Progroup AG, based in Landau in der Pfalz, is pursuing ambitious growth targets as part of its ‚Two25‘ strategy. An important part of the programme is the new corrugated board format plant in Eisfeld, Thuringia. Progroup is thus further expanding its market leadership in corrugated board formats in the centre of Europe.
The new corrugated board format plant will be built on a site measuring around 87,000 square metres. The investment volume is around 60 million euros. This makes it one of the largest investments in the region. In total, more than 50 new jobs and apprenticeships will be created.
Production will start in the fourth quarter of 2019. The plant is characterised by sustainable production, a state-of-the-art working environment and numerous technical innovations.
Green high-tech philosophy: continuously reducing CO2 emissions
In line with the Progroup's green high-tech philosophy, the new plant goes above and beyond the high requirements placed on the construction and operating licence for such plants in many areas. These include the Use of a CHP system (combined heat and power generation), which supplies the plant with electricity, heat and cooling.
The waste heat from electricity generation is used either directly for heating purposes or by means of Absorption process for cooling utilised. But Progoup not only saves a lot of CO2 in its production processes, it also achieves top values in its product portfolio.
„Our Next Fibre® papers and Next Board® corrugated cardboard stand for significantly lower energy and raw material consumption and thus for 50 and 15 per cent lower CO2 emissions respectively, with increased technical values.“
Philipp Kosloh, Chief Operation Officer of Progroup AG
In Eisfeld, Progroup is also relying on its tried and tested Packaging park model. Production and IT systems of economically independent companies from the packaging industry are highly networked in this system, which significantly increases flexibility and efficiency.
As a result, Progroup saves the local environment around 10,000 lorry transports a year, which is accompanied by a significant reduction in CO2 emissions of around 1,500 tonnes and a noticeable reduction in noise emissions.
State-of-the-art workplaces and good career prospects
„As a family-run company, our basic understanding is to take responsibility and offer secure jobs with good career prospects.“
Philipp Kosloh, Chief Operation Officer of Progroup AG
The new corrugated board plant fulfils all requirements for modern workplaces in production. Efficient filter systems result in a largely dust-free working environment and an innovative sound insulation system leads to a noticeable reduction in noise pollution, making it unnecessary to wear personal protective equipment.
Regular air exchange and air conditioning of the fresh air ensure pleasant temperatures in the production hall at all times.
Efficient production processes increase competitiveness
The technology used at the Eisfeld plant is state-of-the-art. Innovations include the one-man dry end concept, a highly efficient high-bay warehouse with 11,000 storage locations and three automated storage and retrieval machines.
In addition, there is an IT-controlled flow of finished goods using electric forklift trucks. In the final expansion stage, production will be highest degree of automation of the industry.
„In our Industry 4.0-optimised plants, we rely on production lines that largely run themselves in automatic mode and independently report deviations in production to the operator using smartwatch-like wearables.“
Philipp Kosloh, Chief Operation Officer of Progroup AG
Source: Progroup AG
