Prefabricated Wood Component Innovations
Group 5 report
Team members:
Susanna Franzen / Finland / / Oulu University of Applied Scienceswww.oamk.fi
Antti Löfbacka / Finland / / Savonia University of Applied Sciences
www.pspt.fi
Liviu Scutariu / Romania / / “Stefan cel Mare” University of Suceava
www.usv.ro
Peter Straka / Slovakia / / Technical University in Zvolen
www.tuzvo.sk
Hektor Uustalo / Estonia / / Estonian University of Life Sciences
www.emu.ee
Foreword:
The goal of our group work is to compare innovation cases of five European companies in prefabricated wood component manufacturing and find out what kind of differences or similarities there are between the companies and countries concerning the innovation process. We also try to find recommendations how these innovation cases could be improved in the future.
Topic definition:
Group of prefabricated wood components presents many products including roof trusses, glue laminated beams, premade panels and sections for farm buildings, geodesic domes, marinas, sauna rooms, hotel rooms, and decks. The industry is fragmented and entrepreneurial and is represented by a wide range of companies all around Europe. All prefabricated wooden products have one common advantage: they save builders money. Because large pieces of the structure come from a factory and are designed for quick and easy assembly on-site, builders reduce on-site costs, such as labor, workers' compensation, and insurance. Assembly-line production also allows prefabricated manufacturers greater quality control.
The complete product consists of the prefabricated components which are usually serial producted. However, there are many possibilities to look this thing. For example, the roof truss is the complete product in the roof truss plant but in the house factory it is component of the house. So the component is quite wide concept.
In our group work one of the companies produce doors which are not prefabricated wood product but a complete wood product. Anyhow it is also one component of house.
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Description of the case enterprises:Name / Kaskipuu Oy, Finland / Keski-Suomen Puukympit, Finland / S.C. Doxar Grup S.R.L., Romania / Arborea eng., Slovakia / Palmako AS, Estonia
Legal form / Private limited company, family owned / Private limited company / Private limited company / Private limited company, family owned / Private limited company, not family-owned
Place / Northern Ostrobothnia (Ylikiiminki, Haapajarvi, Raahe), Finland / Kuopio, Finland / Gura Humorului, Suceava county, Romania / Liptovský Mikuláš, Northern Slovakia / Kavastu, Estonia
Established / 1976 / 1988 / 1993 / 2000 / 1997
Short characteristics / Joinery industry firm, producing doors. / The firm is specialized in wood processing especially in the latest 4 years panelled houses with wood structure. It also produces stratified wood carpentry. / Wood-processing and wood-constructing firm providing complex service including horticulture arrangements / Producing square log houses
Main products / Doors for entrances, interiors, storage rooms, garages, balconies and saunas from pine or HDF-board / Roof trusses / Living and vacation houses, windows and doors made of stratified wood, europallets, simple shuttering and shuttering systems / Carpentery and joinery products / Summer houses, garden houses
Employees / 100 / 40-80 / 40 / 30 / 120
Turnover / 9 mil. € / 6.7 mil. € / 1.2 mil. € / 1mil. € / 7.3 mil. €
Market area / Mainly Finland, also Japan and Europe / Finland (95%) and export mainly to Russia and Germany / Foreign market (75%)
domestic market (25%) / Domestic market / England, Germany, France, Spain
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Present situation in case enterprises:
Kaskipuu Oy, Finland
Kaskipuu Oy is a family-owned company which has three door factories in northern Finland (in Ylikiiminki, Haapajärvi and Raahe). Especially in the recent years Kaskipuu Oy has grown fast: during the past three years the number of employees has arise from 30 to 100 and the annual turnover has become five times bigger.
In planning and production of doors the main matters are durability of doors, good design and environmental friendly production. Kaskipuu Oy gives the longest guarantee (12 years) in the market for HDF-board-doors and three years for wooden doors. All the new door models are designed by an architect and glues and finishing products (excluded protection products) are water soluble. Kaskipuu Oy has an internal quality strategy but it is not certificated.
The biggest customers of Kaskipuu Oy are Finnish building companies (35 to 40) which build single-family houses. Only 1 % of the products are sold directly to private builders.
Right now there is a building boom in Finland and the demand for doors is high. The recession comes surely sooner or later, but because of quite long experience in the business the company is prepared also for that and they know that "people need doors also in the recession, even though not so much". The company has grown much in the recent years and the plan is to grow lot more.
Keski-Suomen Puukympit, Finland
Roof trusses are seasonal products and demand is highest in summer. Due to the production capacity, the company can not answer to the high demand. It is possible to produce the required amount of roof trusses during the year, but not in the busy period.
Over 70 percent of the production of the company goes to factories that produce prefabricated elements for houses. Roof trusses are supplied to 28 house factories. There are nearly fifty companies that produce roof trusses. Large companies will survive better than small companies in increasing competition. Because of the unsuccessful business, small companies will have to finish their production. Several house factories have finished or will finish their own production of roof trusses and that bring new customers for big roof truss companies.
Because of the seasonal product, big amount of employees have to be laid off in the winter time.
S.C. DOXAR GRUP S.R.L., Romania
The company is member of the Association of the wooden house producers of Romania (APROCOR). There are not many companies in Romania in this field of activity; Doxar Grup S.R.L. has performant equipments, and not all their competitors have. Their products are high quality ones and the prices are also high. They produce especially for the extern market. Little share of their products are going to the national market – those who are willing or can afford to pay high prices for high quality. The proprietors are involved in the company leading, but they also have hired managers on departments. The company respects the environment protection standards assessed by the Ministry of Environment and the E.U. standards.
In order for the wood to react good in contact with moisture, some constructive and design measurements have to be made. An air space between the exterior facade and the thermal insulation in ensured. It is recommend the usage of exterior facade with vertical wooden element or choosing the correct form of the horizontal wood siding in order to avoid the rain water to remain.
The wood is 16% dried, and treated according to the client's wish and the prerequisites of the area (against moldiness, micro organisms, and worm holes) it must be fireproof and moisture proof - we also pay attention to the regional or local requirements.
The mineral wool is one of the best insulation element of the moment.
The fastening of the structure is made with special nails; the spatial butt joint is done with metal pieces or specially made for the seismic areas. The joinery may be of solid wood or foliated wood, PVC or aluminum with a simple or Low-E thermo insulating glass window. The planking or bottom covering, the crockery and sandstone, as well as the painting and decorations - are all similar to those of brick houses, with the difference that the support layer is much flatter and the edges are much steadier and more rectangular than in case of the classical plastering of mortar.
The system promoted supposes a more judicious usage of wood, it provides elasticity to the structure and avoids pressure concentration through their dissipation and the spatial butt joint of the assembly. The performances specific to the construction physics, the modern methods of insectifuge treatments provides to these buildings at least the same constructive and functional performances and the same life span as to the similar ones made of bricks, concrete and steel.
There are only 2 years experience in garden and landscape buildings and structures and for the moment they accumulate experience from the foreign companies (participate in international exhibitions).
Arborea eng., Slovakia
The company was established in 2000 as awood-processing firm in asawmill area. It ran abusiness in a construction-carpentery and a construction-joinery production as well and provides wooden constructions of all types and other services.
There have been several problems company needed to cope with. As the sawmill industry noticed problems with buyers, many small- to middle-sized firms faced two questions: “Stop production or rebuild the character of the plant to be able to resist the changing market demand?” and the second question maintained: “What final products correspond to those most appropriate for the market?”
First problem Arborea eng.´s management has been facing since the sawmill production started its business was afact that price for atimber they sold was too low. It was impossible to influence either the price or amount of final products. Costs were set broadly by suppliers and the income was in the hands of final processors.
Meanwhile, the proprietor became an agent in another private limited company 1Wood House, s. r. o. that mediated wooden constructions and wooden accessories such as stairways, furniture, conservatories, banisters, etc. By using so-called commercial contacts Arborea eng. started to eliminate ahard position of abasic sawmill-industry producer by choosing suitable buyers. Soon this cooperation released adirection where the effective wood-processing industry tended. The effect of further wood processing – not just alumber production – was reasonable.
It was not just the experience but applicable contacts with anumber of carpenters and wood related specialists that opened almost two years after establishing the firm new possibilities. The firm orientated on professional carpentery and jointery production. Some other specialists were hired and external experts were asked for contingent help for Arborea eng. as well. It didn´t even take long and the firm spreaded its activities for logged and prefabricated constructions.
Second problem appeared gradually while realisating the “new” business.
It is often heared that a customer orientated business is a success. But what does it in real mean? Arborea eng. worked out the whole project for construction realization from its very beginning to a final construction as an idea of the customer. It became the brand new conception of modern offer to firm´s only “income generator” – customer and the idea of a very important innovation was born.
Palmako AS, Estonia
Palmako is the largest producer of square log houses in Estonia. Wall thicnesses are 28 mm and 48 mm. Palmako belong to the largest forest industry enterprise group of Estonia, based on Estonian capital.
The outcome of constantly targeted activity is the growth in the volume, progress in product development and innovations in tehchnologies applied. Palmako produces over 10000 garden houses per year.
During the last five years in business, Palmako have acquired considerable experience for acting on different export markets and with different customer groups. Main markets are Englant, Germany, France, Spain. Less than 1 % of houses are sold in Estonia.
Palmako have been FSC-certified (FSC accredited certification means that the forest is managed according to strict enviromental, social and economic standards).
Palmako garden houses are produced of high quality Nordic spruce, which is known for its goodness all over the world.
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Innovation cases:Company / Aims of innovation / Innovation category / Actors (*idea producer) / Source
Kaskipuu Oy, Finland / Develope as energy saving entrance door as possible and in that way expand the market of the firm / Product – goods / - two engineers
- customer*
- manager
- VTT research institute
- architect / Own capital
Keski-Suomen Puukympit, Finland / - Increase production capacity about 50% by the year 2008, to 100000 roof trusses per year.
- Get more customers in the increasing house factory market.
- Increase export strongly, the most important country will be Russia also in the future.
- To give work for employees all year round / Process – technological
S.C. DOXAR GRUP S.R.L., Romania / -Have competitive products in the European Market
- Implement innovative technologies / Process – organisational and technological / Managers / owners / Own capital + European funds and subsidies
Arborea eng., Slovakia / - Offer complex services from planning and designing of given idea to complete realization
- Production based on individual requirements of every customer
- Reliable corporate portfolio for either a final customer or another construction company
- Construction-orientated production
- Markets abroad-widening / Product - services / - manager = proprietor
- managers* for carpentery and construction section / Own capital
Palmako AS, Estonia / - Expand selling log houses in domestic market
- Increase profit and production / Process – technological and organisational / - manager
- some engineers* / Own capital + leasing
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Present stage of innovation:
Kaskipuu Oy, Finland
The development work of Thermo-door lasted one year and the result was the most energy saving entrance door in the market. The door was introduced in summer 2005 at the annual building fair in Finland. The company has not yet really started marketing the Thermo-door, but some consultations with customers have been made and they have been interested. Today the economical importance of Thermo-door is only a little for Kaskipuu Oy. Some doors have been manufactured and they hope that in the future it becomes an important product of Kaskipuu Oy.
Keski-Suomen Puukympit, Finland
The company has decided to carry out the investments in two stages. In the first stage, the hall was modified to suit the need of the company. Two pressing lines and sawmill were constructed in the old hall. The modification demanded a lot of changes. The floor, inside walls, lights, balks, painting and electric installations had to be done before the assembly of machines. The pressing hall was ready in March 2006 and sawmill in July 2006.