MHI-MS launches world-first AI warp-control device for corrugated board

The device addresses a specific production problem: corrugated sheets are made by gluing two liner sheets and a wave-shaped medium sheet and drying them at high temperature, and differences in moisture between the front and back liners cause the sheet to warp. Because standard machine settings do not work across many paper types, skilled operators have adjusted machines by experience and intuition. MHI-MS says that know-how is getting harder to pass on as veteran operators retire and labor shortages bite, while domestic demand shifts toward high-mix, low-volume box production that conventional warp-control devices struggle to keep up with — including warping that changes over time.

The new unit pairs MHI-MS's warp-control technology with AI from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' research institute. It continuously and automatically accumulates data on liner moisture, temperature and warp amount per paper type and learns the right machine settings, so the AI can predict settings that produce no warping. MHI-MS says this makes it possible to produce warp-free product from the first lot of a run.

The sales push rests on a long installed base: MHI-MS delivered its first corrugated machine in 1956 and has since supplied more than 300 units in Japan and overseas. The company says it will keep drawing on technology built across the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries group to meet market needs at home and abroad.