Industrie 4.0 was identified as a key element in strengthening the market position of the plant under review. Both digitisation and Industrie 4.0 are seen as levers for increased productivity, flexibility, quality, control of the international supply chain, reduction of waste and management of “living” raw materials.
The existing situation is characterised by large machines, which are highly integrated and can partly react autonomously. Manual input is required to change process parameters based on input materials and environmental conditions. Cracks during production affect the production plan.
The aim of the digital transformation was to establish a robust production system. Therefore, the parameters of the input material must be determined and related to the inline quality data. Through data analysis, the optimal process parameter can be determined autonomously. This leads to higher process stability and fewer cracks during production. In addition, an integration of the IT systems is aimed at in order to establish a single source of truth. This leads to data security and use of the systems. The international paper manufacturer wants to establish a digital champion with the evaluated plant and learn for the digital transformation for the other mills.