The latest in a long line of investments at Devon kitchen manufacturer System Six Kitchens Ltd is providing cleaner factory air and will enable further increases in output.
The Exeter-based company introduced a dust extraction system, supplied by Wood Waste Control Engineering Ltd, to replace a modular filter system which had been unable to keep pace with increasing output at the 20,000ft2 factory.
Production has risen from 150 carcasses each week to 600 units over the past four years, thanks to new technology including a Gabbiani beamsaw, Homag edgebander and Biesse and Morbidelli point-to-point machines. Total cost of all machinery including the dust extraction system is around £500,000.
Kitchen units are constructed with melamine faced chipboard, using Marpatt, Burbidge and PWS doors.
The new cyclo dust extraction system has been designed to accommodate a waste-burning unit, planned for next year, which will reduce the cost and environmental impact of paying to send skips to landfill, while generating factory space heating in winter.
Production manager Nigel Jones said: “The government is forcing us to go this way and I think most manufacturers, especially in the wood game, are being forced to use their own waste as heating because it is costing so much money to get rid of the stuff.”
Wood Waste Control Engineering’s technical team specified a 4Y5 cyclo filter supplied by Stiros. The 8.5m tall, 3m diameter unit is mounted onto steelwork at the rear of the premises, featuring air ductwork to return air to the factory.
It employs a PB fan directly driven by a 55kW/75hp motor.
