Valmet Enters Joint Venture with Körber to Advance Digital Offering to the Tissue Industry

Valmet and Körber have recently reached a joint venture agreement to further strengthen FactoryPal, a venture of Körber. FactoryPal is a software developed for tissue converting operations that improves shop floor manufacturing performance and productivity.

According to the joint venture agreement, Valmet will become the majority shareholder of FactoryPal, and FactoryPal will continue operating as its own legal entity under the existing FactoryPal brand. The addition of FactoryPal will further strengthen Valmet’s offering of advanced Industrial Internet solutions and digital services to support customers in the tissue industry. The joint venture follows Valmet’s acquisition of Körber’s Business Area Tissue that was completed in November 2023.

FactoryPal software empowers tissue mill teams to achieve seamless operations by generating and utilising high quality data combined with state-of-the-art user experience and advanced artificial intelligence (AI). FactoryPal acts as a trusted co-pilot on the shop floor.

Valmet has a unique end to end offering for tissue producers, from stock-preparation and tissue machines to rewinders, converting and packaging lines, as well as services and automation systems. We see FactoryPal as an excellent addition that will provide performance optimisation, not only for converting operations, but eventually also for the entire tissue making process.

Petri Rasinmäki, Business Line President, Paper, Valmet

“By setting up this powerful partnership, FactoryPal will be able to advance its product development with extensive machinery and paper making knowledge. This will empower us to deliver further innovative digital solutions across the entire tissue value chain, evolving the product to one of the leading AI-copilot solutions in the industry,” stated Dr. Nadja Hatzijordanou, CEO of FactoryPal.

Currently, there are 55 employees working for FactoryPal in Germany, Portugal, Italy, the USA and Brazil. The set up of the joint venture is subject to customary closing conditions. The closing of the agreement is estimated to occur at earliest on 1 August 2024.