To increase quality yield and gain greater flexibility in production, Holmen, one of Scandinavia's leading sawmill groups, has chosen to rebuild its drying fleet at its sawmill in Bygdsiljum, Sweden. An older continuous kiln is being "retired" and replaced with four state-of-the-art batch kilns from Swedish Valutec.
Holmen's sawmill in Bygdsiljum has been producing glulam since the mid-1960s and is today one of the largest producers in the Nordic region. In addition to glulam, it also manufactures CLT and produces sawn timber.
In addition to a TC continuous kiln and three FB continuous kilns, Bygdsiljums Sawmill already has nine batch kilns from Valutec. The four that are now being invested in are very similar. The only difference is that the new ones are a little wider to make loading and unloading easier. Otherwise, they are actually copies of the nine existing chamber dryers that Holmen is happy with. Getting 13 identical chamber dryers is an advantage for production planning because it means great flexibility and ease in optimizing the drying programs when you have the same conditions in the dryers. This makes the drying process predictable and repetitive.
In connection with the investment, Bygdsiljums Sågverk is also upgrading to the latest Valmatics control system, “Valmatics 4.0”, for all kilns at the sawmill. Having the same control system for the entire drying fleet will make it easier for the drying operators.
Bygdsiljum Sawmill is located in central Västerbotten, Sweden. In addition to producing sawn and further processed wood products, the sawmill also produces glulam and CLT.
