A Hand book of Plywood Production

In India, there are more than 3,500 plywood factories, mostly SSI units and some units are medium-scale. All these factories are run by experienced technicians.

However, many factories do not have engineers or trained manpower in plywood technology. Those who are carrying out technical work in the factory have learned through the “guru-sishya parampara” and by doing the actual work with a machine or carrying out a process.

No doubt, this is one good way of learning technical work, and this is how a worker becomes an operator and an operator becomes a supervisor or a foreman. Importantly, troubleshooting comes from the experience of the senior technician, not from (their) of the fundamentals of the technology.

Running a process and the factory as a whole solely by experienced technical personnel (without any scientific knowledge) has certain advantages but certain disadvantages too. Experienced crews run the ongoing process very well but are reluctant to accept any changes or developments in the running process that are beyond their area of experience. This tendency very o􀅌en comes in the way of implementing developmental work in the factory. Experience has shown that many supervisors stand against any R&D implementation and try to confine themselves within the boundaries of their own methods.

It has been felt for a long time that there is a vacuum for a handbook on plywood technology, machinery used in the factory, maintenance of machinery, and troubleshooting in case of problems in production. A reference or a handbook is very much necessary for the Managers and Foremen in the factory The book will provide information or knowledge to run a process or a machine and to solve any problems faced during production.

This book will be an eye-opener for the Managers, Operators, Supervisors, and other technicians associated with plywood manufacture.

For every process in making a product, one should know

“what we are going to do,”

 “why we are doing so,”

 “what is the outcome of this process,” and

“how things can be improved.”

This book will provide all the basics about the process and the way of doing it with perfection. Knowing the basics of the process and then mixing it with acquired experience, an operator or a supervisor will be able to do their work better and also improve the technique.

The book provides the flowchart of several processes and the operational techniques of machinery. It will help beginners  as well as experienced adopt any process in making plywood. The book gives brief descriptions of machines used in making plywood, which will help to understand the machines, undertake minor repairs, and operate the machinery. All processes have been described in steps so that one can easily understand how to initiate and monitor the process. The book contains practical ways to operate or execute major processes in the manufacture of plywood in the light of present-day plywood manufacturing practices in India.

In addition, the necessity of up gradation in the process and the way to do the same have been described.

The technology given in this book is based on the infrastructure in a moderately equipped Indian plywood factory and the general processes used in plywood manufacture. Following the processes described in this book, even a probationer can easily adopt the process and execute it.