The UK’s leading moulder suppliers are in general agreement. They report orders and enquiries taking a hit in the first and to a lesser extent the second quarter, but subsequently business getting back on track, reflecting a solid wood processing sector focused on driving efficiency and meeting rising demand. They’re now looking at continued market upturn post-pandemic, with the roll out of new moulder technologies both reflecting business confidence and helping underpin growth.
Weinig UK managing director Malcolm Cuthbertson said the market started improving after the first lockdown and that it hasn’t stopped since.
“Demand for timber products has been amazing, with all customers reporting high levels of activity,” he said. “That’s translated into a high volume of enquiries and orders especially in Q4 2020 and Q1 2021. It’s driven by the wish to increase capacity.”
SCM Group UK has been “surprised by 2020 developments”.
“The first two quarters were highly affected [by the lockdown], but in the second two the market has experienced an incredible turnaround. We closed the year with an outstanding order book,” said managing director Gabriele de Col.
HOMAG concludes that the pandemic will not have had a major impact on the market overall. “Investments were curbed in the first half, but subsequently increased again,” said surface processing specialist Johannes Lang. “Basically the solid wood processing market is growing year on year and the moulder, the main product for the task, is growing with it.”
Leadermac experienced continued strong Middle East sales as the first lockdown impacted UK business, then saw the latter surge.
“Strongest demand was for the larger machines with more automation from bigger companies, notably the Speedmac and Thundermac,” said general manager Martyn Cotterill. “Some have been replacements, but most have been additional machines to meet increased demand. Enquiries for associated tool room equipment have also been strong.”
Weinig has seen demand across the range of moulder specifications, with a particular call for higher speed 100m/min machines.
Both SCM and HOMAG say they’ve done particularly well with medium-level models.
“Our primary moulder solution is a midrange machine offering excellent capacity and flexibility,” said Mr Lang.
SCM puts demand for this level of moulder down to customers looking for a combination of ease of use, competitiveness and reliability.
“But at the same time we’ve observed customers becoming increasingly willing to look at more technological machines, featuring more electronic control and PLC or PC supervision,” said Mr de Col.
A continuing trend in moulders through 2020 has been the ‘trickle down’ of more advanced technologies – once the preserve of big ticket machines – to entry to mid-level models.
At SCM this has seen introduction at all machine levels of electronic positioning of heads in several axes to accelerate set up and avoid errors.
“A second focus has been incorporation of component return systems to increase productivity, avoid proximity of operators and reduce manual intervention,” said Mr de Col. “And most revolutionary for many moulder owners is application of our eye-M intelligent control panel supported by our Maestro software suite.”
HOMAG too has been ‘downsizing’ moulder advances, applying technologies proven in larger series machines to smaller models.
“As of today, all series have the same control platform and the same software can be used across all machine sizes,” said Mr Lang.
Weinig stresses that its strategy has been to incorporate technology and automation in smaller machines that deliver “real practical benefits, rather than gimmicks”.
“This is evidenced by our Cube Plus [4-side planer] – a marriage of practicality and technology, that gives owners ultimate simplicity and safety in a compact, affordable package.”
In response to customer demand, Leadermac has also been supplying its basic Smartmac/Compact machines with “all the bells and whistles”. “That includes Siko electronic readouts rather than the old mechanical type,” said Mr Cotterill.
Latest moulder launches include the new Profimat 30 and, its bigger sibling, the Profimat 50 from Weinig. The former underlines the trend for packing more technology into smaller packages. With a footprint of just 1.5mx1.3m, it’s aimed at small to medium-sized users with a diverse product range. It comes in four and five spindle variants, and a choice of two motors, standard and upgraded for users who need “extra grunt”.
Standard working height is 8-120mm and working width 13-230mm and particularly noteworthy, says Weinig, is its ability to operate to widths of 260mm, making it suited to stair tread and window board production.
The machine has infinitely variable 6 to 15m/min feed and features a 5mm lateral guiding fence that moves with the left spindle to keep the product against the fence.
The standard machine features mechanical digital readouts for axial and radial spindle position, while the next variant up comes with Digi-Set read-outs, directly indicating material width and thickness. Then there’s the option of the Weinig Machine Control Package, combining CNC positioning for width and thickness, electronic digital displays and a 10.1in touch screen with Memory Plus profile data storing.
“This is our first modern moulder selling for under £30,000,” said Mr Cuthbertson. “And, despite being compact, it has a wealth of features designed to boost productivity, precision and safety.”
The Profimat 50 gives users further functionality with feed speeds of 5-30m/ min and the option of five and six spindle versions.
Without giving away too many details, HOMAG promises a new machine this year targeted at the smaller craft sector. “It will appeal to companies consistently processing the same materials and products and that need to make fewer profile changes and adjustments,” said Mr Lang.
SCM’s major recent launch has been the new superset nt, designed for manufacturers of profiles for windows, doors, stairs and furniture.
“It’s equipped with a new sound proof cabin able to protect operators and secure the machining area,” said Mr de Col. “All manual set-ups have been improved with a new identification system, millimetre scale and pneumatic locking/unlocking device for the right fence. There are four configurations, manual, manual with PC, a version with a PLC for electronic positioning and a fully automated PC-controlled model.
“We’ve also introduced a new machine configuration with double vertical right spindles and a new universal electronically controlled spindle for customers who want flexibility with quick and reliable machine setup. The range of configurations suits it to customers, from small artisans to medium/ large companies.”
Machine control systems and software have also continued to evolve.
HOMAG has introduced new control technology to assist programming. “Profile visualisation on the display makes it easier to set the machine, saving considerable time and allowing for greater output,” said Mr Lang.
Its latest software developments include ProfileCenter for visualising production steps for profiles via the control system, particularly helpful, it says, in production of window profiles.
Also new, HOMAG’s free download IntelliMolding app supports operation and provides digital tools.
“This minimises errors, increases efficiency and opens up new optimisation potential,” said Mr Lang. “Required suction volume is determined and planing stroke width, or workpiece quantity calculated, taking into account feed rate, working time and workpiece dimensions.”
Weinig rolled out its new Weinig Machine Control (WMC) software and human machine interface system in 2020. “This now gives a common and similar platform and visual appearance to software across the Weinig Group,” said Mr Cuthbertson.
A recent innovation from SCM is its Mobile PC electronic control with Maestro active 4-side software, described as a “key point around which SCM is renewing our solution”.
“Operators are now familiar with technology and machines controlled by PC,” said Mr de Col. “This has enabled us to implement new software functionalities supporting the operator during set-up and that can control and trace production. It acquires batch data through a manual scanner directly connected with the machine, then using it for automatic set-up and tracking batch production, storing all information in the machine database.”
Leadermac reports strong uptake of its Schneider Easyset software, for smaller machines, and Siemens Smartset.
While introducing new technologies, moulder suppliers say they’ve also responded to customer demand through the pandemic for technical support to keep existing machines in optimum working order.
“In 2020 we experienced a near doubling of service contracts at all customer levels, confirming increased attention on keeping equipment in tip top form, productivity high and downtime to a minimum,” said Mr de Col.
HOMAG highlights the trend to remote service support. “With our ServiceBoard app, the current service case of the machine is transmitted live to the ServiceCenter via wireless video diagnosis,” said Mr Lang. “In this way, technicians in the ServiceCenter can identify problems and help more quickly, often rectifying the fault straight away.”
After a demanding and busy year for moulders suppliers, they’re taking a positive outlook.
“Our moulders enquiries must be at an alltime high, with a particular concentration on higher speed machines,” said Mr Cuthbertson.
HOMAG also predicts increased activity due to the combination of the appeal of its technology and the market’s ever increasing “focus on sustainability and use of renewable raw materials such as wood”.
Leadermac is equally upbeat. “From our experience in the last 12 months, we’re expecting demand to remain strong for the range of machines,” said Mr Cotterill.
With changing market dynamics, Mr de Col also foresees a “steady return of solid wood manufacturing from eastern Europe”.
“We’ve already enjoyed this in the last two to three years and I hope it will continue to be the case.”
