Article from - Timber Trades Journal

The addition of mahogany curl to its repertoire and a major capital spending program has put Reliance Veneer yet another cut above the competition.

Over the years Reliance Veneer has carved itself a solid niche across a broad section of the international woodworking sector. The last British cutter of sliced and peeled veneers, the company sells its huge range of products throughout the UK, to Europe, Scandinavia, the Far East and North America, supplying furniture manufacturers - from individual crafts people to mass producers - car makers, boat builders, furniture manufactures, paneling producers and the architectural sector.

The range and geographical spread of this customer base has carried the company unscathed through recession and, now recovery has set in, it is expanding its workforce to keep pace with demand.

All of which to some might seem like the cue for a spell of consolidation, perhaps even complacency; but not for Reliance. In fact it's as determined as ever to develop its business, serve existing customers better and win new ones. Clear evidence of this is the ongoing capital investment at its extensive north London site. Underlining Reliance’s ambition further - and particularly important for the furniture trade - has been its recent move into mahogany curl veneer. This is one of the most difficult timbers to slice and the company has spent considerable time, effort and money perfecting the art to emerge as one of the world's premier producers.

What has also underpinned Reliance's development has been a continuous effort to team the traditional craft skills involved in veneer cutting with new technology.

As a result of upgrades in cutting equipment Reliance is now producing around two million leaves a year. It has additionally installed electronic measuring and computerised bar code systems to speed up and improve the reliability of sales order processing and dispatch departments.

With the increased production of white and steamed beech, the company has also installed new equipment to improve the veneer flattening process. Another key investment has been in a new dust extraction system, furnace and chimney. These pieces of hardware are primarily aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the plant. But, as the furnace burns wood waste from the production process and generates the steam used to soften the timber before cutting, it cuts costs as well. Also a vital aspect of the Reliance operation is the absolute commitment to quality. Quality control starts at the outset with visits to timber suppliers and new material selection. This is then continued with constant cheeks through the whole production process, from steaming, through sawing, cutting and drying, to storage, packing and delivery, which the company undertakes in its own fleet of vehicles. The final ingredient in the Reliance success story has to be the sheer variety of products it offers. At any one time the company can be carrying in excess of £2m of veneer stock covering more than 100 species from Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa. Extending the choice, these can be supplied, depending on timber type, in substances from a wafer-thin 0.2mm to a hefty 5mm. The former, fine cut veneers require ultra-precise machinery and give Reliance, and the customer, considerable yield and therefore large numbers of matching leaves from a piece of timber. The thicker veneers are sold to a range of customers, but are in especially big demand in the boat building sector. The company also imports a selection of material ready cut and has a fully equipped workshop where veneer can be jointed to produce finished panels, from one-off to lorry loads. Of the plethora of veneers available from Reliance, it is especially renowned for its burrs. These include oak, ash, elm, amboyna, myrtle, maple, madrona, vavona, poplar, eucalyptus and walnut. The latter is a particular speciality. In fact, Reliance ranks as one of the largest producers of walnut burr veneer in the world. Walnut burrs are heavily knotted cankers that form at the graft between the tree's root and trunk and the company ships its supplies from California. 

Mounting environmental concerns in the last few years have stopped Reliance using some of the rarer tropical hardwood species. But this loss has been more than offset by increased use of alternative varieties and expansion of its selection of temperate timber veneers, which includes oaks, ash, cherry, maple, elm, sycamore and birch. Of the latest newcomers to the Reliance range, there's little question that the most significant is mahogany curl veneer which uses timber from the junction of the tree trunk and the first branches. This is in demand among furniture makers worldwide, particularly in the reproduction sector, and perfectly complements the company's yew veneers, of which it has some 20,000sq m in stock.

Previously the French, and notably the Parisian company Hillen, were considered the master manufacturers of this material. But, after a long period of research and extensive trials, using Khaya mahogany from Africa, Reliance is confident it has a veneer that equals if not surpasses the very best to come out of France. "The hardness of the wood and the complexity of the grain, makes mahogany curl very tough to cut well and uniformly. You have to get all the factors just right - the length of steam prior to cutting, the slicing speed, the force with which you clamp the wood on to the slicing machine and the trimming," says George. "But now we have and we're very happy with the quality." Reliance, he adds, now maintains stocks of around 60,000sq m of mahogany curl veneer and, like its other products, will supply the material in quantities to suit all customers.

In short, the diversification into mahogany curl looks likely to result in an even wider slice of the UK and international woodworking industry relying on Reliance Veneer.

Please address all enquiries to info@relianceveneer.co.uk