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
Oregon Firm Is Pioneering Tall Wood Building
Portland is growing up—adding high-rises, increasing density, and pricing many people out. But two local firms are exploring a state-of-the-art building material that could help solve the city's affordability problem, create living-wage jobs in rural communities, and...
Roseburg Forest Products Names New President
From: Panel World Staff Allyn Ford, CEO and president of Oregon-based Roseburg Forest Products, announced that the Ford Family and the Roseburg Board of Directors have chosen Grady Mulbery to assume the role of Roseburg President effective January 1. Ford will...
Weyerhaeuser Buys Plum Creek, May Sell Pulp Mills
From: Panel World Staff Weyerhaeuser Co. and Plum Creek announced a merger that will leave nearly two-thirds majority ownership in Weyerhaeuser shareholder hands. The combined company creates a $23 billion timber REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) with more than 13...
Universal Forest Products Opens Utah Plant, Will Add 30 Jobs
Grand Rapids, MI-based Universal Forest Products, manufacturer of wood and wood-alternative products, pressure-treated lumber, and engineered wood products, opened a new manufacturing plant in Magna, UT this year. General Manager Jon Christiansen told Deseret News...
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!