18.03.2022

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The new wood floor at Connect: production

The new wood floor at the Implenia headquarters, Connect, is the result of a huge amount of development work – and 7,000 floor panels attached on site with 84,000 screws. We show how the innovative new floor covering was successfully developed, produced and laid in record time and record quality thanks to lean methods.

The vision: At the new Implenia headquarters, even the floor was to be made of wood (LINK 32_Holzboden). But with no product like it on the market, Implenia Timber Construction and the interior designers of Studio Hürlemann developed a new product: a false floor that can be laid flexibly, with wooden floor panels measuring 1.2 x 1.2 m.

The challenge of procurement: We bought up the entire stock of a wood processing plant for our production. Luckily, this was before the shortages caused by covid-19. The birch plywood panels come from Sweden and were milled and varnished for Implenia by Swiss companies.

Finishing touches: milling the cutouts for electrical lines at our plant in Rümlang.

Andi Solito, Head of the carpentry workshop: “Producing the floor was a marathon.”

Production on a huge order like this presents logistical and organisational challenges. Thomas Hänggi supports the team with lean methods.

Lean solution: In order to transport the finished panels in Connect’s relatively small goods lift, Timber Construction worked with the Lean team to develop an innovative form of packaging.

The wooden box can be transported in both horizontal and vertical positions, allowing smooth transportation.

A tight schedule for laying five storeys of flooring: Thomas Hänggi from the Lean team plans and monitors progress with daily reports, including images, together with Head Fitter Roman Hauenstein. The number of panels installed is also recorded every day.

Finishing touch: Carpentry fitter Walter removes any splinters and rough areas before fitting.

Screws not glue: Each floor panel is attached to the false floor with twelve screws.

Memento: The Timber Construction team signed their names on this panel.

Nearly there: Almost 10,000 square meters of flooring in the still-empty Connect, just before the staff moved in.

The final result: Staff at the new headquarters now have nature at their feet.

Interested in timber construction solutions from Implenia: Read more