Voith, a pioneer in autonomous paper mills, has strengthened its position in recent years, paving the way for a digitalized and interconnected future of paper production. With the launch of its MillOne ecosystem, the market-leading full-line supplier takes a significant step toward fully autonomous paper mills. This innovative platform integrates all key systems, optimizes processes in real time, and intelligently connects every stage of production. By introducing MillOne, Voith lays the foundation for more efficient, sustainable, and cost-effective paper manufacturing, bringing its forward-thinking vision of the autonomous paper mill closer to reality. MillOne is built on Voith’s flagship study, Papermaking Vision, and incorporates its latest UX/UI advancements.
The know-how that we contributed is enormous and is based on years and years of development and research. A major challenge was to transfer all the complex systems and data into a clear and easy-to-use platform. To achieve this goal, we talked to many customers, said Ulf Grohmann, Director Product Management Automation at Voith Paper.
Another unique feature of the MillOne ecosystem is its modular structure. Implementation can be started independently of the level of automation and the digital solutions already in place. In addition, MillOne can be commissioned immediately.
The experts at Voith Paper have already successfully implemented MillOne for the first customers. One client sums it up: “This is a real game changer. MillOne will permanently alter the way we run our production.” Another customer says: “We’re really happy with MillOne. I’ve never seen an application that’s so integrated and consistent. The tool combines everything you need: the collection and storage of all operating data, the use of various tools, and the optimal settings.”
All applications in one place
The lack of skilled workers, higher demands on sustainability, and rising production costs: for years, the paper industry has been facing growing challenges. MillOne takes all areas into account and enables holistic, data-driven automation. This makes the solution unique on the market. All digital applications and production data are bundled in one place.
The new environment offers great advantages for operators and allows an entirely new, constructive way of working with data. All information necessary to navigate and organize production is available in real time on a dashboard and can be discussed immediately or used to initiate interventions if needed. This way, a single team of operators can control several machines. At the same time, the system keeps track of everything and draws its own conclusions intelligently. Thanks to these close links between all applications, potential sources for error can be identified early in pre-analyses and eliminated.
MillOne is much more than just an ordinary platform – it displays the entire digital environment of a paper mill and with that the entire schedule, from start to finish of a shift, said Ulf Grohmann, Director Product Management Automation at Voith Paper.
Data-driven operations
MillOne offers unprecedented integration and consistency in terms of data usage and utilization. All relevant operational data is aggregated collectively and evaluated. This helps avoid unplanned downtime and optimizes resource consumption. Thanks to continuous synchronization, data maintenance only needs to be carried out once, meaning that all digital applications can access up-to-date data at any time. This makes data utilization more efficient, significantly more transparent, and more user-friendly.
Higher efficiency and productivity
By intelligently leveraging AI, MillOne significantly enhances efficiency and productivity in paper production. Its remote access capabilities and advanced data analysis enable unmanned shifts, easing the workload on employees. Additionally, MillOne facilitates data-driven processes and multimodal interaction models, incorporating technologies like augmented reality (AR) to support collaboration, knowledge transfer, and training. As a result, MillOne serves as a catalyst for the future of automated production, fostering seamless cooperation between humans and machines.
