Reint Baan from Tijhuis and Joey Besseling from Bouw 85 in front of the new SC3 (from left to right) © Günther Jauk
Investing into new technology is always a big step for a company. Apart from the financial component, often the insecurity of the question "does it actually work" plays a central role. This decision gets easier, though, if the considered system has proven successful hundreds – or even better, thousands – of times. Dutch timber construction enterprise Bouw 85 from Hem was able to draw on 999 testimonials for Hundegger when buying the Speed-Cut cutting system. Under these circumstances, the purchase decision was made even more easily. But Bouw 85 manager Joey Besseling was not too hard to convince, anyway.
From the roof to the wall
Founded as a small firm 25 years ago, Bouw 85 initially specialized in in-house pre-fabricated roof elements. "Back then, only 10% of roof elements were pre-fabricated in the Netherlands – today, it is around 80%", Besseling informs. Bouw 85 has been continually growing along with this development and today employs around 40 workers. Next to roof elements for single- and multi-family houses, the enterprise is producing timber frame elements – still a very small market, according to Besseling, that is however gaining in importance.
Prefabricated roof elements constitute the company's main business © Günther Jauk
Until a few weeks ago, employees were taking care of all joining and cutting procedures manually. Due to the diversity and often also complexity of orders, this was highly time-consuming which is why Besseling started considering the acquisition of a joining system quite a while ago already. The system that convinced him in the end was Hundegger's SC3. „The system can even take care of complex cutting processes with ease, and furthermore its design is very robust and durable", Besseling gives insight into his purchase decision. Beyond that, the manager appreciates the flexibility he encounters with the machine producer from Hawangen. "Special requests such as a mirror-inverted setup of the system or an additional deposit station behind the machine were no problem."
Quick launch
Hundegger's Speed-Cut is particularly popular due to its flexibility with a broad audience – from handicraft to industry © Günther Jauk
The installation of the system was done by Tijhuis, Hengelo/NL. The Dutch company specializes in sales and installation of high-grade timber processing machines and is Hundegger's representative in the Netherlands. "Here in this country, our customers especially appreciate the high quality and easy handling of Hundegger systems", Tijhuis employee Reint Baan knows. By now, over 70 joining and cutting systems from Hawangen are operating in the Netherlands.
The launch at Bouw 85 took place in September. "Thanks to Hundegger's extensive experience and Tijhuis' professional execution, the installation and launch of the system were completed in just one week", Besseling explains during Timber-Online's visit. Prior to the launch, several of Bouw 85's employees already attended a training course at Hundegger's headquarters in Hawangen. "Combined with the training we received during the launch, we were optimally prepared. Since then, we only had to contact Hundegger's support team for minor inquiries. Both times, the problem was solved within one hour via remote maintenance," Besseling shares.
Massive output boost
Two months after the launch already, Besseling is looking at positive results: "The Speed-Cut is taking care of the workload of five employees – and in a way more precise manner. With the freed-up capacities we were able to increase output by 15 to 20%. Buying a Hundegger system was the right step towards the future."
Besseling is also already considering the next step in the development of his enterprise. Besides bar elements, board materials are the following product the timber specialist wants to format fully automatically. In detail, he is thinking about a speed panel machine, namely Hundegger's SPM-2.
