Welcome to the second update for Australasia's sawmilling and wood manufacturing community. We had a great response when we launched this service back in November 2017. The concept of improving communication between companies and sites and incorporating both managerial and production staff along with some of the key suppliers, really did strike a chord.
Thanks for your feedback and input so far. Since the first issue was sent out, we’ve been adding stories, articles and news relating to your own business and which we think will be of interest to all those subscribing.
In this issue we’ve got a number of stories relating to recent announcements on local sawmill closures, new investments and mill openings and plans underway for the acquisition of existing mills. We’ve covered a recent survey of Canadian sawmills that rank the issue of substance abuse by sawmill workers firmly at the top of their safety agenda and we take a look at the real value of those saw sales people that so often call into your saw shops.
We’ve also highlighted the focus for this year’s WoodTECH 2018 series. It’s going to run in September this year. Interest from manufacturers and suppliers has already been very strong and we have yet to make any formal announcements. Last year’s event (where we had record numbers of sawmillers and saw doctors attending) is being followed up this year with a focus on the technologies and operating practices around dry-mill and wood manufacturing operations.
The last event of this type ran almost eight years ago. Early details can be found in the story below – and on the website. Mark the date into your diaries and we’ll of course take any early suggestions on content as we look shortly to get into programme design.
Finally, contributions, recommendations, leads and advice on what you’d like added to this site will certainly be welcomed:
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WoodTECH 2018 – Focus on wood manufacturing tech
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After an absence of over eight years, the Forest Industry Engineering Association (FIEA) will this year be focussing the WoodTECH 2018 event on innovations and new technologies around dry-mill and wood manufacturing operations. The previous two WoodTECH events, 2017 and 2015 have both concentrated on sawmill scanning, sawing and green-mill optimisation technologies. WoodTECH is scheduled for 11-12 September 2018 in ...
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New Gisborne sawmill announced
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Activate Tairawhiti and Eastland Community Trust have jointly announced the sale of Prime Sawmill (photo) to New Zealand-owned Far East Sawmills, guaranteeing the creation of between 50 and 60 jobs at the Prime Wood Processing Centre of Excellence by April 2018. Even more encouraging, Far East Sawmills is already in direct discussions with Juken over staff recruitment. Eastland Community Trust ...
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Aging ironwork? No, it’s MDF for outdoor use
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Large scale installations by Alexander Devereux for a sculptural park in the North East of England, inspired by famous bridges in the region, were fabricated from Tricoya, a specialized MDF for outdoor use. Devereux used Tricoya MDF on several projects. Tricoya MDF has an outdoor useful life of 50 years, owing to its treatment with the acetylation process. Mounted outdoors ...
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Simonds merges with Burton Saw
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The merger of Simonds International and Burton Saw will create a leading producer and marketer of cutting tools and related equipment for the primary wood fibre industry. The combined company, known as Wood Fiber Holdings, Inc., will continue to operate in the United States and Canada with 12 facilities located in the major wood fiber regions of North America. The ...
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Death of the saw salesman?
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For as long as filers (saw-doctors) have been hammering saws, the manufacturers have sent smiling representatives out into the wild seeking the fertile ground of working filing rooms to sew their seeds of promise: saws, tools and machinery that will make their mills faster, stronger and cheaper to run. Sometimes the results ran short of the promise, but it doesn’t ...
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Juken NZ to refocuss its products and markets
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Forestry and wood processing company, Juken New Zealand has this week begun consulting employees at its Gisborne wood-processing mill about potential changes to the products made there in order to return the plant to profitability and secure its long-term future. The Juken mill at Matawhero opened in 1994 and employs around 200 full time employees. The mill processes Radiata Pine ...
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Substance abuse tops H&S risks in sawmills
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Like a wisp of smoke, a waft of alcohol, or a tiny pill, it’s difficult to measure the exact size of the problem of substance abuse in the workplace, but a group of sawmill industry experts in Canada has placed the issue firmly at the top of their safety agenda. This issue being faced in this region is not too ...
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AKD Softwoods looks at CHH mills
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Carter Holt Harvey (CHH) and Associated Kiln Driers (AKD) are in advanced negotiations regarding the potential purchase of the Yarram sawmill located at Yarram, Victoria and the Caboolture sawmill located at Caboolture, Queensland by AKD. At this stage, no agreement has been reached by the parties to proceed with the proposal, and any subsequent agreement is expected to be subject ...
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Juken to defend court action over J-Frame
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Juken New Zealand will defend court action being taken against it by Red Stag Timber (see story this week) over its J-Frame product, saying the rival wood processor is trying to remove the growing competitive threat of laminated lumber. Rotorua-based Red Stag, which operates the country’s largest sawmill, has filed proceedings against Japanese-owned Juken in the Auckland High Court, alleging ...
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Red Stag Timber filing proceedings on mislabelling timber
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New Zealand’s largest sawmill operator, Red Stag Timber confirms that it has filed proceedings in the Auckland High Court against Japanese-owned company, Juken New Zealand Limited. Red Stag Timber claims that Juken has breached the Fair Trading Act 1986 by mislabelling its engineered laminated veneer lumber product, called “J-Frame”. Red Stag Timber claims that by labelling J-Frame “H1.2” and failing ...
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WoodTECH is a community and we want to hear your voice. Do you have any thoughts about the stories above? Please don't hesitate to share your thoughts with the wider community and leave a comment at the end of the story!
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FIEA Partners:
Holtec, Trimble Forestry, NZ Logger, Koppers Performance Chemicals, Soderhamn Eriksson/USNR, Forest & Wood Products Australia, Key Knife/Braford Industries, Logic Wireless, TrackIt, Eagle Technology, Atlas/Integral, Lewis Controls, Baxley LogPro, Toi-Ohomai Institute of Technology, Scion and Mobile Mentor
FIEA Media Partners:
Friday Offcuts, NZ Logger and WoodWeek
Proudly brought to you by FIEA
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