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At last - Chinese plywood you CAN trust
Diamond Mark Certified Plywood arrives in the UK!
It’s fair to say that Chinese plywood hasn’t always had a very good reputation – until now. It has sometimes been known for being cheap, but the word “nasty” has often not been far behind, however, all that is about to change.
In the latest development in the quest to improve the quality of EN 314 -2 and -3 plywood from China, the first shipment of Diamond Mark plywood is due to reach these shores as Timber Trader goes to press. The result of a collaboration between Glasgow-based Caledonian Plywood Company Ltd, and Third-Party Certifiers TFT Woodexperts Ltd, it has been produced by the first Mill in China to carry the Diamond Mark to both EN 314 -2 and -3, and is the result of the importer, agent and mill working together in an exclusive partnership.
Stuart McKelvie, of CPC said “we asked Jim Coulson, Woodexperts’ director, to visit the Mill in South West China in December last year, to personally check out the manufacturing and quality control procedures at the Plywood Mill in Nanning.” Jim Coulson reported, “what I saw there convinced me that it really is possible to make good plywood in China, if the right attitude is shown”.
He went on to say: “Here, each worker is encouraged to think about quality at every stage, avoiding the need for re-work or rejection of the panels. I found Quality Inspectors continually overseeing and checking the production, even conducting spot-checks at every stage, including the glue bond, the main component that usually lets Chinese-made plywood down.”
Mr McKelvie further commented “as part of the process, TFT Woodexperts Ltd undertake random sampling of the Jinlung production as delivered into our warehouses in the UK, and conduct their own rigorous quality checks on it - looking at every aspect of its manufacture. We at Caledonian Plywood are confident that it meets the exacting standards that carrying the Diamond Mark demands, and that it will continue to do so”