Altec Awarded an Entire Green End at Hood Industries

After a tornado heavily damaged the Hood Industries mill in Beaumont, MS, the company decided to rebuild the operation which will operate at a rate twice the capacity as the previous facility. Hood Industries’ plywood operation at Beaumont will be state-of-the-art and one of the most modern plywood plants in North America. For that level of green-end, Hood has selected Altec for the supply of the entire line from step-feeder to sheet stackers. The green-end aims to produce consistently high-quality, low-variance veneer with production levels above 60,000 m3 per hour.

The lathe deck will feature an Altec electric charger with Altec XY Scanner and Altec’s new electric lathe. The new electric lathe will feature electric spindles, dual AC motor spindle drive, electric backup rolls and an electric carriage featuring a new electric incised roller bar.

The dual AC motor electric spindle drive eliminates the heavy gears, chains, shafts, and large horsepower motor traditionally used to connect and drive the spindles. Each spindle will be driven in synchronous operation, providing very tight speed tolerances, and eliminating all the associated maintenance and downtime of the old-style linkage system. The motors are able to be downsized and allow for cost savings in energy consumption.

The primary and strip trays will be supplied by Altec and driven with all AC drives. The Altec Clipper Scanner uses vision and light technology to clip for grade, moisture, and defects with no contact with the ribbon. The clipper will be installed with electric-driven rolls.

The 6-bay Altec Diverter, recently installed in two other locations, is an all-new vacuum design utilizing innovative belt technology with much lower powered fans required resulting in power savings over other vacuum designs. The knockoffs are operated using servo electric motors which are ultra-precise and easily controlled.

Two 4-bin Altec Sheet Stackers will be supplied with an all-new design featuring electric servo-driven knock-off arms. This new design will eliminate the traditional pneumatic knockoffs which create ongoing costly downtime and maintenance.

The mill is scheduled to start plywood production in December 2024.