Paper Technology International 2024 - Journal - Page 15
PAPERTECHNOLOGYINTERNATIONAL
G
Get ready for the next level in
quality control
Christian Eikmeyer, Product Manager, ISRA VISION
INTRODUCTION:
The paper and board industry is diversifying and responding to an increasingly globalised marketplace. Key global megatrends are
reshaping the market faster than ever: E-Commerce, lightweight, Big Data packaging, Intelligent or smart sensors, recyclability.
Figure 1 – Surface inspection on the full web width / Web Break Monitoring
Let´s take a closer look what this exactly means for the paper
industry.
A key driver for the demand for new packaging solutions is
internet shopping. Consumer packaging – such as carton-boards –
serves the needs of both, on-the-shelf display and advertising. This
trend is creating positive growth rates for corrugated box production
and its raw materials. As such, demand is growing for shorter lead
times and for a commitment to next-day and increasingly sameday delivery services. This means packaging must be available
immediately and in the right quality.
Lightweight packaging boards offer multiple bene昀椀ts
depending on the end user. In luxury carton boards, lighter weight
boards can improve brand value to major customers. It can
also meet the demands of expanding a customer base, building
on successful branding, and supporting business growth while
increasing production capacity. Demand for lighter weight packaging
board will continue to grow as it helps to reduce pulp costs, offers
less weight in logistics (reducing costs and CO2 emissions), sports
better pricing, enables more primary packs and ensures less waste
at end of the life cycle.
Another driver is the ever-increasing use of Big Data for
different applications like marketing, sales, production optimisation
and maintenance. Production excellence and quality rely on
connected devices, a large-scale deployment of versatile sensors
and intelligent systems. Many key process control applications
– such as online controls of basis weight, moisture, and other
properties together with optical quality control – have long been
based on Big Data analytics collected from fast-running paper
machines.
Typical measurements in the pulp and papermaking
process – 昀氀ows, temperatures, consistencie, optical quality and
other process information – are taken and fed back into the process
control cycle. One way of advancing process controls is to develop
and 昀椀t sensors with smarter built-in intelligence and combine those
data with the results of optical Inspection systems. Across the
next decade, the paper and board industry will feel the bene昀椀t of
intelligent, fully connected and industry 4.0 savvy sensors in multiple
applications in the mill – for example, when targeting reductions in
downtime and breaks at paper and board machines.
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