YINHE PAPER

Vanma Passive Locks End Corrosion & Key Chaos in Zone 1

yinhe paper mill
paper mill

Industries

Paper Manufacturing

Scale

800 kt paper/yr, 6 production lines, 3,393 employees

Certifications

ISO 9001/14001/18001, FSC-COC, 122 patents

Vision

Globally competitive green pulp & paper enterprise

Vanma passive lock

Vanma Lock for More Industries

Vanma Lock systems enhance security and streamline operations in the Manufacturing industry and are also applicable across various sectors including telecommunications, power, banking, and logistics.

Learn More

Challenge

Brass padlocks on 45 pulper, refiner and rewinder isolators corroded rapidly in the humid, chemical-laden atmosphere, while one master key opened every lock—zero LOTO accountability and frequent seized cylinders during emergency stops.

Solution

Vanma installed 45 WM-2000C-L50 EX-proof passive padlocks + 4 Bluetooth keys managed by S7.0 software.

  • No internal battery—safe for Zone 1 alcohol-vapour areas.
  • Role-based calendar: a key opens only the isolator assigned for that shift.
  • Real-time log uploads automatically when key is docked; AES-256 encrypted.

Outcome

The mill has eliminated corrosion-related lock seizures and compressed monthly LOTO audit preparation from 8 hours to 2 hours, replacing paper logs with immutable, court-ready digital records.

100%

70%

elimination of corroded-lock failures

reduction in monthly LOTO audit man-hours

Details

Paper machines run 24/7 at 1,200 m/min; an unauthorised start-up after maintenance can cause amputation or explosion in EX Zone 1. Traditional brass locks seized, corroded or were opened by any master key, leaving no trace. Yinhe adopted Vanma to digitise, EX-proof and simplify lock-out tag-out across 45 critical isolators.
LOTO in a paper mill
1. Corrosion & Seizure
  • Problem: Brass locks rusted solid every 3 months, delaying emergency stops.
  • Vanma Fix: 316L stainless + silicone O-ring body passes 1,000 h salt-spray; zero battery eliminates electrolytic corrosion.
  • Result: Zero seizure events since installation.
2. One-Key-Fits-All
  • Problem: A single master key opened all 45 isolators; LOTO accountability non-existent.
  • Vanma Fix: Keys carry isolator-specific, shift-only rights; master-key concept abolished.
  • Result: 100 % LOTO compliance achieved.
3. Paper Log Gaps
  • Problem: Paper tags were illegible 25 % of the time, slowing audits.
  • Vanma Fix: Every open/close uploads with user ID, time, isolator number; immutable digital trail.
  • Result: Monthly LOTO audit cut from 8 h to 2 h.
4. Emergency Bottleneck
  • Problem: Finding the right corroded key during 3 a.m. breakdown wasted 20 min.
  • Vanma Fix: Emergency permission pushed to any key in 30 seconds; LED confirms valid right.
  • Result: Mean-time-to-isolate reduced by 50 %.
Vanma ended our corrosion nightmare and gave us bullet-proof LOTO evidence. Emergency isolations that used to take 20 minutes of key-hunting are now under 30 seconds. Their 24-hour support is first-class.
Zhang Lei
Safety & Environment Manager

Explore More Applications

1234Next

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top

Customize Your Security Solution

Upgrade locking system

Secure your assets and boost productivity with Vanma Locks. Speak to our sales team for a customized lock system solution.

Try it today！