Finnish customer loyalty

“Nordautomation shares the forward strategy of owner Addtech – a group which also controls affiliated companies FB Ketten and Valutec. Our goal is to grow sustainably. For this purpose, we have made big investments in an environmentally friendly production,” explains Timo Kuusisto, CEO of Nordautomation.

Kuusisto is very optimistic about developments in 2021, especially when it comes to business outside of the core markets Finland and Sweden. On these core markets, the company has been successful with wood processing plants for four decades. “That’s a long time, so we know how to build plants that meet the highest customer requirements. Especially high-performance lines that can also handle heavy logs require durable equipment. The degree of automation also plays an important role in this context,” says Kuusisto.

Supplier of the most modern sawmill

Nordautomation’s offer convinced Metsä Group to commission the company to supply the equipment for the “world’s fastest and most modern sawmill”. “Our part includes the log sorting and the saw infeed. With € 200 million, the investment in the Rauma sawmill is the biggest ever made in Finland. The new sawmill will be a pioneer in terms of technology and efficiency. We take great pride in the fact that our equipment meets Metsä Group’s high standards. The project in Rauma is being followed by experts worldwide and is a beacon for future sawmills,” says Kuusisto proudly.

Satisfied customers became regulars

Long-term customer relationships are important for Nordautomation and reflect the mutual trust. Two current references involving long-term customers are prove of this. One project was carried out at Keitele Timber’s Alajärvi site. Keitele Timber is part of the Keitele Group, one of the biggest sawmill and wood processing companies in Finland.

Already in 2014, Nordautomation delivered a log sorting line and a saw infeed to Keitele’s plant in Kemijärvi. Three years later, a log sorting line with 126 containers was installed at the production site in Keitele. With a length of 500 meters, this line is still the longest log sorting line in the world.

Up to 850,000 m³ a year

The sawmill in Alajärvi invested in a completely new log sorting and debarking infeed line. The capacity of the log sorting plant is 850,000 m³ a year. Keitele Group processes high-quality softwood into lumber, finger-jointed and planed sawn timber, laminated timber components and glue-laminated timber.

The latest investment phase at the Keitele Alajärvi sawmill began in summer 2019. In the interview, Kuusisto tells us that the new 7 hectare-big log yard was paved and in April 2020, Nordautomation began installing the log sorting line and the debarking infeed which follows directly after it.

1 cm gradations

The new log sorting system has gradations of only 10 to 15 mm and a total of 66 log bins. The old receiving and sorting line of the Alajärvi sawmill was built in 1980 and caused a bottleneck in production. With the high investments, both capacity and efficiency increased in the Alajärvi sawmill. Nordautomation completed the installation and the start-up on time. At the end of September, the sawmill was already back to its full production capacity.

The system is flexible when it comes to the lengths of the logs. With the help of a loader, the logs are unloaded from the forklifts directly onto the feeder decks or from the end of the feeder decks. In front of the sorting line, a revolver turner makes sure that the logs are placed correctly in the bins.

Nearly 100% availability

According to Nordautomation, the sorting speed is more than 200 meters per minute. The plant’s overall availability of over 99.6% is even more impressive. The line has a capacity of 13,000 logs per 500 minute-shift.

The log sorting facility is located near a residential area, so noise protection is crucial. The careful choice of chains, gears and sprocket materials was important. Sound-absorbing glue-laminated timber beams were built around the line, and a little further away, Keitele Timber also built a noise barrier.

Long-time customer placed another order

The second reference of 2020 involves ER-Saha of Viitasaari and is also an example of a long-term collaboration. The company is owned and run by the Poutanen family and cuts 50% spruce and 50% pine. ER-Saha produces a variety of different qualities and lengths – also in small batches – depending on customer requirements.

In 2015, Nordautomation supplied a saw infeed system to ER-Saha. At the end of May 2020, a contract on a new log sorting line with 60 bins was signed. The line has a capacity of more than 11,000 logs per shift (480 minutes). 

The installation of the equipment started at the end of October 2020, and an inspection was carried out shortly before the turn of the year. At the end of January 2021, the plant reached 70% of its capacity and soon, it is to reach 100%. The project was completed as planned, in part also slightly ahead of schedule.

The old sorting line being in operation alongside the new one during the installation was a challenge. The elements of the sorting conveyors were installed in such a way that the old line could continue to be operated. Production was only interrupted for about one week when the existing Finnos 3D X-ray scanner was integrated into the new line. In Finland, practically all sawmills use X-ray scanners (see article “X-ray for Central Europe as well”).