Innovative lay-up system in plywood manufacturing process

In the traditional plywood manufacturing process, the lay-up stage absorbs approximately 24% of the total manufacturing costs. It usually requires a large amount of manpower and produces a significant amount of waste material. Therefore, the authors have developed an innovative system based on a new idea that reduces these values drastically. The solution is characterized by intensive use of flexible automation, and this breakthrough lay-up system technology is specifically discussed in relation to plywood manufacture. Since the new system was tested, it has been adopted and used by the European leader in poplar plywood manufacturing. Interesting results include productivity increases of up to 20%, a decrease in lay-up costs of approximately 19% and a consumption of area reduced about 42%. Moreover, by reducing manpower requirements, the new system generates a significant reduction in the number of problems relating to product quality and operator safety, which is certainly not a trivial question in the traditional lay-up system.