The Rule Is the Root! — Part 1 of our series “Inside Prästängen”

In our SubFloor system, we use spruce joists sourced from the forests of northern Sweden. Our supplier is Norsjö Trä AB (www.norsjotra.se), a company that specializes in finger-jointing wood products; they provide us with the highest-quality and most dimensionally stable spruce joists available on the Swedish market.

Norsjö Trä is owned by brothers Ralf Signarsson (CEO) and Frank Signarsson (Production Manager), and we sat down with the latter to learn more about the company and its connection to Prästängen.

How long have you been running Norsjö Trä?

Norsjö Trä AB is now in its 10th year of independent operation. We have a production area of approximately 3,600 m² and heated warehouse space of 1,000 m². When we started in 2009, we had 5 employees, and our manufacturing consisted solely of finger-jointed components for the furniture industry. Since then, we have grown both organizationally and in terms of our product range; today, we have 15 employees (3 in administration and management and 12 in production). Today, we offer products that are also pre-profiled for our customers, tailored to each customer’s unique specifications.

You've been supplying joists to Prästängen for a couple of years now, but

To meet the customer’s expectations for the product, it is important for us to familiarize ourselves with the customer’s product so that we can understand how to manufacture it correctly.

It all starts with the raw material for the product; for SubFloor’s product, we have chosen to use a certified raw material from Northern Sweden. We have used slow-growing Northern Swedish spruce to meet the requirements for both strength and straightness that are set for SubFloor’s products. When the raw material arrives, we store it in temperature- and humidity-controlled environments before bringing it into production. In production, we begin by leveling the material to achieve the correct structure and shape, and then send it through state-of-the-art scanning equipment programmed according to the customer’s specifications.

The material is then cut into smaller pieces, and any defects that do not meet the customer’s requirements are trimmed away. After cutting, the material proceeds to a station where we mill the finger joints, apply adhesive to them, and then press them together to the finished length. The pieces are then allowed to cure before we finish profiling them, and a final quality inspection is performed on each piece.

As production manager (and co-owner), it is my responsibility to ensure that we produce the right products for our customers in the most production-efficient way possible.

How do you approach quality assurance at Norsjö Trä? For example, how do you ensure that the studs you supply meet the quality standards Prästängen requires?

To ensure a high and consistent level of quality in our products, we maintain full traceability for every product throughout our supply chain.

We measure incoming lumber—including dimensions, moisture content, density, and other factors—to ensure it matches the raw material we ordered. We then conduct several checks throughout the process—such as dimensions, adhesive quantity, and breaking strength—that affect the final quality. All of these tests and samples are verified by RISE (formerly SP), which conducts audits twice a year to review our operations and the quality of our products. Among other things, they verify that we handle the material properly and that the finished products meet the quality standards promised to our customers.

Do you do any work related to the environment, and if so, in what way?

Our company places a strong emphasis on the environment; it’s no coincidence that we work with a renewable material like wood. We also take great care to ensure that we source certified raw materials (we are also FSC-certified), which guarantees that our materials come from sustainably managed forests.

What other products do you manufacture, and what kind of customers do you target?

Our main products at the moment are finger-jointed components for furniture, moldings, paneling, windows, and door frames. We also offer a range of pre-profiled blanks, such as those for SubFloor. We are currently investing in an integrated planing and splitting line for the finger-jointed components. This will enable us to offer high-quality pre-profiled products to the industry and the construction trade—which have high standards—in a completely new way, with production set to begin in April.