached and machined. The milling
stations have also been updated with a new
space-saving design that simplifies adjustment
work on the unit.
To meet the various needs of edgebander
users, Hebrock has also launched the K34. This
machine is just under half a metre shorter than
the K36. In the interests of compression, the
focus on this model has been placed on the
four most important processing units.
For the F-Series edgebander, inclusive of F2, F4
or F5, the upgraded F-Series also features a 15-
The new K34,
shorter than the K36
inch touch display, an automatic standby mode,
and increased feed rate. The LED workpiece
tracking lamp at the machine infeed provides
visual assistance during workpiece loading.
On the F-Series next, the hood has been raised
by 100mm. This allows the machine operator
simpler and therefore more ergonomic handling
when changing the glue pot system. P
FSC LAUNCHES INVESTIGATION
INTO PAULOWNIA WOOD SUPPLY CHAIN
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has
launched a transaction verification loop (TV
loop) on FSC-certified paulownia, a type of
hardwood species native across Asian countries,
such as China, Japan, Korean, Laos and Vietnam.
According to FSC, a TV loop is “is the verification
process required by the FSC chain-of-custody
standard to ensure that FSC output claims
made by certificate holders are accurate and
match the FSC input claims of their trading
partners”. It is established by FSC and its
assurance partner, the Assurance Services
International (ASI).
The scope of the TV loop covers 67 certificate
holders who trade in all types of products made
of paulownia. Geographically, it will cover 21
countries, with a focus on China as it has the
maximum number of companies involved in the
FSC-certified paulownia supply chains.
Beginning with the first phase of the TV loop
— data collection and analysis — FSC and ASI
are revisiting FSC-certified paulownia supply
chains to ensure that the integrity risks identified
through continued monitoring are recognised
and addressed. Preliminary results of the first
phase will be available in Q1 2023.
As paulownia is a high-risk supply chain for FSC,
the TV loop will provide insights into the effect
of FSC’s advice note — the FSC Advice Note
40-004-20 — on the FSC-certified paulownia
supply chains.
The advice note declared: “Organisations shall
not include paulownia or products containing
paulownia in their product group list, nor sell
or label products containing paulownia. The
only exception is if the organisation can trace
the paulownia carrying an FSC claim to its
FSC-certified forest management unit of origin
through documentary evidence.”
In 2019, FSC and ASI launched a TV loop on
FSC-certified paulownia which revealed
that between 2018-2020 none of the forest
management certificate holders trading in
FSC-certified paulownia had reported any
sales.
FSC and ASI reportedly uncovered systematic
violations of FSC certification requirements by
companies that were trading non-certified
paulownia products as certified. As a
result, these companies were subject to
the termination or suspension of their FSC
certificates and trademark licenses, or further
investigations. P
14 Panels & Furniture Asia | September / October 2022