Smurfit Kappa relies on Voith’s advanced process control system OnEfficiency.Strength to reduce starch consumption

Voith’s digital solution package OnEfficiency.Strength, installed at Smurfit Kappa's Hoya mill in Lower Saxony in 2021, is showing very positive results from the first day. With virtual sensors and predictive control, OnEfficiency.Strength reduces the amount of starch applied while maintaining defined quality standards – a step that is leading to significantly lower costs and more sustainable paper production. The Hoya project is representative of how the two companies Voith and Smurfit Kappa are working together to drive digital transformation in the paper industry.

"We chose Voith's digital solution approach because it offers significant cost savings with the latest technologies and pays for itself in less than a year. With the implementation of OnEfficiency.Strength, we are successfully continuing our innovation and digitalization strategy while paying towards our sustainability goals," says Gerold Buck, Manager Operations at Smurfit Kappa Hoya.

In the first step, Voith had conducted a value-add assessment that identified optimization potential and significant cost reductions for production with the help of digital technologies. Subsequently, Voith experts analyzed all relevant process, laboratory and production data from the last few months, checked for anomalies and defined a control concept based on this. For smooth data exchange and efficient commissioning, the plant was also connected to the Voith OnCumulus Cloud. In addition, the personnel received training at an early stage in order to operate the application optimally. After the quick installation and start-up, OnEfficiency.Strength immediately showed potential savings in starch application.

"Due to rising raw material prices and highly competitive pressure, paper manufacturers are increasingly looking for ways to further optimize their production facilities and save costs - digital solutions can make a valuable contribution here. OnEfficiency.Strength continuously monitors all relevant quality parameters during the manufacturing process and automatically regulates the appropriate settings. Smurfit Kappa thus saves costs and resources in production every day in a simple and automated way. We see great potential to integrate OnEfficiency.Strength at many more plants worldwide," says Maria Knauer, Global Product Manager Efficiency Solutions at Voith.

Smurfit Kappa is also considering installing the digital solution from the Papermaking 4.0 portfolio at other sites based on the results of OnEfficiency.Strength at Hoya.

With the "PAPER IS ON" campaign, Voith highlights the focus topics of the Papermaking 4.0 digital product portfolio: full-line supplier, efficiency, sustainability, cloud solutions, automation and innovation.