The headquarters of Papierfabrik Palm GmbH has been located in Aalen near Stuttgart since 1872. With a total of 2 recycling companies, 5 paper mills, 29 corrugated cardboard plants as well as approx. 4000 employees, the family-owned company is today one of the most modern paper manufacturers in Europe.
The project: Paper Machine 5
Between 2019 and 2022, a completely new paper mill was built at the tradition-steeped site using the latest technological advances – the Paper Machine 5 (PM 5) project. In several stages, the old paper machines were replaced by a single state-of-the-art facility. The completely redesigned mill includes administration buildings, a wastewater treatment plant, a power plant, the paper machine, a roll store, a machine house, stock preparation, a paper roll store and a waste paper hall. The new plant now produces corrugated board for the production of corrugated cardboard boxes. One sheet of paper with a length of 1,800 m and a width of 13 m rolls off the belt every minute – around the clock. The daily production is about 200 t of paper.
The order: the whole range of technical building equipment
For the technical building equipment of the new factory, including all new buildings and facilities, PohlCon GmbH and its partner companies, ROWA-Moser Handels-GmbH and MEFA Befestigungs- und Montagesysteme GmbH, supplied almost all products from the cable management and underfloor range. Approx. 34.8 miles of cable trays, 3.1 miles of vertical ladders, 2.5 miles of profile rails, more than 11,000 brackets, 18 miles of profile holders and almost 10,000 head plates as well as the corresponding separating strips, formed components (almost 1,200 pcs.), floor and underfloor ducts were installed. Over 50 fitters from seven different subcontractors were deployed during peak periods from December 2019 to May 2022.
Planning and consulting
PohlCon's range of services includes not only the delivery of the products, but also planning and consulting in advance and on site: the project manager and the two site managers have taken over not only site management, customer consulting and coordination, but also other tasks such as material orders, supplementary management, preparation of all billing documents, supervision of subcontractors, right up to inventory management. They also supported and advised various planning offices in 3D modelling.
Challenges and special solutions
Whether it was the installation of cable trays in areas that were difficult to access and at great heights or the installation of 20-metre-high vertical ladders – PohlCon GmbH and its partners took on and mastered all challenges. Special solutions were implemented in consultation with the client and planning offices. In particularly stressed areas, aluminium tracks from the supplier ROWA-Moser were used. Heavy profiles from MEFA were used to construct special solutions with high load-bearing capacities, large support distances or for the self-supporting fastening of PohlCon cable support systems.
Last but not least, three corona phases fell within the construction period. As a result, health and safety requirements changed again and again, including daily coronation tests as specified by the client.
In the video, project manager Dirk Füßl gives an insight into the plant. We would like to thank Papierfabrik Palm GmbH & Co. KG for their trust and cooperation. We are pleased to have been part of this extraordinary construction project.