42 | Trust Tairāwhiti: Wood Engineering Technology Partnership adding value to region T T Virginia Wright One advanced manufacturing plant is already operating in Gisborne and a second, larger one is under construction. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Founded in 2003 Wood Engineering Technology (WET) spent several years on Research and Development before achieving its goal of coming up with the design and process to turn New Zealand’s low value “weak wood” into high value, structural strength, lumber otherwise known as “Optimized Engineered Lumber” (OEL™). Traditionally a significant proportion of the wood from a Radiata pine log would get used for things like boxes, pallets and crates. This grade of wood accounts for over half of the wood recovered from the New Zealand plantation forest harvest. With its Head Office in Auckland at Mangere Bridge WET had some important criteria to meet when they were looking for somewhere to turn their R & D into a successful commercial enterprise. Gisborne caught their attention. Shaun Bosson is the Chief Executive Officer of Wood Engineering Technology and its subsidiary WET Gisborne Limited (WGL). One advanced manufacturing plant is already operating in Gisborne and a second, larger one is under construction. Having recognised the plant’s potential to bring employment and growth to the region the other partner in the enterprise is Trust Tairāwhiti (formerly the Eastland Community Trust), who came in as a co-shareholder. “Wood Engineering owns the Intellectual Property and WET Gisborne Limited is the place where the technology is being installed and commercialised,” explains Shaun. “We’ve developed some sophisticated technology to convert logs quickly and very productively into wooden building materials of a very high standard,” he says. “In 12 hours from start to finish we take a log and turn it into a lumber that’s ready for building, and which is straight, stable and 50% stronger than the best lumber you’d get from a conventional sawmill.” Trust Tairāwhiti not only had finance in capital terms but also in kind and decided the technology though unproven at that stage was worth the risk. The deal with Trust Tairāwhiti brought with it access to a site, with what was at the time a mothballed sawmill, with spare land and buildings, and consents in place, that became home to WET Gisborne Ltd. “That suited us because there was some useful spare equipment we could use including an old boiler and a debarker and it was already permitted so we could immediately start building and commissioning the plant,” says Shaun. The Trust’s share of the investment brings with it a commercial return, but also a number of good jobs, additional commercial activity to the region and a utilization of the region’s natural resources, their forests. “They were long on plantation forests at that stage but short on economically productive undertakings. Over 90% of the logs were being exported so they weren’t adding value to the region as we proposed to do,” says Shaun. From Wood Engineering Technology’s point of view the logic to be in Gisborne was equally sound. While it generally makes economic sense for manufacturing operations to be close to cities with their large populations, they were accessing a resource that couldn’t be found close to the city, in an area that needed employment, with a partner willing to bring to the table more of what was required to develop the wood manufacturing facility they intended. The OEL™ plant can process up to 50,000 cubic metres of product per annum from any available logs, with no grading required, and that’s just the beginning. “We could have up to four plants in Gisborne in time before it stops making economic sense,” says Shaun. “Which is around 400,000m³ (cubic metres) of log resulting in 200,000m³ of OEL™. But there’s just short of 3,000,000m³ of log going across the water so, while it’s not going to change the numbers massively, it could still add up to around 200 high paying jobs which is a big additional input into the local economy, with all the spinoffs that come from that.” While there’s not yet a commitment for these additional plants they are part of WET’s vision and if everything goes the way they hope that’s what will happen. For them working in partnership with the community is as vital as finding the high levels of investment needed, and paying attention to the different outcomes looked for is important. “Investors look for a financial return on their investment. Communities look for benefit to their community. They look for training, for education, for skill development, they look for something that the children can aspire to go and be part of,” says Shaun. Those outcomes, both the financial and the less tangible, are part and parcel of what Wood Engineering Technology are bringing to Gisborne, and its various communities, with their manufacturing plant set to turn trees from “weak wood” into quality, sustainable building materials to meet the market both here and abroad. Aica NZ manufacture adhesives for the Engineered Wood and Composite board products industry. We are a Japanese owned company, operating fromNew Plymouth and Nelson, AICA NZ is ideally situated to supply our New Zealand based customers. Our adhesives are used to manufacture Plywood, Laminated Veneer Lumber, Glulam, I-Beams, MediumDensity Fibreboard, Particleboard and other composite wood products. E: philip.marsh@aica-ap.com 149 Corbett Road, Bell Block New Plymouth • 06 968 1858 AICA NZ is proud to have been involved with the Product Development of Wood Engineering Technology’s concept of Optimised Engineered Lumber and are very pleased to be the supplier of choice for them. We wish them good luck for their future plans. A leading supplier of Structural wood adhesives PROUD SUPPORTERS OF WOOD ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY Sawmill design, manufacture, installation & service Dependable expertise since 1982 P 07 578 3280 E enquiries@pacificsawmilleng.com | 17 Barberry Street, Tauranga
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