“One of the most invigorating and interactive product knowledge courses we have run – the feedback was excellent,” concluded Simon Dorries, general manager of the Engineered Wood Products Association of Australasia, at the end of four days of presentations and site visits in Brisbane.
The course lagte last year included practical site visits to Austral Plywoods, a leading manufacturer of premium grade plywood sourced from 100% plantation-grown hoop pine provided by HQPlantations and the DAFF Salisbury Research Facility.
Speakers and delegates were drawn from four states, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The expanding role of plywood and LVL in diverse range of formwork applications generated high interest.
Simon Dorries said the course focused on manufacturing technology, quality control, product application and uses, innovation and the structural and aesthetic applications of plywood and LVL.
He said ever-improving manufacturing technologies together with a total quality control program gave the user confidence that EWPAA-branded plywood and LVL were products of consistent reliable strength, stiffness and dimensional stability.
“This was a valuable up-skilling program for manufacturing staff helping them to make products more cost effectively and in a quality environment,” he said.
Sessions included structural properties and applications of plywoods, LVL, particleboard, and MDF; bond testing and evaluation; finishing and detailing; durability; formaldehyde emission tests; panel quality control; and certification of engineered wood products.
Strong interest centred on sessions about close scrutiny of important EWPAA standard products in various market segments and ‘selling’ product advantages and how to deal with substitutes in the sales situation.
Photo: Talking EWPs in Brisbane. Tung Hiek Hii, Ta Ann Tasmania (centre) with Big River representatives from Grafton, NSW, Craig Dorward, general manager, and Wade Anderson, day-shift supervisor.
