BINTULU: The evolution of production technology and development strategies has enabled Daiken Sarawak Sdn Bhd to develop quality and cost-effective Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF).
Thus, being committed to maintaining a sustainable forest, Daiken Sarawak had embarked onto a tree plantation programme in Jan 2002 with the aim to ensure a constant supply of raw materials, which in turn will maximise the recovery of its resources.
Its assistant manager (Finishing Line) Suraya Zainal Abidin Malim said Daiken had harvested 2,258ha of its acacia trees from 4,670ha cultivated space located at Similajau, KM50 Bintulu-Miri road (route to Bakun).
The company has 5,901ha of land of which 4,670ha have been cultivated and occupied for the programme.
She also noted that the company obtains its seeds supplies from Borneo Seed and Seedling Supply Sdn Bhd as well as GP Pusaka.
She said the whole process of manufacturing MDF in Daiken Sarawak is environmentally friendly. The factory produces MDF from Dipterocarp Tropical hardwood residues obtained from chip production section for chipping, then transported to the MDF Manufacturing Factory at Kidurong Industrial Estate.
The process requires the wood chips to be washed and screened from impurities before being transformed into fibres in the thermo-mechanical refining process.
“The fibres are then mixed with adhesive binders and dried on their way to the fibre bin,” she said during the briefing at its manufacturing factory in Kidurong following the work visit by Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) with media.
The six-day trip from Sibu to Lawas (Feb 25 to Mar 3) was aimed at enlightening the public on the projects undertaken by its subsidiaries and shareholders under the agency throughout the state.
She pointed out from the fibre bin and onto the mat forming conveyor, the mixture of fibres and adhesives form a continuous fibre mat, which is pressed at the continuous hot press.
After emerging from the continuous hot press, the long boards are sawed to specific length then cooled at the intermediate storage area.
At the final stage, the boards are sanded then cut to the required sizes at the Cut-to-Size facility and finally packed to customers’ requirements, ready for shipment.
“Our MDF boards are manufactured under strict and controlled conditions with the highest regard to our customers’ requirements. Thereby, our Quality Control (QC) and Research and Development (R&D) continuously pride themselves on greater technical improvement and to further diversify the applications for MDF usage.
“The experiences, knowledge and skills of the Technical and Research and Development Centre of Daiken Corporation in Japan provides Daiken Sarawak the technical expertise to propel its capability to even greater heights she added.
Suraya also pointed out that Daiken’s MDF are free from natural faults, have attractive technical properties, higher dimensional stability and are available in large size panels, hence providing greater advantages and flexibility to the furniture industry.
Therefore, its MDF boards are ideal choice as basic raw materials for various kinds of secondary wood processing industries such as panel makers, door, flooring and furniture manufacturers.
“These industries will find that our MDF boards are excellent (due to the tropical wood used the acacia) and ideal raw material for their usage in interior decorations and fixtures with laminations and overlays.
Furthermore, the MDF boards have suitable standardised thickness to meet wide applications in the furniture industry.
These applications can be widely seen on furniture backs, drawer bottoms, door skins and also the front and side panels of cabinets.
