Last year, Finnish paperboard manufacturer Metsä Board launched a feasibility study to produce 200,000 tons of folding boxboard at the Husum plant in Sweden. The project is approved: the BM1 cartoner, already 162 meters long, will be extended by 54 meters!
This BM1 board machine started in 2016 will thus be able to reach 600,000 tons of board produced per year. With its current output of 400,000 tons, it is already the largest folding carton machine in Europe.
The dry end area of the board machine will be modernized, the reel handling fully automated and the basement of the machine hall expanded. Metsä Board has chosen the Finnish paper equipment manufacturer Valmet for this project. 24 people are working full time on this project supported by several part-time employees.
Håkan Jonsson, project manager, describes the extensive work: "We built a building within the building so that we could safely perform the extensive demolition work and, at the same time, be able to continue production of the BM1."
He adds: "The fully automated coil handling is impressive and will allow for smooth production flows. We ran a simulation to make sure there are no bottlenecks in the system. Operators will be able to focus on machine performance and board quality."
The board machine is scheduled to start up in the fall of 2023, with full production capacity to be reached by the end of 2025.
