USFloors

In recent years, USFloors and Shaw have focused its investments on composite flooring consisting of synthetic layers, it is in no way inferior to 100% wood products, not only in terms of aesthetics which the composite products simulate, but also because of its functionality.

The high definition finish reproduces various types of wood, ceramics and marble, with extremely elegant details, that are not found in many products. The composite product’s great flexibility ensures that it is easy to install. Additionally, it is water-proof, easy to clean, and sound absorbing.

To initiate production of composite flooring in the United States, USFloors/ Shaw needed a completely automatic line for profiling composite planks; from single sheets to the pallet ready for shipping. The performance expectations required up to 160 meters per minute, equal to 100 pieces per minute. 

SCM, with over sixty years’ worth of experience in technologies for the flooring industry and with an unparalleled ability in knowing how to offer customers complete and customized manufacturing lines, was chosen as the sole supplier. In the spring of 2016 USFloors/Shaw purchased the integrated celaschi line, which is designed specifically for the production of composite flooring.

An additional requirement of the project was a cutting system to trim, split and cut core board panels continuously. The performance specs required a speed of up to 15 meters per minute to work in synchronization with a core board formation machine upstream. The cutting precision needed was a tolerance of +/-1 mm.

The solution: an SCM integrated cell that trims both edges of the panel, splits it in two longitudinally, and unloads the cut sheets in single or double stacks. 

“The panel sizing machine, usually used in post-processing lines of insulating panels, was not enough for the customer. They also needed to trim and split the product”, explained Bruno Tommasini, SCM’s BU Engineering Director. One obvious solution would have been to position a Celaschi in front of the panel sizing machine, but the space available and the cost of two machines didn’t warrant the customer’s investment. This complex situation inspired the SCM Engineering staff to come up with a highly innovative solution as a result of extraordinary teamwork between different technological units.

This project led to the creation by SCM Engineering team of a Celaschi special machine, specialized in profiling and splitting technology and by a special flying cross-cut saw. SCM could satisfy all the requirements in terms of productivity, tolerances, flexibility to process a wide range of different panel dimensions and all this at low investment costs. “We had different offers on the table, but nobody has been able to show us what we needed”, commented the customer in reference to the offer and service offered by SCM Engineering, during the subsequent completion and successful acceptance test of the assembled cell in the production plant of SCM in Thiene. 

www.usfloorsllc.com