Valmet invited to host a Fiberboard Master Class at Sonae Arauco.

Jun 25, 2024

Sonae Arauco, a global leader in the wood-based panels industry, has an internal academy - Sonae Arauco Knowledge Academy (SAKA) – created to enable people’s development, promote knowledge sharing, and continuous learning within the company. As part of the academy’s initiatives, Valmet was invited to host a Valmet Master Class in fiber processing in MDF manufacturing.

Valmet Master Class was held at Sonae Arauco’s site in Maia, Portugal in February this year. A total of 40 people from Sonae Arauco’s Iberian operations attended the one-day training including process engineers, maintenance staff, development teams, technical management and quality managers.

Ramón Muñoz Siscart, Mill Sales Manager at Valmet, commented:

We think this was an excellent initiative by Sonae Arauco’s local team. In addition to being able to showcase our process know-how and Valmet’s latest technologies related to fiber processing, the day offered us an excellent opportunity to engage ourselves in interesting and even eye-opening discussions with the customer representatives.

Comprehensive overview of fiber processing in MDF manufacturing

Valmet Master Class program was built around defibrator system process, refiner segment technology and flue gas cleaning in fiberboard production. Presenting from Valmet were Global Technology Manager Mattias Johansson, Global Product Manager Leonardo Gabriel and Product Sales Manager Lüba Kin.

Mattias commented:

Customer seminars usually just include presentations of our latest technologies, but this time we took a much wider viewpoint. We explained how the machinery works, what’s the role of different equipment in the process, how raw material affects the equipment, why and how are different machine parts wearing, importance of maintenance and how maintenance affects the quality of their products – just to mention a few issues. I’m sure we were able to broaden the participants’ knowledge on fiber processing and so fulfil their expectations.

Sharing is caring

The participants were really engaged, and many questions were asked during and after the presentations.

“I really appreciate the discussions and feedback we got during the day. Understanding the customer’s challenges and future targets helps us to help them – we become better at offering our customers solutions that best fit their needs, but it also fuels our innovation,” Leonardo says.

“I also believe that having our ears open and sharing our expertise builds trust and contributes to excellent customer experience. Something we certainly achieved at Sonae Arauco,” Mattias adds.

Tags

Fiberboard
Services
Training

Fiberboard

Valmet's solutions for fiber preparation provide high-quality, homogenous fiber material, optimized for your process and end product.

Services for fiberboard production

Valmet's fiberboard production services keep your fiberboard processes running reliably, optimize production line performance to its full potential and ensure competitiveness with the latest technology. Valmet's product portfolio contains the right tools to achieve these objectives with your wood handling equipment, chip washing, steam recovery, refiner segments and the defibrator system.

Refiner segments for MDF and fiberboard applications

We offer a wide range of refiner segments to optimize your plant’s performance, making the most out of the least. Our refiner segment technologies ensure the lowest possible overall costs and our approach is always individually tailored for each production line. The refiner and defibrator segment experts are continuously cooperating with our customers within for example MDF, Wet Hardboard, Doorskin, Wood fiber insulation, Molded fiber and Soil enrichment applications. They are committed to optimizing each refiner and defibrator process which often results in new refiner segment technology. Let us be your co-driver for success

This is Sonae Arauco

With 23 industrial and commercial units in 9 countries and 2 continents, Sonae Arauco is one of the largest wood-based panel producers in the world with an annual production capacity of 3,9 M m³. The company employs 2,600 people globally and their products are distributed in 68 countries.

Sonae Arauco was established in 2016 when Sonae Indústria (founded in 1956) and Arauco (founded in 1970) joined forces. Throughout its existence, the company has focused on developing sustainable wood solutions with high-added value for furniture, interior design and construction. Sonae Arauco estimates that 3 million tons of CO2 is retained annually through its products.