UPM Chudovo Plywood Mill
UPM Chudovo Mill is one of the nine mills in UPM Plywood business. UPM Chudovo Mill is one of the largest industrial employers and the major taxpayer in Chudovo district, Novgorod Region. The enterprise started its production activities in 1990. UPM became the sole owner of the mill in 2005. The company employs around 600 specialists. The capacity of the plywood mill makes 110,000 cubic meters of birch plywood annually, for which purpose the enterprise uses 300,000 cubic meters of birch block per year. The mill produces coated and uncoated WISA birch plywood for construction, transport machine building and gas tankers.
<UPM Chudovo Mill is one of the nine mills in UPM Plywood business. UPM Chudovo Mill is one of the largest industrial employers and the major taxpayer in Chudovo district, Novgorod Region. The enterprise started its production activities in 1990. UPM became the sole owner of the mill in 2005. The company employs around 600 specialists. The capacity of the plywood mill makes 110,000 cubic meters of birch plywood annually, for which purpose the enterprise uses 300,000 cubic meters of birch block per year. The mill produces coated and uncoated WISA birch plywood for construction, transport machine building and gas tankers.
The requirements to the quality of the finished plywood are constantly increasing, therefore the use of low-quality timber is unacceptable as it will result in increase in productions costs and in the number of consumer claims. In 1996 for the first time in our country UPM developed and implemented the Russian wood tracking system. This system was initially created to ensure high quality of national wood exported to Finland. Now it is applied for the purpose of quality control of all consignments of wood raw materials delivered to UPM Chudovo. The plywood mill consumes up to 300 thousand cubic meters of birch block per year.
Reduction of the impact of human factor on the production process and increase of the production output is a pressing challenge for quite a number plywood enterprises. One of the options is production automation with simultaneous decrease of raw material consumption and cost reduction. The specialists of UPM Chudovo are aware of this fact.
Hydrothermal treatment of wood is necessary to increase the material flexibility in order to improve the peeling quality and reduce the depth of the cracks which are formed on the inside of the veneer in the course of its peeling. The feedstock is supplied from the warehouse to the ponds for hydrothermal treatment, where it is processed at a temperature of 40–50 °C for 20–24 hours (pond capacity – 1,000 m3). Prior to peeling each log is measured with a scanner with the help of which together with the function of raw material accounting optimization of crosscutting is performed in order to get the necessary size of the range of products – the chuck for peeling. The operator cuts the chuck to size based on the laser beams. The veneer peeling, cutting and laying lines installed at the plant enable the operators to obtain peeled veneer from the chuck. The process of veneer peeling starts from the centering and feeding device which ensures centering and feeding of the chuck to the peeling area. The percentage of the veneer output depends on its faultless operation.
After peeling unseasoned veneer shall be promptly dried up in the drying kilns. The set drying mode is maintained and controlled by the automatic system by means of embedded sensors. Then veneer sheets are sorted by grades and humidity. After the veneer sheets have been dried and sorted, the defective sheets are sent to the jointing-splicing-patching line. In 2009 for the first time in Russia UPM Chudovo plant installed an automated line for veneer sheet defects elimination (cutting-out). Line advantages: increase in the quality and volume of veneer suitable for gluing; minimum demand for manpower; high patching accuracy, selection of forms for insertion.
A set of veneer packages for gluing are made on the pallets. In order to reduce manual labour costs the plant specialists use veneer feeders and stackers. Prior to the supply to the hot press the collected packages are premolded in the cold press. This measure is taken to prevent mutual displacement of sheets, to reduce damage to outer layers, to increase the speed of conveying and feeding to the press, to omit the use of interliners, to make the press operation independent of the package assembly section.
Next, the operator puts the veneer packages for gluing on the conveyor installed prior to the hot press. The gluing mode is set automatically depending on the predetermined thickness of the finished products.
In order to ensure the finishing plywood cutting by size the plywood sheets are cut on four sides along the format cutting line with vacuum loading. After the boards have been supplied from the loading table to the intermediate (rolling) table, preliminary longitudinal package leveling takes place, which is important for dealing with the plywood sheets with considerable overhang. During the initial longitudinal package cutting the cutting operation may be stopped. It is especially important for removal of petty chippings and prevention of their ingress between the package sheets and into the sawcarriage during the subsequent cuts. Otherwise, chippings may damage the rotation belts and thrust bearings of the line sawcarriage.
Package feeding for processing to size is performed in two stages, which ensures maximum positional precision. In order to obtain a perpendicular cut in the course of cutting to size a system of two-stage alignment of the package of the plywood sheets is used. At first the basis for further cutting of the package is created with the use of the leveller installed inside the intermediary table. The distance for preliminary leveling is set by the line operator. Then the package is cut to the required size. In order to prevent jamming of the circular saw blade during the package cutting the operator selects the mode of the sawcarriage movement: the speed of entry of the circular saw blade into the package, the speed of the finishing cutting and the speed of egress from the package shall be specified separately. The speed is selected by the operator as per the load diagram on the motor of the main saw which shall be permanently indicated on the control panel display. After the cutting to size operation has been completed, the plywood is polished up and sent to the finished products warehouse for packing and subsequent shipment to consumers.
The products of the enterprise are supplied to the domestic and international market. Approximately 70 % of the products manufactured by the mill is exported to foreign countries, mainly to the European countries, Middle East, Africa, Turkey, USA and China. In 2001 the mill was granted a right to mark its products with the use of WISA trademark. At present, the mill manufactures three types of products: laminated birch plywood WISA-Birch, WISA-Form, WISA-Wire plywood with a wire mesh pattern and a range of unique products for niche areas.
The high quality of the plywood manufactured by Chudovo is confirmed by the International certificates: DNV-GL: for compliance with the requirements of СE “EN 13986 : 2004 Wood-based panels for use in construction”; for compliance with the German standard DIN 68705-3; for compliance with the requirements to formaldehyde emission as per the requirements set by the California Air Resources Board; ABS; KR; GTT for plywood production for gas tankers, and also certificate of conformity of Gosstandart of the Russian Federation for “general purposes plywood”. Apart from that, the mill observes the requirements of OHSAS 18001 standard. It also holds a quality management certificate ISO 9001.
UPM Plywood offers high-quality plywood and veneer under WISA® trademark for construction and transportation areas, and also thermoformable plywood UPM Grada® for furniture industry. The turnover in 2016 totaled 444 mln EUR. The mill employs around 2,400 employees. UPM has six plywood mills and a veneer mill in Finland, and also plywood mills in Russia and Estonia.
The requirements to the quality of the finished plywood are constantly increasing, therefore the use of low-quality timber is unacceptable as it will result in increase in productions costs and in the number of consumer claims. In 1996 for the first time in our country UPM developed and implemented the Russian wood tracking system. This system was initially created to ensure high quality of national wood exported to Finland. Now it is applied for the purpose of quality control of all consignments of wood raw materials delivered to UPM Chudovo. The plywood mill consumes up to 300 thousand cubic meters of birch block per year.
Reduction of the impact of human factor on the production process and increase of the production output is a pressing challenge for quite a number plywood enterprises. One of the options is production automation with simultaneous decrease of raw material consumption and cost reduction. The specialists of UPM Chudovo are aware of this fact.
Hydrothermal treatment of wood is necessary to increase the material flexibility in order to improve the peeling quality and reduce the depth of the cracks which are formed on the inside of the veneer in the course of its peeling. The feedstock is supplied from the warehouse to the ponds for hydrothermal treatment, where it is processed at a temperature of 40–50 °C for 20–24 hours (pond capacity – 1,000 m3). Prior to peeling each log is measured with a scanner with the help of which together with the function of raw material accounting optimization of crosscutting is performed in order to get the necessary size of the range of products – the chuck for peeling. The operator cuts the chuck to size based on the laser beams. The veneer peeling, cutting and laying lines installed at the plant enable the operators to obtain peeled veneer from the chuck. The process of veneer peeling starts from the centering and feeding device which ensures centering and feeding of the chuck to the peeling area. The percentage of the veneer output depends on its faultless operation.
After peeling unseasoned veneer shall be promptly dried up in the drying kilns. The set drying mode is maintained and controlled by the automatic system by means of embedded sensors. Then veneer sheets are sorted by grades and humidity. After the veneer sheets have been dried and sorted, the defective sheets are sent to the jointing-splicing-patching line. In 2009 for the first time in Russia UPM Chudovo plant installed an automated line for veneer sheet defects elimination (cutting-out). Line advantages: increase in the quality and volume of veneer suitable for gluing; minimum demand for manpower; high patching accuracy, selection of forms for insertion.
A set of veneer packages for gluing are made on the pallets. In order to reduce manual labour costs the plant specialists use veneer feeders and stackers. Prior to the supply to the hot press the collected packages are premolded in the cold press. This measure is taken to prevent mutual displacement of sheets, to reduce damage to outer layers, to increase the speed of conveying and feeding to the press, to omit the use of interliners, to make the press operation independent of the package assembly section.
Next, the operator puts the veneer packages for gluing on the conveyor installed prior to the hot press. The gluing mode is set automatically depending on the predetermined thickness of the finished products.
In order to ensure the finishing plywood cutting by size the plywood sheets are cut on four sides along the format cutting line with vacuum loading. After the boards have been supplied from the loading table to the intermediate (rolling) table, preliminary longitudinal package leveling takes place, which is important for dealing with the plywood sheets with considerable overhang. During the initial longitudinal package cutting the cutting operation may be stopped. It is especially important for removal of petty chippings and prevention of their ingress between the package sheets and into the sawcarriage during the subsequent cuts. Otherwise, chippings may damage the rotation belts and thrust bearings of the line sawcarriage.
Package feeding for processing to size is performed in two stages, which ensures maximum positional precision. In order to obtain a perpendicular cut in the course of cutting to size a system of two-stage alignment of the package of the plywood sheets is used. At first the basis for further cutting of the package is created with the use of the leveller installed inside the intermediary table. The distance for preliminary leveling is set by the line operator. Then the package is cut to the required size. In order to prevent jamming of the circular saw blade during the package cutting the operator selects the mode of the sawcarriage movement: the speed of entry of the circular saw blade into the package, the speed of the finishing cutting and the speed of egress from the package shall be specified separately. The speed is selected by the operator as per the load diagram on the motor of the main saw which shall be permanently indicated on the control panel display. After the cutting to size operation has been completed, the plywood is polished up and sent to the finished products warehouse for packing and subsequent shipment to consumers.
The products of the enterprise are supplied to the domestic and international market. Approximately 70 % of the products manufactured by the mill is exported to foreign countries, mainly to the European countries, Middle East, Africa, Turkey, USA and China. In 2001 the mill was granted a right to mark its products with the use of WISA trademark. At present, the mill manufactures three types of products: laminated birch plywood WISA-Birch, WISA-Form, WISA-Wire plywood with a wire mesh pattern and a range of unique products for niche areas.
The high quality of the plywood manufactured by Chudovo is confirmed by the International certificates: DNV-GL: for compliance with the requirements of СE “EN 13986 : 2004 Wood-based panels for use in construction”; for compliance with the German standard DIN 68705-3; for compliance with the requirements to formaldehyde emission as per the requirements set by the California Air Resources Board; ABS; KR; GTT for plywood production for gas tankers, and also certificate of conformity of Gosstandart of the Russian Federation for “general purposes plywood”. Apart from that, the mill observes the requirements of OHSAS 18001 standard. It also holds a quality management certificate ISO 9001.
UPM Plywood offers high-quality plywood and veneer under WISA® trademark for construction and transportation areas, and also thermoformable plywood UPM Grada® for furniture industry. The turnover in 2016 totaled 444 mln EUR. The mill employs around 2,400 employees. UPM has six plywood mills and a veneer mill in Finland, and also plywood mills in Russia and Estonia.