Reference Projects

Published: June 24, 2026

Scope of delivery: Grading mill and planing mill
Year of delivery: 2020

When a new grading mill and planing mill for structural timber were to be built in Hasselfors, Renholmen was commissioned to help create a facility where efficient production, automation and the operators’ working environment were key priorities.

The large building was constructed on a former parking area within the sawmill site. From the planning stage, there were clear requirements for how the production and logistics flows should be designed. All forklift traffic was located on the side facing the sawmill area, both to reduce noise towards the nearby community and to create efficient transport routes.

The working environment as part of the layout

An important consideration in the design was the operators’ working environment. The operator stations were therefore positioned as close to one another as possible. This creates short distances, provides a good overview of the process and makes it easier for operators to assist each other during production.

The infeed section consists of a tilt with auxiliary lift, bypass elevator and piece-by-piece feeder. The solution makes it possible to turn individual pieces according to predefined criteria before planing, ensuring that cupped timber is oriented in the same direction.

Drying stickers and forklift stickers separated at the tilt are sorted in the sticker receiving system and collected in separate racks. The facility also allows the timber to bypass the planer, enabling it to operate as a conventional grading mill.

Flexible cross-cutting and sorting

After planing, the timber is scanned before entering a fully electric cross-cutting system. Each piece is then cross-cut to the required length. The system can also divide a single piece into two shorter sections and optimise each section individually.

The timber is then marked and sorted into a bin section with 36 flat bins.

Automated all the way to the finished package

From the bin section, an electric outfeed conveyor collects the timber and transports it to Renholmen’s patented triple stacker.

An automatic binding sticker feeder cuts the stickers to the correct length so that they do not protrude beyond the package. The finished packages are strapped in several stages and automatically wrapped in plastic. They are then strapped again, with or without bearers strapped underneath, and automatically labelled.

The packages can then be stacked before being transported to the forklift pick-up area.

The result is a modern facility with a high degree of automation, from infeed and planing to cross-cutting, sorting and finished packages. At the same time, the layout has been designed with careful consideration for the operators’ working environment, efficient internal flows and the surrounding area.