When Jewson decided three years ago to bring all of its production facilities in-house at Internal Timber Supply Centres in Hull and Newport, it installed the latest, state-of-the-art Weinig high-speed automatic moulding lines and equipment, providing them with the production capacity to supply timber products to all 534 branches of the Jewson network. This is all the more impressive because their service includes 217 different joinery products in three different grades of timber.

Previously the group had been supplied with some of its machined softwood needs by various external manufacturers, so the decision to bring everything in-house necessitated a substantial investment to bring facilities up to date with new storage sheds and the latest technology.

Newport received the larger share of the investment totalling £2.8m which included a purpose-built new mill at a dockside site; a 7,000m² storage shed to enable all stock to be held under cover, a fully automated high-speed Weinig moulding line with handling and bundling facilities, capable of processing timber at 120m/min and the refurbishment and upgrading of two other lines to operate at 120m and 60m/min respectively.

‘We are now enjoying all the benefits we expected and are far more productive and efficient than before,’ says Richie Pugh, Newport’s operations manager. ‘We used to be a split site, with the mill half a mile from the quayside where the timber is unloaded. The new layout at the quayside is designed to simplify operations and it’s made a vast improvement.’

The investment at Hull was £1.6m to cover the erection of a 7,500m² storage shed and a bundle pick-up operation for the Jewson network and the Graham branches, acquired last year.

Improvement in plant included the upgrading of various existing lines with refurbished moulders and handling equipment, and a brand new state-of-the-art high-speed 120m/min line at their Mill No 2 – virtually identical to the new line at Newport. This brought all seven moulding lines at Hull up to a high standard. Previously, both moulding facilities were very labour intensive and the lines operated at slower speeds, which limited production.

Versatile production

Both Hull and Newport mill facilities are now equipped for fast versatile production and capable of maintaining a very efficient service to the Jewson network. ‘We hit the ground running,’ said Roger Hobson, operations manager at Hull, ‘and on the first day after the new machines and equipment were commissioned, we were up to speed and producing the benefits predicted. Our production was up 21% in the first week and since then we have surpassed original targets Now we feel confident of meeting any demands from the network. In three years, we have gone from producing 750m³ per week to exceeding 1,850m³ – working seven machine lines on a single 39 hour shift and two on a double 39 hour shift, with no increase in manning.’

Gordon Gray, operations director responsible for both sites add: ‘We have established the lowest production operating costs in the industry and a totally dedicated supply to our branches, offering highly competitive prices from either site.’

But this is just the tip of the iceberg. Mr Gray went on to develop ideas for the scope available in future for reducing costs further by optimising production and deliveries from the two production centres.

Production planning

He explains: ‘By close co-ordination of production planning between Hull and Newport, we can reduce the number of job set ups. Instead of both facilities setting up at the same time for identical jobs from various orders, one site could handle the total requirement by increasing the size of run, saving downtime at the other site and making a more economical longer run. If, for instance, just five set-ups are saved per day on each site, the saving in production time would be enormous. This would equal 10 set-ups, at the two sites, at 30 minutes each, totalling 300 minutes per day and 1,500 minutes per week or half a day of extra potential production overall, per day.

‘The same rationalisation could apply to transportation. The nearest site could take on the customer’s work and shorten delivery journeys – saving more money’.

There is little doubt that the setting up of Jewson Internal Timber Supplies (JITS) three years ago has proved to be a good move. The investment in the production sites will be needed in future to satisfy the company’s projected growth in demand for both timber products and for sheet materials.

A new era dawned for Jewson when the company recently began to import sheet materials for the first time, staring with plywood. Materials will be shipped from around the world to the JITS depots at Hull and Newport from where they will be delivered directly to the majority of the 534 Jewson branch network.

The new large covered stores will allow JITS to handle the sheet materials. Hardwood plywood will come from the Far East and South America, while softwood plywood will come from North and South America.

Added dimension

An added dimension has been that, following Jewson’s acquisition by Saint-Gobain, it has been able to work closely with its new European colleagues to explore the potential benefits of operating as a pan-European business.

Bob Juson, director of timber products for Saint-Gobain Building Distribution said, ‘This is a hugely significant move for Jewson. The fact that we will be self-sufficient in imported sheet material by October will shorten the supply chain and make trading in these areas more controllable and profitable. When we set up JITS in 1998, it was always our intention that we would eventually use it to handle the importation and distribution of sheet materials, but at the time we did not have the facilities.’

Jewson selected Weinig machinery to upgrade its moulding operations with a total order value in excess of £1.5m. At Hull, a brand new 120m/min automated line was installed comprising a tilt hoist, infeed system, a high spec 22B Hydromat moulder, outfeed transfer system, automatic bundler and stacker, and outfeed transport equipment. Three of the other six moulding lines were also upgraded with tilt hoist de-stacker, fully automatic bundling and other handling equipment.

The Hydromat 22B has a working width of 220mm and is well proven for high volume production. It offers a powerful feeding system, hydraulically clamped outboard bearings, mechanical digital readouts, 250mm cutting circle for profile depth and in situ jointing on all heads, ensuring a high quality finish at fast speeds.

At Newport, the resaw line was integrated into a new high-speed moulding and bundling line (similar to that in Hull). Two other lines were also upgraded and interconnected to semi-automatic bundling.

Bundling systems

The bundling systems at both facilities make them substantially more productive and efficient. The highly sophisticated systems installed are capable of handling products normally difficult to bundle such as chamfered and rounded architraves and is the first of its kind in the UK for bundling multiple or single pieces.

Jewson is delighted with its performance, says Roger Hobson. ‘We are bundling profiles that have surprised even Weinig. Components “knit” to form very neat and compact layers with the minimum of air in the packs. I also like the way it handles timber gently to prevent damage to delicate profiles.’