During the first reporting period we have have been focusing on overall concept design of the automated factory. This work has been carried out with Woodio inhouse team and with external consultant company specialised in designing industrial production environments and technologies. The factory design has constitued majority of the project efforts. It has included simulations of the outputs and opexes with different concept approaches, tentative technical design of critical process phases as well as production site requirement and permit planning. As a result Woodio has 2 step concept for moving to new manufacturing environment, with increasing level of automation. Also the tentative site location, opex, capex and facility space requirements estimates are ready. The next steps in factory planning will the actual engineering and selection of process automation and other equipment to yield a full investment proposal ofthe next factory.
Additionally, Wooodio has been developing and testing raw materials to be used in the next generation manufacturing. Resin and wood are the primary raw material so initially the focus has been on these, with the intention to widen the range of raw material sources. While testing new resins and various wood grades in our production, we have made a discovery that by using biobased filler e.g. starch in our process, we can significantly lower the consumption of resin. And at the same time starch additives seems to improve mechanical properties of the Woodio composite. Since resin is the most expensive raw material in our production, replacing it with cheaper fillers is very beneficial for the COGS of the material.
In overall the project has progressed as planned and within budget, and all the deliverables set int the project plan will be met.
