Office furniture manufacturer Sven Christiansen has invested about £1m in a hi-tech package of machinery to improve edging, drilling and shaping capabilities.

The Guildford-based company bought the technology, supplied by Homag UK, to cope with new capacity created by the recent installation of a Holzma HFL 11/32/22 angle plant – two linked beam saws with an intermediate turntable and Holzma Liftimat outfeed stations.

The new machinery was installed in the panel processing section of the company’s Kingwinsford factory, West Midlands, which processes MFC and veneered boards for office and reception desking and wall storage systems.

A double-sided Homag KLF526 combination edgebander was specified to apply mostly 3mm PVC edging tapes at high speeds.

All the edgebander’s processes and units are operated via a line control for immediate changeover and setup so any batch size can be processed. This includes pre-milling operations, final contour trimming and polishing.

&#8220The need is for the flexibility to change in an instant from one product to another – and these machines provide that capability at the touch of a button ”

Sven Christiansen manufacturing director David Guest

Due to the large number of shaped components being processed, a Homag BAZ232 was also specified as a high-capacity stationary CNC processing centre, routing external and internal shapes, plus appliying edging tapes.

The final piece in the jigsaw was a Weeke BHT800 combination throughfeed drill and CNC machining centre. The unit, said to be one of only two currently in the UK, features individually selectable spindles or drill clusters which are ready for immediate use in all three axes.

Manufacturing director David Guest said: “The need now is for the flexibility to change in an instant from one product to another – and these machines provide that capability at the touch of a button.”