Making a mark

29 January 2021


UK-based printing and marking systems specialist Timbermark is helping Swiss Krono to improve export sales with high quality marking on OSB panels

Swiss Krono Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of OSB panels, has become the latest international customer for printing and marking systems specialist Timbermark.

The Swiss Krono Group generates sales of CHF2bn annually, employing around 5,000 employees at 10 production sites across the globe and manufacturing product distributed to 120 companies.

It approached Timbermark, based in Oxfordshire, UK at the start of 2020 regarding a marking project at its production site in Hungary.

A large export order had been rejected by their customer due to the information printed on the product being illegible.

The company had been using a large character printer to add traceability information to their OSB panels, but with the production line operating at speeds of 120m/ minute, the LCP was not able to produce a consistently legible mark.

Timbermark is a global supplier of marking systems, with its export customer base including Latvia, France, Belgium and Slovakia, while individual customers include BSW, Sotrinbois and MyWood.

Its solution for Swiss Krono included two stages. In the first instance, they proposed using a handheld inkjet to recover the rejected panels – resulting in Swiss Krono being able to save approximately 3,000m2 of stock by re-applying the mark. They used the Sojet D1 ‘Dragon’ handheld printer, which is low cost, low maintenance and uses Hewlett Packard print technology to provide a high quality, high resolution print.

With Swiss Krono impressed by the print quality and user-friendly interface offered by the Sojet product, Timbermark was able to advise them further with the second stage of the marking solution.

They discussed how to install a printer onto the production line in Hungary to mark all panels as they are produced.

Following a site visit in mid-March, Timbermark’s Colin Stewart designed and installed a printer system on the main OSB production line.

The system has three print heads with floating skids on a moving cross beam, controlled from a PLC to change height automatically according to the panel thickness.

The finished system is designed to be fast and accurate, producing a high-quality print that enables Swiss Krono to include their logo as well as the traceability information their customers need.

Enhanced quality marking has enabled Swiss Krono to consolidate its export sales volumes, ensuring all production is legibly and attractively marked.

As the system was installed during the coronavirus pandemic and there was no travel corridor between the UK and Hungary, Colin Stewart went into quarantine for 12 days on his return from the installation.

Timbermark’s applications in the wood product industry go beyond wood-based panels and include sawn timber, pallets, fence posts and concrete forming wood products 

The Swiss Krono logo and traceability information printed by Timbermark’s printer system
The 3 printhead installation on the OSB production line at Swiss Krono’s Hungary site