Sofidel Orders Automation Upgrade for Tissue Machine at Délipapier Mill in France

The Sofidel Group, Italy, has placed an order with Metso, Finland, to upgrade the automation of tissue machine 1 and water treatment at its Délipapier mill in Frouard, France. The delivery will include an upgrade to the Metso DNA control system and an upgrade to the Metso IQ quality control system, including a non-nuclear Metso IQ Fiber Weight Measurement, and related comprehensive product training.

According to François Lecomte, Délipapier Paper Mill director, "this significant upgrade will enhance productivity, allowing Délipapier to bring better quality to its customers, especially for the flagship brands of Sopalin and Le Trèfle in France along with Lotus and Moltonel in Benelux."

The upgrade will be implemented using innovative virtualization technology, which aims at delivering more flexible data centers to reduce costs thanks to server consolidation. This solution will significantly reduce the number of computers normally required for an upgrade and thus decrease both the purchase cost of computers and cabinets, and the operating expenses of such devices, together with the space needed to install them. 

Metso notes that virtualization allows it to deliver efficient remote support and maintenance of the control system over its entire lifecycle. Patch deployment, server maintenance, software compatibility and further upgrades can all be executed more efficiently.

The project is scheduled to be completed in October. The value of the order will not be disclosed.