Liam and Braden Russell.
a new world T
he world we live in is constantly moving forward and with that comes change. This is no more so than in the world of manufacturing and processing wood and panel based product and componentry where to thrive, speed and accuracy is dovetailed with the need to meet the highest standard of quality possible and to be competitive, in the most economic and efficient way. In the last decade we have seen great strides made in the development and implementation of robotic technology in the factory environment that allows for the cutting, labelling, moving and storage of panel componentry pending eventual assembly into finished product such as kitchen cabinetry, shopfittings and furniture amongst other things. More and more so it is being seen as apparent that robotism in the factory process should not be viewed as stand alone but rather as a fully integrated part of the business.
Bob Nordgren from JOINERS Magazine recently had the opportunity to discuss these very issues with Graham Russell Managing Director of Greenmount Espies, one of the largest contract panel and wood manufacturers JOINERS Magazine March 2021 page 22
in New Zealand based in Auckland’s East Tamaki along with his two sons Braden and Liam who also work for the company. Graham has been looking at various forms of factory automation and robotics as part of an ongoing project with German machinery manufacturers HOMAG AG who are world leaders in robotic factory systems, to purchase (during Lockdown Level 4 last year here in New Zealand I might add) a robotic saw (SAWTEQ B-300) and automated warehouse storage system (STORETEQ S-200) which arrived in June 2020 but because of Covid 19 was not installed and commissioned until November 2020.
The interesting question was why buy such a system? “Perhaps at the centre of all this is consistency of performance.” Graham comments “Reducing mistakes perhaps even poor decisions in some cases. You can achieve better control of the workflow along with panel management. Along with the normal software upgrades and other management improvements it will also leave a clear path open to investment in future planned operations of the business as well. This leads to efficiencies and improved profitability.” The system installed can be operated in a fully automated, semi automated or indeed manual mode which makes for a responsive, reactive and flexible factory operation. It leads to full space utilisation for both the cutting and storage of panel product. It is ideal for Batch 1 production where through a process of aligning, clamping and redirecting combined with auto labelling of component parts this seemingly ‘chaotic” production can cut and compile literally hundreds of components ready for further processing in an organised way. It suits