MES software for the Wood, Paper and Cardboard industry

The paper industry, which includes companies working in the manufacture of paper from wood or other fibers for its transformation into paper pulp, must adapt to new challenges linked to the protection of the environment but also to the development of digitalization: the industriel process used requires a large consumption of energy, water, but also a lot of chemicals.
Optimization of manufacturing processes, increase in flexibility and productivity, while respecting the environment: these are three of the major challenges of the sector.

The COOX™ MES solution was designed to meet these requirements.

Globally, 42% of wood is used to make paper and 17% of the wood used is extracted from virgin forests. These are natural forests that have valuable biological wealth and must be preserved.
In Europe, natural forests have gradually been replaced by secondary forests: trees are planted but with considerable use of fertilizers and pesticides and without any ecological diversity.
Now faced with climate change, the associated risks, the challenges of sustainability and the conservation of diversity, the wood industry must adapt, gain flexibility, develop new products in line with the new needs of consumers, by mobilizing technologies the most recent monitoring and control of production.
The COOX solution provides optimal flexibility and ensures efficient execution of operations. With compliance with the latest developments in the ISA88 and ISA95 standards, it thus guarantees the industrialist flexibility in adapting to processes. The execution of tasks by the operators is facilited, errors avoided, and the traceability of the process is ensured: the manufacturer controls the production process and can meet market expectations.

With the slowdown in the European economy and the implementation of restrictions, European paper and cardboard consumption decreased by 5.3% in 2020 compared to 2019. 
Most factories operated without disruption in 2020, although some operated at reduced speed due to lower demand levels. That same year, the pandemic accelerated the structural decline of graphic products but stimulated the production of packaging qualities as well as sanitary and household paper. The increase in demand, transport issues and changes in regulatory constraints are all constraints that are causing supply difficulties and increases in the price of paper: the latter is reaching record levels.
Therefore, in this context, the objective for the manufacturer is to find a solution to reduce its costs, shorten its manufacturing times, and reduce its consumption of raw materials. In this, tha acquisition of an MES solution becomes essential.

Thanks to the MESbox MTG (Material Tracking & Genealogy) module, the manufacturer improves the management of its flows, its stocks and thus gains in quality, efficiency and productivity. All stages of production are optimized, from production orders to storage or shipping of products.

Industry 4.0, which is gradually being implemented throughout the industry, is also spreading to the wood, paper and cardboard industry. It makes automation, robotics, the Internet of Things, big data or Artificial Intelligence interact and will enable this industry to gain margin points.
We are even talking now about sawmill 4.0: optimizing stocks, wood cutting patterns, the use of machines with predictive maintenance, reducing downtime in the event of a malfunction, identification of each part, of the destination site, the date of manufacture or the gasoline used,...as much information as the manufacturer can collect in real time using MES software.
Several orders can be launched at the same time for several types of products, with for each one their selling price and their order of priority. Millions of combinations are possible.

Thanks to the COOX's MESbox PMT (Production Management & Traceability) module, production orders allow production to be sequenced according to the orders to be delivered. Their detailed planning can be consulted at any time as well as their state of progress in table or graphic form, and the differences between planned and actual dates and durations appear immediately.