Friday, March 21, 2025
Raute is happy to announce their collaboration with Koskisen – one of the international wood processing specialists with a history spanning more than a hundred years. The collaboration between Koskisen and Raute goes back to the framesaw era. Koskisen has been using machine since the turn of the 21st century, and today, the factory has dozens of analysers, most of which are machine vision applications.
“AI enables the analysis of data on a whole new level, and the collaboration with Raute has produced concrete results for which we can be proud,” Ahonen says.
After investing in a new veneer composing analyser in 2023, Koskisen found an opportunity to pilot Raute’s new AI solution, designed to improve the accuracy of the analyser further and expand its capabilities.
Challenging world of birch
The veneer composing line that served as the AI test platform had already been in use for 30 years and was one of the last desired workstations in the koskisen plywood mill. As part of the company’s systematic investment program, a decision was made to modernize the line.
The Raute AI solution focused especially on birch plywood, a highly valued but demanding product to make. The challenge with analyzing birch veneer using machine vision is that the bark layer gets easily mixed with a sound knot, which affects the quality of the final product.
“Birch was chosen because it is one of the most challenging wood species for AI. However, neural network AI can detect errors in real-time, which is something the previous machine vision solution was not capable of doing reliably enough,” says Koskisen’s Development Technician Marko Hokkanen.
Concrete benefits of AI
With the modernization, the veneer composing line became one of the department’s most wanted workstations. Raute’s AI solution offered significant improvements. First of all, quality assurance rose to a new level as the birch bark and sound knots can be more accurately identified. This enhances production efficiency, and the veneer can be more accurately composed.
The modernization also improved the working conditions on the line, which was reflected in operator satisfaction and increased work motivation. Comparison with neighboring sister lines using older technology shows a clear difference: thanks to the AI solution, the detection errors have been minimised, and all production errors are correctly targeted.
“It seems that you can indeed teach an old dog new tricks. The line is still operated in a familiar way, but its efficiency and accuracy have reached a whole new level,” Ahonen describes.
“This project is an excellent example of how constant cooperation between an equipment supplier and a client can produce results that will take the whole industry forward,” Marko Hokkanen concludes.
Koskisen’s culture of continuous improvement and Raute’s innovative solutions create a strong foundation for sustainable development and profitable growth. Both companies are developing the wood processing industry of the future where quality, sustainability and leading products go hand in hand.
Read more news on: Raute, Koskisen, plywood mill, sustainability, acquisition/collaboration, AI, woodworking technology, veneer
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