Despond sawmill grades with Viscan Plus
Despond S.A. sawmill based in Bulle, Switzerland, has a manpower of 45 employees and produces a vast range of products with more than 120,000 m³ of sawn lumber per year. The company looks back on a tradition that lasts for a century. Recently, Despond has specialized in the production of construction wood that is marked with the CE signature according to EN 14081.
In close collaboration with the scanner provider Microtec, the Despond Company promoted machine grading for construction wood in Switzerland. Just recently, in 2016, there have been carried out several tests with 250 pieces of wood that were graded by Viscan Plus and then sent to the Bern University of Applied Sciences for destructive tests. In comparison with the Viscan, the Viscan Plus determines the density of the wood due to the x-ray part and is able to define a higher yield.
Lately, Viscan Plus got a certification for the strength grading of construction wood for the wood species spruce (Picea abies) and fir (Abies alba) especially grown in border regions interesting for France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Luxemburg and Liechtenstein. In terms of this certification, Microtec's grading expert Mr. Martin Bacher explains with a hint of pride: “In the last 15 years we have created step-by-step a very huge database issue of machine grading and laboratory data, which assure to receive such comprehensive accreditations for the grading of construction wood”. After more than 10,000 tests, for the first time all Microtec grading machines, also those from the Goldeneye series, got the accreditation to grade boards from spruce and fir that have grown in the European habitat.
The benefits are clear: The sawmill is allowed to grade the construction wood with the same machine settings, regardless in which country the trees have grown.
