Emsight service supports the success of traditional industries

Empower will produce the Emsight analytics service at Stora Enso’s Anjala paper mill during autumn 2017. The service uses big data collected at the mill by creating data integration between the mill and analytics. The aim of the Emsight service is to prevent any faults in production, and therefore to improve the efficiency of process operators and the mill. Empower will build the Stora Enso service in cooperation with Quva Oy.

The data-driven method of developing production processes is a new way to analyse collected data. An analysis carried out without any preconceptions helps to find the root causes of any production challenges, and as a result to be proactive instead of reactive.

At the Anjala paper mill, sensors daily collect data from thousands of measuring points. “Until now, we have collected volumes of data and considered how we could best use it. In a way, with this project we are testing an operating model, as every mill always has its own special needs that can be fulfilled using proactive analytics. For this reason, the benefits of this project cannot be directly transferred to other locations, as they are always mill-specific,” says Kaisa Suutari, project manager in charge of new technologies at Anjala paper mill.

The Emsight analytics service that has been taken into use at the Stora Enso mill is designed to analyse any faults in production processes and phases, and to improve efficiency. Because data is analysed by combining process and machine expertise with findings based on mathematical algorithms, this process requires collaboration between several experts. “Empower has knowledge of the production processes of the Anjala paper mill and acts as an interpreter towards analytics,” says Matti Karhu, development director at Empower.

Maximum benefit can be achieved when automated data analytics are combined with process expertise and local knowledge. “Cooperation between Quva and Empower produces the best added value. As an expertise in automated data analytics, Quva is in charge of industrial big data analytics, and Empower, with its process expertise and local knowledge, is in charge of maintenance and the Anjala paper mill environment,” says Quva managing director Emil Ackerman.