Smurfit Kappa has saved
almost £70,000 by using ABB
motion control products in a
refurbishment project on a
cardboard sheet stacking
machine at a site in Mold.

The stacker consists of two
hydraulic lift tables, each fed
via five conveyor sections.

The speed of each conveyor
section was controlled by its
own 7.5 kW servo drive to
match the loading cycle of
the lift tables. When this
failed and the stacker OEM
said the drive was now
obsolete, ABB was contacted.

Of two options suggested,
Smurfit Kappa opted for an
ABB motion control drive,
ACSM1, and reuse of the
servo motor gearboxes. This
option was less expensive
th an one proposed by the
stacker OEM, with the cost
for one servo drive, complete
with a filter, choke and
resolver interface card
representing a 70% saving on
the alternative solution.

Smurfit Kappa carried out
an energ y consumption
comparison between the
modified lower stacker and
the original upper stacker.

The 8h monitoring, with an
energ y profile logger, showed
that over a year the modified
lower stacker would save
£1000+ in energy costs which
equates to 7.9t of CO2 saved
p er year.