Optimizing production planning and better energy management

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ABB’s understanding of energy supply and demand and the complexities of the manufacturing process has helped the world’s largest coated recycled cartonboard manufacturer mange energy usage more effectively.

Helping the world’s largest coated recycled cartonboard manufacturer, manage energy usage more effectively

There are a number of variables at play in the pulp and paper manufacturing process. Disruptions to the process and/or unacceptable quality is often caused by improper process parameters or power fluctuations. Understanding both and implementing a solution to fix these challenges is where ABB delivers immense value to its customers.

Take the case of a mill in Frohnleiten, Austria that belongs to Mayr-Melnhof Karton (MMK). 

The refined mechanical pulp mill is a critical part of the whole manufacturing process, consuming maximum power (up to 10 MW) to feed the mill’s two board machines - a significant portion of the total energy cost.

In Austria, power costs vary during the day and can be extremely exorbitant during a particular time in the day. MMK saw the opportunity to lower energy usage according to costs with a demand-side energy management focus.

Taking into consideration overall throughput of the mill, uptime, production targets, consistent quality and other constraints, ABB implemented its Energy Manager, a solution that ensures the power drawn from the grid is at minimal cost by forecasting and studying trends for power requirement and consumption. The whole system can be run either in manual or automatic mode.

Looking ahead, additional functionality for this system will include a streamlined way to add notes to automated reports. This will be very helpful for MMK, as the company built a new biogas plant to provide power for this mill and would like to include the associated lab test data and gas volume statistics from the mill in the official production reports.

This pragmatic approach has already resulted in significant savings in their electricity expenditure for MMK with several more customers standing to benefit from demand-side energy management. By opening the door to optimized energy management and cost savings, paper and paperboard manufacturing are paving the way for a more sustainable future. Read more


    Intelligent planning optimizes the refined mechanical pulp operation according to electricity spot price, providing power consumption forecast for electricity purchase.

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