Thursday, 19 May 2011 10:15

Swedish paper mills can easily save 1- 2.5 million kronor with ABB optimization

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Every Swedish krona invested in improved quality can yield 5-10 kronor in payback


For years ABB has offered its optimization service, Paper Machine Fingerprint, to the paper industry. This solution gives papermakers an assessment of their entire production process so mills can precisely identify areas with improvement potential. Based on the ABB diagnosis, the mill obtains appropriate recommendations  for improvement, along with an ROI calculation.

 

“We have seen that a typical paper mill, by implementing the improvement measures that we suggest, can earn 5-10 times the money it costs to implement them via more efficient and optimized paper production,” said Jonas Warnqvist, an ABB process optimization and QCS specialist. “A mid-sized Swedish paper mill can typically save 1-2.5 million kronor, just by improving those areas that we identify through the Fingerprint diagnosis.”

 

When making the diagnosis ABB assesses every part of the production process, looking for improvement potential from a mechanical as well as a control engineering perspective. The diagnosis may point at process, instrument or automation-related issues. ABB can assess any paper machine, regardless of its automation system.

 

“We always offer continuous follow-up after the completed diagnosis and implementation, in order to ensure sustained improvements and payback on the customer’s investment,” said Warnqvist.

 

The Fingerprint diagnosis provides both a basis for future comparisons and analysis of the mill’s performance. The Fingerprint also includes a plan for improvements that identifies the improvement potential and ranks the measures in terms of best saving opportunities. The ROI calculation is a very important tool for showing, in a simple way, how the improvements generate cost savings.

 

To be capable of performing this fully comprehensive assessment, a company needs to have a deep understanding of the process and of every part of the mill – which is something that ABB has built up through its extensive experience and leading-edge expertise within the paper industry.

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