Heidenheim, Germany, 24 April 2006 -- Holmen Paper Madrid and Voith Paper Automation have signed a service agreement for the automation system for PM 62, which was put into operation in November 2005. The service comprises the remote diagnostics and preventive maintenance modules, which ensure fast service support and a high system availability.

Voith Paper Automation will undertake preventive maintenance tasks relating to quality, instrumentation, and control systems for the new paper machine.

Remote diagnostics offers Holmen Paper a day and night support by Voith Paper Automation specialists, who can assist with optimization tasks and trouble shooting via remote access. Voith Paper Automation uses the latest technologies to access the automation system remotely. This ensures the fastest help whenever problems occur.

Holmen Paper, a company of the Holmen Group, belongs to the leading European suppliers of wood-containing printing paper. With the new PM 62, the Holmen Paper Madrid mill has a total capacity of 470,000 tons/year of 100% recycled paper. The PM 62 will produce machine finish newsprint in high volumes, primarily for daily newspapers.

Voith Paper is a division of the Voith Group and one of the leading partners to the paper industry. More than one third of the world's paper production is manufactured on Voith Paper machines.

Voith is engaged in paper technology, power transmission engineering, power generation, and industrial services. The company has a current workforce of about 30,000, sales of EUR 3.3 billion, and over 200 locations worldwide. It is one of the largest family-owned enterprises in Europe.