Automated warehouse for an integrated, proactive and safe supply chain, Kaj Fahllund. Vice President, Pulp & Paper, Pesmel

PAPERTECHNOLOGYINTERNATIONAL
Previously, MM Kotkamills relied entirely on external
third-party companies to provide cartonboard sheeting to their
customers. With the investment, the majority of this sheeting can
now be done in-house at the mill site, providing an efficient process
with no unnecessary or unproductive handling. “Our new sheeting
center with its modern technology enable automatic processing of
cartonboard reels from production to sheeting,” says Marko Pekkola,
Managing Director of MM Kotkamills.
“We are able to serve our customers faster and ensure
even better quality of the cartonboard as the sheeting takes place in
parallel with the production and the cartonboard reels do not need to
be transported outside the mill for sheeting,” continues Kalle Mäkelä,
Production and Maintenance Director at MM Kotkamills.
Meeting intermediate reel storage requirements
The space available for this sheeting center and its 6,500ton IRS (Intermediate Reel Storage) was very limited. Traditional
floor stacked reel storage was too cumbersome and required too
much space due to the heavy reel handling equipment needed to
turn the reels from a horizontal to a vertical storing position and back
again for the sheeters. With Pesmel’s rack storage, the warehouse
reels can be kept in a horizontal position all the way from the slitter
winder through the IRS to the sheeter unwinding.
One vertical stacker crane on the side of the rack slides and
lifts reels into a 14x9 array of horizontal storing channels. Reels
are transferred in from production and out onto conveyors that feed
them one at a time to the sheeter unwinds. The whole process is
fully automated according to production schedules.
Pesmel’s TransRoll™ enable the sheeting center’s location at
mill
Intense data-driven cooperation between MM Kotkamills and
Pesmel was required to complete the dimensioning process and to
昀椀t the IRS between the PM hall and the sheeting center. Firstly, the
physical dimensioning of the reel warehouse and its connections
was carried out.
Figure 8: For MM Kotkamills, the centralized automated highbay warehouse enabled the sheeting function to operate in
parallel with production.
Secondly, the equipment and control system were
customized to ensure the required handling capabilities. This
meant running simulations with actual and target production data.
The production mix and volumes, and their impact on equipment
utilization rates, were analyzed. The actual simulation was carried
out using the Pesmel WMS Digital Twin, which was later also
used to train operators in running the system virtually. The WMS
(Warehouse Management System) is the key element in integrating
the information systems in the mill and the Sheeting Center to track
the material flow and manage the online IRS inventory control.
“We chose the TransRoll™ concept because Pesmel was
able to tailor an ideal solution for our specific needs,” says Teemu
Nikkonen, MM Kotkamills’ Strategic Development Manager. “The
available space was very limited. As the reels are moved and stored
horizontally all the way, we were able to keep the system simple.
The stacker crane, the only moving element in the system, handles
the reel movements inside this intermediate reel storage.”
Material flow with flexibility and innovation
Pesmel’s WMS is the link that connects the entire material
flow process. “Our technology is enabling something bigger,” says
Kaj Fahllund, Pesmel VP Pulp & Paper. “We play a vital part in
optimizing the entire process stream and improving the customers’
cost efficiency.”
For both Pesmel and MM Kotkamills, the sheeting center
project was an example of exemplary cooperation and forward
thinking on both sides. “MM Kotkamills’ investment was a great
opportunity to provide the next generation in-mill logistics and
warehouse automation to one of our many valued customers,”
Fahllund concludes. “The project has been a perfect match between
two innovative and unique companies.”
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