Siempelkamp, Hexion Go Separate Ways On AI Development

Siempelkamp and Hexion have ended their cooperation toward the development of AI solutions for the wood-based panel industry. Siempelkamp states it will continue to pursue its own strategy in this area, and Hexion says its Smartech business is introducing a “new” comprehensive AI platform.

In March 2022, Siempelkamp and Smartech established a collaboration of their expertise in artificial intelligence and industrial engineering. Their joint product, Prod-IQ SmartPress was met with a positive response in the market, according to the participants.

Following Hexion’s acquisition of Smartech in December 2024, the partnership continued between Siempelkamp and Hexion.

Siempelkamp states it will continue to focus on transforming the wood-based panel industry with its digital concepts, while focusing on implementing fully autonomous production environments.

Gavin Lee, Vice President, Smartech Product & Technology, comments: “We appreciate our collaboration with Siempelkamp and thank their team for the work we accomplished together. Customers have embraced the benefits they achieved with Smartech’s SmartPress AI and asked us to bring that capability across more of their process.”

Lee says Smartech is introducing a new comprehensive AI platform that connects data across the entire production line. “Already running in live mill operations, this expanded offering learns how each mill runs at its best, detects where performance is starting to drift, and helps operators correct it early, extending those gains in performance, consistency, and cost savings across their entire line,” he adds.

The Smartech platform and its first modules are available now, with additional modules launching soon, according to Lee. “Designed to work with the equipment each mill already has, our goal is to help mills make better, more consistent, and more cost-effective decisions across every shift.”

Hexion, traditionally a manufacturer of adhesives, acquired Smartech, with the stated intent to harness cutting-edge AI and machine learning technology, which included at the time Smartech’s SmartWAX, SmartPF and SmartMDI engineered systems.