The North American continent has been gaining in importance for the Carinthian log wood and lumber expert for many years. Springer’s reference list not only includes numerous medium-sized companies but also large international corporations such as Canfor and Weyerhaeuser. The establishment of a US branch including a spare parts warehouse in South Carolina a few years ago was the next logical step following years of successful on-site work. “Thanks to our local branch, we can offer our North American customers the well-known Springer support in their respective time zones. Alongside our sophisticated machines and experienced engineers, this is an important factor of success here,” Michael Dörflinger says, who has been head of US and Canadian sales at Springer for over ten years.
New level of automation
Just a few months ago, Springer successfully completed another US project which involved the installation of the popular ED-3000 Wrapper packaging line. The customer, the Pleasant River Lumber sawmill, is enthusiastic about the Austrian machine technology: “Since the Springer machine has been handling the packages, there have been no more complaints about the quality of the bundles or the packaging. That’s a clear improvement for our products,” Michael LeBrun, managing director of the Maine-based company, explains.
Convincing Austrian technology: Since last year, Springer’s ED-3000 Wrapper has been used to wrap lumber packages for transport © Springer Maschinenfabrik
The customer was particularly impressed by the high level of automation of the machine. During the packaging process, the bundled lumber packages are automatically wrapped in foil and a stapled band is attached all around them. This prevents the foil from blowing away during transport in open trucks, which is widespread in the US. Furthermore, the company only needs one employee in the stacking area and at the Wrapper to monitor the entire process and make small adjustments. This includes loading the Wrapper with rolls of foil as required. A total of six magazines, which can be loaded with rolls of different dimensions, ensure a seamless and quick change from full to half packages. Thus, Springer has impressively fulfilled the customer’s requirement of a fully automated packaging process with highest safety standards.
Customized machine
The limited space available at the Pleasant River Lumber mill was another challenge. Even though the planing mill was built recently, an automated packaging line was not initially included in the plant layout. “Early in the project, we had to find a solution for the little space available. We had to install the stapler unit for attaching the foil band right behind the Wrapper. This means that the band is already stapled to the foil at the front end of the package, while the back of the package is still being wrapped in foil. That was a challenge in terms of control technology, but we mastered it,” Dörflinger explains in an interview with the Holzkurier and gives an exciting outlook: “In recent years, we have acquired several new customers in North America and convinced them of our solutions. Apart from the lumber segment, our core competencies lie in the log yard – both of classic sawmills and at engineered wood producers. Among other things, we recently won a major contract from Weyerhaeuser.” The forestry and timber industry giant, which operates in the US and Canada, is investing over US-$500 million in the construction of a greenfield OSB factory in Arkansas, in the plantation-rich Southern US. Springer Maschinenfabrik has been commissioned to supply the entire log processing line, from the infeed and the dip tanks to the OSB strander. Springer will reveal more details on this project soon.
