52 | Sector Focus: Moulders & Mouldings
Above: Leadermac’s 623C Compact moulder is an example of the advancements made over the years in technology, efficiency, and build quality
◄ “The unpredictability of the market was the striking characteristic of 2024,” said Malcolm Cuthbertson, managing director of Weinig UK. “Larger companies took a deep breath after the election to see what the government would do for manufacturing, but smaller companies were more inclined to make investment decisions. Overall sales levels remained strong.”
SCM also said business was good – in line with, if not better than 2023.
Leadermac had a strong year too. “We’ve seen a marked increase in high- speed moulders,” said Leadermac UK general manager Carl Morris. “This is an area Leadermac specialises in, with machines including HSK extra high-speed tooling if required, increased spindle speeds, and enhanced dust collection points.” By contrast, for Weinig lower and middle market sectors were stronger.
“Sales of our Cube planer remained steady
as ever and Profimat conventional moulders performed well,” said Mr Cuthbertson. “Sales of high performance PowerLock machines dipped in 2024 as expected due to our extremely high sales of these machines post the pandemic.”
That the moulder sector seems to have
bucked the UK economic trend was put down to various factors. These included wood processors focusing on increasing productivity and yield because of the competitive market environment and also on reducing fuel bills and environmental footprints with more energy-efficient machines. Tackling the skills shortage was also reported as a priority, with more automated technology using latest software to minimise operator input. Moulder technical development also kept pace with sales.
Leadermac has introduced improvements to its Smartmac and Compact machines, as well as to larger models such as the Speedmac, Thundermac, the 300MPM Super Thundermac and to associated handling solutions. “A significant addition to the range is
our U-Power machine,” said Mr Morris. “It features advanced, rapid change HSK tooling, robust build for heavy-duty performance, and precision machining capabilities, high spindle speeds and superior dust extraction to enhance efficiency.”
Above: A Weinig Powermat 700 line in action TTJ | March/April 2025 |
www.ttjonline.com
Leadermac has also been increasing machine energy efficiency using Siemens IE motors and further reducing consumption by using enhanced PLC operating systems and Siemens inverters. Weinig has focused on further advances in automation.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69
