Stora Enso, the world’s largest manufacturer of board and paper, has chosen Trimble as its development partner. Stora Enso uses the process data analysis system Wedge in all their pulp, paper and cardboard production in Finland. Wedge is also widely used in Stora Enso mills in other countries.
“Wedge can be compared to a shared language for process researchers, production developers, and production managers and supervisors. The clear graphical presentation of data makes the information easy to interpret,” explains the IT manager of the Imatra Mills, Antero Lattu.
Stora Enso’s board and paper mill in Imatra comprises two units, Kaukopää and Tainionkoski, which together employ around 1,000 people. The facility has an annual capacity of more than a million tons of cardboard and paper, over 90% of which is exported. Europe is the main market, but Southeast Asia also accounts for a large proportion of the export volume.
Cartons and packaging
The Imatra Mills produces both paper and cardboard. Stora Enso’s board for liquids’ packaging is used to produce such items as milk and juice cartons, while the food packaging board is used for drinking cups and various foods. Other kind of packaging board is used in production of packages for food, confectionary, and cigarettes. The graphical board made at the mill is very suitable for cards, covers, and luxury packaging.
“Almost every mill has a unique structure, and also plants’ product range varies. Systems and applications facilitating production at board and paper mill must be adaptable, so that they can be customized to meet mill-specific needs. Otherwise, they are of no use,” explains Lattu.
Expert partners
Wedge’s analysis and measurement applications have already helped the factory’s process engineers and researchers to develop more efficient production methods, identify causes of deviations in quality, and improve production processes.
“Stora Enso requires top-notch products and expertise from its partners and expects them to strive to develop their operations continuously. This is what we expect also from ourselves. On the whole, Trimble has the same traits as Wedge: it is an adaptable and innovative partner,” Lattu praises.
A convenient and hassle-free tool
Joanna Rahko, a production engineer at the pulp mill, has been using Wedge for several years. She finds it a handy tool for synthesizing and analyzing data for various phases of production.
“You can, for example, exclude production stoppages from the data and look at just the relevant information for a particular production phase. Compared with other trend analysis tools, Wedge makes it easy for us to perform calculations ourselves. Another brilliant aspect of the tool is that it allows us to take production delays into account,” explains Rahko.
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