From forest to top products
After Koskisen Wood Procurement has done its own part, the relay baton is handed over to Koskisen Timber Industry when it comes to softwood logs. Wood procurement has delivered logs in right quality, size and length at correct time to correct place as well in Järvelä as in Kissakoski.
Järvelä processes bigger diameter logs with larger volume whereas Kissakoski specializes small diameter special and custom-made dimensions from smaller logs.
In Timber Industry sales is responsible for selling of products and finding optimal solutions for all parties in close cooperation with production planning. Important factors in sales are defining the species, dimension, quality, lengths, mode of packaging and protection and the needed final moisture content. Very crucial details are of course price and delivery time.
The journey of a log continues in the hands of most experienced professionals of production. The first step is log sorting according to the top diameter and lengths in case of need. Todays log sorting is based on x-ray technology which enables us to see “inside” of the log and thus sorting to special grades according to the wanted end-product.
Sorted logs are then transported to saw line according the instructions of production planning. In the sawing process the log is separated into wanted center goods and sideboards optimizing the use of log. As a side product in this process we generate wood chips, bark and saw dust which all are used for their own purposes. Hence the fresh sawn timber will not preserve, and transportation and handling would be expensive, the sawn goods are kiln dried either in chamber or channel kilns. Prior to kilning fresh goods need to be stick-and-stacked in order to enable the warm drying air to pass through freely. Duration of drying process can vary from few days over one week depending on the dimension and need final moisture content.
After sticking-and-stacking and drying follows a critical phase- trimming and final quality control of timber. Timber is graded into wanted grades and lengths according the sales contracts. When the needed amount is ready, the goods will be delivered to customers. Deliveries are done mainly with trucks to domestic customers and to the ports for waiting final shipment to export countries. Deliveries to exports are today mainly done with trailers and containers. Dispatch of the ready goods requires close cooperatian and team work taken care by sales assistants, production planning and dispatch department. Dispatch department has a crucial operational role in delivering goods right-on-time.
In many cases the journey of timber continues to customer to be further processed in various manners. We at Koskisen have decaces of tradition to further process our own sawn timber, and today we have big capacity to further process majority of our production. As the demand for further processed timber has increased, we have answered to this challenge by investing in new planing lines. Our latest investment was finalized in 2020 as we started the new on-line planing line. This means that dried timber can be graded to qualities and lengths and planed directly in a one go from stick-and-stack loads.
In further processing we produce for example calibrated, machine stress graded timber, claddings for indoor-and outdoor use, S4S items and products for different usage in building sector, tongue-and-groove boards and flooring boards. In the sales of the further processed goods there are more details to what we have pay attention tp like accurate profile drawing or packaging. After production planning and production have done they task, further processed goods are ready to be sent to the customer in similar way as sawn timber.
In our further processing we can give the goods one more “refinement”-they can be either primed or painted ready in our painting line. Today more and more outdoor claddings are at least primed. Primer protects the goods before next treatment in building site or in factory and gives better adhesion to next paint layers. When so desired, can all the goods be ready painted for the customer. Speaking of couple of our flagship products we can mention wide, ready painted black cladding or fire retardant treated outdoor cladding.
As a result of tight and smooth cooperation of our sales, sales representatives all over the world, sales assistants, production and dispatch, we managed to process almost half a million cubic meters of timber which we have processed from the softwood logs. A big part of this production is being used in our domestic market in Finland, but also a big part is sold to abroad – last year we exported to 43 different countries.
The writer is Koskisen’s Timber industry’s Export Manager Timo Piispanen