Everyone is hearing a lot about CLT, a.k.a. cross laminated timber, these days, so customers are starting to ask their suppliers if more options are available for their use too. Well, wanting to use CLT means that you will need a reliable supply of CLT – and Hundegger has taken great strides to help make that a reality!
We’re pleased to partner with SmartLam North America on its new $50M glulam manufacturing facility in Dothan, AL. Intending to manufacture 84,000,000 board feet of large glulam beams and columns annually, Dothan is strategically located in Alabama to serve the Southeast, the fastest growing mass timber market in the United States. In addition, SmartLam North America is investing $24M to fully automate the existing Dothan, AL and Columbia Falls, MT CLT facilities. This additional investment will allow each facility to produce 2,000,000 cubic feet annually.
The manufacturing equipment we’re supplying includes these state-of-the-art machines. For glulam beams, SmartLam is adding two Hundegger ROBOT-Max machines to its Dothan, AL facility, while it’s also adding the Hundegger UFA in both Alabama and Montana to upgrade its CLT production. In fact, the Hundegger ROBOT-Max has been developed for the North American market, because mass timber here will use larger cross sections than required in Europe. The ROBOT-Max can process beams and columns as large as 24” x 48” and up to 40’ long. In the mass timber market, it is the only such saw.
As SmartLam North America CEO Derek Ratchford said when announcing the new construction last fall, “Most mass timber glulam beams and columns are manually produced. The new glulam plant will be automated allowing SmartLam to significantly increase production and simultaneously deliver multiple mass timber projects. We are currently the largest CLT manufacturer in North America and with the CLT automation upgrades and the new glulam addition, SmartLam will become the largest mass timber producer in North America.”
The high precision and quality of our fully automatic machines increase the economy and competitiveness of every timber construction factory – from small to large-scale enterprises. Our extremely flexible CNC machines can be quickly and perfectly adapted to specific customer requirements because of their modular construction, and that’s one of the reasons why Hundegger has been the world market leader in the field of CNC-controlled joinery machines with a market share of more than 90%.
If you’d like to learn more about what Hundegger can do for you, please contact me directly or visit the Hundegger website.