World’s largest blockboard factory – HS Baco Panels – this year celebrates ten years since it has joined the HS Timber Group family. Incidentally, ten is also the exact number of letters in the word ‘blockboard’, which leads us to describing ten unbeatable characteristics and interesting facts about the product which some call the ‘hidden champion’ of the furniture industry.
We invite you to read on and find out the story behind the product...
Blockboards are the ‘hidden champions’ of the furniture industry. They are a fantastic working material and are used for doors and doorframes, for manufacturing furniture - such as dressings, tables, bookshelves, kitchen units - or for innovative interior design applications. Their unique features and characteristics make blockboards a highly-appreciated material, as it combines resistance to bending and light weight. Furniture, however, is not the only industry which uses blockboards: the shuttering panels in the construction industry can also be made of blockboards.
Located in the Romanian town of Comănești, one can find the biggest blockboard factory in the world. This is HS Baco Panels, which has been acquired by HS Timber Group in 2010, exactly 10 years ago. Since then, the factory was constantly modernised, and further production units have been built. In the meantime, it expanded to four production sections, which produce the core and assemble it to the final product.
Once this was home to the country’s largest wood processing complex – back in Communist times. HS Baco Panels continues the woodworking tradition in the area. Now, the factory stretches over 17 hectares where, besides the production units for the core and finishing, warehouses, office buildings and delivery/transport deposits are arranged most efficiently. Short ways, fast processes and a variety of finishing supplements for a perfectly composed core build the highly appreciated material. Subsequently, the blockboards are delivered to customers in over 40 countries around the world in the furniture and construction industry.
Currently, almost 800 employees work with passion and dedication to produce blockboards at HS Baco Panels. Thus, the factory is the largest private employer in the Valea Trotușului area and most of the employees have been working at HS Baco Panels for a long time - some of them even since the factory was taken over in 2010, which shows they have gained work experience within the company of more than 20 years. Some started their career as an apprentice, gained know-how and special expertise and are now shift or department leaders. This excellent internal know-how paired with high-quality products have led to the international reputation which the blockboards manufactured in Comănești enjoy at an international level.
Key to success is our high customer orientation and tailor made blockboards that meet the varied requirements - from large volumes to small customized solutions. A decent amount of the manufacturing process is manual work. The passion and the skill of the personnel ensure the quality of the final product.
Blockboard is made of softwood strips, from which small imperfections are removed, and the different single pieces are glued together to form a board, which is subsequently covered with different materials. Blockboard is lighter than chipboard or High-Density Fibreboards (HDF) and has all the advantages of solid wood, without inheriting any disadvantages. High resistance to bending and unscrewing are undisputed advantages of the blockboard.
Once the wooden core is ennobled with various technical or decorative coating materials, possibilities are endless. Blockboards are customized to the wishes and special needs of the customers, and the ways the product can be customised are numerous. That is why, the blockboard is an ideal material for the furniture industry, doors and doorframes, as well as for innovative interior design applications. The construction industry is also an important segment for HS Baco Panels, as the shuttering panels are indispensable elements in the concrete buildings industry.
A blockboard is called Tischlerplatten in German- which freely translates to carpenter's plate, due to all the advantages of this type of material. The blockboard can have a smoother and more special finish, making it perfect to give an elegant and modern impression. In the early days of mass production of furniture, the blockboard was used as a flexible material, extremely stable and which allowed new types of products in the construction of furniture, at lower prices compared to solid wood. The products manufactured at HS Baco Panels in Comănești are exported to 40 countries around the world.
Resources are very valuable. That’s why HS Timber Group uses 100% of the raw material it processes. The blockboard is therefore a sustainable material, as it uses in its construction the timber that would be considered of inferior quality for other industries. Imperfections are eliminated in the case of blockboards, and the resource is not wasted.
Did you know that the blockboard is a material whose origins date back to the time of the Egyptian pyramids? Although it is less known and used in Romania - compared to other countries with a similar tradition in wood processing, such as Germany or Italy - the advantages of the blockboard make it the ‘hidden champion’. We can talk about dimensional resistance. It does not bend like other materials. It has a low density, and can be moved easily. Furniture made of blockboards can be bequeathed to future generations…
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