History of Research and Development Centre for Wood Based Panels

History of Research and Development Centre for Wood Based Panels in Czarna Woda (called below as R & D Centre) is connected with the Polish wood based panels industry and goes back to the first post-war years.
A wasteful exploitation of Polish forests carried out by the German invader during the Second World War has caused the devastation of Polish forests and a big wood shortage with at the same time a special big demand for wood in connection with the reconstruction of the country that had been destroyed through the above mentioned War. The wood industry functioning in those days in the state structures looked for the suitable solutions for the improvement of the existing then situation. The fibreboard industry was one of the industries, which were able to bring the improvement in the cover of the demand for wood materials.
The fibreboard production, which wasn't known in Poland before the Second World War, is based on processing the waste wood assortment of little value. The obtained products such as hardboard and softboard were then a modern high quality product finding a wide use in the furniture manufacture, in the construction, in the package manufacture, and in a lot of other fields when replacing solid wood, lumber and so on.
In the result of government decision this industry began to arise in Poland and to develop quickly. The erection of the first fibreboard plants was based on the purchase of equipment and production engineering in Swedish firm Defibrator being in those days the world leader in this field. In the beginning of the fiftieth three new built mills producing hardboards and softboards, had been set in motion in the first movement in short intervals. These were plants in Czarna Woda (1951), Koniecpol (1953) and Ruciane Nida (1955). After a short time Polish engineering industry began works on the commencement of the production of Polish equipment for the fibreboard manufacture on which machines it was based further development of this industry in Poland and exports of the complete production lines for the production of fibreboard had been begun also.
Rapid development of the fibreboard production, shortage of properly qualified personnel as well as the necessity of the production engineering adaptation to the new equipment, set of the wood raw materials and to local conditions, resulted in series of the technical and technological difficulties, which in many cases surpassed possibilities of the individual mills. It became obvious that for solution of such problems would be helpful an unit making a scientific and research base, that could realise research and development works for the needs of the whole branch.
For realisation of such works at first only for the fibreboard industry was created in 1957 at the fibreboard mill in Czarna Woda a branch laboratory for fibreboard, for which a manager became Eng. Stanisław Osika. This laboratory came to the fibreboard plants not only with immediate help but also undertook a series of works conditioning a subsequent development of this industry, among other things through realisation of research works on introduction to production process of new low-grade assortments of wood from forest and from industry and through realization of research works on product assortment development and improvement of product quality.
A technological design of a new modern building for the branch laboratory for fibreboard (LBPP), worked out by Eng. Stanisław Osika, was realised in 1958 and this building was put into operation in 1960 whereby were created the good conditions for the development of this unit. The scope and work program of LBPP, as well as its organisation became a pattern for the other laboratories created in the following years in the other branches of the wood based panels industry.
For the increase of the operation effectiveness of the research and development base in the whole wood based panels industry the branch laboratories had were been joined and subordinated to common management in 1973. As the branch laboratory in Czarna Woda was most of all branch laboratories full of vitality, efficient and equipped as well as efficient managed then its creator and manager Eng. Stanisław Osika had been pointed to a director of this newly created unit, which work scope was in such manner currently formed in order it not only served with currently help for the wood based industry but also get ahead of the foreseen needs of this industry within the field of the production engineering, implementation of new raw materials into production process, and environmental conservancy. Moreover R & D Centre followed the tendencies of the production development of the all sorts of the wood based panels in the whole world while forecasting on this ground the demand for those products in prospect of few or a dozen or so years, contributing by this to coming to a proper decisions relating new investments through the authorities. Information Bulletin edited since 1960 i. e. from 40 years, translation from foreign professional literature and other publications of R & D Centre were of great importance in the education of specialists in Poland and in the propagation of general knowledge relating problems connected with the wood based panels industry and with the use of wood based panels. In 1986 Eng. Stanisław Osika went away to the pension and Dr Eng. Piotr Ferens became his successor.
Soon afterwards radical rapid proprietary and structural changes took place in the whole Polish industry. The structural changes in the wood based panels industry leading to the full independence of the mills of this industry caused the almost complete rupture of mutual bonds between them as well as connections joining these mills with R & D Centre. It had negative repercussions in the kind and the amount of orders in comparison with the orders that were leaded previously to the research and development base. The wood based panels industry broke off financing the research and development works useful for the whole branch, for the most part the works with importance of the future. The order from this industry concerned only urgent current needs and their amount was limited in consideration of bed situation of the mills. R & D Centre changed its structure and quantity employment and well as a scope of his activity adjusting itself to a new situation. The limited possibilities of the wood based panels industry to finance the research and development works forced R & D Centre to reduction of employment in the whole R & D Centre and to liquidation of the branch laboratories situated far from Czarna Woda and to taking over the principal tasks of the liquidated branch laboratories through the part of the R & D Centre situated in Czarna Woda.
Late in 1998 R & D Centre suffered a painful loss. Because of a prolonged and heavy sickness its previous director Dr. Piotr Ferens went away to a disability pension. His retirement from a professional work became a loss not to repairing not only for R & D Centre but also for the whole wood based panels industry in consideration of his great authority, creative intellect, personal contacts, an esteem with that he has met in the midst of his colleagues in the industry and a steady readiness to lend a helping hand to the colleagues.
Process of adaptation of the R & D Centre to new requirements has not finished off. At present M. Sc. Eng. Maria Antoni Hikiert is a managing director of R & D Centre. New legal regulations for the research and development units have come into force, the changes of ownership in Polish wood based panels industry have been performed continually and the needs of mills and the expectations the wood based panels industry in relation to the research and development base are varying also. R & D Centre is trying to meet the future needs of the national economy half way and is trying to join to co-operation with the Polish wood based panels industry and with other research and development units according to with the actually introduced new forms of the financing of the science that results from the adaptation of rules financing the being in force in Poland system of financing the research and development works to the codes of EU.