Modernizing step by step

The Versowood group owns twelve production sites in Finland alone, and another factory is located in Estonia. Founded in 1946, the group acquired the Otava production line in 1997. Currently, 70 employees are responsible for the production of 250,000 m³ of softwood lumber. The raw material exclusively comes from Finnish sources. Within a radius of 150 km, Versowood purchases around 500,000 of spruce logs per year.

Apart from lumber, Versowood also produces residues such as wood chips in Otava that are utilized in the pellets production in Vierumäki. The combined heat and power generating plant station with a capacity of 10 MW is used for turning accruing bark and other residuals into energy.

In China, the products of the Versowood group are in high demand. 80% of the softwood lumber produced in Otava is exported, mainly to China. The rest is supplied to one of the further processing sites of the group.

Interesting structures

The on-site visit reveals premises that resemble a typical medium-sized sawmill with a traditionally grown room layout. The remarkable aspect of this sawmill located directly next to a lake is the in-house logistics. A large production line allows for processing roundwood to dried lumber without the need to manually transport the goods.

In order to further optimize the yield and replace individual system components, a renewal process has been deployed. The management decided to replace individual system components step by step so that the ongoing operation is not disrupted.

A fast implementation and the connection to existing system components played crucial roles in this process.

The best match, and years of cooperation

Last summer, the plan emerged to replace the saw feed. This is why Asmo Varis, the director in charge of sawmills, was looking for a reliable partner who he eventually found in Nordautomation.

When asked about the reason behind his decision, Varis’ answer is short: "Apart from the fact that their system was the best match for our line, Nordautomation has already proven to be a good partner in other factories." As Helge Keitel, sales employee at Nordautomation, emphasizes, it is the connecting point to existing systems that matters most in projects like this one. Versowood Otava's plant manager Tuomo Leskinen, who is very satisfied with the new system components, confirms this observation. The cooperation with the Finnish supplier is so smooth that currently the log sorting unit from Nordautomation is being renewed.

Log feed

With a speed of up to 150 m/min, the mechanization transports logs to the debarking machine which is the first connecting point to the Nordautomation installation. The debarking unit from Valon Kone takes over the logs without disruptions.

To optimally feed the subsequent saw line, the business partners decided to install a revolver roundwood turning device which aligns the trunks small-end first. The following component is a Hewsaw sawing line. The many new elements of the sawmill are futuristic, such as the Boardmaster by Finscan which is used for quality grading. After lamella sorting and lathing, the goods are temporarily stored in an entrepot and subsequently transported into drying tunnels by means of a roll installation. On the other side of the tunnels, the output is located. 

Log sorting unit

The fitters are currently working on the log sorting unit. At the end of the tour, Keitel shares some details about the installation. On the log sorting unit, the trunks also reach speeds of up to 160 m/min, and 64 log boxes allow for precise sorting. An X-ray scanning unit by Finnos facilitates the quality check.