Mount Gambier’s largest private employer OneFortyOne has committed to investing more than $11m in its Jubilee Sawmill over the next two years.

Jubilee Sawmill General Manager Paul Hartung said the modern manufacturing investment was a continuation of the re-investment program that started in 2016.

“OneFortyOne has invested close to $40m since purchasing the mill in 2018, on state-of-the-art technology projects such as sorter bins, a Lucidyne scanning system, reducing boiler emissions and upgrading to continuous drying kilns,” he said.

“This most recent commitment will extend to an equipment and technology upgrade for Drymill A, replacing and modernising equipment as it reaches end of life.”

Mr Hartung said the new equipment would be manufactured in New South Wales under a licensing agreement, a first for Australia.

“We are really pleased we can be part of this initiative,” he said.

“OneFortyOne is committed to ensuring we remain one of the most progressive and efficient mills in Australasia,” he said.

“By investing in new technology, we are continuing towards our objective of valuing every strand of wood fibre that we process.”

OneFortyOne estimates that through this upgrade Jubilee Sawmill will reduce its emissions by approximately 268 tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually.

These savings will be generated by reduced electricity consumption.

“It’s an exciting project for our team here at Jubilee,” Mr Hartung said.

“The innovative technology that will be installed at the mill presents an amazing opportunity to train and upskill our people in robotics and automation.

“One of the motivating factors for this project was the chance it provided to shift the Drymill team to a four-day week.

“This development means that both Drymill A and the Greenmill will operate on four-day weeks.

“We know this has been an important issue for our Drymill team and we are really pleased to support their wellbeing in this way.”

The project is scheduled to begin in 2022 and will take 2 years to complete.