Summary
•ECC Teo was established by PJ Fahy in 1992.
• It recently commissioned a new planing and added-value line.
• Exports to the UK now account for 50% of output.
• The new range of PAR, eased edge material is geared for the UK market.

ECC Teo has been supplying quality construction, fencing and pallet timber products to the UK and Irish markets since 1992. Set up by managing director PJ Fahy in partnership with Connacht Gold co-operative society, the company has become a major force in the Irish and UK timber industry over the past 20 years, earning a strong reputation for excellent service and quality products. Now processing over 330,000m³ per year and employing 260 staff, ECC continues to go from strength to strength.

That strength is typified by an investment programme to the tune of €5m. Underlining its ambitions and confidence in the future, the company has recently commissioned a new planing and added-value line. “The timber industry has proved itself extremely resilient over the past three years despite the obvious difficulties facing it, said PJ Fahy. “We feel that timber has a lot of potential and this investment is proof of that.”

UK trade

The company traditionally sold the majority of its construction timber on the Irish domestic market, with exports to the UK, mainly of fencing and pallet products, accounting for 30% of output. However, the economic slowdown in Ireland has encouraged the company to further develop its trade to the UK. By building on a long-established UK customer base the company has grown exports to over 80,000m³ or 50% of output.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to both our new and existing customers in Irish and UK timber markets” said Mr Fahy. Commenting on the ECC staff, he added, “From management to the plant floor, our whole team have been exceptional over the past three years; everyone rowed together to tackle the slowdown head on.”

The increasing demand for planed all round, eased edge material in the UK construction market posed a new challenge for the company, to which it has responded with a new state-of-the-art planing and added-value facility.

Plans for the line began almost two years ago with the company initially intending to simply plane timber. However, as the standards for structural timber changed with the introduction of EN14081 and an increasing volume and variety of fencing products was being sold, it became clear that a high level of innovation was required to design a line which could efficiently produce the variety of products which ECC manufactures, while also satisfying regulatory requirements.

Project team

A design team led by ECC project manager Pat Mullarkey, who PJ Fahy describes as “a gifted engineer”, was established, which then worked in close collaboration with its long-standing machinery and technology suppliers, some of whom have worked with ECC for more than 20 years.

The team travelled all over Europe to research the latest technology. “We worked with our suppliers as partners in developing and converting new concepts into reality,” said Mr Mullarkey. “Having a greenfield site also allowed us to develop a line with no limitations.”

The final blueprint encompassed a high-speed grading, planing and sorting facility complemented with resawing, pointing, cross-cutting and stacking units capable of handling over 500m³ per shift. Obel-P group company Brodbaek & Co supplied the handling and cross-cutting equipment for the line, including a large capacity infeed comprising a tilt hoist, unscrambler, singulator, board turner, sorting flap and infeed to a twin band resaw which tilts to produce fencing products such as arris and cant rails. The outfeed offers three automatic stacking units which include a 5-head tilting cross-cut, a revolutionary new pointing unit and automatic sorting flap for double size splitting. Finally, a common outfeed automatically wraps, skids and straps each pack, delivering the bale on a roller bed at the end of the line.

Turnkey solution

Slovenia-based Ledinek supplied a turnkey solution for high-speed machine grading, planing and printing of construction timber. This included a Ledinek powerfeed direct to a Microtec Goldeneye X-ray density scanner (see box below), online reject facility and second powerfeed direct onto a 7-head Superplan 7V-300 capable of speeds of up to 300m/min.

A conveyor to bypass the planer was also included to allow for the grading of rough sawn material for the Irish market. The outfeed incorporates three printing heads to stamp each individual piece according to EN14081 standards, feeding onto a slowdown belt and fair ending rolls delivering planed, graded boards back onto the Brodbaek stacking lines.

Extraction for the plant came from an Irish supplier, O’Brien Extraction, and included two separate cyclones, a chain filter unit and conveyor system that transfers the shavings and dust separately from the line into a 500m³ concrete bunker. The innovative recirculation of exhaust air from the cyclones back into the chain filter leaves the shavings almost completely dust free whilst also protecting the environment from the emissions of fine dust.

Customised automation

A high level of customised automation supplied and built on site by Canada-based Guy Gingras of Opertech (who has worked with ECC since 1992) completes the line with user-friendly interface and recipe set-up, resulting in high-efficiency production. “Our production set-up meant having a quick changeover time between processes was an important criterion from the beginning and, as usual, Guy Gingras has delivered this with great success,” said production manager Christy Walsh.

For the overall success of the line, however, PJ Fahy takes his hat off to Pat Mullarkey: “Through his tireless efforts and attention to detail, Pat has once again left his personal stamp on the project,” said PJ Fahy. “Along with our general manager, he has put together a line that we are extremely proud of.

“We are particularly proud of being able to bring this project to fruition in the current climate,” he added. “Financed 100% from the company’s own funds, with no state assistance, it is a huge vote of confidence in our customers, employees and suppliers for the future.”