PIMA's North American Papermaker articles from March 1999

PIMA's North American Papermaker archives from March 1999

Profits count.(paper industry)
March 1, 1999... Traditionally, profitability has not been a big issue for mill management. It's been a topic best left for the "suits" at corporate; mill management's job was to produce more tons and keep the staff on track. Some say that attitude must...

PCA is returning as stand-alone company.(NEWS)(Packaging Corp. of America)
March 1, 1999... The name Packaging Corp. of America, which Tenneco last used in 1995 for its containerboard business, is about to return as stand-alone company. Tenneco has agreed to sell its full containerboard business to Madison Dearborn Partners (MDP),...

Heartland Fibers moves toward construction start this summer on corn biomass pulp mill.(Heartland Fibers LLC)
March 1, 1999... Heartland Fibers LLC, the developer of a corn biomass pulp mill planned for central Nebraska, expects soon to announce a construction schedule for the $300 million project, called Heartland Fibers #1. According to Dr. W. Fred "Duke"...

We work in a pulp and people industry.(Column)
March 1, 1999... In my last column, I wrote about the loss of a business acquaintance and how it helped me realize the importance of friendships that we make in our professional lives. After submitting the column, I hunkered down to await the howls of...

NSRs: making matters worse.(EPA's new source review rules)
March 1, 1999... In the January "Environmental Law" (p. 40) I described how small changes to a paper mill can trigger a new source review (NSR) and how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to revise its NSR rules. This column will show briefly how...

Wall Street & the paper industry.(Cover Story)
March 1, 1999... When Forbes magazine unveiled a "Platinum List" of high-performance U.S. companies in its January 11, 1999 issue, it had trouble finding forest products companies that could make the cut. Forbes' criteria included sales growth, net income...

ERP & MES: information revolution sparks an IS evolution.(enterprise resource planning; manufacturing execution systems;information systems)
March 1, 1999... Editor's Note: This is part one of a two-part feature on ERP and MES in the paper industry. Part Two will appear in the April issue. The information revolution has kicked into way-high gear. The volumes of information and packets of data...

Wastepaper supply expands with growing demand.
March 1, 1999... Wastepaper, recovered paper, recovered fiber, secondary fiber-call it what you like, they're all names for the same thing - is the start of the papermaking process for many mills all over the world. As such, studying the latest data can help...

Whose maintenance system is this, anyway?(equipment and facility maintenance of paper companies)
March 1, 1999... If your mill is considering replacing its process or asset management software, don't leave maintenance out of the loop. Maintenance managers are taking a bigger role in selecting and implementing new systems - with powerful results. ...

Deublin bars, siphons, and joints help solve Madison Paper Industries' maintenance and drying problems.
March 1, 1999... Madison Paper Industries, Madison, Maine, wanted to improve its drying efficiency. Its goals were to eliminate the cold front dryer edge, improve poor sheet moisture profile on the reel, and increase machine-limited drying capacity. It also...

Water Specialties' flow meters help Riverwood measure success.(Riverwood International paper mill)
March 1, 1999... Riverwood International's paper mill in West Monroe, La., which produces between 2,500 and 2,800 tons of paperboard per day, uses thousands of gallons of water per day from the Ouachita River, public utilities, and its own deep well. Before...

Wisconsin still tops list of papermaking states.
March 1, 1999... Wisconsin papermakers have a record that would make any of the state's sporting teams proud: 43 consecutive championships, as of 1996. Since the 1950s, Wisconsin has led the nation in paper produced. The state's papermakers produced more than...

Stronger Hercules looks to the future.(Hercules Chemical Specialties Co.)
March 1, 1999... The mythical Hercules was a man of "prodigious strength" capable of heroic tasks. The modern Hercules, a specialty chemicals supplier based in Wilmington, Del., wants to live up to its namesake by building strength in its key markets -...

Total order fulfillment with one "Majiq Elixir".(Majiq Systems and Software's Elixir system)
March 1, 1999... Fulfilling the order - from order entry through invoicing - is a process at the core of a mill's business. Yet, for many companies, order fulfillment is not a process at all, but a series of small, disconnected steps carried out by different...

Closing the ERP results gap.(enterprise resource planning)
March 1, 1999... Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a relatively new concept for the paper industry. Only five years ago, few paper companies even discussed ERP solutions. Today, nearly every papermaker is considering ERP as a method of replacing...

Speed is a competitive advantage in our industry.(paper industry)
March 1, 1999... I recently attended a conference of association executives at which the major topic of conversation was "speed." Although speed per se wasn't the theme of the conference, throughout most of the sessions and in many of the attendee...