£6m investment in a new state-of-the-art sawmill
ARBOR FOREST PRODUCTS SPLASHES CASH ON MAJOR NEW TECHNOLOGY UPGRADE
A£6M investment in a state-of-the art sawmill has been unveiled on the South Humber Bank. Arbor Forest Products has added what it describes as the most advanced system of its kind in the UK to the port-centric manufacturing site it operates at New Holland.
Featuring unique timber scanning technology, it allows the company to eliminate defects in timber lengths, reducing wants and saving time.
It is the first half of a £12m investment that will create 20 new jobs.
The new planing line was developed with Swedish company System Hall AB, which designs, manufactures and supplies many different types of mechanical handling systems and conveyors for the woodworking industry, primarily, up to now, in its neighbouring Nordic countries. Phil Yell, operations director, said: “This new facility represents a significant investment for us, and a large leap forward in terms of the standards being achieved in the UK timber market. “Technology like this has so far only existed overseas, and we’re very proud to have worked with System Hall to bring this level of processing power to the UK for the first time. “We are now able to accurately assess each piece of timber that passes through our facility and can therefore guarantee a specified level of quality for each batch, in line with our customers’ expectations. With some industrial users reporting wastage levels of around 10 per cent due to faults with the timber, this is a genuine game-changer for UK timber.”
Arbor serves end users, including shed manufacturers, those building farm and equine facilities and the general construction market.
Mr Yell and Phil Bott, sawmill production director, worked closely with System Hall’s Jaokim Blixt to agree the design and layout of the facility, travelling to Scandinavia in late 2019 to see how similar sawmills, where facilities operate with faster line speeds and higher levels of automation than has previously been seen in the UK.
With the line now fully operational, it is processing up to 200m of timber per minute.
The technologically identifies defects such as splits and knots, allowing them to be trimmed out, with the result being more useable lengths of timber in each load that arrives with customers.
This year’s investments represent the largest in a single period, with upcoming plans for additional storage to match the sawmill.
It came as the business improved profit despite turnover flattening, as deflation in commodity prices offset sales gains.
Arbor had seen double digit growth of 16 per cent in 2018 to £96.6m, but it levelled off, with a 1 per cent decrease to £95.9m in the year to March 31, 2020. Operating profit was up to £6.4m from £5.5m.
It is confident it is gearing up for further “medium to long-term” growth once Covid and Brexit are navigated.
Arbor, part of Howarth Timber Group, employs 172 people, the majority in production at the sprawling South Humber Bank terminal-centric base. Lockdown led to a production pause in early April as impact on the construction industry was assessed, but demand increased and trading was strong throughout the summer months. “There has been little impact on the assets of the trading business and the company remains profitable and in a strong position,” director Andrew Howarth said in the recently released results.
This new facility represents a significant investment for us and a large leap forward in terms of the standards being achieved in the UK timber market
Phil Yell