ABB has been awarded a software and service contract by Asia Symbol Group in China to provide the ABB Ability™ Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for a new production line, with delivery and commissioning ongoing throughout 2022.

The expansion will help Asia Symbol to optimize its overall production process across all lines at its Guangdong mill, providing better oversight for planning, scheduling and continuously improving efficiency and reducing waste. A rich application experience will give operators greater real-time visibility across the entire manufacturing process, creating a visual factory to ensure the delivery of products of the right quality at the right time.

Specifically designed to enable pulp and paper producers achieve operational excellence and maximum performance, ABB's MES helps optimize storage, energy and raw material usage, in turn improving product output and quality.

"ABB has been our trusted MES partner due to high competency and clear focus on the entire pulp and paper operation, from mill floor to enterprise level planning. We have benefited from their approach to convert digital data into world-class business results and are looking forward to the expanded use of ABB's MES over our entire mill," said Mr. Liang LiFu, IT Manager at Asia Symbol's Guangdong production base.

"Our operations team is commissioning the MES implementation while the other two production lines are still running," said Shankar Singh, Digital Product Line Manager, Pulp and Paper, ABB. "We are pleased to be supporting Asia Symbol in reaching their operational goals through our MES which will provide transparency across the value chain and optimize material flow within their paper mill."

This latest contract affirms the strong, long-standing relationship between ABB and Asia Symbol, a world leading producer of pulp and paper under the RGE Group. In recent years this has seen the provision of paper machine drives and QCS products, and the successful extension of ABB's MES service to Asia Symbol's three production lines at the Guangdong production base.

Last year, ABB secured another MES upgrade project from APRIL Group for its Kerinci mill in Indonesia, which is also part of RGE Group. The order covers three paper machine lines with 1.5 million tons of annual production and was delivered in Q1 2022.