Ureka solves the veneer delamination problems of a top quality office furniture manufacturer

BACKGROUND

Herman Miller is a well-known and well-respected manufacture of office furniture.  The company is over 100 years old, and they place great importance on design, the environment community service and the health and well-being of our customers and our employees.   The hallmark of the way they design their furniture is creating innovative ways to improve the performance of their customers organisations

For many years, Herman Miller have manufactured table tops, and screen dividers at their state-of-the-art factory in Wiltshire.  Using a variety of surface types, laminate, impregnated paper and veneer, they had been bonding to core panels using a Burkle shuttle press line.  This line had become outdated, so Herman Miller invested in a new press line in view of improving their production throughput.

THE PROBLEM

The new line they installed was set up using PVA as the adhesive to bond laminate, veneers and impregnated paper.  Unfortunately, the bonding results were very inconsistent and poor, and they experience blistering and bubbling of the veneers and laminates.  There had been a lack of training on how to successfully use the new press, so the Operators were struggling to get to the bottom of the problems they were experiencing.

The reject level got to an unacceptable level, so Herman Miller began to outsource the work to sub-contractor veneering companies.  Whilst in discussions with one of these sub-contractors, they recommended that Herman Miller should contact Ureka as we had the expertise to help solve these veneering and laminating issues.

DISCOVERY & RECOMMENDATION

Herman Miller called Ureka and arranged an initial exploratory visit to see if Ureka would be able to help.  Armed with adhesive samples, our technical consultants Richard and Donovan visited the factory and talked through the issues they were experiencing.  One of the recommendations was to use a UF resin system which is by far the most effective at bonding veneer.  Although Herman Miller would have preferred to stay with a PVA type product, there was really no option if they were to get the results they needed.  UF resin has a far better success rate when veneering compared to using PVA.  See here for more information as to the differences between UF and PVA.

What was also apparent was the correct application equipment was not being used.  Incorrect application equipment and techniques are often a good proportion of adhesive failures.  Paint rollers and other DIY type equipment were being used, so Ureka introduced the Pfohl glue roller which dispenses adhesive evenly and at the correct coverage level.  To enforce the effectiveness of using the correct equipment, a panel was bonded up using a paint roller and another panel using the Pfohl roller.  The first failed and the second held firm.  Applying adhesive with paint rollers gave a very uneven coverage of adhesive, whereas using a proper glue roller gave an even coverage and allows the operators to forecast spread the correct amount of adhesive required.