Pontrilas Sawmills and builders Merchants is more than just a sawmill or pallet and packaging company. It controls all phases of production from log to final retail sales of its lumber products. Commitment to quality and running state-of-the-art operations are drivers behind the company’s success. Pontrilas has grown into a large player in the U.K. market. The company’s latest investment in its packaging plant is a new Mach 3 nailing line from CAPE, which has become a very popular nailing line in Europe.
The group’s packaging division began in 1989 as a subsidiary of Pontrilas Timber and Builders’ Merchants Ltd. It existed initially to supply the packaging requirements of British Steel’s tinplate division, now called Corus Tinplate. Since then, Pontrilas Packaging has grown into a national company supplying all the packaging needs of many of the world-class manufacturing companies in Britain.
Darren Turner, director of Pontrilas Packaging, said, “We’re one of the largest pallet companies now in the UK. We’re producing up to 60,000 pallets per week. That is both two-way and four-way pallets.”
Why Choose CAPE’s Mach 3 Line?
Much of the company’s existing volume has been produced on Vanderloo nailing lines, which are no longer manufacturing large lines. As a result, Pontrilas had to look for a new vendor. After reviewing the top three providers in Europe, Pontrilas opted for CAPE.
Turner explained, “I found CAPE’s research and development and the simplicity of the machine to be far superior to others on the market. Of course, we were looking for production too. We have had it for only two weeks and have timed the machine at just below seven pallets per minute.”
The CAPE Mach 3 line only requires two operators, which is a major selling point for companies looking to reduce labor requirements. Turner added, “Our Mach 3 nailing line is designed to be very user friendly. For example, when the machine stops, the interface will tell the operator exactly why it stopped and where it stopped. If you can imagine, the line is 56 meters long, with numerous components through that line. If it stops for any particular reason, it’s quite easy for the operator to see what the problem is, rectify it, and then basically just press start on the machine, and the machine goes again.”
The Mach 3 nailer comes equipped with sensors in the nail feeders so that you know when you are going to run out of nails about 10 minutes ahead of time. “It is very easy to changeover from one design to another,” Turner commented. “Everything is just done on push buttons with measurement gauges on the end of the push button. If they’re changing from one design to another, there’s no tape measure required or manual adjustments.”
This quick-change feature allows operators to cut downtime and maintain a flexible operation. CAPE has designed the Mach 3 lines to be easy on the operators in terms of physical labor required. Pontrilas’ line is equipped with robots to handle block loading and placement. Turner said, “All the hard-physical work is done by the machine, rather than the operators, so they’re just filling magazines. Then, the actual machine is fed by pick and place lifters and robots. All the blocks are loaded by a robot.”
Pontrilas produces a lot of perimeter-based block pallets on its Mach line. Turner explained, “So you load magazines. The boards are fed out in the shape of a perimeter base, and then the machine picks up the five boards and drops them onto the bottom, and then nails it together. The workers only feed magazines rather than actually physically putting boards on the pallet.”
Although CAPE does have a machine capable of producing both block and stringer pallets, Pontrilas decided to focus on only block pallet production for this machine. Turner stated, “For two-way pallets, we use Viking Champions and a tandem Viking. However, the U.K. market is predominately four-way, so we run six lines producing four-way products, including the new CAPE line.”
Pontrilas uses two Vanderloo lines to produce Euro pallets. Most of its other lines produce the standard 1200 x 1000 mm pallet that is popular in the U.K. market. The company also makes some pallets for CHEP and IPP Logipal as needed by the poolers.
The new CAPE line can produce anything from a 1500 mm square down to 800 mm square. The installation process took place in two phases due to the 18-month lead time for the full machine. Turner explained, “We have a deck machine, which is making the top of the product, which is then fed onto the rest of the line. The deck machine arrived in April. We had the deck machine for a few months before the rest of the line, so the operator could get used to it. We just used those decks in other parts of our factory.”
The CAPE line has more automation than previous systems and is twice as fast as the next fastest machine. Ease of use and maintenance are some of the big plusses for the Mach line. It is connected via the Internet to CAPE’s headquarters in Spain to assist in remote diagnostics. Turner said that they are adding a camera system too for even greater long-distance tech analysis.
Beyond the machine itself, Pontrilas liked the post-sales support service. He said, “I knew from speaking to other pallet manufacturers who had their equipment, that once CAPE sold you a machine, they back it up. They don’t just move onto their next project. If you have issues, they’re pretty good at resolving them.”
Turner added, “I have been in the pallet industry for 32 years, and at the moment, CAPE is the go-to new machine and equipment in the United Kingdom and Ireland.”
Integrated Operations from Log to Finished Products
Pontrilas operates two sawmills and runs a retail home improvement and lumber supply store. Turner explained, “Basically, our business strategy is to have outlets for our top-end product from the sawmills and also our bottom-end. Also, a lot of material we cut in the sawmill goes to the open market due to the sheer volume our sawmills produce.”
The sawmill started in 1948 as a hardwood mill producing timbers for the mining industry. It also has supplied the large steel sector in Wales. The retail side is the most recent venture added to the group.
Today, the company operates a softwood mill and a hardwood mill on the same site. The hardwood facility produces around 60 cubic meters a day while the softwood plant pumps out 940 cubic meters daily. Hardwood lumber goes primarily into flooring and furniture or canal projects for British Waterways and pallets for the steel industry.
The sawmills are located in the Herefordshire village of Pontrilas providing good access for delivery all over England and Wales. Pontrilas Sawmills was founded by the chairman’s father John R. Hickman in 1947. Jeremy Hickman, the current chairman of Pontrilas Sawmills, has worked within the company for over 50 years. The company has put a focus on investing in technology and has built a state-of-the-art sawmill facility. This plant can cut, plane, kiln dry, treat and grade timber. The kilns are powered by a biomass boiler, using carbon neutral waste products from the sawmill.
Pontrilas Merchants is the wholesale division specializing in timber and building supplies offering everything from cement to kitchens fixtures. It serves primarily building contractors and home remodelers. Think of it like a small Lowe’s store serving a region.
Trends in the U.K. Market
Controlling its own sawmill production has enabled Pontrilas to monitor and ensure quality. Turner suggested, “Customers in the U.K. are really particular about the quality of pallets. Also, when it comes to more advanced automation, the better-quality lumber you feed the machine, the more pallets it will produce.”
About 90% of the timber Pontrilas uses comes from the United Kingdom although it does buy some material from the Baltic states and Scandinavia.
The company decided to undertake a massive automation push in its pallet division in 2006. This allowed the sawmill to ramp up production as well. Over the last 12 years, revenues from the packaging division have grown from 5 million to 24 million. All of this growth despite some timber shortages over the last few years. Turner explained, “Having our own sawmill behind us, that has been a definite selling tool for us, as far as continuity of supply for customers.”
Even with its own sawmill capacity, procuring supply has been a challenge. Turner commented, “Well, the U.K. pallet market tends to use a lot of timber from the Baltic states, specifically Latvia. Last year, they had severe floods, which meant that they couldn’t get into the forest to harvest. That was a big impact on the United Kingdom… Plus, the economy has been pretty good. If people are busy, they need a pallet to move their products.”
Looking at challenges in the U.K. market, Turner pointed to high log prices, which are at record highs. He said, “We’re paying prices now that I’ve never experienced in my time in the pallet industry. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, at the moment. Supply and prices are the big issue at the moment for the U.K. pallet and lumber industries.”
Pallet prices have risen about 25% over the last 18 months. Some customers are looking at other options, such as corrugated or presswood pallets. Overall, the industry remains strong, and Pontrilas believes that it has just tapped the U.K. pallet market. Extra production from the new CAPE line will allow the company to remain competitive and grab more customers in the future.
Editor’s Note: In North America, CAPE machine sales and service is handled by PRS Group (https://www.prsgroupinc.com) or call 866-546-8864. Find out how the Mach line of machines can boost your production while keeping manpower low.
