NZ TIMBER
Our quarterly focus on the New Zealand milling and processing sector looks at the recently upgraded sawmill at Millburn, which is now an essential part of the Pan Pac organisation. And Thode celebrates the opening of its new headquarters in Rotorua.
SAW MANUFACTURER AND SUPPLIER, THODE KNIFE & SAW, has officially opened its new headquarters building in Rotorua, where it is better placed to service and support customers in the sawmilling and wood processing sector.
Being closer to major sawmilling customers was a strong consideration for moving the head office from Auckland, in addition to being able to have a larger building that was more cost-effective, says Adrian Hoogeveen, General Manager of Thode Knife & Saw.
The company has shifted two kilometres down the road from the previous branch location to a building in a more high profile position in Te Ngae Road. It’s around 35% larger and offers more showroom, workshop and warehousing space and facilities, along with better parking for customers.
“The new building is far more suited to our operation particularly being an approved transitional facility we have the room and layout to handle containers freely,” says Mr Hoogeveen.
“Our capacity has increased considerably for bandsaw manufacturing and servicing as a result of new equipment and we can now service circular saws in Rotorua as well as Auckland. Our machines are all state-of-the-art CNC, requiring less operator input and able to do a far superior job.
“The move gave us the ability to create a much better, more efficient factory layout and introduce new machinery in a controlled well-planned manner with room and planning for future development.”
Among the features of the new equipment that Thode has installed at Rotorua is the introduction of waterjet cutting of saw blades, which creates greater efficiencies along with CNC grinding machines and automatic tension and level machines.
There is also greater room to display product and machinery, including the latest range of new Iseli sharpening machines to sell to customers.
With the new premises fully operational, the Thode team took the opportunity to host an official opening event recently to show customers the latest in saw and sharpening technology.
Thode now has 20 staff working out of the new premises in Rotorua, along with others around New Zealand and also in Australia.
Established back in 1946, Thode remains a New Zealand-owned company servicing and supplying industrial knives and saws and its sales consultants are qualified saw doctors with many years of experience.
NZL