In late 2023, Penope delivered and installed two HYBRID multifunction bridges to Volumetric Building Companies’ factory in California. This was Penope’s first sales deal in the North American market.
Volumetric Building Companies or VBC is a rapidly growing US company that manufactures modular housing using wood. The company has three production sites: two in the United States and one in Poland.
The 600,000 sq ft factory located in Tracy, California produces approximately 25,000 sq ft of modules per week on a single shift. Floor and roof panels manufactured in the Tracy factory can be as large as 15’9”x 40’. Attaching boards to a single panel can require up to 1,000 screws or nails. Additionally, the surfaces of the panels need to be routed to create openings. Doing all of this manually is slow and heavy work.
VBC was looking for a solution to automate these processes to speed up production and improve work ergonomics. Penope’s HYBRID multifunction bridges met this need and were customized according to VBC’s specifications. The delivered bridges handle both the board fastening and the routing of openings using full automation. The bridges were integrated into the existing floor and roof panel production lines.
Versatile Panel Manufacturing Tools with Customizability Make for a Happy Customer
The floor panel manufacturing bridge is equipped with three nailing tools that tilt, and a routing unit. The roof panel manufacturing bridge is similarly equipped with three screwing tools that tilt, and a routing unit. The screwing unit uses screws, which can be added to the feed trays from ground level without stopping the bridge. Additional units, such as a gluing unit, can be added to both bridges later, if needed.
The project was completed on time, and the customer is very satisfied with the equipment and its operation. Thanks to the the multifunction bridges, the throughput time of the VBC’s floor and roof panel production lines is significantly improved. Furthermore, panel quality is raised to a new level thanks to automated work phases and the precision of the servo-control in the bridges.
“The bridges were integrated into already existing production lines, and it was crucial for the customer to be able to keep manufacturing panels even during installation. This was enabled by continuing manufacturing in the morning shift, while installation work was performed in the evening shift, so it wouldn’t interfere with the production. After the installation was done for the day, the site had to be left in a condition that allowed production to continue the following morning. This balancing between the installation and production was successfully coordinated between VBC’s personnel and Penope’s installation team. The installations, startup and training were completed within six weeks, after which the bridges were handed over to VBC for production use,” tells Tero Salminen, Project Manager for Penope.
We thank the VBC project team for the excellent cooperation in ensuring the successful implementation of this project.
