“We would recommend Dieffenbacher recycling solutions to anyone.”
Customer: Swiss Krono S.A.S., Sully-sur-Loire (France)
Swiss Krono S.A.S., the French subsidiary of the Swiss Krono Group headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland, is based in Sully-sur-Loire, at the east entrance of the “Val de Loire” (the Loire Valley), known worldwide for its castles. Swiss Krono France employs 400 people who produce an annual volume of approximately 824,800 m³ of OSB and particleboard, mainly used for interiors and as a building material.
Founded in 1988, the Swiss Krono France organization puts a strong focus on the environmental aspects of its activities and is committed to acting more sustainably every day. This commitment is a primary driver of the projects deployed on the site. Managed by Vincent Adam, the company continuously invests in new manufacturing processes to increase its competitiveness while reducing its environmental impact.
One of their sustainability initiatives is to increase the use of recycled wood for particleboard production in Sully-sur-Loire to 68%.
To achieve this ambitious goal, Swiss Krono invested in the modernization and expansion of its wood recycling line.
“Environmental protection and better sustainability aren’t the only reasons we put so much effort into this. Recycled wood also helps to improve the production costs, which, of course, is an important factor as well. We also expected to optimize board technical performance with the new recycling line.”, Guillaume Salmon, Industrial Director at Swiss Krono France, explains.
How we moved Swiss Krono forward:
Within 18 months of acceptance, the recycling line boosted the share of recycled wood in Sully-sur-Loire’s wood mix to about 65%. “We’re pretty close to 68%, but we still have some work to do,” says Guillaume Salmon. Still, he touts significant improvements in other areas. “The whole installation is cleaner now. Processing recycled wood creates a lot of dust, and the machines can get dirty very quickly if they’re not properly maintained and cleaned. The new line is easier to keep clean than the old one.”
Another of Swiss Krono’s goals was to ensure perfect board quality while increasing the recycled wood ratio. “In the past, we sometimes had complaints from customers about metal parts in the boards, which damaged their machinery,” Guillaume Salmon recalls. “Since we started using the new Dieffenbacher equipment, we haven’t had any complaints. We’re satisfied and would recommend Dieffenbacher recycling solutions to anyone,” he concludes.
The solution of Dieffenbacher:
The Dieffenbacher solution for Swiss Krono included a stone separator in combination with new ClassiRolls to clean the microchips using the enrichment principle. In the next step, X-ray sorting is used to remove non-wooden impurities from the chip-sized material, while a flip-flop screen separates unusable dust upstream of the dryer. In addition, sifting tables clean fine particles from sand and MDF fibers, and a prallfiner produces the fine surface layer material.
These measures enabled the new, modern Dieffenbacher plant to increase throughput and significantly boost separation rates in all fractions.
In the engineering phase, Dieffenbacher created a 3D scan of our existing structures. This was very important because the whole setup - most of it is located in a multistory tower - was quite complex. Thanks to the 3D scan, we were not only able to integrate the new equipment perfectly into our existing structures, but we also used it frequently in communication, for example, to inform our employees in the factory about the project.
The implementation:
The close collaboration between the two companies helped Swiss Krono in Sully-sur-Loire achieve its goal of expanding its use of recycled wood in particleboard production. Guillaume Salmon explains: “We chose Dieffenbacher for the modernization project not only because we were convinced by the proposed solution and the price was fair, but also because we had a good connection with their people.”
The implementation took place over several weeks during a planned shutdown. The installation, commissioning and acceptance of the modernized plant were accomplished on time despite the tight schedule and challenges of installing new equipment in an existing building.
Salmon also reports higher customer satisfaction with finished product quality:
Despite the challenging circumstances, the collaboration with Dieffenbacher was excellent at all times. We always found a solution to every issue. Since we started using the new Dieffenbacher equipment, we haven’t had any customer complaints. We are very satisfied and would recommend Dieffenbacher recycling solutions to anyone.
While the Sully-sur-Loire recycling solution has become a role model for other Swiss Krono particleboard production sites, Guillaume Salmon and his colleagues are already poring over plans for the next step. “We know some manufacturers in Europe who are using 100% recycled wood for particleboard production. This is something we are also looking at,” he says. “We are discussing a second step to further increase our recycled wood capacity, and we’re already having initial discussions that include Jean-Marc Domecq and Dieffenbacher, who are once again showing their proactive spirit. It would be great to continue our successful cooperation with this next step.”
