Kadant Carmanah Design and Hexion Inc have entered into a collaborative partnership to jointly advance innovation in the wood processing industry.
Kadant Carmanah produces OSB stranding technology for OSB producers, while Hexion is a leading global producer of adhesives and performance materials solutions which also has the Smartech business specialising in AI manufacturing technologies in the wood-based panels sector.
“As the global leader of stranding equipment used in the manufacturing of oriented strand board (OSB) panel production, our collaborative partnership with Hexion and its Smartech artificial intelligence (AI) technology is the natural evolution for our flagship SmartRING strander product line and Argus smart-connected technologies platform,” said Todd Macey, president of Kadant Carmanah Design.
“By integrating Hexion’s world-class AI-driven autonomous manufacturing solutions with Kadant Carmanah’s expertise in stranding equipment and technology, together we will help our OSB customers produce better quality strands, improve strander production, and prevent unexpected downtime of the strander.”
Michael Lefenfeld, President and CEO of Hexion, said the benefit of this collaborative partnership for OSB producers will be full visibility and connectivity throughout the entire manufacturing process – from the strander, to the dryer, to the blender, to the forming line, to the press.
“As OSB wood rooms continue to face labour challenges and the high variability of log inventory management, Hexion’s advanced AI and machine learning technology will help stabilize the quality of strands from the strander,” said Mr Lefenfeld.
