Partners
IMAL S.R.L. (Project Coordinator)
Since its foundation in 1970, IMAL has steadily expanded over the decades to become a world leader in the manufacture and supply of plants and machinery for wood based products.
The company specialises in a wide range of high-tech instruments and equipment; IMAL’s production covers the entire wood working machinery category, focusing in particular on the production of engineered wood products as well as packaging systems, such as pallet blocks. Its activities also include the manufacture and supply of glue blending systems and quality control equipment, as well as complete part new/part reconditioned plants, accompanied by full guarantee.
The engineering division, at the IMAL industrial unit, houses 20 CAD latest generation dual processor stations all equipped with 3D plant and machinery engineering systems and virtual simulation of the production process and operation.
The electronics department is constantly seeking new ideas to create innovative products and alternatives to standard supplies, which are vital to remain competitive on the market and to produce original products and equipment.
The activities of the Software department mainly involve the development of the management software for the single machines, as well as the PLC automation and visualization of complete lines.
The investments made in R&D, combined with the use of the most advanced technology available today, have undoubtedly contributed greatly to IMAL’s success. The company is fully computerized and PC network linked to provide fully integrated solutions. As well as being certified ISO 9001, various products of IMAL’s range have also been TUV certified by the prestigious Munich Institute in Germany.
IMAL has designed and patented machines and technical solutions to improve the production process of wood-based panels and other innovative products (such as pallet blocks). Innovations designed for quality control equipment and testing have expanded and extended IMAL’s knowledge and have enabled the company to convey this knowhow to the market.
Acimall
Acimall is the Italian Woodworking Machinery and Tool Manufacturers Association. Its main mission is to promote the Italian industry abroad.
It was established in Milan in 1966 and has about 180 member companies, representing more over 85% of the national personnel and turnover, that is about 10k employees and 1 billion euro, 80% of which comes from exports.
CEP, the Acimall promotion centre, is the operating arm of the association: it organizes Xylexpo, an international exhibition that is the world’s most important industry fair, held every two years, and publishes the bimonthly magazines Xylon (in Italian) and ItalianWoodTech (in English).
As the representative of such a large portion of the industry, Acimall-Cepra has earned the respect of all the national and international bodies that the woodworking machinery industry has occasion to deal with. It actively participates in the work of Federmacchine, the Italian federation that groups together 11 national associations representing the same number of sectors in the machine tool industry. As a national trade association, it is a member of the CFI (Industrial Tradeshow Committee), Confindustria (Italian Manufacturers Association), and UNI (Italian National Standards Association).
CEP is active in Italy and abroad in advocacy groups for the establishment of technical and safety standards. It conducts industry studies and analyses that provide members with essential information for mapping out their strategies. Both independently and in collaboration with the Italian Trade Commission, it coordinates the participation of Italian businesses in the most important trade fairs around the world. CEP promotes Italian manufacturers in all markets with a woodworking industry. It organizes the attendance of delegations of business people and technical experts in Italy to show what Italian know-how has to offer.
In addition, CEP coordinates training activities, including setting up training centres in countries of particular interest to Italian manufacturers.
Chimar Hellas S.A.
Chimar Hellas is a small industrial enterprise established in Thessaloniki, Greece. It develops and provides technology and R&D services to the resin and wood-based panel industries, specifically technology for the industrial production of adhesive resins, the production of resin additives as well as technology for the application of said products in the industrial manufacture of wood panels. It also undertakes the engineering and construction of chemical plants producing formaldehyde, resins and resin additives.
It has a focus on providing safe and environmentally friendly products and technologies, following the most stringent requirements worldwide and promoting the sustainability of its industry field.
It is also a pioneer in the reduction of formaldehyde emission from wood-based products having developed adhesive systems for emission at the level of natural wood. CHIMAR counts an international experience of more than 36 years and its technology has been applied via licensing agreements in numerous industrial plants in more than 37 countries.
The wood panels produced each year using the chemicals of CHIMAR technology account for over 5% of the global wood panel production.
Facilities: CHIMAR has offices, laboratory and pilot plant facilities in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, from which it serves the resin and panel manufacturers in many parts of the world. It also operates a manufacturing unit producing chemical additives on demand.
The lab and pilot facilities of CHIMAR include:
- A well-equipped chemical laboratory for advanced synthesis, testing and analysis of adhesive resins and
- chemicals
- A technical laboratory for testing the performance of wood panels,
- Pilot scale installation for producing adhesive resins (nominal capacity 50L) and
- Pilot scale installation for producing wood panels.
CHIMAR lab is accredited according to EN ISO/IEC 17025 for formaldehyde testing as per EN120 and EN717-2.
J.M. Colomer S.A.
Founded in 1968, the company dedicated itself to the sale of machinery to three large interrelated sectors
- Machinery and facilities for the production of agglomerate wood panels, MDF, OSB
- Machinery and facilities for the production of plywood and fine plates of European and exotic woods.
- Machinery for the treatment of decorative papers for the furniture and decoration industry.
The company works as a dealer/consultant for different machine manufacturers in Europe (e.g. Italy, Germany, Austria etc.).
COL has always invested in technical expertise and innovation. For example In 2008 it developed a kit to modify any Ruckle splicer Mod FZS. In 2009 a system (again as a kit) for feeding a Ruckle splicer FZS with veneer of 0,3mm thick instead of the former 0,5mm, a very important improvement since it allows veneer to be spliced on the basis of the thickness given by the slicers and therefore having a much more economical result as well as less waste.
For Fisher Omnimaster in 2005 it developed a system with a foot pedal with which it is possible to work and splice veneers with weak or damaged edges, manually, while in 2006 COL modified the glue dosing system of the Omnimaster by adding a decanter.
Additionally COL works on many on-field solutions. For example they have transformed a regular veneer dryer into a press dryer. They regularly restore, and update older machinery for the woodworking industry, both mechanically and electronically for leading companies such as: Pal / Imal s.r.l., Fisher&Ruckle, Dieffenbacher gmbh, Imeas s.r.l., Vits gmbh, Trasmec s.r.l., Grenzebach gmbh etc.
Eirebloc
EIR is the newest entrant to the composite block manufacturing business in Europe. In the period leading up to commencement, they conducted in-depth research into new ways of cleansing waste wood in preparation for use as a recycled raw material.
EIR was formed in 2007 and began manufacturing in 2008. The plant is state of the art and the first of its kind to produce extruded pallet blocks from recycled wood (recycled dies).
The recycled wood is shredded, cleaned of all contaminants, dried and mixed with resins. It is then extruded and cut to size.
They bring an incisive appreciation of the vital importance of adherence to the fine tolerances (dimensional accuracy, moisture content, block density etc) that collectively determine the class of the finished product. The Company future expansion in the business lies squarely on the ability to reach buyers who expect quality as a given by disseminating the key message that theirs is a constant search for perfection.
The plant currently produces about 70,000 m³ per annum and the product is sold in Ireland, UK and mainland Europe. The current turnover is in the region €10 m and the export level is about 85%.
Eirebloc is strongly committed to a role of environmental leadership in all facets of the business by understanding environmental issues, recognizing that with business activity comes environmental responsibility, developing innovative and flexible solutions to bring about change, striving to buy and sell environmentally friendly products, encourage all customers and suppliers to share in our mission.
In March 2011, EIR achieved FSC certification as further evidence of its commitment to the environment. Finally EIR has been involved in two LIFE-Environment projects: Tyre-Wood Block and CleanWood. Both of these projects (now completed) have had a significant impact on the processes and systems used in Eirebloc.