Wood processing technology supplier USNR has signed a number of major contracts in the last few months.

At the end of 2020, USNR signed a €13m contract with Tschopp Holzindustrie AG in Switzerland, for a new sawline. The sawline will be a fully equipped premium production line, custom designed to cut a maximum volume of thin boards from each log. The mill, one of Switzerland’s largest, provides the raw material for Tschopp’s production of formwork panels for the construction industry.

The log line will comprise two Logmaster HPS quad bandmills. Designed for accurate cutting at speeds up to 180m/min, Logmaster HPS is the most advanced bandmill in USNR’s programme for throughput and recovery.

The line will also be equipped with USNR’s optimisation and controls, and designed with flexibility and capability to accommodate complex saw patterns.

To handle the large volume of sideboards, USNR will also deliver two Catech XT edger lines that operate in the range of over 70 boards/min. These lines will be equipped with the latest optimisation technology.

“Winning this order means that USNR can look back on 2020 as one of the best years ever in terms of sales for our European operations, despite the ongoing pandemic,” said Johan Johansson, CEO USNR AB.

In other developments, Nix Forest Products in the US, has updated its planer mill with advanced technology from USNR. The mill has been relying on manual grading and is looking to improve grade recovery from its products. It is also investing to increase the efficiency of its process.

The order features USNR’s Transverse High Grader (THG) automated grading system with ‘deep learning’ technology. This technology increases the speed and accuracy of THG’s defect detection.

Meanwhile, Lecours Lumber in Canada has ordered new 47-bin sawmill sorter, which is scheduled to be installed in Q3, 2022.

The new vertical bin sorter will feature the Pusher Lug sorter top, ideal for high speed applications. The sorter is designed to operate at 140 lugs per minute.