THE ALLIMAND GROUP WINS THE PRESTIGIOUS ORDER OF A MACHINE FOR THE FUTURE EURO BANKNOTES….
THE ALLIMAND GROUP WINS THE PRESTIGIOUS ORDER OF A SPECIAL PAPER MACHINE, INTENDED TO MANUFACTURE THE PAPER SUPPORT FOR THE FUTURE EURO BANKNOTES….
The ALLIMAND Group, designer and manufacturer of paper & nonwovens machines, renowned for its continuous innovation strategy, won the order for the new paper machine for the production of the security paper required for the printing of Euro banknotes. This machine, which is currently being installed at the EUROPAFI mill in Vic-le-Comte (Puy-de-Dôme), a European public fiduciary center, will go into production at the end of 2017.
Banknote paper production: a very high added value machine for a well-known institution
A banknote, by definition, needs to be particularly resistant to aging, manipulations and tearing or counterfeiting. The euro is known to be the most secure banknote in the world, with 10 apparent security features, including holograms, magnetized inks and secret signs, plus a complex encryption of banknotes and a watermark. Made exclusively of highly refined cotton pulp, the future banknote must fulfill all security and inalterability conditions.
“Paper money is a strong symbol of the power of a country and can offer extreme levels of sophistication. We, the ALLIMAND Group, are very proud in to have won the contract for a machine for such a prestigious institution. In France we are usually more present on machine rebuilds”, explains Franck RETTMEYER, CEO of the Group.
Continuous adaptability and reactivity
The mechanical assembly (piping and wiring) of the future paper machine, with a width of 2.55 meters and a length of about 100 meters, is almost complete. The ALLIMAND group has demonstrated its ability to manage a turnkey contract.
“For this machine, we have not only had to supply all of the machine auxiliary equipment but also the DCS – Distributed Control System, for which ALLIMAND carried out the programming and the electrical power supply part” explained the two Project Engineers, Christine PIEGAY and Christophe TRIOULEYRE. In addition, adaptations had to be made during the project in order to allow the installation of security control devices linked to security paper-making and in particular to the Euro.
Since January, the phases of parts delivery and machine assembly succeed each other in order to ensure minimum storage on site and optimized machine assembly time. A complete testing phase of the machine will take place in June and manufacturing will start over the summer.
An overall investment of more than 75 million euros
The total investment of the Vic-le-Comte (63) paper mill, in various equipment, covers 75 million euros. The aim of EUROPAFI, the ALLIMAND Group’s customer, is to double the production capacity and to manufacture around 50% of the paper needed for the annual issue of Euro banknotes in Vic-le-Comte. In the long term, the site must supply several printers in the Eurozone.