Digital innovation at Fundermax

St. Veit/Vienna, 27.9.2023 - A research project by Fundermax in cooperation with the Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH (AIT) and the Research Center for Non-Destructive Testing GmbH (RECENDT) is developing a new industry standard for drying processes. With the help of a digital twin, energy efficiency is to be increased and CO2 saved. The high innovation potential for industrial research has now also been recognized by the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) with a grant.

Almost 25 percent of the total industrial energy demand is attributable to drying processes. In Austria, these are mainly used in the ceramics, wood, paper and food industries.
At Fundermax, for example, the drying processes are part of the production of laminated panels at the Wiener Neudorf site: during impregnation, kraft paper, which forms the inner, robust layer of the panels, is impregnated with resin and then dried.
With the "digital twin," the digital mapping of a process, a tool was created to analyze the relationships between energy consumption and the basic parameters for the drying zone, such as air volume and humidity. In combination with sensor technology, control, discharge air volume and temperature reduction as well as heat recycling, the primary energy demand is to be reduced. With the development of this "digital twin", a new industry standard is now being established for such manufacturing processes and their energy efficiency.

The implementation of the "digital twin" has already provided Fundermax with far-reaching insights. As the potential for further CO2 savings and synergies based on the data evaluations is enormous, sensors and digitization systems have been added in the plants. This will provide even more data and analysis options for improving efficiency in the production process in the future.
The successes and current results of the research project, which has been running for 1.5 years, form the basis for the remaining project duration until the beginning of 2025. In a next step, the "digital twin" is to be applied to further processes in Fundermax's panel production.

As a wood processing company, it is part of Fundermax's philosophy to protect natural resources and the environment. In the Fundermax Green Deal, sustainability targets have been defined until 2028. By then, CO2 emissions are to be reduced by 50% compared to 2005. The "Digital Twin" is a significant innovation for achieving this goal.

Click here for more information about sustainability at Fundermax.