SCA Graphics

During a 10-year period, Ortviken’s paper mill and Östrand’s pulp factory have transitioned from mainframe computers with a multitude of applications to a complete lifecycle solution from IFS. Today, all plant information is located in one place, so employees can react more swiftly and schedule maintenance activities more efficiently.

IFS Maintenance™ has been used at Ortviken since the mid-1990s, and Östrand has used IFS/Plant Design™ since 1998. At the beginning of 2000, it was time to modernise the maintenance software. Because IFS had been in use for several years, it felt natural to let IFS upgrade the system and add additional components. Therefore, IFS Applications 2001 was implemented at both plants to create a single system for maintenance, inventory, purchasing, and engineering.

Many Benefits

The solution is now in place with all plant information in one location that can be accessed via Windows clients and personal portals. About 300–400 people use the software simultaneously.

Even if some work remains to be done, chiefly with respect to better linking internal processes to the system and reducing the number of customisations, users at SCA Graphics already see several clear benefits. Employees can react faster, and they get a rapid feedback from the plant that they can use as the basis for scheduling maintenance. Christer Byström, responsible for the IFS software at Ortviken paper mill and Östrand pulp factory, explains, “It is easier for us to identify fault sources and resolve technical issues such as stoppages, breakdowns and other losses. Now we can follow up the total cost of any specific part of the plant—we can trace the part’s entire history from purchase, registration, and fault reporting to repair. We can also compare revenue losses with maintenance costs.”

OEE Provides Answers

With the systems integrated, it is important to follow up the production process. Ortviken has used IFS software for calculating overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) since 1998 to measure productivity in the plant. The measures are based on data extracted from the production process and show how close the plant is to maximising the use of its capacity. Each percentage increase in OEE can mean hundreds of thousands of dollars in increased revenue.

“The advantages of using the OEE tool are that all sources of waste can now be directly compared and it allows us to work more systematically. If we notice that a certain part of the plant is reporting too many stoppages or breakdowns, or speed or paper losses, we can resolve the issues more quickly.”

Operation and Maintenance

Christer Byström is working to get operational and maintenance personnel to collaborate to analyse and reduce sources of waste. In the past, issues were usually categorised as operational issues, mechanical failures, electrical failures, and instrumentation problems. According to Christer, a shared view is the key to long-term reduction of sources of waste.

“Using the same IT system, language, and tools leads to increased understanding. Now staff can examine issues together. Over the next five years or so, this will help make the changes in work routines that are required.”

Plant Design and Maintenance

To enhance cost efficiency, SCA Graphics is striving to outsource more parts of its engineering. This is where an integrated lifecycle system becomes an important factor for ensuring that the available information is of high quality. Not everything is in place yet, but the plan is that operations, maintenance, and engineering will form a uniform circle.

“Previously, we used different systems for everything and sometimes had to enter data in 5–6 places. Now, all the information is located in one place and is accessible internally. This is a considerable help when work is outsourced. The quality of the data in the system has also improved over time.

Increased Capacity

SCA Graphics increases its production every year, yet headcount has been reduced.  There are several reasons for this. Productivity has increased because the plant has been rebuilt and processes accelerated, whereas the lower headcount is the result of natural wastage and more efficient use of the business software. Put simply, more is being done with fewer employees. The performance of the maintenance software, the backbone of the process industry, has also had a major impact on the increase in productivity.

Internal Challenges

Christer Byström and his colleagues are now considering an upgrade to a newer version of IFS Applications. They are also working to minimise the number of customisations required and eliminate sources of waste.
“We maintain a continuous dialogue about how we can work in a more uniform and efficient manner, and better utilise the information we get from the maintenance system. One positive side effect of implementing the software is the general raising of competence because we are required to understand how the plant is constructed and why processes look the way they do.”

Benefits

• All plant information is easily accessible in the system, providing an excellent overview
• Employees can react faster and get better data on which to base planning
• More can be done with fewer employees as the use of the maintenance system develops
• Sources of waste can easily be identified, compared, and corrected systematically
• Operational and maintenance staff can more easily collaborate, and analyse and reduce sources of waste
• Revenue losses can be compared with maintenance costs
• The total cost of part of a plant can be overviewed  

About SCA

SCA has 46,000 employees in 40 countries. In Sweden, the SCA Forest Products division owns seven sawmills, 2.6 million hectares of forest, a paper mill, and a pulp factory with a production capacity of 400,000 tonnes of paper pulp.
Ortviken's paper mill, with 950 employees, is SCA's biggest paper mill. It is a modern production facility with four paper machines that produce 800,000 tonnes of high-quality coated paper (LWC) and newsprint for the global market. The nearby pulp factory, SCA Östrand supplies fresh spruce pulpwood and chlorine-free sulfate pulp.