Schweighofer Prize for Weinig engineers
06/30/2015
The Schweighofer Prize, awarded by the Austrian Schweighofer wood industry family since 2003 recognizes ideas, technologies, products and services across the entire value chain in the wood sector every two years. The objective is to improve the competitiveness of the European forestry and wood industry sectors. For the trio of Weinig engineers, winning the innovation prize was a reward for almost five years of development work. Their "butt-joint block gluing" provides a cost-effective production process to counteract the dwindling margins in the sawmill industry. At the heart of the project is expanding the potential for value creation The jury was particularly impressed by the fact that the production method can incorporate all available qualities into the finishing process. In his laudatory speech, Dr. Josef Rettenmeier, former CEO of Rettenmeier Holding AG, highlighted the high wood recovery, which can be optimized further via appropriate measures at the cutting stage.
The outstanding efficiency of the new technology is attributable to specific processes in planing, cross-cutting, gluing, joining and automation. Originally developed for producing central layers, the technology is extremely versatile in its application. The glued block is just an intermediate product for a range of other end products that can be manufactured on the same system by splitting as required. In their acceptance speech, the three winners said that they were convinced the innovation will open up new production potential for numerous companies in the wood industry worldwide. They also recognized the great importance of exchanging production experience as well as engineering and design know-how during development. The trio added that only comprehensive co-operation will lead to success going forward and sincerely thanked their supporters at Weinig. Weinig CEO Wolfgang Pöschl believes that winning the Schweighofer Prize is a testament to the high standard of innovation within the company. "The pioneering spirit has always been one of the qualities that makes Weinig great. The award demonstrates the high standard of Weinig's development work."
Photos:
- Successful Weinig engineering: Winners of the Schweighofer Prize Richard Rister (with certificate), Georg Reis and Erhard Jung with initiator Gerald Schweighofer (center) and Dr. Josef Rettenmeier (left).
- Example of a completed Weinig block gluing and splitting system
