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One of Turkey's fastest growing board producers is aiming to meet demand in the future with another major capacity jump
by Jim Kenny
Kartonsan invests in private sector performance
One of the first things that strikes you on entering the Kartonsan folding boxboard mill near Izmit in Turkey is just how different it is from the many state-owned Seka mills that dominate Turkish paper and board production. It is an impression that is not lost on Ismail Tamer Altilar, the general manager at Kartonsan. "I worked for Seka for 14 years and then around 1980 I moved to the private sector. They have some very good people, but the system makes it difficult because there's little opportunity for investment. Also, the politicians are involved. Turkey really has to find something interesting for politicians to do to keep them out of the mills."
Back in the private sector, Kartonsan is doing rather well. As Altilar points out, planning and implementing new investment that will prove best for the mill can be done quickly in the private sector. Most importantly though, such companies are in a position to invest in the first place and that is exactly what they have been doing. "When I started here, the output was 100 tons/day, now it's at 500 tons/day," says Altilar.
> It is growth like this has placed Kartonsan at the top of the pile in terms of market share for its products in Turkey. Not only that, it is managing to compete with major European boxboard producers, both within Turkey and in export markets.
One example Altilar offers is Iran, where Kartonsan held a 12% market share in 1997, although this was down from 28% in 1994. "Iraq also used to be good for us and we had more than a 40% share there," Altilar says.
This example serves to illustrate Kartonsan's global outlook on the world's board markets. The unit certainly does not regard itself as a Turkish mill, other than the fact that it happens to be located in Turkey. Rather, the management see themselves as a 150,000 ton/yr board producer located in one corner of Europe, with Europe and the rest of the world as a potential market for their product.
Global outlook
The Kartonsan mill started up back in 1970 with one machine producing 6,500 tons/yr of white-lined board in a basis weight range of 300-450 g/m. The first machine is a 2.2 m wide unit that has been rebuilt and modified over the years to a current capacity of 46,200 tons/yr.
The mill opted to add a second duplex machine, and in 1986 a Sulzer Escher Wyss unit from Germany started up alongside a new stock preparation line from Andritz. PM 2 has a trim width of 3.6 m and its 160 ton/day capacity at startup has been increased during several rebuilds until it eventually reached 350 tons/day in 1996. The machine produces several grades in a basis weight range of 225-450 g/m. PM 2 incorporates ABB's Accuray quality control system and has a triple coating capability (Table 1)
Table 1- Kartonsan's Product Range
| Product |
Basis Weight Range (g/m) |
Description of board |
|
| Normprint |
300-450 |
Double-coated top layer, top being blade coated with gray back. Made of 100% recycled paper. |
| Exprint |
225-450 |
Double-coated top layer, top being blade coated with gray back. Contains woodpulp in the upper layer.Recommended for detailed printing. Its blend means that it has a high folding capability. |
| Luxtriplex |
225-450 |
Blade-coated triplex board with single-coated white back.Recommended for uses in cosmetics and pharmaceutical packaging applications, as well as greeting cards etc. |
| Source: Kartonsan |
Tambours of some 12 tons are produced on PM 2 and these are cut on a Voith reeler. The reels for sheeting are conveyed to the sheet cutters, before being palletized and shrink-wrapped. The first stage of the finishing operation is carried out on three Jagenberg sheet-cutters, the last of which was installed in 1991 and includes process-controlled sheet stacking as well as dust extraction.
"In 1996, we added the new ABB DCS (distributed control system) on PM 2, which controls everything from the stock preparation to the end of the paper machine," Altilar explains. "On PM 1 we've also added an ABB Smart Profile system. We also modified some parts of the drying system and now we've put in a blade coater from Voith Sulzer."
Indeed, Kartonsan is keeping up a fairly healthy investment program, spending a total of $11 million in 1995 and another $15 million in 1996. But the mill is not looking to just throw money at the equipment and Altilar stresses that these are "strategic investments" designed to keep the mill up-to-date.
The idea is that the company will reduce its workforce through the implementation of new automation systems. "Basically, cost is very important to us. We could make the best quality in the world, but if it's also at the highest price we won't do very well," Altilar points out.
The company has reduced staffing levels from 470 to 335 and in one recent upgrade to the wrapping line, an automated system helped reduce the number of workers required from 28 to just 5.
Last year, the mill invested another $5 million, all part of the group's "marketing strategy" that is designed to allow the group to become highly competitive in Turkey as well as its export markets. As Altilar says, "We're selling our board very well, but we have to look further than today and past the year 2000. We've already taken PM 1 from 100 tons/day to 150 tons/day and PM 2 from 250 tons/day to 350 tons/day, so we're looking at adding PM 3 and we're drawing up plans for a machine of not less than 150,000 tons/yr."
It looks as though Kartonsan's products will be making an even bigger impact around the world in years to come.
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