Panels & Furniture Asia January/February 2024

NEWS
as to the one originally sent in, which can have
a major impact to the performance and the
lifetime of the plug screw feeder equipment.
Also, if the repairs are carried out with the
wrong parameters, cracks can occur in the
parts and also damage the surrounding
equipment.
Another point they stressed was that they can
help customers using competitors’ refiners
such as the L-, M-, Evo-Series by sending spare
parts, carrying out refurbishments and also
upgrading their refining equipment.
One more new development presented by
Andritz was the new adjustable plug screw
feeder, with which the compression can
be adjusted to the moisture content of the
incoming material, be it softwood, hardwood, or
a mixture.
This results in maximising the dewatering
performance and reduces the thermal energy
— for example, natural gas — consumption
drastically.
Overall, innovative solutions were presented
that aim to improve the overall efficiency of the
production process and ensure smoother and
longer-lasting production.
DIGITALISATION AND AUTOMATION BY ANDRITZ
The final presentation of the day was
delivered by Genc Islamaj, the Panelboard
Service product manager for Automation &
Digitalisation at Andritz.
Islamaj discussed the automation and
digitalisation solutions implemented in
Panelboard by Andritz.
Attendees gained insight into the possibilities
of classic automation upgrades, showcasing the
modernisation of existing plants through the
integration of state-of-the-art technologies.
The main objective was to illustrate the
flexibility and potential of upgrades, applicable
not only to Andritz machines but also to those of
competitors.
In addition, Islamaj presented solutions for
autonomous production, such as the MDFEye,
an online measuring device for assessing
fibre quality, or the DigitalWood, a product for
assessing wood quality by tracking, detecting
1
2
and monitoring the most important properties
of incoming raw material.
The advanced energy controls for the dryer and
the refiner for reducing production costs and
the Metris All-In-One platform, which enables
the realisation of these new products, were also
presented.
DAY TWO
The second day of Andritz’s MDF Customer Day
gave the customers an opportunity to clarify any
doubts or questions about Andritz’s solutions.
Questions from the customers were diverse
and covered a range of topics from all product
groups present during the round table
discussions.
LEGEND
1 Thomas Brandl (left)
and Winston Lee
(right) presenting
on the AdvaProtect
system
2 Direct customer
interaction on
the Automation &
Digitalisation round
table, exchanging
the newest process
improvement
solutions, with Genc
Islamaj and Cheng
Lock Beh on the right
(Image: Andritz)
Some of the topics, which customers could
express their interest in advance, were: latest
technologies on refiner systems; service
centres in Asia; MDF refiner plates; energy
reduction and fibre quality, mechanical and
hydraulic trouble shooting of refiner machine,
bark storage or bark crushing; finger blow
valve and fibre diverter valve; digitalisation
and automation; and lastly, new technology to
improve production line.
To that end, the round table discussions
were “fruitful”, according to Andritz. All the
customers were reportedly “very satisfied”
with the customer day, especially with the fact
that they were able to meet Andritz’s product
specialists and sales colleagues in person
again after a long time. P
10 PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024