The first three fully automated and computerised timber stacking machines from Ziwo in Switzerland to be installed in the UK are expected to increase production at Robert Duncan Timber.
The £200,000 investment represents a major breakthrough for the north of England-based family business. Chairman Robert Duncan said: “We had long felt automated stacking was the next big advance. We searched for more than a year for a manufacturer able to provide us with the step-up in technology that we were confident could be achieved.
“We had been told in some quarters our search would be in vain, that stacking by hand would remain the norm. But we knew in our own minds exactly what we wanted. Though we have had to go abroad to get this, it has been worth our perseverance.”
Two of the machines, which are already up and running, are expected to increase mouldings production, while the company aims to instal the third in new buildings it is currently negotiating to buy where it will sit on the back of a vacuum primer.
Robert Duncan Timber, which supplies timber from Edinburgh down to the North Midlands and over to Cumbria, turns out 250,000ft of timber and MDF mouldings a week.
Production director Brent Duncan said: “By adding computerised stacking to our existing range of modern sawmill machinery we are now able to offer customers faster delivery times in machinery service.”
