HOMAG preferred edgebander for door manufacturers in NZ

2017/06/21   |   New Zealand

The article was first published in the JOINERS Magazine, June edition 2017. www.joiners.co.nz

Companies with an ever increasing workload require a high-performing and reliable edgebanding machine that delivers excellent results. The HOMAG Group has been a pioneer of edgebanding since 1960 and so, with over 57 years’ experience and has driven the edgebanding ‘without joints’ or, as it is more commonly known, ‘zero-joint’ technology.

Three major kitchen fronts manufactures in New Zealand have invested in HOMAG Group edgebanding machines – and are successfully facing the growing market demand for high-quality panels. HOMAG offers a machine that is carefully specified to meet the market demand for high volume machines to process high-gloss material. The KAL and Ambition 2470 models enable the user to process a wide selection of material with optimum edge quality.

HOMAG developed a hot air system to meet the needs of woodworking shops that look for a lower level of investment than laserTec which HOMAG invented, while offering the similar high standard of quality as laserTec but designed for shorter runs. In case of hot air technology the function layer on the edge is reactivated by means of compressed hot air, creating a jointless result.

Arborline Products: The point of difference

About two years ago at the LIGNA exhibition in Germany, Julian and Andrew Jaques from Arborline Products, one of New Zealand’s biggest panel and door manufacturer, started looking into upgrading their edgebander. “We needed a machine that was able to run all day in multiple shifts”, Julian says. “We teamed up with HOMAG as it is the most efficient, most robust and heaviest edgebander on the market.”

With the investment in a HOMAG KAL 370 Ambition 2470 with airTec about a year ago, the subsidiary Arborline Doors is capable to processes EVA edged panels at a very high-quality level. They supply doors to the joinery and kitchen industries. Formed in 1979, the company from Hamilton is run by the two brothers Andrew and Julian after they had joined their father Joe in 1985 and 1993.

Since the market in New Zealand is growing and the quality expectations are increasingly rising, the two owners saw the need for an upgrade. “We have to be a bit sharper and our products need to make the point of difference”, Julian explains. Therefore, Arborline went for the additional airTec unit to achieve a seamless joint. “The quality finish that comes off our HOMAG is second to none.”

Julian has just been back from Europe where he joined the HOMAG tech tour and LIGNA 2017. Panel handling systems and drilling lines have sparked his interest, in particular. “An automated workshop is the future for any business to be successful on the market”, he says.

Sage Doors: Three HOMAG Group edgebanders

Sage Doors Ltd is the combination over 105 years of experience in the cabinetmaking industry. Based on Auckland’s North Shore, Sage Manufacturing continues the commercial joinery and cabinet making business, while the established Sage Doors provides a variety of timber and aluminium roller doors.

Sage’s laser-edged doors are produced on HOMAG KAL high-spec hot-air enabled edgebanders which are the only high-spec KAL’s to date in New Zealand. Owner John Posthuma says, “We’ve been really impressed with the finish from the very beginning. The edges are seamless. We wouldn’t have been able to achieve this finish without the HOMAG.”

Sage’s initial partnership with HOMAG Group machinery started with their investments in a Brandt Ambition 1650FC edgebander in early 2014 – which had been, at that time, the first machine in NZ equipped with airTec technology. The zero-joint concept had convinced John and he further upgraded a HOMAG KAL 310 airTec edgebander in late 2014. The third and most recent machine of its kind, a HOMAG Profi KAL 370 airTec, was installed only half a year ago.

John decided to purchase another HOMAG edgebander in order to replace an older edgebander of a competitive supplier and to back-up the previous Homag KAL in case of downtime. By having experienced the reliability of a HOMAG, John decided to stay with the HOMAG brand. “We needed a machine that lasts. Additionally, the HOMAG allows us a constant change-over from hot air to traditional gluing technology. All in all, it creates more workflow.”

Panelform Industries: Best machinery for the benefit of customers

With the new laser technology available Panelform could see the benefits to their customers if they added it to their large door offering. When their previous edgebander was getting older, and in keeping with the company’s commitment to superior quality doors and panels, manager Greg Allison knew that a HOMAG KAL edgebanding machine would consistently produce the quality their customers expect.

“Our productivity has improved dramatically because the quality of the finished product directly from the machine is to a very high standard and any further finishing is extremely negligible or, in the case of laser edging, totally unnecessary”, Greg says.

Established in 1992, Panelform Industries is a family owned business and supplies a large range of thermoformed, melamine and high gloss kitchen doors, panels and components to the kitchen and joinery industries in New Zealand.

Thanks to the HOMAG they now also have the option of three different adhesive types in the one machine; laser edge, PUR and EVA. Greg points out the two biggest influencers for them buying a HOMAG: “The ability to customise the machine to our requirements, the knowledge that HOMAG has the ability to produce the kind of quality we are looking for and also having the technical support readily available.”

Owning a good quality machine with the ability to produce extremely high quality products, Panelform can now focus on saving their customers time and money through three key areas which are delivery time, product quality, ease of ordering/access to product information. Through their EasyOrder system (online quoting and ordering), they offer their large range of doors, as well as a custom cabinet range with instant pricing, doors and drawer fronts pre-drilled, and free delivery nationwide for orders over $1000 + GST.

“We have invested in HOMAG machinery for the benefit of our customers”, Greg says and makes reference to the biggest challenge he can think of, “having the production capacity available to meet the demands of the market.”