Dropping into place: the new Wood Waste Control dust extraction filter is hoisted onto the site at West Sussex Office Furniture
Office and educational furniture manufacturer, West Sussex Office Furniture, has invested in a new waste extraction system from Wood Waste Control which is instantly paying dividends in improved factory cleanliness, reduced waste and clear financial savings.
The company designs and manufactures ranges of ‘white label’ office and educational furniture. These are sold exclusively to a network of dealerships which apply their own branding. It has grown steadily since being formed in 2004 and last year reported its “best ever trading year”.
WSOF employs 54 people at its 18,000ft2 factory at Birdham Business Park, near Chichester in West Sussex, and the production machinery in its woodworking plant includes two CNC machines, a flatbed saw, and two edgebanders. There is a separate metalworking plant.
“We use only large sheets of chipboard in our woodworking plant and all items of machinery require dust extraction,” explains WSOF MD, Ian Hamlett. “We had a longstanding extraction system with wood burner but the main burning chamber on the burner had rust holes in it causing it to smoke excessively. Everywhere was covered in dust and we desperately needed a cleaner working environment.”
The company turned to Wood Waste Control (Engineering), which has hundreds of successful waste extraction, processing and heating equipment installations across the UK, in Europe, Russia and Africa.
Wood Waste Control specified a much larger extraction system utilising its WFS 13-2J modular filter unit. The collected waste is discharged through the filter unit via a rotary valve unit and dropped pressure-free directly into a silo feeding its WWH 25 automatic warm air heater. In addition, a Reinbold Azr 600 18.5kW shredder chops chipboard offcuts into small pieces ready for burning in the heater.
“They also added a separate small filter exclusively to extract the small plastic clippings cut off by the edge bander into separate dust bags so they can go off to landfill,” Ian adds.
“The installation went very well and Wood Waste Control’s installation team was tremendously knowledgeable and helpful. The extraction is much more efficient, and the factory is now cleaner and tidier, creating a better place to work which means happy staff and so a happy company. The new system demonstrates our professional approach to working and is also more environmentally friendly.
“Our investment in the new system, including various extras, was £150,000. We are now saving well over £30,000 each year on the cost of skips to landfill and forecast a three-to-five-year payback on our investment, as well as the improvement in working conditions and environmental benefits.
“We are delighted with the end result and with the work of Wood Waste Control, who did everything they said they would. I would recommend them to anyone.”
Wood Waste Control is based in Bourne End near High Wycombe. The family company manufactures its wide range of filters in the UK and supplies shredders, briquette presses, biomass heaters/boilers, plus quick-assemble and spiral ductwork to enable it to offer solutions from simple stand-alone bagging units through to complex integrated systems.
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