It’s Tissue: an opportunity for launches

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During the week dedicated to technology for the tissue sector, we took part in the press tour which led us to discover the best of the twelve companies in the Rete Tissue Italy [Italian Tissue Network]. A journey into the tissue world, to discover the best that Made in Italy technology can offer to the sector, worldwide.

The Italian world of tissue shows all its innovative capacity and does so with a unique event which has brought the greatest experts in the sector to our Country: iT’s Tissue 2018.

The twelve companies which thought of it, wanted it and designed it – A.Celli, Elettric80, Fabio Perini, Futura, Gambini, MTC, Omet, Pcmc, Pulsar, Recard, TMC, Toscotec – represent the best of the Made in Italy technology for the manufacture of the whole range of tissue products and, since 2012, form the Rete Tissue Italy.

During the week from 25 to 29 June 2018, which saw Lucca draped in iT’s Tissue’s red, the various open houses, held not only in the Tuscan city, but also in Viano (Reggio Emilia), Bologna and Lecco, were the opportunity for some interesting launches and previews.

Innovation and new knowledge

During the event in Lucca, a significant project was launched, which Fabio Perini spa had been working on for months, the new laboratory dedicated to the world of digitalisation. It is called Tomorrow Lab and is different from other laboratories which have been built over the years and started up by companies, because it is not aimed at working purely on technical topics linked to the industry of processing tissue paper, but rather at developing the countless possibilities which arise from Industry 4.0. An “open innovation” laboratory in which the central element is the sharing of information and, above all, knowledge.

Within Tomorrow Lab, together with the employees of Fabio Perini spa, are suppliers, universities and institutions who work alongside them. It is open to anyone who can generate innovation. The company is also looking for new professional experts in the emerging sectors of the digital world.

As well as the innovative laboratory, the company also presented new Constellation S6during iT’s Tissue. This is a development of the range with the same name which was launched in 2015. With a speed which reaches 600 m/min and a maximum winding rate of 45 log/min., the new rewinder has been designed specifically for reduced production quantities and is highly efficient.

Custom-made technologies

Innovation also in the company MTC  which manufactures and sells folding and multi-folding machines for tissue products, with a focus in particular on AFH – away from home – products. Together with Fabio Perini spa and Engraving Solutions, the company is part of the new Körber Tissue business area of the international group Körber AG and has presented two new models of interfolders of the series ITF: the ITF 6000 with a narrow table and the ITF 7000 Wide with a wide table. They are modular machines which allow the converting phase to be structured according to the specific requirements of the user company. An example of the alliance between mechanical and electronic technology, where the engineering process of individual solutions is carried out in close collaboration with clients’ technical departments, thus guaranteeing a high level of customisation.

The two interfolders allow the manufacture of single fold towels, facial tissues and towels with 2, 3, 4 panels with a tab bond type cut. In particular, whilst the ITF 6000 is designed for the manufacture of both towels with a V fold and facial tissue, the ITF 7000 Wide is dedicated specifically to the manufacture of facial tissue.

MTC technicians are working on engineering machines which have, amongst their main objectives, the reduction and simplification of maintenance procedures.

Trilogy of innovations

Threefold event, on the other hand, at the open house of Futura where one could see the technology of two collaborators at work: TMC and Pulsar Engineering.

But let’s proceed in an orderly fashion. Futura presented Andromedathe top line designed by the company from Lucca. Fully automated, it has an enclosed structure which allows it also to reduce the dust problem. Amongst its innovations is the Control room, from which it is possible to manage, in total safety, the operations of one or more converting lines at the same time. The cameras and control systems installed in various parts of the machine allow for constant checking and swift intervention.

During the open house, one could also see Quatis QR-DSC4 di Pulsar Engineeringwww.pulsarengineering.comat work. The Quatis line is characterised by having full control of production. Thanks to a series of images of the roll – several photos are taken of each one – it is able to identify any faults and intervene in real time on non-compliant products, rejecting them without the involvement of workers. It is formed of three types of machines: for rolls, packets and envelopes. Another of Pulsar’s innovation is the bag-filler machine MBF 20W, able to bundle AFH rolls in a predetermined format, insert them into a bag, seal the open end and trim; all through completely automated operations. At the same time as the Tuscan presentation, the company also opened the doors of its own headquarters in Bologna.

Amongst the TMC innovations presented at Lucca and Bologna, there is, in contrast, the propensity to sustainability. In particular with regard to the Plastic-Free-Pack, the new system of primary wrapping, which promises to reduce the thickness of the packaging material of toilet rolls and, above all, no longer use plastic but rather fully biodegradable and compostable material, made from paper and starch, and heat-sealable. Whilst the secondary wrapper is cardboard.

As well as this new wrapping system, TMC also presented DNA MAP, the IT platform which is cloud-based and maps the entire system, collecting data supplied by the machines in order to translate it into useful information. We have dedicated an article of TCM’s 4.0 solutions in “The paper industry” no. 2/2018, in the special Industry 4.0 .

Between paper mill and converting

During Gambini spa’s open house, on the other hand, the new consumer converting line Flex 700, developed and completed using AirMill and TouchMax technologywas presented. Their synergy allows operations to be synchronised and more products with the same roll diameter to be obtained. In particular, it is possible, thanks to AirMill, to produce a type of textured paper starting off from traditional paper; in practice one part of the paper mill process is carried over into the converting process. In this way they obtain better characteristics in terms of volume, smoothness, absorbency, strength and stability. All in line with the philosophy that the company wanted to define as “Perflexion” and which, during the course of the year, has brought it to intervene not only on the converting processes, but also on the finished product. Based on the needs of the paper mill or the converter, AirMill can then work on the line with dual operating mode on/off capable of optimising costs and downtime with high efficiency.

Lastly, on the service front, Gambini supplies the Tbook tablet service which gives updated indications and information on all the company lines, including the TouchMax embossers. A service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout the world. The company has also considered the paper mills and converters which do not have the tablet. They can access this service through Tbook-online, which can be downloaded onto a PC from Windows store.

Customised printing

Within the Montecarlo showroom of Lucca of OT Lucca, the Tuscan branch of Omet, which has, however, its own production site in Lecco – also an open house during the week -, the complete and enhanced line of the TV503 packercan be admired. The machine shown in Lucca has the new group of inkjet digital printing in 4 colours and Chameleon variable data. A completely automatic direct-print system which allows for specific customisation of tissue products, even for small batches and with the possibility of going directly from one print run to another without interrupting the line working; simply the speed of work varies depending on the type of resolution set. The computer installed on the machine receives the files, processes them and sends them directly to print on the napkins, using simple pdf, jpg or other common format files. It is therefore possible to print any image on the napkins without clichĂ©s or prepresses, with a saving in terms of time and work costs. The system, thanks to the software for the management of the variable data, also allows for the printing of barcodes, QR codes and sequential numbers, or any other source of text or image from a database.

Evolution… without core

With its own philosophy, summarised in the word “Carevolution”, PCMC  brings together the ideas of evolution and care, but also of innovation and sustainability. During the company’s open house, the working of the fully automated Forte [Strong] line was witnessed: the three winding reels move with each other, allowing the fast formation of accurately wound up toilet paper rolls. The geometry of the roll has been studied to allow for the best triangulation to be maintained whilst making the log, guaranteeing stability and a uniform winding profile. The gluing section, outside the winder, electronically controls the quantity of glue to be distributed. Whilst the new section for packaging the rolls allows a first and second wrapping to be made for consumer rolls.

The other great innovation is the roll of tissue paper without a cardboard core, the No-Core Roll. Similar products have already appeared on the market, but the InvisibleO innovative technology enables rolls without cores to be made, in which the hole remains perfectly formed, even after the roll is crushed. The convenience of a normal roll is thus obtained, but without the waste. It has been calculated that the absence of the cardboard core, for companies producing tissue paper, is equivalent to a saving in costs of between 600 and 700 thousand euros a year.

“From tissue to tissue”

From tissue to tissue. With this statement A.Celli Paper has made visitors and hosts of iT’s Tissue go on a journey along a complete tissue production line. In fact there are eleven technology stations presented, equal in number to the solutions that the company suggests to the sector to create complete turnkey systems. These go from the management of stock to arrive at the completed roll, also incorporating the automated management of the warehouse and the movement of goods.

A journey begun, therefore, with the new machine for manufacturing iDEAL 2000S tissue, passing through the E-WIND T100 rewinder and, then, the R-WAY Roll Handling & Packaging system. During the visit one could then see close up the Yankee dryer, Forged YD, with steel patented seamless design which allows the best use to be made of the drying phases. Then it was possible to watch the operation of iREEL, the system for tracing and analysing data from the reel. Finally, one also saw a demonstration of the operation of the automated reel management system, created by A.Celli in collaboration with the company TecnoFerrari, through the use of AGV R-WAY vehicles, in line with Industry 4.0 logistics.

Traditional craftsmanship, contemporary innovation

A journey outside of Lucca, to Villa Basilica, brought us, on the other hand, to the heart of the traditional craftsmanship of Recard.The company, which designs and constructs plant for the manufacture of tissue, has been in the sector since the 1960s. Even though it is a modern company which exports its own technology throughout the world, it has never wanted to abandon its own mission as an “artisan laboratory”, characterised by the capacity to customise its own technologies as required by paper mills.

In his own headquarters, Recard presented a Green Easy Crescentplant to the visitors of iT’s Tissue. With a capacity of up to 95 tons/day, the characteristics of the Easy Crescent of the Lucca based company are the simple installation, which is also reflected in the maintenance – the machines require, in fact, a minimum space and do not need any special civil works – and a significant reduction in energy consumption; in this regard it was calculated that a paper mill can reduce its electric energy consumption by 68% with an increase in consumption of gas of only 15%. Furthermore, the new plant is eco-friendly, allowing a reduction of emissions of NOx of 60% and of CO of 40%.

Integrated solutions

Elettric80 and Bema have led us, on the other hand, into a real excursus in the most innovative automated solutions for controlling production and storage and delivery activities. The two companies, which have their headquarters in Viano, in the province of Reggio Emilia, specialise, in fact, in the implementation of hardware and software solutions to create 4.0 factories, fully integrated and with solutions which enable full traceability of the products handled.

The focus of Elettric80 and Bema has always been not only the creation of a plant, but, above all, the capacity to guarantee optimal management over a length of time. To this purpose they have also developed the software alongside the hardware systems. The whole process, in fact, is managed centrally by SM.I.LE80 (Smart Integrated Logistics), a unique software platform which links systems and production processes. The two companies also offer service and support, both remotely – 24 hours a day and seven days a week – and on site, in the various parts of the world.

Between the present and the future

Toscotec has called its own open house “NowNext”, defining it as “today’s journey into our tomorrow”. Amongst the innovations presented, there is the new Tadvision machine for the manufacture of structured papers, a new version of the TAD technology which allows paper mills to obtain better runnability and efficiency of the tissue machine, all thanks to the TAD serpentine section, formed of three TAD drums with honeycomb covering. Another fundamental advantage of the new configuration is the improvement in energy usage. In fact from the energy consumption of existing TAD machines, estimated to be around 6.0-7.5 MWh/ton, it is significantly reduced to 4.5-5.5 MWh/ton. The objective of the company’s R&D department, however, is to manage to further reduce the overall consumption to less than 4.5 MWh/ton.

Other innovations are the S-Crescent, the highly efficient development section, which increases drying before the pressing area with optimised water drainage; the new YES (Your Expert Service) division, the continuous support service, accessed remotely and on site, which assures advice to companies 24 hours a day throughout the world. The service is enriched also by YES – Connect-Vision, the new helmet which enables integrated communication for the resolution, at distance, of technical problems.

We shall also focus on this, and other matters, in the October issue of Industria della carta.

iT’s Tissue’s numbers

5 days (June 25-29 2018), 14 open houses – ten in Lucca, one in Viano (Reggio Emilia), two in Bologna and one in Lecco – to see machines in operation; and more than 2,000 highly-qualified visitors from 85 countries. These are the numbers of iT’s Tissue 2018.

During the week-long event, tissue experts from around the world valued the opportunity to see and touch innovations across the entire chain of production. Demonstrations revealed the progress of the digital revolution in support of the Smart Factory related to Industry 4.0.

This global event was created by the 12 leading Italian technology companies in the sector: A.Celli, Elettric80, Fabio Perini, Futura, Gambini, MTC, Omet, Pcmc, Pulsar, Recard, TMC, Toscotec. They came together in 2012 with the aim of making Italy the international hub for technical innovation in the tissue sector.

«iT’s Tissue 2018 has proved a very important positive signal for the Italian companies behind this event – consolidating their leadership in mature markets while also opening up new frontiers in emerging markets» said executive vice president Marco Dell’Osso.

The next event in Italy is scheduled for 2021. «Looking forward to 2021 we know we can do even more» concluded Dell’Osso. «Italy’s state-of-the-art technology is recognized worldwide. The network companies never stop seeking innovative technological solutions across the whole chain, to improve performance and productivity, and respond to the needs of the future».

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