For a timber construction company with 65 employees that started out with one sawmill and one log bandsaw, Holz Meissnitzer went down an unusual, but innovative path. When in 2009, the solid wood wall production line and the panel cutting machine from Hundegger went into operation, sales lagged behind. Carpentries in the area still had little use for the new product MHM (solid wood wall). Acting from necessity, Meissnitzer founded his own timber construction business. This way, he was able to fully utilize his plants and promote the product.
From sawmill to building contractor
However, Josef Meissnitzer, Managing Director of Holz Meissnitzer, thought ahead and recognized that there was almost no ecological, yet affordable wood-based multi-story housing construction available to buyers in the area. Together with two shareholders and his sister Christine Meissnitzer, he founded the real-estate company Salzburger Immobilien Gesellschaft (SIGES). Meissnitzer's MHM solid wood walls play the constructive role in all associated projects.
The targeted use of wood as a building material makes SIGES unique on the real estate market. Around 90 housing units have been built to date and another 140 projects are scheduled for 2020/21.
To guarantee availability of the raw material for the solid wood houses, the production in Niedernsill was expanded and optimized. The annual output of the in-house sawmill reaches between 15,000 and 20,000 sm³. By connecting the Mebor HTZ 1300 band resaw with the existing Primultini log bandsaw, saw performance was improved considerably.
Lumber is prepared in three drying kilns from Mühlböck and a Eurovac vacuum dryer for further processing. A new finger-jointing system from Howial has already been ordered for the beginning of 2020.
In all expansion and development activities, Holz Meissnitzer is always mindful of an optimal utilization of existing production space. For example: Alfons Ganzer, resourceful employee of many years and plant manager, had the idea to use a tablet-controlled high bay racking for packaged boards.
"Innovative ideas like this one enable us to optimally utilize valuable space," Meissnitzer explains.
MHM and CLT on top of each other
Due to lack of space, the new Woodtec from Fankhauser for CLT panel production was installed one level above the existing PBA from Hundegger. In other words, solid wood wall elements are manufactured on the ground floor while the new laminated CLT elements are produced one level higher. Meissnitzer is marketing this new CLT product under the name of "M-BSP" (M-CLT). Currently, boards are still fed manually into the vacuum press; a conveyor system is planned for 2020. The press applies homogenous pressure on each point of the panel while keeping production low-energy. The adhesive used is PUR from Henkel.
Meissnitzer is convinced of the added value the vacuum press yields for the company. The aim is to produce 3000 to 4000 m³ of CLT and an equal amount of MHM per year. MHM production is exclusively order-related in the dimensions 3 by 6 m, and the new CLT in the dimensions 3.2 by 15.6. 60% are used for in-house further processing, while the other 40% are intended for selling to carpentries in the area. Meissnitzer wants to be an even better partner to nearby woodworking companies and accommodate them with an enhanced product portfolio.
