Stora Enso Orders Voith VariFlex Winder for Imatra Mill

Stora Enso, Finland, has commissioned Voith, Germany, 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 provides fast swap-over times for format and roll changes and ensures consistently good roll quality. Other features include excellent start and end sheet gluing using the Gecko OneStep gluing device and 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 a key factor in awarding the contract to Voith. The rebuild is scheduled to take place in January 2017 and should be completed within a maximum of 10 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 the future, the diameter of the finished roll can be increased to up to 2,100 mm.

Stora Enso is a global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden constructions, and paper. Imatra Mills has 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.