Södra Wood’s Urban Blomster inside Ledinek’s turnkey CLT system: “It was a smooth start-up.” © Günther Jauk
When speaking with Södra Wood’s Urban Blomster about cross-laminated timber, one thing becomes clear quite quickly: The Swedish forestry, wood and pulp company has big plans. To be specific, it plans to start up one or two CLT productions with a capacity of 100,000 m³ each in the coming years. The first large plant at the Väröbacka site is scheduled to start operating in early 2022. Until then, the company spends time on establishing itself on the young Swedish market and studying cross-laminated timber and its production process in detail. For this purpose, Södra Wood has started operating its first small CLT production only a few months ago. “After the group had decided to enter the cross-laminated timber market, we wanted to get started as soon as possible”, tells us Urban Blomster.
In the search for an uncomplicated solution which can be supplied quickly, the Swedish company eventually opted for Ledinek of Maribor/SI. “Ledinek was the only experienced supplier which could provide us with a complete CLT plant with its own machinery and the related mechanization. Also, the robust structure of the machines and the coherent layout were decisive factors”, explains Blomster with regard to the decision to buy.
All from one supplier
The X-Press 12 cross-laminated timber press with a maximum specific pressure of 0.8 N/mm², produces panels with dimensions of up to 12 x 3.5 x 0.36 meters. The Eurozink finger-jointing system joins the laminations after they have been cut © Günther Jauk
Södra chose Väröbacka, which lies south of Gothenburg, as a location. There, the group operates a wood pulp production as well as the country’s biggest spruce sawmill. Further processing was therefore the next logical step. The production hall is an old sawing hall which, according to the group, is not an ideal site due to the limited space, but sufficient for a system with a planned annual output of 15,000 m³.
The system supplied by Ledinek starts with the vacuum destacking of the raw material. In addition to the complete mechanization with numerous feeders, roller and chain conveyors as well as a three-level storage for curing, the Slovenian mechanical engineering specialists are also responsible for all the main machines. First, defects are cut out with a high-performance X-Cut S200 cross-cut saw, and then a Eurozink finger-jointing machine joins the laminations at six cycles per minute. For precisely calibrated laminations, Ledinek installed a 4V-S120 Europlan planing machine. Next, another cross-cut saw cuts the crosswise layers to the desired length.
In the laying station, a stable, solid aluminum laying table with a PE coating ensures a fast assembly of the panels. A Joulin vacuum stacker moves the longitudinal and crosswise layers, whereas the stationary surface gluing, for which a 1-K-PUR adhesive is used, was supplied by Oest, Freudenstadt/DE – as is the case with almost all cross-laminated timber projects (see article page 59).
The heart of the system is an X-Press 12 cross-laminated timber press with a maximum specific pressure of 0.8 N/mm². Panels can have a maximum dimension of 12 x 3 x 0.28 meters. According to Blomster, a bigger press and a more powerful finger-jointing machine were not possible due to the limited space available. The machining of the CLT elements is done with a CNC machining center by Biesse Uniteam.
Production under control
The complete production system is integrated into Södra’s ERP system through Ledinek’s X-Lam Manager. This software provides a PC-based centralized control system for production management, production flow control and visualization, statistics, instant information as well as tools for production analysis. These data provide Södra with information which is important especially for future projects.
Successful start
The X-Press used by Södra is already the 18th cross-laminated timber press built by Ledinek. The company is a complete supplier for most projects in the sector © Günther Jauk
Just a few months after entering the CLT world, Blomster is already satisfied: “Of course, we still have a lot to learn, but we definitely had a successful start. We have already been able to successfully deliver the first smaller projects.” The groundbreaking ceremony for the first large production site – which is to be built in Väröbacka as well – is scheduled for spring 2020, and from the beginning of 2022, Södra plans to produce CLT there, too. According to Blomster, the company has not yet taken a decision as to the machine supplier(s).
Södra’s entry into the CLT sector is an important signal not only for the company itself, but for the entire Swedish market. With two other major sites, the country’s production capacity would then exceed 400,000 m³ a year. A year ago, the annual output was less than 25,000 m³. It is highly unlikely that companies like Stora Enso, Setra and Södra would completely misinterpret the potential of the Scandinavian and the global CLT markets.
