By Jana Tuttle, Wood-Mizer
July 26, 2022
Sunder Lumbers was formed with six employees in 2002, but Rajesh has been in the sawmill business since 1977. Over the past twenty years, the company has increased its output by more than 600% due to the growth of the business. “We started at six employees with a production of 75 cubic meters per week. Now we have 25 employees and produce 500 cubic meters per week,” said Rajesh.
The majority of the logs that are milled are pinewood sourced from New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. “Normally, we are sawing logs with a 20-to-30-centimeter diameter,” said Rajesh. “Since we are buying the wood in log form, our production process starts with sawing logs. We process our logs in small processing machines to convert the logs into usable lumber.”
The finished product that Sunder Lumbers provides to its customers is quality lumber that is sold across the entire country of India. Customers are drawn to the smooth finish and accurate sizing that Wood-Mizer equipment produces.
Sunder Lumbers is using a variety of Wood-Mizer products to create the best lumber to sell to customers. The Wood-Mizer LT20 sawmill is the main mill that the company uses. Alongside this sawmill, Rajesh’s team has a Wood-Mizer Smart Log Processing System (SLP) consisting of a Twin Vertical Saw (TVS), Single Vertical Saw (SVS), HR1000 Multi-head Horizontal Resaw with four heads, and an EG350 Board Edger. In addition, Sunder Lumbers recently purchased two more multi-head horizontal resaws – the Wood-Mizer HR500 with two heads, and HR700with four heads.
The Wood-Mizer LT20 sawmill is ideal for sawmill businesses that require efficiency, flexibility, and productivity at a lower price point. It has the capability of milling logs up to 80 centimeters in diameter, giving Sunder Lumbers additional capacity to work with when processing imported logs.
Wood-Mizer’s SLP system is a flexible series of modular products designed for the profitable conversion of logs up to 35 centimeters in diameter into boards, battens, and pallet wood. This system provides Rajesh’s team with the means to create quality boards for their customers.
As a part of their SLP line, the Wood-Mizer EG350 Board Edger allows Sunder Lumbers to quickly and accurately produce clean square-edged boards for customers. This edger conserves both time and wood for the team as they work to process up to 500 cubic meters of lumber ready for sale weekly.
The multi-head resaws that Sunder Lumbers uses, both the Wood-Mizer HR500 with two heads and the HR700 with four heads, allows the company to convert large cants into boards and slabs in one pass. Without this equipment, Rajesh’s team would not be able to produce as many cubic meters of lumber with the same quality and accuracy.
Before investing in Wood-Mizer equipment, Sunder Lumbers was struggling to maintain size accuracy while increasing yield. “We were using a vertical and horizontal bandsaw. The main aspect that influenced me to purchase Wood-Mizer machines was the accuracy of size and reduction in wood waste,” explained Rajesh.
“We are getting many benefits from Wood-Mizer machines as we are saving a lot of wood which earlier was wasted,” said Rajesh. Not only has this made the production team more efficient, but customers are feeling the effects as well. “Our production has increased, and customers are happy with the quality of lumber.”
Rajesh and his team have been pleased with the expertise and help that Wood-Mizer regional manager, Bobby Ruban Joseph has offered to Sunder Lumbers. “We have received very good service from Wood-Mizer. Mr. Bobby is always available to resolve any problem if it arises,” said Rajesh.