Voith Paper Signs Soma Instrument to Supply Valves


Heidenheim, Germany, 15 November 2007 -- Voith Paper Automation GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, and Somas Instrument AB, Sweden, a manufacturer of high-performance valves for the process industry, concluded a frame agreement for the paper industry at the beginning of October. Thus, Voith Paper Automation is now also supplementing its product portfolio with products in the area of field instrumentation.

Somas will manufacture the selection of products established in the contract according to Voith’s design. Antti Kaunonen, senior vice president of Voith Paper Automation, commented on the selection of the new partner as follows: “With the valves that are installed in the Paper Technology Center in Heidenheim, Somas demonstrated that they are the leaders in this area. The partnership completes our product portfolio and ensures that in the future the customers in the paper industry will have one less time-consuming interface.”

Stainless steel control and on-off valves consisting of butterfly valves and segment ball valves are in the future portfolio of Voith Paper Automation.

Through the partnership with Somas, Voith can coordinate all supply components and automatically adjust what valves are included in the delivery when there are changes in the plant at short notice.

Peter Hägg, owner and managing director of Somas, sees additional advantages in the collaboration with Voith: “Thanks to Voith Paper Automation’s deep understanding of the processes involved in paper manufacturing, with Voith as our partner we will in addition advance the further development of our valves with a focus on the paper industry and customer needs.”

Somas Instrument AB is based in Säffle, about 60 km south of Karlstad, Sweden. Several paper machines operate in this area, including Nordic Paper, Billerud Gruvön, and Stora Paperboard Skoghall. The family-owned company has 115 workers and more than 60 years experience in the pulp and paper business. Somas develops, manufactures, and markets high performance valves from high-grade, acid-proof stainless steel to customers all over the world. The valves are used as control and on-off valves within several industry sectors, mainly pulp and paper, chemical, power, biofuel, marine, and shipbuilding industry.

Voith Paper Automation, one of seven Voith Paper divisions, delivers comprehensive automation solutions for the pulp and paper industry. The product portfolio comprises process control, quality control,information systems, and corresponding services.

Voith Paper is a division of Voith and one of the leading partners to the paper industry. Through steady innovations, Voith Paper optimizes the paper production process. More than a third of worldwide paper production is produced on Voith Paper machines.

Voith sets standards in the paper, energy, mobility, and service markets. Founded on 01 January 1867, it has a current workforce of approximately 37,000, sales of EUR 4 billion, and over 270 locations worldwide. It is one of the largest family-owned enterprises in Europe.