Rover Fin Up S: Perfectly Sanded Acoustic Panels – Visiting Crea-Holz AG
Exactly on schedule
CREAtive interior design for comfort and enjoyment, all in a calm and relaxed atmosphere. Who wouldn’t long for such a living environment? To bring these dreams to life, the Swiss carpenters at Crea-Holz AG produce durable, high-quality kitchens, bathrooms, doors, furniture, tables, and acoustic panels with a special fine touch. This finishing touch is based on the excellent training and craftsmanship of the Crea team – and on the precise, long-lasting machines from Biessenach einem solchen Wohnumfeld. For the high-quality realization of these dreams, the Swiss carpenters of Crea-Holz AG produce durable and high-quality kitchens, bathrooms, doors, furniture, tables and acoustic panels with the special fine touch. The is based on the good training and craftsmanship of the Crea team – and the precise and durable machines of Biesse.
Since 1999, the family-run company from the cozy yet highly productive town of Benken, near Lake Zurich, has been designing and crafting tailor-made living solutions to meet individual wishes. Over the years, the seventeen-member team has completed hundreds of projects – always with customer satisfaction at the forefront, as Alois Zahner, the founder and driving force behind Crea-Holz, emphasizes. The versatile portfolio includes professional kitchens for ambitious households, wellness oases in bathroom form, bespoke furniture, and creative interior designs with that special touch for a harmonious home or an inspiring office environment.
Floating above all this, the carpenters from the Linth region also recommend sound-absorbing acoustic panels to their clients – for optimal sound, both in heart and ear. The soundproofing elements can be installed endlessly and come with integrated LED lights for a perfectly illuminated living and working environment – whether for relaxing and enjoying or for productive work in an inspiring setting.
Only when everything fits, it truly fits
Visitors and prospective clients can see this for themselves in the state-of-the-art and beautifully arranged kitchen and furniture showroom of the joinery. “We are happy to advise our clients thoroughly on all matters relating to wood,” emphasize the two owners, Annemarie and Alois Zahner, fully aware of the importance of satisfied clients. “Only after an extensive and in-depth consultation can we implement our partners’ ideas and visions and create the desired pieces.”
The success speaks for this company philosophy. The regionally rooted family business has steadily expanded in terms of both staff and size in recent years: “We had no choice; due to the strong business development, we were forced to grow and hire more employees,” the Zahners admit with a smile. And the junior is already actively involved as a journeyman – succession and the continuation of the family tradition are certainly not out of the question…
“We manufacture all products ourselves with our team of experienced and trained carpenters, interior designers and architects, draftsmen, and project managers. The numerous machines in our workshop are used for a wide variety of tasks, ensuring precise results and millimeter-accurate cuts – only when everything fits, it truly fits.” For this reason, the dynamic owner places great value on a modern machinery park, advanced CNC technology with robot support, and automatic loading.
The products manufactured in Benken are just as diverse as the projects completed, ranging from high-end residential construction to acoustic ceilings for a mountain restaurant, the interior design of a new alpine inn, and general carpentry work during the renovation of a school building.
The foundation for the excellent work and the high-quality kitchens, furniture, windows, and doors, as well as the growing acoustic segment, is, according to the ever-innovative and adventurous Alois Zahner, not only his qualified team but also a high-quality, clean, and up-to-date machinery environment with extensive automation. “Since 2008, we have been using robots to accelerate the manufacturing process and improve quality.”
This has become necessary because the demand for acoustic panels is continuously increasing, as the company founder reports: “So we inevitably had no choice but to expand this sector and acquire a new sanding center that meets our specific requirements for the sanding and cleaning process while also fitting into the limited space available.”
For the forward-looking and proactive managing director, cost efficiency, maximum flexibility, and special surface effects were also important. “Fortunately, since 2020, we have had very good experiences with a manufacturer whose CNC-controlled machining center and service we trusted. All in all, this led to a good and trustworthy collaboration.” The manufacturer was Biesse, which delivered the Rover A 1556 precisely on schedule despite the “coronal” circumstances at the time, with Erich Lüchinger on site.
Sought and found
Zahner experienced him as highly competent technically and solution-oriented, knowing what he wanted and communicating it clearly and decisively – in a very pleasant and sympathetic manner. After a thorough consultation process, including a visit to Biesse’s headquarters in Pesaro with an extensive demonstration, the choice fell on the already proven but always state-of-the-art sanding center Opera 5 / Rover Fin Up S.
With its two to five work groups, various units, and variable sanding brushes, the easy-to-operate and precise SuperFinish machine becomes a universal sanding center, combining high performance with low investment costs while requiring minimal floor space. This machine can efficiently perform multiple tasks on one platform or handle complex processes such as high-gloss finishing in a single pass.
Zahner was already familiar with the wide range of solutions, which allow for various customer-specific surface effects such as wavy sawtooth, planing, random sanding, aging effects for old wood, and much more. Another special feature is 3D sanding: vertical and longitudinally flexible brushes for precise sanding of recessed panels are designed for consistent and even results.
Not just clean, but pure
“For Crea-Holz AG, sanding and subsequently cleaning the perforated acoustic panels is essential,” Lüchinger reports. “With the X-Spin, this works not only for the panels but also for mortised doors and panels without burrs or other residues.” The tasks of the Opera 5 / Rover Fin Up also include brushing and effect sanding of tables, calibrating solid wood panels, and sanding primer foils and lacquer, adds Lüchinger, who, like most Biesse field staff, is a specialist.
Individual support
“Due to the local conditions, we opted against the usual swing doors and installed sliding doors on the service side instead,” reports Biesse expert Lüchinger on one of the features of the flexible and versatile wide-belt sanding machine, which has been demonstrating its qualities in the Benken workshop since February 2025.
Three weeks after commissioning and initial, somewhat mixed experiences, an Italian technician from the Biesse plant came to Benken. To the shock of Alois Zahner, he first deleted all existing data and previously entered settings in order to completely regenerate and reconfigure everything. This was followed by intensive training. The result of all this was “simply perfect!” as the satisfied client confirmed.
The focus of the Swiss interior designers is particularly on the flexible X-Spin unit. The brush and sanding unit offers functions such as brushing solid wood or veneered panels, edge sanding of lacquered panels, eliminating typical problems and irregularities from manual processing and preventing slowdowns in the production line. Three brushes are arranged in a circular, orbital motion and rotate independently.
X-Spin is the ideal solution for structuring, even for components made from wood arranged in different directions: the removal of soft wood fibers is uniform, aided by the vibration of the tool, which ensures exceptional consistency in processing.
As regional representative Lüchinger reported to us after our visit to the canton of St. Gallen, the performance and efficiency of the sanding machine far exceeded the – admittedly critical – expectations of Alois Zahner: “He has already sanded 9,000 m² and used less than half the sanding belts compared to before. Biesse equipped the Opera / Fin Up with a 2,620 mm belt and an additional belt cleaning on the units.”
Speaking of P.S., the passionate motorcyclist Lüchinger also mentions that the machine is equipped with the well-known Brembo braking system, which ensures precise safety and performance, as also used in motorsport.
Limitless and creative
In addition to the sanding machine, Crea has had the previously mentioned Rover A 1556 at the center of its workshop operations for five years. The CNC-controlled machining center can perform a wide range of tasks, including the production of windows and doors, stairs, countertops, furniture elements, and much more. In daily heavy-duty use, it has also proven that the fast and flexible machining center with a top-segment gantry structure can process any wood-based material quickly without loss of performance.
The Rover achieves this with five interpolating axes and continuous rotation of the C- and B-axes. The machining center is supported by a lateral tool magazine with twelve tools and a traveling sixteen-position turret, providing extensive machining possibilities. For solid wood processing, the vacuum system, divided into two work and clamping areas, provides a capacity of 250 m³/h. “A good choice, a very good one,” as the workshop manager puts it succinctly.
Perfectly satisfied
“The CNC runs perfectly, as does the sanding machine, where all our wishes were implemented one-to-one – what more could you want?” Alois Zahner values the good collaboration with Biesse in general and with regional sales manager Erich Lüchinger in particular. “The chemistry was right from the start, from pre-purchase consultation to intensive follow-up – we both think very solution-oriented.” The entire Crea team works very well with Biesse’s field service and support; regular maintenance visits and training have built trust. “We are currently not planning any new acquisitions, but if we do, we already know from past experience which manufacturer they will be from…”