Bauwerk Boen Group

Technologies for surface treatment

An impeccable finishing for a beautiful, natural and healthy parquet floor.

"Let's give the tree a second life in our homes".The Bauwerk Boen group is a major European manufacturer of parquet floors, produced with completely natural wood which guarantees a healthy lifestyle and one that respects the environment. Excellent innovation and precision (the words of Swiss people!) and specialised skills are the cornerstones of this group that has also acquired a new, highly innovative plant in Croatia equipping it with a line for Superfici finishing. And considering the high level of satisfaction, made a second purchase of a Valtorta F1 roller machine for the headquarters in Switzerland"

Swiss precision and quality natural wood, like the wood from the oak forests in green and luxuriant Croatia. Two very different countries and cultures that merge perfectly in the Bauwerk Boen flooring by the Swiss group of the same name, nowadays one of Europe's leading parquet manufacturers. Two companies with a long history which merged into one, and today, lend their names to the two brands Bauwerk Parkett AG and Boen AS.
In 2017, the group employed around 1.800 people and in the same year had a turnover of 285 million CHF (Swiss Francs), the equivalent of 254 million Euro. A manufacturer proud of its origins, but firmly focused on innovation. In recent years, from its "cradle" in Switzerland, the Bauwerk Boen Group has expanded its horizons towards Eastern Europe, opening new production sites in Lithuania and Croatia. And it is precisely to Ðurđevac in Croatia, around two hours from Zagreb towards the border with Hungary, that we went to get see the “Bauwerk quality” for ourselves, synonymous with specialised skills and advanced technologies, and to discover one of the lines for the Superfici finishing purchased from SCM.

Different flags, hang at the entrance to the plant, instantly revealing the rich life of this group owned by the Swiss Ernst Göhner Beteiligungen AG and the Norwegian Johan G.Olsen AS. We are welcomed by the Managing director (MD) Igor Benaković: "The main reason for opening these new premises was to benefit from the good logistics position to reach our reference markets and to have access to natural wood renowned for its good quality like that of the Croatian oak - explains the Bauwerk Boen Croatia MD. Furthermore, Croatia offers highly specialised human resources in the wood manufacturing industry. Also, the country is in line with standards in the most developed countries and has a healthy approach to life, in line with the distinctive features found in our parquet floors, which aim to contribute to a better quality of living and meet market demands for increased sensitivity towards ecosustainable matters. This is why we use only wood and other materials that are both healthy and eco-friendly. "Let's give the tree a second life in our homes". Indeed, certain Bauwerk brand products are certified "Cradle to cradle” to identify production processes which preserve and regenerate natural elements.

The group produces a variety of parquet floors. The Bauwerk brand presents a twolaye wooden floor and is sold both via installers and distribution partners with their own showroom space. Switzerland, lAustria and Germany are its main markets. Boen, on the other hand, has three layers and is offered via wholesalers and retailers mainly in Norway, Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, and even the United States and Far East. "In Croatia - continues their MD - we produce both finished and semi-finished flooring for both brands. We have state-of-the-art machinery which spans from the sawmill right up to surface treatment and line for finishing. We are proud to have built the entire plant and production line, but our greatest source of pride is the success of our Croatian colleagues, backed by the entire Bauwerk Boen group". It is essential to guarantee top quality in an evolving and increasingly demanding market at each stage of the process.

The finishing work, in particular, is what gives the final touch, where performance and appearance become key parameters. There is also increasing demand on the parquet floor industry for customised products, and this requires highly flexible production processes to manufacture a wide range of extremely accurate products and technologies, equipped with a simple, userfriendly interface. "The Superfici line can easily be adjusted thanks to the Supervisor interface and offers considerable advantages from an operating flexibility point of view which we could exploit further with larger production volumes". The line has seven valtorta f1 roller coaters to apply all lacquer applications and achieve varying finishing effects on the parquet floor. In addition, there is a valtorta s4 filling machine with an applicator which spreads the product and a chrome steel roller which, by rotating it in the opposite direction to which it moves, compresses the filler deep into the holes in the wood and removes any excess material. The UV Selecure ovens are ideal for making the most of the energy given off by the UV lamp to effectively polymerize the coatings applied to the surface of the parquet strips. The line is also integrated with a stain wiping brushing system to create an aged effect and vintage finishing. Thanks to the control of the supervisor software, the entire process can be tracked and data exchanged on production, data control or order lists, an invaluable advantage nowadays and even more so in the coming years.

The latest Superfici purchase is, however, in Switzerland at the Bauwerk AG headquarters in St. Margrethen and dates back to the summer of 2018. "We were so satisfied with the line installed here in Croatia, that we decided to replace the dated application machinery with a valtorta f1 roller machine. We chose to invest in "made in Italy" because it is synonymous with an excellent quality-price ratio and standard delivery times". Even an effective, punctual after-sales support service as well as a readily available and competent Superfici and SCM team, becomes key to a company focused on perfection and continuous improvement. Because there can be no winning technology without a reliable partner to back it up.