Monday, March 7, 2022
60 years ago, HOMAG launched the first throughfeed edge banding machine using the hot-cold application process onto the market. The machine was an immediate hit. What followed over the years was a constant series of innovations and further developments that have allowed HOMAG to regularly prove itself as a pioneer and technology leader in edge banding right up to the present day.
As a global player, the HOMAG Group is present in more than 60 countries and has a market share of more than 30%. For 60 years, the product range for the panel-processing wood and furniture industry, which covers the entire process chain of customers, has also included systems for edge banding. To this very day, HOMAG has repeatedly proven itself to be a pioneer in new processes and a technology leader in this segment. For example, in 1962, just two years after the company was founded, it registered a patent for the KH 2/18, the first automatic edge banding machine. In the same year, 1962, at the Hanover trade fair, the company showed a new type of edge banding machine using the hot-cold process. In comparison to the competition, this machine allowed edges to be glued much faster and more economically. This was a revolution. “As a result, the favorable price-performance ratio led to immense demand, meaning that from 1962, HOMAG concentrated entirely on the production and further development of this gluing technology,” explains Dr. Sergej Schwarz, member of the board. “The process was driven in particular by an innovative glue technology: hot-melt glue.”
In 1965, HOMAG was able to present a further double-sided edge banding machine with a new base frame and width adjustment device. Following this, in 1967, the company developed the first single-sided edge banding machine: the KH 12. The subsequent further developments for precise workpiece transport would soon allow for sizing units to be arranged in the infeed area of the machine. Today, up to 15 units are installed on these types of machines, allowing workpieces to be processed in a way that makes them ready for installation.
In order to be able to offer a suitable edge banding machine to smaller furniture companies in the future as well, in 1973, HOMAG designed the KH 10-13 series. Even then, the machines were offered with two different gluing stations to allow coil material, solid edges and pre-coated edges to be processed. Two years later, at Ligna 1975 trade fair, HOMAG presented the cold-glue activation process to the experts for the first time — a technology for edge gluing with PVAC glue.
In 1976, a majority stake was acquired in Heinrich Brandt Maschinenbau GmbH, which later became BRANDT Kantentechnik GmbH, a company that also built edge banding machines and that had also made a name for itself by working with pre-coated edges. This strengthened not only the market position of HOMAG in the woodworking shops sector, but also its presence in the center of the German furniture industry, in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In 1982, a new generation of edge banding machines, the KL 70, was shown at the trade fair for the wood craft in Munich. Fundamental innovations in construction, versatility and work safety were implemented in these machines. “A decisive innovation here was the mechanical air-supported chip removal, which was integrated into the stand and reduced the suction power needed until then by 70%,” reports Christian Schürle, Senior Director Product Management. The machine was further developed to become, for example, the KL 70 Optimat in 1995.
One thing followed another, “In 1999, with the powerLine series, a range of double-sided machines designed for series production, HOMAG once again managed to move into a new performance class,” emphasizes Achim Homeier, Senior Director Global Marketing & Product Management. “The goal of the powerLine program—a 50% increase in performance at only 30% additional costs—was achieved through higher feed speeds, shorter gaps and changeover times, and longer availability.” Small series production and individual production became more and more important in the following years, so in 2001, HOMAG presented a new, highly automated generation of the powerLine series for batch size 1 production.
In 2004, with its first solutions for the edging of lightweight panels, HOMAG responded to the growing importance of the use of lightweight panels in the furniture industry as well as batch size 1 production. Since then, the group has offered machines and systems not only for the production of lightweight panels, but also for the further processing and edging of such panels.
Once again, HOMAG was able to celebrate a world premiere at Ligna 2009: the Ambition series of edge banding machines was launched on the market in the form of six series from BRANDT and HOMAG. “The basic version of the series already covered more than 90% of all applications in industry and woodworking shops,” emphasizes Christian Schürle. In 2014, the next generation of the Ambition series followed, with new unit technology and models in various performance classes. Among the new features of the machines was the airTec technology, which had already become established. From 2016, users then had access to an Ambition 2482, which, as an all-round edge cell, was equipped with a TFU 521 edition return conveyor and a destacking station.
A new age in edge processing
“The presentation of the laserTec process, which was intended to herald a new age in edge application, was the most important feature of Ligna 2009,” stresses Matthias Volm. “By using a laser beam to melt the surface to be glued and then pressing it directly onto the workpiece, the process guarantees a consistently high processing quality with almost no joints. What’s more, laserTec can be used to process all standard edge types such as PVC, ABS, PP, PMMA, veneer or melamine.” In 2010, the technology was first made available to woodworking shops, to then become established for use on processing centers in 2011. The next step in the laserTec process was marked by Ligna 2017, “where the more robust, smaller and performance-optimized successor generation was handed over to the user with laserTec Next Generation,” says Matthias Volm. The unit was now available in two performance classes and offered the industry zero joint edge quality in both batch size 1 production and series production.
In 2013, airTec was launched on the market for invisible joints tailored to the needs of woodworking shops. “A process in which the edge and panel are connected by hot air,” explains Christian Schürle. “Special edges consisting of a decorative layer and a functional layer are used. The functional layer is melted at a constant temperature and constant volume flow and securely connected to the narrow surface.” Since 2016, the airTec unit has been available with a rotation air heater, which has made it quieter and even more powerful. In 2017, the process was established in door production, therefore allowing the manufacture of optical zero joints with ABS/PP edge material.
In the years following, the group presented a whole series of new machine generations that covered the entire process chain and combined a new functional design with a new name. From that point on, the edge banding machines bore the name EDGETEQ and the technology continued to develop step by step: for example, in 2018, the entry-level EDGETEQ S-200 machine, model 1130 FC, was launched on the market, followed by the new EDGETEQ S-500 and EDGETEQ S-800 series. In 2021, the company kept up with the market development toward autonomous, automated production systems by introducing an advanced concept. At Live.HOMAG, the company unveiled two cell solutions with edge banding machines: an EDGETEQ S-380 with LOOPTEQ O-300 return conveyor, ideal for the production of construction elements, and an EDGETEQ S-500 with LOOPTEQ O-600 return conveyor and a new workpiece infeed system for workpieces requiring a particular sizing accuracy. HOMAG also presented a double-end tenoner that can be used to produce furniture elements that are assembled using a click system with the Threespine furniture-click technology from the Swedish company VÄLINGE. If necessary, the units for the furniture click system can also be integrated directly into edge banding machines in the future.
Success stories:
When it was introduced 60 years ago, the first HOMAG edge banding machine was not only the starting point of the HOMAG Group success story, but also an important milestone for many HOMAG customers. For this reason, the group now invites companies who have a HOMAG or BRANDT edge banding machine in operation that has been in use for a particularly long time to contact them directly with a picture of the machine, preferably with employees included in the photo, and a few sentences about what they particularly appreciate about their machine.
The winners will be invited to a sponsored the company headquarters in Schopfloch, Germany, for a tour of the plant, an individual overview of the current machine program and the presentation of a surprise gift.
Tags: 60 years, airTec, Edge Banding, Edge banding machines, EDGETEQ, homag, Homag group, LaserTec
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