Dieffenbacher Offers Werzalit Pallet Systems

            German-based Dieffenbacher is offering its Formwood production systems for manufacturing Werzalit composite pallets and pallet blocks.

            The company previously granted an exclusive license to a North American licensee. However, the agreement will terminate in 2008, and Dieffenbacher is offering the technology to others.

            Dieffenbacher has a cooperative agreement with Werzalit, a German manufacturer of equipment for making composite wood products. Under the agreement with Dieffenbacher, Werzalit offers turn-key production equipment, training and technical support.

            Werzalit pallets are made from pressed wood particles, and they comply with the ISPM 15 regulation. The molded pallets are nestable, require no fasteners, and can be made from recycled wood fiber. The cost of the production process is low.

            For more information, call (770) 226-6394 or visit www.dieffenbacher.com.

West Salem Offers Hydraulic Opening

            West Salem Machinery has added a hydraulic case option to its horizontal grinder to improve machine access, reduce downtime and increase safety.

            The use of a pivoted, split front housing combined with dual hydraulic cylinders mounted to the sides of the machine makes the hog faster, simpler and safer to open. The large opening provides excellent access to common wear components, including the anvil, hammers and screens.

            West Salem is the first to build the unique design, according to the company.

            For more information on hydraulic cases for horizontal grinders or more, call West Salem at (800) 722-3530 or visit www.westsalem.com.

Sellick Equipment Offers Tow Forklift

            Sellick Equipment, which specializes in rough terrain forklifts, has developed a new tow forklift.

            The Sellick STT80 tow forklift can tow heavy or extremely large loads efficiently and safely in rough terrain conditions.

            Designed primarily for the modular home manufacturing industry, the STT80 has a lift capacity of 13,000 pounds at 12 inch load center and an 8,000 pound drawbar pull.

            The Sellick STT80 is equipped with a Dieselmax turbocharged Tier III engine and power-shift transmission and is available in both two-wheel and four-wheel drive. It comes with a slide-type, no-bearing mast with a 2-5/16-inch ball hitch for easy engagement plus many more standard features.

            For more information, contact Sellick Equipment at (877) 735-5425, e-mail sales@sellickequipment.com or visit www.sellickequipment.com.

Morgan Saw Offers New Stake Gang Saw

            Morgan Saw Co. has developed a new gang saw for producing stakes and other lumber products.

            The gang will cut material down to 18 inches long, ¾-inch to 2 inches thick, and up to 12 inches wide. Cutting width can be set by using spacers and the appropriate number of saw blades.

            The new Morgan stake gang is powered by a three-phase electric motor ranging from 20-50 hp. Feed rollers are standard.

            Morgan also can customize the machine for any application.

            For more information, contact Morgan Saw at (800) 344-7297, e-mail morgan002@centurytel.net or visit www.morgansaw.com.

Edge Provides Blades for Resaw, Dismantler

            Edge Manufacturing produces a line of carbon wood-cutting bandsaw blades and coil stock for the pallet industry as well as butt flash welders.

            The company’s U.S. EDGE® brand bandsaw blades are for resawing and pallet dismantling. They are fully hardened, one-piece carbon steel and feature precision ground teeth for optimum performance. They are made in the U.S. and available through local distributors.

            Overseeing sales of industrial products for wood-cutting and welding markets is Brad Leister, national sales manager.

            Edge expanded last year with the opening of a new facility in Tampa, Fla. The company also has operations in Missouri and California.

            Edge produces cutting tools for other industries, particularly the food and meat packing industry. It has operations in China, Germany and Brazil and supplies cutting tools to 50 countries on every continent.

            For more information or to contact Edge Manufacturing, call (888) 334-3123 or visit www.edgemfg.com.

Avtron Develops AC Drive for Carriages

            Avtron Industrial Automation, in conjunction with Cleereman Industries and McDonough Manufacturing, is offering a regenerative AC drive package optimized for the sawmill carriage industry.

            The packages are available in sizes ranging from 50-400 hp and are built around Avtron’s ACCEL 500 line of AC drive hardware. They feature a fully regenerative Active Front End for sending power back to the line and reducing overall electrical costs.

            Avtron’s drive package stresses efficiency and overall equipment effectiveness for total lower installed cost. The Avtron AC drive virtually eliminates maintenance costs related to hydrostatic drives and servicing hydraulics. Improved, snappier head rig control is achieved using AC vector drives and standard low-inertia induction motors.

            Avtron drive packages feature redundant air-conditioning, safety stop function in case of power failure and advanced diagnostics. A wide variety of field-bus options are available, including Ethernet, Profi-Bus, DeviceNet and CanOpen.

            All drives have ‘copy and paste’ functions built into the door-mount keypad so configurations can be moved from unit to unit quickly or saved for fast repair and reloading later.

            A three-year warranty is available, and Avtron provides 24-hour emergency service.

            For more information, contact Avtron at (216) 642-1230 or visit www.avtron.com.

FEFPEB Film Promotes Pallets

            FEFPEB, the European pallet trade association, has posted a brief film on its Web site that promotes the environmental benefits of wood pallets.

            The five-minute film, titled Fragile, highlights the benefits of wood materials and especially for transport packaging. It is available as a downloadable flashfile on the association’s Web site.

            The film notes the renewability of wood as a raw material and its ability to remove and store carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas produced by burning fossil fuels. For example, Europe’s pool of about 450 million pallets stores 13 million tons of carbon dioxide.

            The film notes in addition that wood pallets and packaging can be reused, repaired and recycled. At the end of the life cycle, the energy can be recovered. The use of wood pallets and packaging helps preserve our fragile climate and is a socially responsible decision for businesses.

            The film points to other benefits of using wood transport packaging. Wood is naturally antibacterial, and when heat-treated according to ISPM 15, wood packaging can be used for transport throughout the world. It is a low fire hazard compared to other materials and is more hygienic. Also, materials handling and logistics can be optimized with the use of pallet pools.

            The film is available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish and Dutch.

            For the English version, visit the association Web site at www.fefpeb.org and click on ‘Download Fragile film Euro.’

Industrial Resources Offers Portable H-T

            Industrial Resources has developed a new, portable heat-treating system that will be targeted for pallets, lumber and firewood.

            Industrial Resources partnered with another company, Wood Save, in a joint venture. Industrial Resources will manufacture the kilns, and both companies will market and sell them. The two companies have been testing the kilns over a year.

            The portable heat-treating system is contained in an insulated, specially equipped semi-trailer. It uses an electric heat source. The systems will be pre-certified to comply with ISPM-15.

            For pallet suppliers with customers that require heat-treated pallets or containers, the portable system eliminates costly capital expenses for excavation and construction of heat-treating chambers or kilns. Portability also enables the system to serve the needs of multiple pallet plants or locations.

            The new portable heat-treating system also may have application for firewood producers. The firewood business in some states has been impacted by the spread of the emerald ash borer, an insect that kills ash trees. Quarantines have been imposed in some states, restricting the movement of ash trees, logs or hardwood firewood in order to contain infestations of this beetle. Hardwood firewood in quarantined areas is regulated. Generally, the risk associated with the beetle in these areas must be mitigated by heat-treating, kiln-drying, fumigation or debarking.

            Industrial Resources is an international provider of pallet handling equipment. It manufactures machinery and equipment to handle and repair pallets, and it can supply individual component machines or complete pallet management systems.

            For more information, call Industrial Resources at (800) 748-0306.

West Salem Completes Wood Fiber Prep System

            West Salem Machinery (WSM) recently completed a project for a wood fiber preparation system to convert green chips, sawdust and shavings to pellet fuel.

            The system handles up to 100 green tons of fiber per hour. It includes pre-screening and milling material to about ½-inch to ¾-inch minus product size.

            The system features two WSM drag chain reclaims that allow bulk loading and metered feeding of wood fiber, a WSM belt conveyor with overhead permanent, self-cleaning magnet, a WSM vibrating screen, and a WSM swing hammer hammermill. Pre-screening incoming material increases through-put using less energy.

            The complete system was engineered and manufactured by WSM.

            To learn more about WSM’s fiber preparation systems for renewable energy projects and its complete line of size reduction, screening and recycling systems, call (800) 722-3530 or visit www.westsalem.com.

Sumpraxis Offers Innovative Corrugated Pallet Design in U.S.

            One fairly unique idea found at the recent Promat materials handling show is the SolidPak pallet marketed in the United States by Sumpraxis (www.sumpraxis.com). It uses triangular corrugated board to create a lightweight, strong, unique design.

            Ashok Syal, managing director of Sumpraxis, said that the triangle is the strongest load bearing shape imaginable and that many corrugated layers put together provides significant strength for carrying loads considering the lightweight nature of the packaging itself. 

            Weighing roughly 10% the weight of a wooden pallet, the design offers a corrugated pallet that can be assembled at the user’s location without adhesives. Pallets can be sent unassembled, which allows 3.5 times the normal number of corrugated pallets in a trailer.

            The triangular sections fit snugly into the top deck and will not come out thanks to the patented design, according to Sumpraxis. Currently, the SolidPak design is patented in 22 countries.

            A variety of materials can be used in the SolidPak design. This includes standard corrugate, recycled paper, corrugated plastic, etc. Ashok of Sumpraxis said the SolidPak pallet will sell for equal to or slightly less than a new wood pallet depending on the type of material used.

            SolidPak is marketed as an environmentally friendly product that is fully recyclable and exempt from international phytosanitary requirements. Designs can come in a variety of footprint sizes, configuration. This includes both block and stringer pallet designs as well as pallet containers and store-ready displays.

            Ashok said, “Some of the products are integrated with the packaging boxes as well as with the point-of-sale packs, this will help producers to ship their goods directly to the retail points, without the need of offloading the products from the pallets in the warehouses behind the stores. Saves time and effort…Of course the pallets lend themselves easily to bar coding, advertizing, RFID solutions etc.”

            The product is targeted to be commercially available by the middle of 2009. Currently, Sumpraxis is looking for manufacturing partners. For more information, visit www.Sumpraxis.com.

Correction

            A Smart Products machine was incorrectly identified in an article and picture caption in the February issue of Pallet Enterprise.

            The correct name of the machine is the Block Pallet Prep. The Smart Products Block Pallet Prep is designed to quickly cut damaged boards, including the outside and middle connector boards, of block-style pallets. It also is designed for dismantling block pallets for increased block and lumber recovery.

Wood-Mizer Offers New 7 Degree Blade

            Wood-Mizer Blades has introduced a new thin-kerf band blade. The new seven degree blade saws exotic woods from tropical regions, extreme hardwoods, seasoned or recycled beams and frozen logs.

            The Wood-Mizer seven degree blade features greater hook angle and higher tooth height than four degree and 10 degree profiles. Increased gullet capacity removes sawdust more efficiently, enabling a higher feed rate. The blade can be used for sawmills with a wide range of horsepower.

            “The seven degree blade meets the new demands of sawmills running accurately at much higher feed rates and cutting through difficult hardwoods with the efficiency of normal wood,” said Randy Panko, sales manager of the blades division.

            The seven degree profile is part of the DoubleHard product line that offers extended life and withstands multiple sharpening.

            It is available in the following width-kerf combinations: 1.25-inchx.045-inch, 1.25x.055, 1.5x.045 and 1.5x.055. Wood-Mizer will manufacture the blade to fit the length of any sawmill or resaw.

            For more information, contact Wood-Mizer Blades at (800) 522-5760 or visit www.woodmizer.com.

Kaeser Device Monitors Compressed Air Systems

            Kaeser Compressors offers a device to audit compressed air systems.

            The Kaeser Air Demand Analysis monitors and charts air flow, power consumption and system pressure during normal operating hours for 10 days.

            Using state-of-the-art data loggers and precision sensors, it provides a complete picture of air requirements, including the relationship between peak and base load compressors and each compressor’s duty cycle.

            With the data it provides, Kaeser specialists can identify areas for improvement and recommend equipment upgrades. Most equipment upgrades can be installed without interrupting normal operations; benefits include productivity improvements as well as energy savings.

            For more information, call Kaeser Compressors at (800) 777-7873 or visit www.kaeser.com/ada.