Another Siempelkamp short-cycle press for Egger in St. Johann: KT700 for new benchmarks in synchronized pore technology

Krefeld, December 12, 2017 – the order for another short-cycle press for the Egger plant in St. Johann arrived at Siempelkamp in Krefeld at the end of November. With the new machine the long-standing Siempelkamp customer will expand its production capacities in its main plant to meet the constantly growing demand of its benchmark products with synchronized pore structures. Special competitive advantage: the robust decor panels possess a natural wood appearance which is hard to distinguish from real wood by look and feel due to their three-dimensional structures of the wood grain and knotholes.

The family business founded by Fritz Egger senior in St. Johann in 1961 has developed into an internationally-oriented group of companies with more than 8,145 employees worldwide. At 18 locations in eight nations Egger manufactures sawn wood and wood-based panels for furniture and interior design, building products, and laminate flooring products. In 2015/16 Egger had a sales volume of around 2.34 billion Euros and produced approximately 7.7 million m³ of wood-based products.

With the new short-cycle press Egger will expand its production capacities for special products, for example, the benchmark synchronized pore products and will thus react to an increased demand. To ensure maximum production flexibility, Egger is incorporating the RoundTrack^® floor rail system, a product of Siempelkamp’s subsidiary Strothmann, for the first time in its press line. The maintenance-free system allows the quick change of embossed sheets and connects the new press line with the existing short-cycle press. The tracks are made from hardened steel and installed in the floor. Smooth-running carts allow for the almost frictionless transport of heavy embossed sheets due to a special concave profile of the wheels which has minimal contact with the patented round tracks and is therefore optimized for minimal rolling resistance. Even extremely heavy loads can be moved without effort. A change of direction between production lines is handled by pneumatic four-way switches in the floor.

The core component of the new production line at Egger is the high-end short-cycle press KT700. With a specific pressure of up to 700 N/cm², the KT700 can economically manufacture such innovative products as synchronized pore panels with decors that have a natural-looking embossed wood grain structure. Due to its multi-piston design the KT700 reduces the pressureless exposure time to only 0.8 seconds, an absolute peak figure for laminating press technology customary in the market. The press closes with a maximum speed of 760 mm/s; a total of 180 press cycles per hour are possible. Thanks to 40 press cylinders, the pressing force of 700 N is applied homogenously over the entire press area.

The commissioned KT700 short-cycle press is scheduled to be installed at the Egger headquarters in St. Johann starting in August of 2018; the startup is forecasted for December 2018.