Busy Hilmer Andersson sawmill chooses Renholmen
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Renholmen has delivered a complete sticker stacker with parcel handling to the Hilmer Andersson sawmill at Åmotfors in Värmland.
“The solution will help us achieve our capacity goals, make nice timber parcels and improve the work environment”, says Nils Andersson, Production Manager at Hilmer Andersson.
AB Hilmer Andersson was founded back in 1927 when Hilmer Andersson built his first sawmill, which later developed into one of the largest in Värmland. Today, the fast-growing company is run by the fourth generation of Anderssons: siblings Kari, Nils and Karl.
“It’s a customer that’s really fun to work with. They are progressive and knowledgeable and dare to invest in new technology”, says Hans Eriksson, salesman at Renholmen.
New investment increases efficiency
Hilmer Andersson hired Renholmen for the first time in 2021. That was when the first double-acting timber step feeder was purchased for the parcel stacker, and number two arrived for the sticker stacker the following year. In 2023, the sawmill invested in a major rebuild of the green sorting line, including a completely new cutting system with Trimmer ElectroSinus, Electro Positioner and Flexicut.
The trimmer performs modular cutting and scanning the timber at the green sorting stage means that defective pieces are cut away automatically. This saves time, provides quality assurance and allows the wood to be sent directly to the planing mill without passing through the dry sorting line.
The equipment was installed on the upper floor of the green sorting plant and was so effective that it created a bottleneck on the lower floor. The new sticker stacker will increase efficiency and also bring other benefits.
More space and less noise
“The work environment is improved, there is less noise and more space for the employees in production. The employees also have time for other tasks because the sticker stacker automates more of the process”, says Nils Andersson.
The facility has been developed in close collaboration between Hilmer Andersson and Renholmen.
“Renholmen offers a very good complete solution. They have good machines, good programmers and a good project organisation which has been responsive to our wishes”, says Nils Andersson.
During the second week of September, a handover test was run, representing 70 per cent of the promised capacity.
“The test was supposed to last for three days, but everyone soon saw that we were at well over 100 per cent, so we finished it early”, says Hans Eriksson.
Prefabricated many delivery parts
“The tight schedule for the whole project was a challenge from start to finish, but especially during the assembly and commissioning work in the summer”, says Daniel Wiklund, project manager at Renholmen.
In order to manage the delivery to meet Hilmer Andersson’s desire for as little downtime as possible, Renholmen prefabricated many delivery parts, both in the workshop and on the customer’s premises. Thanks to good cooperation with the customer and a strong team effort, it was possible to meet the expectations for a short shutdown time for a project of this size.
“We were up and running in production after four weeks of assembly and commissioning, and after a further five weeks of the planned handover testing, we had the capacity to pass the acceptance tests at 100 per cent”, says Daniel Wiklund.