Clarion Industries: Seven Years and Growing

Ron Wilshire

Ron Wilshire

Published August 16, 2014 4:45 am
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IMG_9129SHIPPENVILLE, Pa. (EYT) — Seven years and growing was the theme of a community Open House held last week by Clarion Industries.

The massive complex is home of Clarion Boards and Clarion Laminates and employs approximately 240 skilled workers, making it one of the largest manufacturers in Clarion County.  The operation is also unique in the United States and is the only integrated board-to-laminate flooring operation in the country and in North America.

The open house included a welcome and refreshments, followed by extensive tours of both Clarion Boards and Clarion Laminates as the facility remained in operation.

Heavy use of automation throughout the two facilities makes the entire operation an example of product efficiency of operation.  The skilled labor required to operate the facility also is a major ingredient in its success.

IMG_9107Clarion Boards was the first plant on the site, followed by Clarion Laminates, a 300,000 square-foot building.  A 4,400 square foot building expansion is underway to house the maintenance department.  The expansion also provides space for the third Wemhoner bonding line that will also increase production by 50 percent.

The facility has an annual production capacity of approximately 240 million square feet. The raw material used in the process consists primarily of hardwoods such as oak, cherry, and maple available within a 100-mile radius of Clarion Industries.

The bonding process is accomplished on the Wemhoner Press, and during this process, the bonding decor, backer, and overlay papers are placed on a transportation belt along with a board and then bonded together.

After the boards are pressed, they are left to cool for a short period of time before continuing to the next portion of the process known as semi-finishing.  Here the panels are run through the Homag “cut-to-size” saw lines.

IMG_9120As the boards are cut and trimmed by the crosscut saw, they are fed to the next machine called the Bargstedt.  The Bargstedt is a computer controlled stacking system that automatically spaces, picks up, and stacks the planks on top of the previous row.  The planks are usually stacked 100 rows high on a large piece of plywood.  At the in-feed rollers, the planks move from the trolley to the rollers and then onto an automated crane for storage.  After curing, the boards are transported to the Profiling Line to continue the process.

Transport belts move the plans from the Bargstedt to a flipper-wheel where the planks are then rotated decorative side down and profiled (locking system applied.)  Lacquer, beveling, and/or underlayment may be applied as the planks move through the line toward packaging.

The final packaged product is placed in the warehouse in the plant and other locations throughout the Clarion area ready for shipment.  Semi-trucks line up throughout the day to move the finished product to market.  The plants produce private label-branded laminate flooring for the largest retailers in North America. Brand names include Pennsylvania Traditions, Chesapeake, and Premier.

While corporate headquarters and manufacturing is located in Shippenville, sales and marketing are strategically located in Raleigh, North Carolina.

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