Prototype stands the test

“We didn’t want to experiment, but rather someone who knows the plant inside out and can implement our requirements in the best possible way,” Heimo Zraunig, technical director of Hasslacher Drauland Holzindustrie, says, explaining the recent collaboration with Springer. Thanks to an effort made by both companies, they even overcame the delivery difficulties which have characterized the market during the pandemic. But let’s start from the beginning.

Already in 1999, Springer Maschinenfabrik of Friesach installed a completely new lumber sorting machine at the Hasslacher Group’s headquarters. Also, the plant experts are responsible for the entire log yard of the sawmill in Sachsenburg with its capacity of 800,000 m³ a year. “So, there was no doubt that we would rely on Springer for our most recent investments, too,” Zraunig tells us. Specifically, Hasslacher ordered a new stacking machine for the main products, including a fully automatic infeed and laying system for stacking sticks and slats, which is equipped with a separation mechanism for broken stacking sticks and slats of faulty dimensions. In addition, Springer installed the newly developed, high-performance E-Loader feeder for the first time in Sachsenburg. Located in front of the newly installed Goldeneye 900 scanner, the E-Loader is designed to dynamically regulate the line in the crosswise transport.

Successful prototype

With this investment package, Hasslacher wants to further increase the availability of its lumber sorting plant and, as a result, also the performance of the entire production facility. In addition, the challenging staffing situation can be somewhat eased, too. “Thanks to the scanner and the E-Loader, we need one employee less per shift, and in packaging, we can do without another two,” Zraunig explains, adding that each of those employees can be deployed in other positions.

Before these recent changes, the main goods used to pass through two assessment stations. After one employee had assessed the upper side of the lumber, the boards were turned on the way to the lower floor, where another employee assessed the quality of the other side. “Now, this task is done by one employee who could intervene manually, if necessary, but primarily monitors the plant,” Zraunig says.

As a replacement for the assessment station on the lower floor, Springer integrated a buffer area in front of the new scanner and installed the E-Loader, which replaces a simple hydraulic distributing system, in between. “The E-Loader was aimed at guaranteeing stable operation in this area – and that’s exactly what it does,” Zraunig says, who is satisfied with the prototype and adds that the E-Loader can easily handle wood of various thicknesses. Springer puts the maximum performance of the E-Loader at 220 cycles per minute for mixed thicknesses. Hasslacher usually runs the machine at around 140 cycles per minute.

40,000 stacking sticks per day

The fully automatic stacking stick and slat infeed starts behind the tilting table destacker with a belt conveyor which picks up the wood in longitudinal transport. From there, the wood is pulled off crosswise before the mixed stacking sticks and slats are separated for the first time as they move upwards. The squared timbers fall onto a conveyor belt underneath with the help of a mechanical height control system. The conveyor belt transports them either to the packaging station or to an intermediate storage area.

Meanwhile, the stacking sticks pass through a measuring station via another separating mechanism. The measuring station uses a laser to determine the dimensions of each stacking stick. If a piece does not correspond to the parameters specified by Hasslacher, it falls down onto a conveyor belt, which then feeds it to a chipper.

The good stacking sticks continue downhill via a sorting conveyor, which always gathers five of them together and fills the stacking machine’s magazines with them. According to Zraunig, around 40,000 stacking sticks move through the plant every day in a two-shift operation. “On the one hand, we can save two of the four employees in this area. On the other hand, the two remaining jobs have become much more attractive because a large part of the physically strenuous work is eliminated. Now, only the squared timber magazines have to be filled manually. And since we’re talking about four pieces per two packages, this is definitely manageable,” Zraunig says.

Thanks to the generously sized stacking stick infeed and the option of feeding in external material, Hasslacher can use the plant for sorting sideboards as well. According to Zraunig, this project is still in the planning phase.

Practical special solution

The automatic stacking machine is a tried-and-tested Springer product with a small but extremely user-friendly special solution. “At the request of our employees, Springer has split the front stop of the packages, which makes it much easier to attach the package labels,” Zraunig tells us. He particularly appreciates this approach when it comes to practical solutions for details. Springer puts the machine’s performance for 1.6-m-wide packages at 16 layers per minute.

By joining forces

The project got the final go-ahead in October 2022. “Despite the very challenging logistics situation at the time and the resulting delays in delivery, we started making the structural changes as planned. The delivery date was delayed somewhat, but the Springer team, just like our team, gave it their all and caught up on everything,” Zraunig emphasizes, adding in conclusion: “Thanks to the good partnership and our extensive in-house know-how, we were able to make good progress in the continuous optimization of our sawmill.”