Global Company | Pulp & Paper
AME technologies installed in more than 20 plants across Italy, Europe and Latin America
As part of its long-term collaboration with AME, several Smurfit Westrock plants have adopted AMESPHERE solutions to strengthen internal material handling safety and better manage interactions between forklifts, pedestrians and industrial vehicles.
The main needs concerned high-traffic logistics areas, where the handling of bulky paper reels limits driver visibility and, together with the high number of vehicles in operation, increases the risk of interference and collisions. In some plants, particular attention was also dedicated to loading bays, to ensure the safety of external drivers during loading and unloading operations.
Over time, in addition to collision prevention, the need emerged to monitor operational dynamics through data, identify opportunities for improvement and support safety and efficiency decisions based on objective evidence.
Smurfit Westrock adopted the TAG-based AMESPHERE ALPHA solution, equipping its vehicles with onboard tablets and sensors and its operators with AMESPHERE TAGs. The system enables the precise, real-time detection of people and vehicles, even in low-visibility conditions, immediately alerting drivers to the presence of operators and reducing vehicle speed when necessary.
In some plants, a dedicated solution was implemented to ensure the safety of external drivers during loading operations. Upon entering the plant, the driver receives an active TAG and, while waiting for loading, stays in the dedicated SAFE AREA, where the TAG is automatically inhibited to prevent false alerts and unnecessary slowdowns. If the driver leaves the safe area, the TAG is reactivated and the forklift automatically reduces its speed until the driver returns to the protected area.
Over the course of the collaboration, several Smurfit Westrock plants have expanded their use of AMESPHERE with Safety, Efficiency and Fleet Management services, which collect and organize data from daily operations within a single platform. This provides teams with a more comprehensive view of operational dynamics, helping them identify critical areas and improvement opportunities and supporting more effective decisions on safety, material handling and fleet management.
The long-term collaboration with AME has enabled Smurfit Westrock to progressively evolve its approach to internal material handling, integrating people protection, operational monitoring and fleet management within a single technological ecosystem.
The adoption of AMESPHERE solutions across different plants has helped strengthen safety in high-traffic areas, extend protection to external drivers and turn field data into a valuable decision-support tool for HSE and Operations teams.
Greater control over interactions between people and vehicles
Safer management of loading and unloading activities
Integrated monitoring of safety, material handling and fleet performance
More informed decisions based on safety and efficiency data
