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Austrian Paper Producer Sappi Automates at Highest Level with Polar-Mohr |
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The Austrian Sappi plant is located in Gratkorn near Graz. The production facility is one of the largest paper producers for coated papers worldwide.
The bigger of the two paper machines alone has a production capacity of 620,000 tons paper p.a. When looking at the more than 240m long machine in the gigantic production hall you get an impression of the tremendous technological achievements needed for being able to hold a perfect sheet of paper in your hands at the end.
Because of the high cutting volume and consistent modernisation of the machinery Sappi decided to invest in another POLAR cutting system. The fully automated cutting system T-176-T PACE* is considered to be one of the most innovative systems worldwide. The entire loading and unloading, as well as the cutting process, runs without any human interaction. The simultaneous automated unloading of the cut products via the rear table AND the front table is unique.
Peter Pichler, the project leader in charge at Sappi is extremely satisfied with the output of the system. “The system works very efficiently and despite the high weight of the 7S format it remains within the narrow tolerance of +/- 1 mm during stacking.”
While briefly touring the finishing area we see two re-piling devices and five cutting systems - four of which are from POLAR. “We had precise ideas what the new cutting system was supposed to deliver and we talked to all potential suppliers. But only the POLAR convinced us.“ While he talks, Pichler points to one of the fully automated industrial trucks that move through the hall as if pulled by an invisible hand. “Although only 1.5-2 percent of our production is cut here on request, we handle more than 13,000 tons of cutting material per year. In this respect we have relied on POLAR for many years. Considering the large cutting volume, cutting has to work smoothly.“
Operating the system requires only a minimum of personnel: the operators will provide one full and one empty pallet, start the cutting process, and will then move on to one of the other cutting systems, in order to cut material manually there. When, after approximately 20 minutes, the pallet is ready, the operators will come back and start the same process again. Thus, the system has a throughput of approximately 40 to 45 pallets of cutting material per day.
In Gratkorn, Sappi handles up to 860,000 tons of coated paper per year with two paper machines. Since many of the paper making and customising processes are highly automated, you only meet few people in the plant despite a staff of roughly 1,400. Pichler is happy about the smooth cutting process with POLAR: “Based on our experience with the PACE system we will increasingly opt for fully automated cutting in the future.“
* PACE is an acronym for POLAR Automation for Cutting Efficiency. These are cutting systems capable of performing one or more steps fully automatically (without any operator).
Further Information:
Rudi Kolbach
Product Manager
Tel. +61 2 9318 5224
Email: Rudi.Kolbach@heidelberg.com
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