In late May, I was fortunate to travel to Germany on a quest to discover processes that could advance the state of the art of component manufacturing. Driving 90 miles from Munich’s 6 million people, I passed several quaint villages with businesses bordering the Autobahn, each separated by miles of greenery, before I arrived at Hawangen, population 1300. There, I couldn’t miss Hundegger’s huge campus, and its proud celebration of wood. Apparently half of German industry resides in small villages like Hawangen, in marked contrast to the huge plants in large cities, like the 100-acre under-roof BMW plant I left behind in Munich. [For all photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
On this visit, I learned a German word, Mittelstand, that aptly describes a recipe for success that I have observed at so many component businesses in the U.S. Mittelstand refers to small and medium-sized businesses that are often family owned, independently managed, innovation driven, and community involved. Visiting with Hans Hundegger, I was honored to find the largest exemplar of Mittelstand in our industry.
Hans hustled me through the buildings where his machines are conceived, manufactured, and supported. These included a large training center where 350 machine operators and job preparers train annually, and a demonstration center equipped with all current Hundegger machines. In addition, we toured several buildings and observed dozens of developers enhancing Hundegger’s Cambium software, and another with 60 interns engaged in a three-year apprenticeship program. On this tour, I recognized the cohesive family aspect of Mittelstand, where all the people we encountered, of the 560 who work here, greeted Hans and I engagingly.
The excellence that Hans Hundegger represents, and inspires, traces back to his experiences working in his father’s sawmill. From that beginning, he moved on to what is fundamental to timber framing practice, and to Hans’ life’s work: the art of joinery, which refers to the intricate shaping of the ends of members so that they may be connected securely, and nearly invisibly. Indeed, joinery machinery is at the heart of his global company. For more on these years and the pivotal decisions Hans made, please see my companion story on Truss Tales, “Discovering Hans Hundegger’s Excellence.”
From the beauty of Bavaria, I flew an hour north to Hannover, the capital of the state of Lower Saxony, to attend LIGNA. Entering this 11-building complex, the Hundegger logo loomed large over the frontmost exhibit hall, 26 years and 7000 machines after Hans’ first small but wildly successful showing here. This year, he did not disappoint, featuring the million-dollar PBA-X gantry system that can finish all four sides of a slab of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), and eight other impressive machines.
As I left the expansive Hundegger exhibit, I encountered a robot that was building window and door components at the Randek booth, a brand new addition to their automated wall panel line. From there, I walked past wood veneer panels being built, and other wood finishing operations. For a truss guy, walking through LIGNA was much like traversing the huge International Builders Show in the U.S., where most of the exhibits were outside of my area of interest. However, what rewarded all my walking was the fact I could see most of the equipment running and some were producing finished products. I could stand closer to the equipment than I would be able to in real factories, thanks to the advantageous location of plexiglass screening and the provision of overhead vantage points. And these were spanking clean assembly lines with strong vacuum systems that were removing most of the sawdust.
In the next building, I saw dozens of HOMAG/Weinmann wood processing machines operating, a huge and innovative firm that is mostly known in North America for wall panel equipment. What seemed to have the most potential for our industry was a lumber scanning and grading system, which works similarly to the equipment used in modern MSR lumber mills but is extremely compact and efficient. While HOMAG is using this to eliminate defects in millwork, it seems that it could be coupled with a linear saw to improve the quality and yield of lumber in a component plant.
What a comprehensive show I found at LIGNA. Fortunately, most of the exhibits that are of interest to component manufacturers are concentrated in only three or four buildings and can be viewed in two days. But those who wish to dive into the control systems technology and mechanical engineering designs can spend considerably more time there. I encourage these detail-oriented folks to attend this show every two years to discover the elements of tomorrow’s automated component machinery.