According to François Lecomte, Délipapier Paper mill director: "This significant upgrade will enhance productivity, allowing Délipapier to bring better quality to its customers, especially for the flagship brands of Sopalin and Le Trèfle in France along with Lotus and Moltonel in Benelux.'' Moreover, the improved process control will strengthen Sofidel's commitment to protect the environment. Sofidel is the only Italian company and the first worldwide in the tissue sector (paper for hygienic and domestic use) to sign up to WWF's Climate Savers programme.

Délipapier started its operations in 1999 with a full automaton solution from Metso, which has remained in operation to the present day. The upgrade will be implemented using innovative virtualization technology, which aims at delivering more flexible datacenters to reduce costs thanks to server consolidation. This solution will significantly reduce the number of computers normally required for an upgrade and thus decrease both the purchase cost of computers and cabinets, and the operating expenses of such devices, together with the space needed to install them.

Virtualization allows Metso to deliver efficient remote support and maintenance of the control system over its entire lifecycle. Patch deployment, server maintenance, software compatibility and further upgrades can all be executed more efficiently.

The project is scheduled to be completed in October 2013. The value of the order will not be disclosed.