Be Fascinated

Kissing COVID-19 goodbye has meant an unshackling for me and getting out and about doing what I like best in this industry—speaking to people face-to-face and looking at what their companies are doing.

In my work with Tissue360° and Paper360° over the last year, I have managed to meet some hugely inspirational people as they go about running their machines, companies, and conglomerates. From enthusiastic papermakers on the paper machine hall floors, to production managers and on to the leaders and CEOs—these people I have met all exude that entreperneurial spirit that turns ordinary companies into extraordinary ones.

The personality trait that stands out most when it comes to the leaders of these successful companies is one of a “relentless pursuit of perfection.” To do this demands being knowledgeable of all facets of the business, from the market to production efficiency, service and maintenance and beyond, but most importantly, it demands being fascinated with every area. This fascination leads to a lot of questions. How can we get less expensive raw material? How can we get more yield? How can we run more efficiently? How can we save energy? And more increasingly: How can we lower our carbon footprint?

Often these questions—once the right amount of fascination has been applied—have simple answers, and a solution can be found. Some of them are indeed very simple and just require a change of tack, but others, of course, are more complex and may even demand investment and expansion. But one thing is for sure, the solutions are there, you just have to be meticulous and imaginative on your journey to finding them.

However, there is no getting away from it, these leaders have had to face tough times in the manufacturing business recently. In this issue you can read about the extraordinary energy volatility and prices which have been going off the scale, particularly in Europe. But it’s not just Europe, we have seen this volatility and unprecedented price rises across the globe, and the challenge of reducing energy consumption in mills is more important than ever now.

THERE IS HELP AT HAND

Fortunately, there is help at hand from the array of ingenious tissue industry suppliers that have made it their passion to offer technology that reduces energy consumption, and even provide ways for tissue producers to create their own energy. This is where TAPPI plays a major role in bringing knowledge to tissue producers by way of providing dedicated platforms presenting the latest solutions.

TAPPICon, to be held in Atlanta April 25-26, has a two-day program specifically for tissue producers focused on the most important issues they currently face as we recover from COVID-19 and then face even more challenges on the energy front. Topics in the 2023 tissue program include the presentation of various tools and techniques to help mills optimize energy consumed in tissue drying, which accounts for some 70 percent of all energy used in tissue machines. There will also be presentations on how cogeneration can benefit tissue mills through various combined heat and power solutions, which can reduce overall mill and energy costs and bring down CO₂ emissions.

Of course, it’s not just energy challenges the industry faces; the program will also include expert presentations on getting the most out of critical areas of the mill, including fibers, chemistry, and service and maintenance. And there is more …. CEO of European and US tissue giant Sofidel, Luigi Lazzareschi, will be appearing on the PIMA Executive Panel on the opening day of the TAPPICon Conference. You can read more about the tissue program in Atlanta in this issue.

It will be fascinating. See you there!

MARK RUSHTON
Editor, Tissue360°