Page 20 - Parquet International december 2014

ON FIELD
DOMENICO ADELIZZI
TECHNOLOGY
When wood meets technology
Flexible automation and robots for the production of multilayer parquet elements
Avisit to the latest edition of the “Xyl- expo 2014” Show dedicated to the woodworking machinery sector last May at the Rho Trade Fair Grounds in Mi- lan provided ample demonstration that the time has come to go beyond rigid, fossilized processes in the direction of new productive structures that have higher flexibility in mind. The final blow to Traditionalism was recently given by many companies, espe- cially those based in Asia who have made Just in time programming their winning card. The market has changed radically again, even in just the last few years, and the merciless competition from companies pro- ducers in the developing world has obliged many parquet producers to choose systems that are capable of providing rapid response to variations in client demands.
Reducing times and costs seem to be the factors to bear in mind in the new technological processes, and multilayer parquet (erroneously often referred to as pre-fin- ished) is not excepted from these new commercial dic- tates, and for this reason prod- ucts now tend to be complet- ed only at the moment of
shipment to the client. The advantages derived are excellent because
reduced stock levels require lower capital in- vestment. This latest edition of the Xylex- poShow also demonstrated that most wood- working systems and machines have been computerized by now and computers permit the management with rapid flexibility of more economical production lots controlled by programs with such simple instructions that they can be programmed by anyone with a minimum amount of training.
The robotizing of certain processing phases by work centers and logistic systems has also rendered processes for both solid single-lay- er and multi-layer parquet much more flex- ible and economical. Robots are mecha- nisms that repeat a number of elementary op- erations and therefore raise output. Their widespread use has played a key role in in- creasing industrial automation.
The Cartesian, hybrid, and anthropomorphic robots presented at Xylexpo 2014 by many Italian and international companies vaunt a reliability that has by now been guaranteed by international regulations. The “automat- ic factory” is already on the horizon in the foreseeable future, and now many companies even in the Orient can offer CIM (Comput- er Integrated Manufacturing).
The advantages of automatic cutting-off machines
The multi-layer parquet adventure begins with the planning and cutting-off of the sol- id wood performed on high-quality systems appropriate to every productive need. Au- tomatic cutting-off machines come with op- timizers that reduce scrap to a minimum, and companies with high productions use ex- cellent cutting-off lines with ideal optimiz- ers that are quick and easy to use (less than 0.002 seconds for all cutting calculations).
The conveyor reaches elevated speeds with extremely rapid accelerations and cutting times, while the possibility to obtain dif- ferent sizes by means of a simple selector suits the cutting-off machines to any need the client may have. There are also cutting- off machines at the technological vanguard for optimized cuts with translation rollers suited to every size (unworked or deformed)