Futures unfolding, Naomi Voith, Vice President Global Communication. Voith Paper

PAPERTECHNOLOGYINTERNATIONAL
Future(s) Unfolding
Naomi Voith, Vice President Global Communication. Voith Paper
INTRODUCTION:
Increasing autonomous operations along the paper production line offers exciting prospects for business profitability, workforce
empowerment and sustainability gains. Voith has the unique expertise to kick-start the process to the autonomous paper mill and support
customers with best practices along the entire journey.
“The goal is to create an environment where everyone
is working on continuous improvement to impact the
bottom line in a fully transparent process.”
Ulf Grohmann
Director Product Management Autonomous Mill, Voith Paper
Building blocks to the future
Three building blocks enable successful data-driven papermaking.
1. Degree of automation: Which processes are automated? Which are manually operated?
2. Availability of data: How is data collected, accessed and used? Is the data consistent?
3. Organizational maturity: Are industry best practices followed? Is there a structured
approach to continuous improvement? What skills do operators have and use? What is the
culture in the organization?
“In many ways, the journey to the autonomous paper mill
is very similar to the one up a challenging mountain,” says Ulf
Grohmann, Director Product Management Autonomous Mill at Voith
Paper. If your goal is to reach the top, he explains, you need to
know what equipment to take, which paths to follow and what risks
to expect. Most importantly, you need a guide that has the skills,
stamina and survival skills to reach that goal. “You wouldn’t think
twice about the need to prepare for the journey up a mountain,” adds
Grohmann. The potential returns make the preparation worthwhile.
The same is true in papermaking.
According to Bain & Company’s influential Global Paper
& Packaging Report 2023, best-in-class mills that are technologydriven can raise EBITDA by a seven percentage-point margin or
more.
Similarly, McKinsey estimates that manufacturing industries
could significantly boost productivity if companies made better
use of technology to share expertise across a plant and beyond.
A more collaborative maintenance process, for instance, allows
fast access to specialist knowledge and tried-and-tested solutions
as well as better prioritization of tasks. As this approach improves
plant health and minimizes downtimes, the consultancy firm notes,
overall equipment efficiency could potentially enjoy a boost of 2 to
3 percentage points. “The autonomous paper mill empowers the
workforce to do their best work and it drives economic growth,” says
Grohmann. “What’s more, it’s a place that respects and protects our
planet.”
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