WOODTEC
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KATRES spol.s r.o. is one of the leading wood kiln manufacturers it the world. Its presentation at the WOOD-TEC fair will include the entire production range: KAD and KSR drying kiln series (chamber convective drying kilns loaded by forklift trucks or wagons on trails), tunnel and belt drying kilns, high temperature chambers for thermal modification of sawn timber and steaming and hot treatment chambers for thermal treatment of wooden packaging materials following the standard ISPM 15.

„WOOD-TEC gives us an opportunity to meet our customers in person, both in the form of discussing specific matters related to drying,  drying operation logistics and quality of sawn timber, and simply in the form of  friendly talks. In this sector, the domestic market is small and therefore we know almost everyone in person – manufactures as well as customers.  Although a major part of the KATRES production is exported, the trust, experience and comments of our partners are most important to us,“ says sales assistant, Eva Lysáková.  In her view, another important role of the fair is that it mediates contacts with new customers. The drying kiln delivery is usually a major step for sawmills that they have to come to grips with. The fair stand is a pleasant place where the customers can get more accurate information about the drying kiln options, choose the most efficient technological solution with the help of experts and establish personal contacts without the necessity to making any commitments.

For example, the best sold drying kiln KAD (convective drying chamber with upfront forklift truck loading) offers over a hundred variants to the basic design that can be further customised. Therefore, KATRES carries out a detailed analysis of the customer’s; operation at the beginning in terms of the planned dried material, source of heat  as well as the logistics at the place of installation. Based on this, we can propose an optimal solution which makes a maximum use of the customer’s potential while saving the sources. „Besides sawmills, a relatively new target group is formed by those customers who utilise waste heat from other operations as the drying kiln heating source. These are, in particular, the operators of biomass stations and distilleries. Naturally, we intend to introduce technological innovations, mainly for the  KAD kilns and encourage the development of  tunnel and belt drying kilns launched to the market some time ago,“ says Ms. Lysáková.

High temperature wood treatment is a relatively new technology in the Czech Republic. Using specially fitted chambers, the wood is exposed to temperatures up to 230 °C for a certain period resulting in several effects.  The wood becomes much more resistant to mildew and ligniperdous fungi, and it acquires improved mechanical and other properties. Besides, the thermal treatment results in attractive colour hues otherwise only found in rare tropical woody species. „Thus, our customers can choose from an extended range of products and materials of a higher quality that can be tinged as required along the entire cross section. The parties interested in purchasing high temperature kilns are offered a possibility of having their typical material tested first in the modification process in our laboratory chamber in  Jihlava to make sure that the thermal process meets their expectations,“ she added.

The company KATRES was incorporated as early as 1991 by experts on hydrothermal wood treatment and it is strictly a Czech company. The quality of its production and exclusive technological know-how are based on many years of experience with development and production. In 2006,  KATRES was certified with the quality certificate ČSN EN ISO 9001:2009. The production plant is based in Jihlava, the head office is located in Říčany u Prahy. Recently, most production has been intended for export, largely to the countries of the Russian Federation as this region has not been affected by the global economic crisis. „Of course, the crisis has affected us. Compared to 2008, we only generated half the turnover in the next years. This was addressed by an immediate reduction in the headcount of employees and in all expenses that were not vital. Furthermore, right before the crisis we established a cooperation with the present Russian representation and it shows more and more what a far-sighted step this had been. Nowadays, Russia is the country where most of our present production is shipped. Other markets still experience a certain downturn, but no crisis can last forever. Therefore, we keep working on improving the design of belt and progressive tunnel kilns as these products are crucial for the success and are used in large production volume plants located prevailingly in Scandinavia and Russia,“ adds Lysáková.

Since its formation, the company has produced and built hundreds of drying kilns in almost all countries of Europe, in Russia, Canada and South America. As a standard, the company offers over 100 types of conventional chamber drying kilns for sawn timber - KAD and KSR -  with capacities ranging from 25 to 250 m3, belt and progressive tunnel drying kilns, high-temperature kilns, steaming and heat treatment kilns to treat wooden packaging materials meeting the international standard ISPM 15. KATRES also designs, supplies and installs comprehensive systems in the field of drying and boiler technologies and upgrades existing drying kilns.