About Furwa edge banding

Timeline of Furwa veneer solutions:

Furwa was founded by Mr. Armin Wiblishauser at the beginning of 1974.

Mr. Wiblishauser derived from a family who has been in the woodworking industry for generations. After having studied woodworking technology, he worked in various companies before joining the family's own production for bedroom furniture as technical director. He exactly knew the technical requirements for veneer edges when he developed this product in rolls!
The electronic veneer measuring system introduced in 1994 is replaced by the modern Kleistronik optimization and measuring imager. A new chip silo is built and the extraction technology is brought up to the latest technical standard. This eliminates the need for additional fuel oil firing.

1972 Olympic Games in Munich and last Apollo Mission. Veneer edges in continuous rolls do not exist yet.
 

1973 Mr. Wiblishauser develops the first veneer edges in continuous rolls.
 

1974 FURWA is founded - the production of reconstituted veneer rolls starts.
 

1975 The regular series production of veneer edges in continuous rolls starts.
FURWA Furnierkanten GmbH is founded on December 23th, 1977
and registered on May 30th, 1978.
 

1979 FURWA Furnierkanten GmbH moves to its present location.
 

1985 The company PWG is co-founded by Mr. Wiblishauser in order to pre-coat fleece for the fleece lamination process with PVAc adhesive onto veneers. First lacquering plant for veneer rolls - Building of a new veneer warehouse.
 

1993 Master roll production starts in the Czech Republic. The production area is enlarged due to the construction of a new building. Production area, warehouse area as well as the administration area have grown to over 4,500 sqm. The serial production of cotton backings for veneers for wickerwork starts.
 

1994 FURWA develops the Minolta electronic veneer grading system including quality management and cost management in co-operation with a partner. Production of thick veneer edges 1 – 3 mm is introduced.
 

1995 In the many years of veneer edge production, FURWA has repeatedly dealt with the latest technologies and introduced electronic veneer measurement with optimization and evaluation software as early as 1994. Today, similar systems with photo-technical evaluation are also used in other processing plants and especially in the distribution of veneers.
 

The boiling-water resistant fleece backing developed by FURWA is now indispensable for modern wood parts production in car interiors, but the development continues towards fully biodegradable products of all kinds as a substitute for plastic. Plant pots to remain in the ground are available on the market. With FURWA, there is the corresponding technical solution for replacing plastic labels.
 

1998 The first UV lacquering plant has a serial output of > than 2,000 sqm per shift.
 

1999 Production start of highly-flexible surfaces with hydro lacquers.
 

2000 Installation of a paternoster shelf system for storing up to 120,000 sqm veneer master rolls with each single roll being directly accessible.
 

2001 Development of a new fleece lamination for the automotive industry which is resistant to boiling water and long-term UV resistant.
 

2002 The series production for the automotive industry is established (veneer treatment for the production of dashboards, steering wheels, ashtray lids, etc.).
 

2003 Washable veneers are introduced at the show „Interzum“.
 

2004 A new combined UV lacquering unit is put into operation: Now highly-flexible lacquers and top surfaces are offered even more inexpensively.
 

2005 “Veneer D4 for D3” for the automotive industry and thick veneer edges 1 – 3 mm partially lead to a production at full capacity of 7 days in 3-shifts. 3D veneer for plastic rear injection moulding is introduced.
 

2006 A new press line with a pressing area of 8m x 1m is put into operation. Thick veneer edges reach a production output of more than 50%.
 

2007 The Cedarsole is launched on the market and offers effective protection against foot odour on a purely biological basis.
 

2008 Development of special edges for frameless honeycomb boards as face veneer edges for an application without supporting edge or as supporting edge for the BAZ.
 

2009 Homag/Ligna: Furwa's supporting edges are approached on the BAZ by means of 100 mm frameless honeycomb boards and a radius of 30 mm. Successful FSC Certification (SCS-COC-002225)
Production start of flexible veneer sheets in widths up to 640 mm. Finished lacquered 3D veneer is produced for the skiing industry.
 

2010Thick veneer edges for laser or plasma activation are marketably pre-coated. Cell phone covers for iPhones are produced with Furwa’s pre-finished lacquered 3D intarsia veneer by means of a rear injection process. FURWA precision-lasered veneers upvalue light switch elements.
Armin Wiblishauser, the founder of our company and inventor of the continuous veneer roll, passed away on December 01st, 2010.
 

2011 Furwa Furnierkanten GmbH is sold to Blazic d.o.o., Ljubljana, Slovenia in March 2011 with effect as of January 01st, 2011.
 

2012 Wooden Glasses are produced with FURWA special veneer. FURWA flexibilizes melamine resin priming edges for the door rebate.
 

2013 FURWA develops almost flame-resistant edges for aircraft interiors on behalf of Lufthansa Technik, Hamburg.
 

2015 The fully-glued mini joint is introduced to the veneer roll production.
 

2017 The electronic veneer grading system introduced in 1994 is exchanged for a modern Kleistronik Optimizing and Measuring Imager. A new chip silo is established, and the exhaust technique is updated to the latest technology.
 

2018 Start of the serial production of veneer sheets to produce real wood customer loyality cards and key cards as well the development ot the technology for wooden cards with RFID-inlay.
 

2019 Development of flame-retardant veneer edges, thick veneer edges and wrapping veneers.
 

2020 Boiling-water resistant fleece backings exceed 200,000 m² for the first time. Over 2 million wooden cards are produced with FURWA veneer.
In 2000, FURWA achieved its highest turnover to date with approx. 8 million Euros and this exclusively in their veneer roll production. It is thanks to the development of the 3D veneer sector that the crisis years could be overcome. Since 2013, Furwa has again achieved sales growth in all areas and supplies veneer rolls to all 5 continents.
 

Veneer is ecologically one of the most effective surface materials.
2021
FurCard or Bio-FurCard as a special veneer for the printing industry, and there above all as an ecologically clean substitute for plastic labels in the field of potted plants and garden markets are ready for serial production.

FURWA Furnierkanten GmbH in figures:

Production output 2020: more than 1.15 million sqm continuous veneer rolls and
special finishes
Employees 2020: 37
Turnover 2021: approx. 6.8 million Euro
Exports 2021: 77%
2022 and the future:

In addition to the veneer edges and thick veneer edges, Furwa is also expanding the 3-D veneers for the automotive industry. But the area for wooden cards as bank cards is also being further developed. The field of special products, which also includes veneer inserts, reach 25% of the turnover.
On 01.04.2022 the management of the company is transferred from Mr. Roland Reigbert to Mr. Klaus Müller. Mr. Reigbert will leave the company on 31.07.2022 but will remain available to the company for special tasks.
From an ecological point of view, veneer is one of the most effective surface materials in the world, but it can also be more than just a substitute in many areas, it is also an overall ecologically better product if it is used with high-tech finishing. We are working on this with our partners.