Fletcher Orders Fine OSB Plant
New Zealand’s Fletcher Building Ltd. has ordered a complete plant for the production of Fine OSB from German machine manufacturer Dieffenbacher. The plant will be built at Fletcher Building’s Laminex site in Taupo, in the center of the country’s North Island. The new plant will include Dieffenbacher new belt dryer.
The belt dryer is one example of how Dieffenbacher technology will support the sustainability of the new plant. Along with digitalization, advanced plant engineering and operational excellence, sustainability is one of the four pillars of Dieffenbacher smart plant concept, CEBRO. The belt dryer has a low thermal energy consumption.
Fletcher Building’s new CEBRO plant will have the flexibility to produce fine OSB and conventional OSB. Fine OSB is a special type of board consisting of an OSB core layer covered top and bottom by layers of particleboard. It combines OSB’s excellent mechanical properties with the surface quality of particleboard.
Besides the new belt dryer, Dieffenbacher will supply an energy plant, a debarking line, purchased material infeed, strand production, a Maier impact mill, the screening and air grading, material recovery, glue preparation, glue dosing and gluing systems, the forming station and forming line, a CPS+ continuous press with press emission control system, raw board handling, pneumatic systems, electrics and automation, the digitalization solution EVORIS and the digital service platform MyDIEFFENBACHER. Dieffenbacher subsidiary B. Maier Zerkleinerungstechnik is responsible for engineering the entire wood yard up to the strander.
Hamish McBeath, Chief Executive Building Products at Fletcher Building, left, and Dieffenbacher CEO Christian Dieffenbacher
The new plant will replace a particleboard production line featuring an almost 50-year-old single-opening press supplied by Dieffenbacher to Fletcher Building in 1974. “It’s remarkable that our old press served us so well and for so long. With the right maintenance, we believe our new Dieffenbacher plant will last at least as long,” says Paul Thorn, Fletcher Wood Products Capital Works Manager.
Construction in Taupo will begin in early 2024. Startup is scheduled for the fourth quarter of the same year, with full-scale production by mid-2025.
RELATED ARTICLES
Latest News
Timber Innovation Act Advocates For Nationwide Timber Construction In U.S.
A new piece of bipartisan legislation has been tabled by The United States Senate and House of Representatives named the Timber Innovation Act. The bills were put forward to further the development of tall timber buildings in the U.S., thereby supporting the nation’s...
Arauco, Dieffenbacher Sign Supply Contracts For Michigan Panel Plant
Arauco is investing in the construction of a new particleboard plant with a planned capacity of 800,000 square meters per year in Grayling, Michigan. For the first time, the company is purchasing a complete plant from Dieffenbacher. The two companies decided to work...
Engineered Lumber Has Replaced Natural Lumber In Key Building Components
Building a house, garage or even a shed today isn’t as easy as going to the local lumberyard and buying whatever dimension of wood you need. A lot of emphasis goes into the grade of the wood and its stress and load ratings, according to Everett Brands, manager of...
Innovation Abounds Among OSB, Plywood And Lumber
Innovation Abounds Among OSB, Plywood And Lumber Though often seen as commodity products, the categories of wood structural panels (OSB and plywood) and lumber are not short on innovation—and they’re categories where educated dealers can truly serve their...
Find Us On Social
Newsletter
The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.
Subscribe/Renew
Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.
Advertise
Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative. Contact us today!