The Competence Center participated in a visit to German partners from November 5-8, along with the South-East Estonia Wood Cluster and Projecta Balti OÜ.
We visited three Homag facilities: Homag Kantentechnik, which specializes in the production of edge banding machines, the Homag production plant, where various equipment is manufactured, and the Homag Competence Center, which is similar to a showroom. There, it is possible to see different machines in operation, test their capabilities, and seek advice from machine operators if needed.
The words that stood out from these factories were precision, quality, Lean management, safety, and training for future generations. Homag works closely with schools, offering internships and scholarships to young people. The number of students in the training process is something we should also consider as a model. It constitutes an average of 10% of the total staff (about 6600 people).
Imos AG provided an overview of its furniture and interior design software. A sample product set, consisting of various cabinet modules, a rendered image of the finished product, and calculated material costs along with technical drawings and processing programs, was quickly created. This is a very fast and convenient solution for case furniture.
Hettich is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of furniture fittings, with over 8000 employees worldwide, more than 3800 of whom are in Germany. The scale of the company is such that if you wanted to see all the production buildings at their headquarters in Kirchlengern, you should allow at least two days. Since it is essentially a small production town, it is not recommended to do this on foot.
Ravensberger Holz offers case furniture manufacturing services to end consumers. Whether you want to replace all your kitchen furniture or need a custom-sized additional shelf, you can turn to the company with both large and small concerns. The main clients are small workshops that make furniture according to the end consumer’s wishes.
Horatec offers a similar service to Ravensberger Holz, but on a slightly larger scale. The number of workers is around 170 (many of whom work in customer service), and this is divided between two production buildings. Production is automated, and production workers are more in supervisory and controlling roles. Two interesting facts about this production can be highlighted:
- A production worker/warehouse worker tells the warehouse robot the parameters of the material given to him (for example, A side oak veneer, B side white-stained walnut, 18 mm thick MDF board), and the robot places it in the warehouse shelf according to its preference. If there is a need to use this specific material, the robot knows exactly where the board is and directs it to production. The worker has no idea on which shelf the board is, whether there are other colored boards on top/below it, etc.
- All cut details are marked, and the production line directs them to the buffer warehouse. From there, the robot assembles them according to the workload and sends them to the edge banding line. Thus, each subsequent board on the cutting saw can be of a different order, color, thickness, but the warehouse robot later assembles the suitable details for production and sends them on.
The company Heesemann, which has been operating for over 90 years, mainly deals with the production of sanding machines. This includes calibrators, sanding machines, and aging units of various sizes and configurations.
The company Venjakob offers comprehensive solutions for material finishing. Whether the clients are wood companies, the automotive industry, or even aviation, every problem gets a solution.
Written by Randi Sepping
The activity was carried out by the Võru County Education and Technology Center’s Wood Competence Center TSENTER with the co-financing of the European Union under the project “Development of the South-East Estonia Business Ecosystem”. Read more about the project.
