International Panel & Lumber, New Zealand - Overcoming Bottlenecks and Lifting Volumes with Automated Panel Repair

MAKING WOOD MATTER

Summary

International Panel and Lumber (IPL), a New Zealand-based premium plywood manufacturer, aimed to eliminate a critical production bottleneck in their manual patching process. To address this, they partnered with Raute to introduce the highly automated Panel Repair Station R5. The cooperation enabled significant labor reductions, improved cost-efficiency, and a substantial lift in overall production volumes.

International Panel & Lumber (IPL)

IPL is a well-established plywood and veneer manufacturer operating for over 50 years on New Zealand’s South Island. Their production uses renewable plantation-grown radiata pine and serves both industrial and appearance-grade markets.
Founded
1965
Location
Greymouth, New Zealand
Export markets
Australia, the Pacific Islands, and Southeast Asia
Raute Partner Since
2017

Challenge

Prior to the recent investment, IPL faced critical operational hurdles in its patching area that threatened to restrict overall efficiency. Relying on manual labor for this stage heavily limited the speed of the entire production line.

According to IPL, the key challenges included:

  • Continuous production bottlenecks. The manual patching station could not keep up with production demands, restricting the mill's overall output.
  • High labor dependency. The process was highly labor-intensive, requiring patching staff to be present across all shifts.
  • Costly overtime requirements. To manage the backlog, mandatory overtime became a frequent and costly necessity.

 

"Due to number of manual patching staffing needed this area had continuous issue being a major bottleneck in production. Staff were required on all shifts for patching and then overtime was also required. This was a major restriction to production."

– Robert Dumelow, General Manager, International Panel & Lumber

See how IPL eliminated bottlenecks, cut labor, and lifted volumes with automated panel repair.