DS Smith chooses vendor for mill in Italy

Global industrial process machinery maker ABB has been selected to supply drives and motors to the Lucca Paper Mill in Italy, a facility owned by DS Smith that is slated to soon become a part of Memphis, Tennessee-based International Paper.

ABB equipment will be going into a new line at the Lucca site that was announced by DS Smith in 2022. ABB calls the investment “significant for Italy’s paper production industry as it will almost double production capacity on-site and support lightweighting of packaging solutions.”

“This project will help to significantly increase production capacity and improve energy efficiency at our plant in Porcari,” says Massimo Basta, general manager at DS Smith’s Lucca Paper Mill. “Construction of the paper machine No. 3 (PM3) is well underway, and we look forward to its successful integration, which will make a significant difference to paper production in Italy, providing the high-performing paper needed to meet the growing demand for sustainable packaging worldwide”

ABB will supply a new sectional drive system for the new containerboard PM3 line. The mill, according to ABB, is “known across Italy for its recovered fiber and white liner products." Once operational, PM3 will have an estimated annual capacity of 450,000 metric tons.

ABB's scope of work also includes M3BP and AXR asynchronous squirrel cage induction motors with special winding for specific applications, as well as control via ABB ACS880 inverters, which are proven to achieve high performance and efficiency.

The PM3 machine will be 8.6 meters (28.2 feet) wide and will produce recycled liner grades at a production speed of 1,500 meters per minute (4,920 feet per minute) and a mechanical design speed of 1,700 meters per minute (5,575 feet per minute).

“It is a moment of pride for the ABB team to partner with DS Smith on this major project—the most important in Lucca and a reference point for the national paper industry in Italy,” says Jan-Willem Bos, ABB sales manager for the paper sector in Europe.