For 50 years, Holzma has embodied top quality and precision in panel cutting. The success story began with the founding of Holzma in 1966. At that time, it was new technical developments that drove the rapid growth of the company. Today that focus continues, but also encompasses optimally networked technologies and innovations for highly efficient production processes.
The motto for the anniversary celebrations, We are Panel Dividing sums up five decades of Holzma. From 1966 up to the present day, generations of highly qualified employees with their ideas and skills have taken Holzma from literally being a garage company to its present position as world market leader in panel-dividing technology.
Some 420 people are employed at the company headquarters in Calw-Holzbronn alone. In addition, there are skilled employees at other production sites, including Barcelona, Shanghai, Sao Paulo and Bangalore. Together, they form the Business Unit Panel Dividing within the Homag Group, to which Holzma has belonged since 1987.
The beginnings: full of courage and entrepreneurial spirit
The success story started with Erwin Jenkner who, as founding father, shaped Holzma with his exceptional creativeness, great courage and entrepreneurial spirit. When he registered the Holzma name in May 1966, it was already a household name in Germany among window manufacturers, but not yet for saws.
In 1967 Erwin Jenkner built the first horizontal saw with a saw unit running under the table. The model served mainly to cut solid wood. It was equipped with a hydraulic drive unit, but still lacked a pressure beam and a scoring saw.
The growth: faster than the competition
When a growing demand for saws capable of cutting melamine-laminated chipboard became apparent, Erwin Jenkner instigated the construction of the next generation saw. Detlef Jenkner, Erwin’s son, was responsible for the new development. He was studying mechanical engineering in Constance at the time and, alongside this, took on the design work. He officially joined the company in 1969, increasing the number of employees to six.
In 1970 the first panel saw with pressure beam and electronically-controlled lateral fence rolled off the production line. From then on, Holzma equipped all saws with a scoring unit that was adjustable horizontally and vertically from the outside.
The company was growing at a rapid rate and there was no longer enough space in the garage. To facilitate expansion, it purchased a plot of land in nearby Holzbronn and built the new headquarters there. It completed the building work itself; only on Saturdays, of course, because during the week they were busy selling saws.
Just over a year later, the company moved into its new premises at Holzbronn, where eight employees produced panel saws for the world market in an initial area of 1500m². By comparison, today the facility in Holzbronn boasts a production area of around 30,000 sq m.
The internationalisation: leading the field in new territories
1971 was also the year in which Holzma supplied the first machine for cutting strips to England. One year later, the company took its first order for an angular saw unit. The order read quite simply and precisely: Fully automatic angular system, 2500 x 1250mm, as discussed … 476,000.00 DM.
The company was now achieving annual growth rates between 10 and 30%. The export ratio rose to 90% and by the mid-1970s Holzma was supplying customers in Australia, North America and the Far East. When, in the late 70s, the use of chipboard and MDF boards increased sharply in North America, Holzma, decided to take the big step across the Atlantic. This led to the founding of Holzma US, Sales and Service, in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1981.
The USA became Holzma’s strongest export market and it was soon supplying more machines to the USA than to the home market. Holzma US was taken over by the well-known trading company Stiles Machinery which itself became a member of the Homag Group in 2015.
In the Homag Group: established as world market leader
In 1986, Homag Group AG was looking for a specialist horizontal beam saw manufacturer. Holzma seized this opportunity for further growth and, with its 220 employees, joined the Homag Group in 1987.
Scarcely three years after joining the Homag Group, Holzma had virtually doubled its workforce and established itself as world market leader for panel saws. Holzma has not only maintained this position, but also continues to expand its global presence.
The product portfolio today: solutions from size S to XXL
Regardless of whether customers choose an entry-level saw from the 1 or 2 series, a classic Holzma saw from the 3 or 4 series, or they invest in an industrial-scale model from the 5 or 6 series, they will always benefit from a machine with leading-edge technology and enormous potential for customisation thanks to needs-based optional features.
As world market leader in horizontal panel-dividing technology, Holzma thinks far beyond the cutting process. Modern production requires efficient, seamless and ergonomic processes from the store to the saw and on to the finished product. In this age of digitalisation, the key to success is increasingly the software.
Holzma recognised this at an early stage and today offers two of the most important software solutions for cutting panel-shaped wood and plastic materials: its machine-control software CADmatic and the Holzma optimisation software, MagiCut. This package of solutions is complemented by needs-based handling systems and ever-more intelligent networking with upstream and downstream machines.
The future: Holzma is constantly shaping the future with new ideas
The spirit of inventiveness is the bedrock of Holzma’s business and the key to its success. The many inventions of the company founder and later generations are evidence of this and include: the introduction of clamps on the program fence; and the suspension of the machine supports in the two frame stands and the square panel saw (cutting length = cutting width).
The advantage was that this design of the rear machine table, in conjunction with the clamps and a higher program fence speed, made real one-man operation of a beam saw possible.
No less than 65 Holzma patents were granted in the last 10 years alone. The clear aim behind all these innovations is the focus on improving manufacturing quality and increasing flexibility and efficiency in the production process, while bearing in mind the needs of the customer. The means of achieving this are automation, networked machines and freely flowing processes – from the warehouse via the office to the cutting process and on to all other processing stations.
An example of this is the new HPS 320 flexTec. With this system, Holzma has revolutionised the cutting process in batch size 1 production. This cutting cell is purpose-designed for processing single panels and completely redefines the parts flow. Key features are fully automated processes and unlimited recuts.
In addition to this, the Holzma HPP 300 multiTec has recently opened up undreamt-of possibilities. This new development allows customers to complete three processing steps on one machine: sawing, drilling and routing. Ready-to-assemble elements can be produced, for example for facade and partition wall construction, or for the manufacture of concrete formwork.
The team: We are panel dividing
Holzma invests a great deal in training particularly for young apprentices who will grow and mature to be the future of the business. This will help the company to secure today the much needed skilled workers of tomorrow, thus paving the way for the future. Holzma is ready for the challenges of tomorrow and will continue to dominate the beam saw market for the foreseeable future.
