“We produce more than 10,000 m³ of lumber per year and employee. No other comparable sawmill comes close to this output,” owner and managing director Kalle Junnikkala says confidently about his sawmill project near the port city of Oulu in northern Finland.
The figures prove the successful entrepreneur right: The greenfield project created 35 new jobs in production and 25 more in other areas at Junnikkala. After just a few months of operation, the company is confident that it will reach its full two-shift capacity of 350,000 m³ a year in autumn. The annual production volume of all three Junnikkala mills totals 750,000 m³.
This success has largely been possible thanks to Finnish companies which have been focusing on automation solutions in recent years. Jartek of Lahti/FIis one of them. In the timber industry, the family-owned company is known primarily for its kilns for the thermal modification of wood and for high-performance lumber sorting solutions. The project in Oulu is the impressive prove that the latter is one of the machine manufacturer’s core areas of expertise.
Largest project in recent history
Largest order in recent years: For Kalle Junnikkala (standing next to export manager Kalle Laurikainen and project manager Juhani Pohjantähti – from right), it was clear from the start that he would rely on Jartek for the lumber sorting solutions © Raphael Kerschbaumer
“Our order books were well-filled in recent years. However, the project at Junnikkala is special for us, not least because of the size of the order,” Jartek’s export manager Kalle Laurikainen says during a visit of the site in Finland. “Greenfield projects are always very special and exciting for any machine manufacturer, especially when you are involved in an early stage in the planning process, as was the case here,” project manager Juhani Pohjantähti adds.
Jartek was responsible for all the mechanization and sorting solutions in the sawmill in Oulu: from the takeover and quality assessment of the lumber produced by a HewSaw SL250 saw line, green sorting and the infeed to the continuous kiln to the subsequent dry sorting and packaging of the ready-to-ship lumber packages.
“We invested more than €90 million in the new sawmill. Jartek accounted for the biggest share of the order volume. We knew that we would need as few interfaces as possible in order to take automation to a whole new level. Jartek was the only company that could deliver the full package at this level,” Junnikkala says, who is satisfied with his choice of equipment supplier.
No forklifts to be found
45 m³ of lumber per package: Enormous volumes of wood are moved fully automatically through the halls on rails. Accordingly, Jartek’s solutions had to be robust and massive. In Oulu, more than 2 million t of steel were used by Jartek alone © Raphael Kerschbaumer
Right when you enter the premises, you encounter familiar log loaders and material handlers, but as soon as you are inside the sawmill hall, not a single forklift or similar transport device can be found. This is because the Junnikkala site can do completely without them. Between the log infeed in front of the saw line and the transport of the sorted and dried lumber packages which are ready for shipping, all transport and mechanization routes are fully automated. Even the infeed of the three continuous kilns from Valutec of Skellefteå/SE and the outfeed at the other end do not require any manual intervention. “Everything has to mesh perfectly here, otherwise it doesn’t work. We believe that we have reached the highest possible level of automation,” Junnikkala explains.
Customer’s wish as standard
All cogs are working together perfectly, like here in the Tong Loader in front of the first lumber scanner © Raphael Kerschbaumer
Jartek adapted all areas and solutions to the needs and requirements of the customer and the conditions on site. “This is also part of our company philosophy. In close coordination, we try to find the best solution for the customer – and Junnikkala was no exception,” Pohjantähti tells us.
Right behind the saw line, three decks were planned on different levels to buffer various products before the first quality assessment and to feed in main products and sideboards separately for the subsequent processes. This makes it possible to continuously supply the feeder at the optimal speed. “The overarching goal is to have all the wood flow smoothly through the sawmill in one go. We convey and sort at a speed of up to 200 boards per minute. This requires space and buffer areas,” the experienced project manager explains.
Behind the first Finnos board scanner, a Jartek trimmer cuts the boards to length before they enter the sorting line. In its design, Jartek included 60 bins each for green and dry sorting. A special technical feature can be found in the emptying mechanism of the individual sorting bins, each of which can hold around 15 m³. Two hydraulic arms place the boards compactly and gently on the underlying conveyor belt.
A look inside the sawmill and at the step conveyor in front of the stacking machine © Raphael Kerschbaumer
In the stacking machine, the typical Scandinavian lumber packages containing boards of various lengths are formed. Those packages are up to 5.7 m high and can consist of up to 45 m³ of lumber. After a 90° turn, they are fully automatically guided on rails into one of the three continuous kilns. At Junnikkala, up to 400 wagons are in circulation at any given time. Their return transport between dry and green sorting is automated, just like that of the stacking and drying sticks.
Once dried, the packages are transported towards the dry sorting line, where the boards are first separated and then scanned and assessed once again for their quality. Directly behind the scanner, Jartek installed a second stepless trimmer which cuts the boards with millimetric precision according to the customer’s wishes and market requirements. “On overseas markets, like Japan, special lengths are often ordered, so our production process must be flexible. Together with the scanners and optimization programs, we are able to maximize yield in every step of the process,” Junnikkala tells us.
The successful Jartek project only ends with the transport of the lumber packages which are ready for shipping. This is where the packages have the first contact with a conventional forklift.
