Moelven Østerdalsbruket
Safety second to none at Moelven Østerdalsbruket
Close collaboration with Luja has led to improved safety standards and greater productivity at Moelven Østerdalsbruket AS in Norway.
Imagine if part of a 10-metre-long saw blade came flying through the sawmill – not a nice thought!
However, this was something which happened repeatedly at Moelven Østerdalsbruket AS, so they contacted Luja Sawtech to rectify the problem.
Stein Stensløkken Eriksen, production manager at the sawmill, was the contact, and he is extremely happy with the final result.
“It was dangerous to have pieces flying around, so it had to be stopped. And it has – completely. We have not had a single incident of damaged saw blades since we brought Luja on board. In the past, we experienced 30-40 breaking saw blades a year,” says Stein Stensløkken Eriksen.
Reference visit
The agreement was signed after lengthy discussions about the solution model for the upgrade and after paying a reference visit to one of Luja’s other customers in Sweden.
“Søren Luja Hansen was here for much of 2015, and we are extremely happy with the upgrades,” says Stein Stensløkken Eriksen.
Safety was important, and it was necessary to restore the employees’ confidence in safety standards at the plant. In addition, there was a desire that the work should result in less noise in production and smoother running saws.
One of the sawmill’s objectives was to cut 50 mm rather than 38 mm side boards, and this required upgrading Moelven Østerdalsbruket’s seven bandsaws.
Among other things, Luja has installed BC400 automatic blade tracking to ensure that the blades are always running in the correct position, while a new lubrication system, oil-dosing system and grinding and balancing of the wheels were also on the list.
“We have seen a significant reduction in oil consumption, and this has also reduced costs,” says Stein Stensløkken Eriksen.
Entire line checked
Luja conducted checks on the entire saw line, and all the saws and lines have been realigned to ensure that the saws run as they should. In addition, the working procedures have been optimised, so that all machines and processes run more smoothly.
Stein Stensløkken Eriksen highlights the positive results on the saws and the improved safety – just as downtime has generally been reduced and output improved.
“Luja is extremely good at identifying the little details that make a difference. This is not something we have ever experienced to anything like the same extent with other suppliers – and it has made a real difference. Søren Luja Hansen is extremely scrupulous, and expects a lot of himself. The entire project has been carefully planned from the outset, and in fact there is nothing which could have been done better,” says a satisfied production manager, who expects the positive working relationship to continue in future.
Facts
Moelven Østerdalsbruket lies half way between Oslo and Trondheim, surrounded by mountains and beautiful scenery. The facility is a sawmill combined with a planing mill and a wood treatment plant and a paint line.
Each year it produces 60,000 cubic metres of wood, the vast majority of which is sold on the Norwegian market through Moelven Wood AS.
Moelven Østerdalsbruket has 52 employees, and annual revenue totals approx. EUR 15 million.
The work that Luja A/S performed:
The main line at Østerdalsbruket has seven bandsaws which are getting on a bit, just like at many other sawmills.
Together with the company’s own employees, Luja installed an oil-dosing system as well as a BC400 automatic blade tracking system on all the saws. Beforehand, Luja extensively renovated and re-engineered the saws to make them more user-friendly and reliable. This work comprised alignment, fitting a lubrication/scraping system, re-crowning and balancing the wheels as well as various other mechanical modifications.
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