With the PW13 sheet feeder, Progroup operates a modern plant for the production of sustainable corrugated board formats. The official go-ahead was given at the end of February and since then the plant has been producing at an annual capacity of around 175,000 tonnes.
The newest of Progroup's eleven sheet feeder plants is an important part of the company's growth strategy. According to the company, the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic were successfully overcome in the first year of operation.
„The expansion of our capacities by PW13 was an important step in order to meet the continuing market growth. This enables us to reliably meet customer requirements for delivery reliability and good quality, even in times of coronavirus“. Jürgen Heindl, founder and Chairman of the Board of Progroup
Corona has had a significant impact on the growth of the paper and packaging industry due to changes in consumer behaviour. „People are increasingly withdrawing into their private lives at home. As a result online trade is booming like never before. This is driving the demand for corrugated board enormously“, says Heindl.
Green high-tech and Industry 4.0 for sustainable production
He sees the fact that production was able to continue without any interruptions despite the restrictions in the coronavirus year as a clear team success: „This year has shown how responsibly and flexibly everyone involved knows how to deal with every challenge. Work is carried out in compliance with the strictest hygiene measures.“
The Green High-Tech Strategy of the Progroup stands for less energy and raw material consumption and lower CO2-emissions with increased output. PW13, for example, has an integrated combined heat and power system that supplies the plant with electricity, heat and cooling. It utilises natural gas as a fuel particularly efficiently and thus achieves a high level of efficiency. The advantage: thanks to the decentralised heat and power supply energy is produced directly on site and without heat transport losses. This is efficient and reduces energy consumption.
Progroup is also taking advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalisation and Industry 4.0: a modern high-bay warehouse with 11,000 storage locations and three automated storage and retrieval machines are among the innovations at the plant PW13. there is also an IT-controlled flow of goods using electric forklift trucks. PW13's production is set to have the highest degree of automation in the industry. The company is focussing on production lines that operate largely autonomously in automatic mode.
The PW13 sheet feeder as part of the growth strategy
It is an important part of the „Two Twentyfive“ growth strategy: the aim is to double the size of the company by 2025 compared to 2015. In addition to PW13, this includes the construction of seven additional corrugated cardboard plants and the recruitment of more than 500 new employeesn.
Source: Progroup
