GRAND RAPIDS, MI — Woodworking professionals from more than 70 companies attended Stiles Machinery’s Manufacturing Intelligence two-day event, held April 18 and 19 in Grand Rapids.

Featured were presentations and demonstrations on the Bargstedt IntelliStore panel management system and the Homag laserTec edge processing technique. The IntelliStore is a flexible, fully automated system that loads, retrieves, stacks and feeds the panel stock as required, said Ken McFadden, product manager. According to McFadden, benefits of the storage and retrieval system include: inventory control, reduced storage space requirements, increased machine capacity, prioritization change for hot orders, and external storage and off-cut management.

Cabinet, furniture, case goods and component manufacturers in attendance were also presented with highlights of the new laserTec laser edgebanding system. According to Michael Jungblut, product manager, the laserTec uses a laser beam to fuse edgebanding to the workpiece, resulting in seamless edges, with no visible glue lines. Benefits of this system include greater heat and moisture resistance and the elimination of glue pots for reduced maintenance. The laserTec can be used with precoated edgebanding or Jungblut said companies also can precoat existing in-stock banding in-house using the new KBE 100 edge precoating machine.

Both the IntelliStore system and laserTec will be on display at the Stiles Machinery booth at the International Woodworking Fair (IWF) in Atlanta. Additional information is available at Stiles Machinery's website.