Mönchengladbach/Germany. Stora Enso has commissioned Voith to install a fully automated VariFlex winder on the BM1 board machine at its Kaukopää mill in Imatra, Finland. The winder’s innovative concept increases processing capacity and makes production safer and more reliable.

The Voith VariFlex has proven to be effective in a large number of facilities. It impresses with fast swap-over times for format and roll changes and consistently good roll quality. Other outstanding features are the excellent start and end sheet gluing using the Gecko OneStep gluing device and the high productivity and machine safety due to the automated perforating units for parent reel and finished rolls.

For Stora Enso, the short installation time was one of the key factors in awarding the contract to Voith: The rebuild is scheduled to take place in January 2017 and should be completed within a maximum of ten days. Voith was able to demonstrate that this is possible through its past rebuild projects.

The BM1 in Imatra Mills produces food service boards for drinking cups and other food service and food packaging applications. The winder is designed with a width of 4,600 mm and a speed of up to 2,500 m/min. In future, the diameter of the finished roll can be increased to up to 2,100 mm.

Stora Enso is a leading provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions and paper on global markets. Imatra Mills situates around 250 km east of Helsinki. Imatra Mills consist of two production units, Kaukopää and Tainionkoski. The mills produce about a million metric tons a year of liquid and food service board as well as high-quality packaging papers and graphical board for book covers, cards and luxury packaging.

About Voith Paper
Voith Paper is a Group Division of Voith and is one of the leading partners and pioneers in the paper industry. Through constant innovations, Voith Paper is optimizing the paper manufacturing process, focusing on developing resource-conserving products to reduce the use of energy, water and fibers. Furthermore, Voith Paper offers a broad service portfolio for all sections of the paper manufacturing process.

About the company
Voith sets standards in the markets for energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials, transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs more than 20,000 people, generates €4.3 billion in sales, operates in over 60 countries around the world and is one of the largest family owned companies in Europe.*
*Excluding the discontinued Voith Industrial Services Group Division