KELLY H. FERGUSON is editor of Pulp & Paper Magazine

To err is opportunity

In the writing business, you can expect errors. It's not uncommon to think you've got everything just right (or just write), only to find a misspelling, a dangling participle, or even a factual error. It's both a frustration and a reality.

As we were preparing this issue's cover story, a call came from Bill Boyden, president of Plainwell Inc.'s Specialty Paper Div., bringing to our attention that an error of omission had occurred in our February issue. In reporting in our News Scan section on a number of mills that were shut down in December during the energy price spike that occurred, we mentioned that Plainwell's Shasta mill in Anderson, Calif., stopped operations on Dec. 4. The story went on to indicate that "the mill had retained only 16 of its nearly 460 workers...."

Boyden told me that the mill had indeed shut down on Dec. 4, but the story failed to mention that the mill restarted and was fully operational by December 18. The reason behind this error was the timing of deadlines surrounding putting that issue together, but as Boyden pointed out, it left the impression that the mill was shuttered indefinitely. As with any error brought to our attention, I promised a correction that appeared in March.

INSTANT KARMA. But the conversation with Boyden didn't end there. Since I was preparing for the article on energy savings that begins on p. 49, I asked what the mill did to restart even when prices remained at escalated levels during December and into January. I expected a comment from him about having to bite the bullet on those costs, but what he began to tell me was a testament to the ability of motivated people to solve a problem.

The article in this issue is somewhat of a first-person account of the decision-making to shut the mill down in the face of enormous increases in operating costs, how the mill quickly shifted away from its dependence on natural gas, and how processes were modified and fixed to reduce wasted energy.

Brent Hawkins, Shasta's mill manager, is obviously proud of the company's ability to focus the organization in solving the problem. Recognition of the problem was one of the first big barriers. As Hawkins put it, some people within the organization didn't really understand the seriousness of the issue until their own utility bills landed in their mailbox. The Y2K "energy crisis" suddenly hit home. With a laundry list of projects under its belt and still more, longer-term projects to go, Hawkins says the mill has an energy advantage over its competitors, "because we're operating the mill quite a bit cheaper after this adversity than we did before."

THE RATIONALE OF BUSINESS. Ingenuity is the fruit of adversity. There are many pulp and paper facilities-energy systems, maintenance programs, human resources, production operations-that are inefficient in various ways. Most mills, like Shasta, realize that a benefit can be gained by making changes, fixing problems, etc., but due to limited resources are obligated to apply a cost-to-benefit yardstick against just about every inefficiency.

A neighbor of mine said that his reaction to his December 2000 utility bill was that two weeks later his home was caulked tighter than a drum. At Plainwell's Shasta mill, an expected cost of approximately $3 million dollars more in operating costs for one month was the critical starting point for projects that previously wouldn't have provided a payback for a much longer period of time. Now there are no steam plumes visible from the steam or condensate system anywhere in the mill.

When we make errors in the magazine, we typically review how and why they happened, trying to ensure that they aren't repeated. Very seldom do people call us about some of the more inane problems found in publishing (page numbers incorrect, words misspelled, headlines too short for a page). But like mills that look for opportunities in the face of adversity, we're lucky to be able to turn one of our own errors into an opportunity to share a story that might help others solve their own adversities.

Our hats are off to Plainwell for doing the best job possible in the midst of a difficult situation.