Kruger Products invests $25M in Sherbrooke Plant
The investment will be for the implementation of cutting-edge AI capabilities
Canada’s leading tissue manufacturer, Kruger Products L.P., [on June 21st] announced a $25M investment at its new Sherbrooke Tissue Plant to implement a digital twin of its supply chain, using real-time data augmented with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to boost operational efficiency and agility.
Commissioned successfully in February of this year, the Sherbrooke Plant is a state-of-the-art facility equipped with Canada’s largest and most advanced through-air-dry (TAD) tissue machine which is supported by AI-ready systems and infrastructure. The $25M investment announced today will enable Kruger Products to leverage AI to optimize its entire supply chain, from the procurement of raw materials all the way to customer delivery.
This cutting-edge project will pave the way for a future roll out across Kruger Products’ entire manufacturing infrastructure. Through Scale AI, the Canadian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Industry is making a direct contribution of $5.6M and the Québec Ministry of Economy and Innovation is investing $1.1M in the project, for a total contribution of $6.7M. The project involves partners such as Osedea, Dataperformers and BCG, and the participation of researchers from Polytechnique Montréal and Laval University.
“After investing $575M to build the most advanced tissue plant in Canada, Kruger Products is proud to push innovation even further with this $25M groundbreaking AI project, bringing total investments to $600M for this state-of-the-art plant. Using AI to boost efficiency will also improve our overall performance in terms of sustainability and help us serve our customers and consumers even more efficiently,” said Dino Bianco, CEO of Kruger Products L.P. “Thanks to the vision of our partners and to the support we received from the Canadian and Québec governments, our Sherbrooke Tissue Plant will encourage more innovative practices in our industry.”
OPTIMIZING THE SUPPLY CHAIN WITH AI
The digital twin project consists in developing a virtual model of the plant’s entire supply chain and using real-time data augmented with predictive and prescriptive AI capabilities to improve the Plant’s overall performance.
The use of AI will result in improvements across the supply chain, from raw material procurement to production planning, equipment maintenance, logistics and risk management.
Other benefits include a better environmental footprint thanks to lower GHG emissions, increased energy efficiency and reduced waste. Leveraging AI will also benefit suppliers, partners and customers by increasing product quality, availability and competitiveness in the market.
PIONEERING THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE PULP & PAPER INDUSTRY
With innovation at the core of their business model and corporate values, Kruger Products and its parent company, Kruger Inc., have been at the forefront of the transformation of the pulp and paper industry in Canada. Implementing groundbreaking AI capabilities is yet another way for Kruger to lead innovation by contributing to the development of skills, knowledge and expertise in the field, which will benefit the entire industry by promoting its digital transformation.
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