New possibilities

For more than 20 years, I’ve been going to Maribor. You never know exactly what you will find at the Slovenian machine manufacturing company. During one of my first visits, the company proudly showed the plaque for the most innovative new product on a US trade fair. This was the Rotoles, a new planing machine, which refines and precisely calibrates surfaces rather than planing them in the traditional sense.

Long-term customer relationships

For Ledinek, a pioneering installation at Systemholz in Gaishorn symbolises the first steps in the field of finger-jointing. It speaks for itself that the former owner of Systemholz Heinz Dominici came all the way from South Africa to Maribor at the end of September in order to attend the festivities surrounding the inauguration.

Within few years, Ledinek extended its product range, offering not only planing and finger-jointing technology but also pressing technology in the form of the new X-Press. As a general contractor, this allowed the Slovenian company to take on the production of glulam and CLT for example. It goes without saying that the manufacturing of those machines and systems requires space. In the case of Ledinek, even more space is needed since its systems are not exactly small. Whenever the steel price goes up, it is very bad for Ledinek since the company needs a lot of it.

The mayor of Hoce explained how difficult it was to rezone the area where the new loading hall (1,100 m²), construction hall (1,700 m²) and the new office building (3 x 230 m²) were inaugurated on 28 September. The company had to put up with a two-year delay.

Testing and delivering on time

The new facilities were built in order to reduce the wait time for its customers. “From now on, our installations will be completed on time more often. Finally we have the space to assemble and test everything”, says head of sales Robert Mlinaric. His order book is full with international CLT projects. Hardly has the latest project started – Piveteaubois – when the company moves on to the next: Splitkon. The Norwegian newcomer is going to use two presses and a melamine adhesive.

Splitkon will be the biggest CLT installation for Ledinek. “The smallest economically viable CLT system we offer was ordered by Södra”, adds Mlinaric. “The Swedish company will start producing 70,000 m³ per year and shift. After this test phase, another production line could follow.”

Pressing technology soon on five continents

Ledinek’s X-Press systems are being used in seven countries on four continents. If you add the systems in the order books, the Slovenian company boasts a total of 16 presses on five continents.

As a result, the inaugural festivities in Maribor were attended by a very diverse audience. Managing director Gregor Ledinek explained to his guests that the new halls represent milestones in the production site’s 26-year history: “We have more space for manufacturing and we are able to do comprehensive test runs.”

A private company as a sensation

Ledinek has never been an ordinary company and its founder Pavel Ledinek is a symbol for this. When he founded his business in 1986, it was quite the sensation since it was the first private company in the Communist world. Whoever manages to start a business in such an environment is capable of a lot more. What began as a small workshop has become one of the world’s leading companies in the woodworking sector.

Ledinek’s 380 employees also celebrated this milestone. One of the newest members of the company’s team is Armin von Grebmer who supports international sales and is expected to bring expertise in an area which is especially crucial for complete systems, i.e. the interconnection between all system components.

Third generation at the ready

Ledinek is a family company. The celebrations were also an opportunity to meet the third generation of machine manufacturers. 20-year-old Andrej Ledinek studies Mechanical Engineering and Business Economics in Graz and could follow in the big footsteps of his predecessors one day.