The industry looks back on 40 years and on into the future

Rather than attempt to write a major historical treatise on the last 40 years of papermaking, the following pages attempt to provide a snapshot of what the industry itself sees as the major changes to have taken place over the past few decades.

To achieve this, we asked a number of well known, and some perhaps less famous, figures in the sector to contribute their thoughts on the subject. We also tried to offer as little guidance as possible as a means of avoiding any inclination to direct what the answers could or should be. In addition, we tried to get a reasonable cross-section of responses, although it has to be said that many of the commentators included here have been good friends of PPI over the years so there is probably a small degree of bias involved.

Some of the replies are short and concise, others longer, while a few are quite comprehensive indeed. But each is interesting in its own right and illustrates some pertinent aspect of the development of the business segment we work in.

Overall, the review provides a lucky dip of insights into what the last 40 years have meant to pulp and papermakers and it also highlights some of the hopes and fears that people have for the future.

Jefferson Smurfit

The relatively recent phenomenon of 'lightweighting' has also led to dramatic changes in the makeup of our product range. I could go on and on. However, if I had to single out one factor that has had the single most revolutionary impact on our industry over the last number of decades, it would be the emergence of the global customer demanding the best for less and sooner. These accounts have compelled us to rethink the way we do business. To become leaner, more efficient, and ultimately, to provide a better value product.

Undoubtedly, the increasing globalization of our customer base has also been a catalyst for the spate of mergers and amalgamations that are currently reshaping our industry. This most welcome process of industry consolidation will, I believe, secure a much brighter future for our businesses for the next two score years and beyond.

Michael WJ Smurfit, Chairman/CEO, Jefferson Smurfit

Lightweighting is just the latest in a long line of changes to come, according to Smurfit

VCP

The main effects of this new attitude are a drastic reduction in new capacity and consolidation in the industry. A major priority for the pulp and paper industry over the next 40 years will be to change the perception of investors towards the sector, so that they see the industry more positively.

As far as technical developments are concerned, one of the major advances has been in the scale of production, which has dramatically increased. Also, fiber types have have changed with the significant rise in the use of eucalyptus over the last 30 years. Filler content has also been steadily on the increase over this period to the detriment of fiber usage.

Another major development has been the gradual increase in more sophisticated products over the last 20 years. For example, there has been a large increase in coated paper production due to changes in printing procedures.

Raul Calfat, Managing Director, VCP, Brazil

Stora Enso

For example, the use of recycled fibers has increased dramatically and there have been a wide range of new fillers introduced. New bleaching methods also constitute a significant change for the industry, for example elemental chlorine-free (ECF) and totally chlorine-free (TCF) pulp have made for big improvements to the products and the industry's image. The links and effects of these developments on environment issues should not be understated.

Björn Hägglund, deputy CEO of Stora Enso

AssiDomän

The pulp and paper industry has invested billions of dollars in equipment and methods to decrease emissions to air and water. Today, our industry is spearheading developments and the environmental work is directed towards eco-cycle compatibility.

Over the last two decades, we have also seen an increasing engagement in sustainable forestry. This is not only driven by nature conservation organizations, it is something that influences the roots and the source of our industry. I strongly believe that the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) system and other complementary certification programs will bring competitive advantages as the utilization of natural resources is becoming a global concern.

Lennart Ahlgren, President and CEO, AssiDomän

CEPI

Taking innovation first, it is clear that the pulp and paper industry continuously refines its techniques and methods for improving printability, opacity, product functionality, etc. It is a long term trend.

A major breakthrough regarding product innovation was liquid board packaging, which started in the 1950s, but in the 1960s it paved the way for more single use packaging. The modernization of the industry now includes highly computerized and intelligent control systems.

Environmentalisation in the 1970s saw increasing concern on green issues and the industry responded with lower emissions to air and water. Considerable investments were made across the board on initiatives such as producing recycled paper products in the form of newsprint, containerboard and tissue - a strong trend that is still continuing.

New forest policies were also developed, taking biodiversity more into account. That environmental trend is still developing and the key word today is "sustainability".

Europeanisation essentially means the creation of the European internal market. With Austria, Finland and Sweden joining the EU, this has created the world's largest single market for paper products, and with it, enormous business opportunities. It has also facilitated both horizontal and vertical integration along the paper chain.

Globalization is illustrated by the trend towards stronger international competition for the pulp and paper sector. We see multinational companies being created as well as a shift towards stronger customers, bringing greater demand for improved customer service. Globalization also means that small and medium-sized companies can still flourish, but the whole industry faces stronger competition.

Finally, there is valorization. In the future, the paper industry must take a lot of new challenges into account, including shareholder value and the need to develop relationships further both with customers and suppliers. Communication will be a key word.

Marie S Arwidson, Director General, CEPI

Ahlstrom

As consolidation increases, so will focus. Market leaders will concentrate on fewer product lines, but operations will be global. Stora Enso is a good example of both trends. With that in place, profitability will eventually improve so that our industry can generate greater shareholder value in line with other top industries.

As a family-owned company, Ahlstrom has chosen a different strategy for its specialty paper industry. We have developed into a niche player, as we had already intended to do at the turn of the century. Until the mid-1980s, we were heavily involved in newsprint and woodfrees, but we exited those sectors. We are now specialists and leaders in our particular markets, and we operate globally. In fact, Ahlstrom Paper might be one of the world's most global paper companies, with manufacturing in the European Union, the USA, Brazil and Korea.

Technology in our industry has developed strongly, but perhaps more interestingly, it has also shifted locus over the 40 years of this magazine's life. Germany was the technology leader at the turn of the century, but after World War II it moved decisively to the USA. It is now is back in Europe, especially in the Nordic countries.

The leading paper companies are Nordic, if not Finnish, and the leading technology providers - the machine suppliers- - are also mainly Finnish. In chemicals, leadership is also European. Investing heavily in technology and skill development will ensure that our industry stays healthy and competitive, both internally and against competing materials.

The one area where we have not been successful is in the field of public perception. We have a smokestack, low-tech, polluter image. Much has been done to try and correct this, but our efforts pale in comparison to the efforts of other industries or NGO pressure.

Yet, forest based industries (the Cluster as we say) is a sizeable industrial force in the EU. It has a turnover of Euro 300 billion ($348 billion), placing it among the largest in Europe. The sector employs millions of people in demanding and stable jobs, and it provides the foundation for sustainable forestry, which provides all sorts of benefits. This we have not put forward in a forceful manner. The result is a public image you cannot write home about. We have to improve that image in order to get general appreciation and support and to attract the best people to our industries.

In summary, the industry is doing what is needed to improve competitiveness and profitability, and does this successfully. Many opportunities are still untapped, but our image needs coordinated and stronger efforts in order to improve.

Krister Ahlström, Chairman A AhIstrom Corporation, Finland

Oji Paper

I believe that the most important development for the paper industry in the modern era has been the very rapid growth of pulp and paper industries in Asia. It is not just the sheer speed of the expansion or the size of the paper companies as they stand at present, but the fact that many of the largest groups are setting up strategic alliances with major pulp and paper companies throughout North America and Scandinavia.

This is undoubtedly the most important factor, because it represents a drastic re-coloring of the world's pulp and paper industry map. As we have seen in recent years, the trend has triggered a huge amount of mega-scale mergers and acquisitions throughout the world, and especially among Norscan pulp and paper companies.

Masahiko Ohkuni, President and CEO, Oji Paper, Japan

Asia has made all the difference, according to Ohkuni (right)

Indonesian Pulp & Paper Association

Indonesia's contribution to the sector is starting to be felt worldwide, although the country's capacity remains small compared to the world's other major producers. Despite all the progress we have made so far, at the moment we are not dreaming of having the ability to produce the mills ourselves or invent new processes and technologies. For that, we still need the cooperation of more advanced pulp and paper countries, but for the industry as a whole it will be to our mutual benefit.

HM Mansur, Chairman, Indonesian Pulp & Paper Association

Just getting bigger and bigger, says Mansur

Soporcel

Growing globalization of the industry has gone hand in hand with growing consolidation. This has happened over the past few years and is likely to accelerate over the next few years. Overall, the impact is likely to be that there will be fewer and bigger players. The positive effect is that it will stabilize the market, but there will continue to be a place for regional players and they will continue to play an important role.

Technical evolution in the past decade has seen some very fast developments. It has helped boost the quality of paper, which is far superior than before. New technology has also lowered the cost base of the sector, which has helped make producers much more competitive. Basically, state of the art equipment has lowered the cost of manufacturing and given us better paper at lower prices.

The role of environmental issues has increased dramatically, especially over the last 10-15 years. Paper mills have a much greater awareness today of the need to protect the environment. A higher recycled fiber content in paper has also proved to be economically sound and beneficial to the environment.

Luis Deslandes, CEO of Soporcel, Portugal

DBS

Even in our small field of technology, clarifier drives have evolved significantly over the past 40 years. Back then, cast iron drive units were exclusively used in clarifiers and thickeners for the pulp and paper industry. The use of cast gears and gear housings was successful, and is still used today by some manufacturers. However, cast iron drives have several weaknesses such as wide tolerances, limited life and high maintenance. Today, modem bearings and gears can be used in clarifier and thickener drive units that offer superior life and reliability.

In the 1980s, DBS introduced a modern drive designed specifically for recaust applications. This drive offers many advantages for the pulp and paper industry, especially as it uses a steel gear housing and forged alloy steel gears. Forged gears have substantially higher surface durability and greater strength than an identical cast iron gear. Our company's drives use a four-point gear bearing, which can handle large overturning moment loads and thrust loads. The bearing in a cast iron drive can fail if subject to an overturning moment. The extremely long life of the four-point gear bearing eliminates the need to rebuild the clarifier drive every 10 years or so, greatly reducing operating costs.

Nils Young, DBS Manufacturing, USA

Södra

In terms of quality developments, the most significant change over the past 40 years has been the technical improvements in the bleaching process. This process has become much more environmentally friendly, which is good for the industry as a whole.

More fundamentally, pulp prices have also gone down. If you look at inflation over the past four decades, you can clearly see a price curve with prices at much lower levels today in relative terms. This phenomenon goes hand in hand with the introduction of higher capacity pulp units. Obviously, this is another major change - 40 years ago, pulp lines were capable of producing no more than 100,000 tons/yr. Now they can produce up to 800,000 tons/yr.

Helge Eklund, President, Södra, Sweden

Eklund (left) with King Carl Gustaf of Sweden. Transport changes have made a huge impact

Jaakko Pöyry

Consolidation/integration. These are two separate issues, really. But they are used simultaneously in so many instances that I decided to show them together as well. The number of pulp and paper companies has decreased and their average size has grown even more dramatically over the past 40 years.

The driving forces behind the process include the maturing markets in the West and continuing competition for market share. Added to that, there is the coordination of investments, globalization of production (including the move to low-cost regions) and the fact that customers are also becoming global. Growing financing needs and the move toward privatization in many countries has also helped drive the process.

The main benefits can be found (or at least are perceived to be found, one day) in better profitability/share value, market balance (through wiser investment decisions), distribution of know-how, better immunity against cyclicality and, finally, better price stability.

Environment. In the 1960s, the pollution loads from most industries, including pulp and paper, continued to go up, although some measures were already being taken in most countries at that time. Since then though, there have been tremendous changes as public opinion started to play an increasing role in the debate. This opinion has been represented very vocally by environmental groups, sometimes with some justification. But equally, the charges have often been unfair.

Recovered paper use has grown from less than 20 million tons (22 % of total paper and board consumption in 1960) to more than 130 million tons, or 44-45% of paper consumption today. The industry has also invested hugely in the environmental arena. Private consumers and agriculture now pollute more than this industry, even in traditional forest industry countries such as Finland and Sweden. Although the industry has not really received any credit for this so far, pulp and paper may yet transform itself from the ugly polluter of yesterday into a positive element, fighting the global warming tomorrow.

Growth. The growth in demand for paper has been spectacular. From 73 million tons in 1960, total paper and paperboard consumption will climb to over 300 millions tons in 1999/2000. Expansion on this scale in 40 years is a major change indeed.

Hedging. For other major industries, such as metals, agriculture and energy, hedging price risk has been a normal part of the industrial/commercial life for decades. Not so for pulp and paper - except on currency risks. This is not a major change yet, but it could well be as the industry moves in this direction.

Information explosion. Automated methods of handling the rapidly growing information flow was the immense threat when the subject was first discussed some 30 years ago. But the "paperless office" has turned out to be - so far - maybe the greatest benefactor of all for this industry.

Moving south. The pulp industry was heavily concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere 40 years ago. Indeed, just 21 years ago the listing of Finnish bleached hardwood market pulp deliveries by country showed Indonesia in fourth place after Germany, the UK and Italy (France, the Netherlands and Thailand were next). The quest for fast-growing and less expensive fiber has transformed several tropical/sub-tropical countries, such as Brazil and Indonesia, into major world suppliers of both pulp and woodfree paper.

Production techniques. It is often said that the industry uses very old production techniques. Maybe so, but so much speed, efficacy, automation and quality control have been built around the old framework that far from being a "smoke-stack" industry, pulp and paper has emerged as one of the most automated, sophisticated and high-tech industries in the world.

Sales Associations. For a Finn especially, but also for many old customers of Finnish pulp and paper products, the disappearance of the Finnish Sales Associations (Finncell, Finnpap, Finnboard and Converta) counts as one of the major changes. They did a superb job in building Finland into a major exporting force, but they ended up as casualties of the consolidation process. A tribute to their efficiency is the way in which individual companies are now organizing their marketing networks. In some cases, the similarity with the marketing structures of these sales associations is quite striking.

Timo Teräs, Senior Consultant, Jaakko Pöyry Consulting, Finland

FFIF

There have been many important changes within the industry during the last few decades, but I've listed here some of the points that I think have been most important. One of them would certainly be the growth in mill size and the economies of scale that have been gained as a result. At the same time though, the industry has become very capital intensive, perhaps even to the extent that it may now be regarded as a disadvantage.

Increasing concentration and the growth of company size through acquisitions and mergers has made a major impact worldwide, contributing to the internationalization and globalization of the paper industry.

The fact that recovered fiber is an increasingly important raw material for the industry illustrates the major changes we have seen in fiber furnish over the years. Tied to this is the fact that environmental aspects have played an important role, but even here the focus is still evolving and is now much more on the market and the forests, whereas previously it was far more limited to the mill and emissions.

To date, there has been no sign of the paperless office. Indeed, there has been a strong, positive impact on paper consumption from the introduction of new office technology.

In the future, the following issues will most probably make a strong impression on the paper industry. The single market in Europe should function more efficiently as a result of the introduction of the euro. The euro will also reduce the dominance of the US dollar in worldwide pulp and paper trade as an invoicing and pricing currency. And finally, the growth of electronic media will undoubtedly be vital for the sector, although there still remains a big questionmark over its long term implications for paper consumption.

Esa-Jukka Kaar, Economic and Industrial Policy, Finnish Forest Industries Federation

Independent Consultant

Over the last 40 years, there have been technological advances in almost every area of our industry. Yet, just as it has proved easier for man to walk on the Moon than for him to live at ease on the Earth, so our industry's workplace has not equaled its technological achievements. The mutual trust that formerly existed between colleagues has been among the casualties succumbing to the pressures of the market.

For every English boy of my generation, there was a familiar picture of a felled fruit tree, an axe on the ground, and a little boy (the future US President, George Washington) saying, "I cannot tell a lie". The moral went unquestioned. In the present age, barely a week passes without one among the Good and the Great - be they an individual, a company, or an organization - proving less than Good. Respectability is now used as a shield for avoiding detection.

Going for broke?

What does this mean in practical terms? I believe the future lies with the individual - at all levels. There is obviously considerable competitive advantage for enterprises of any nature to be able to build a "dream team" that works synergistically, enjoys old-fashioned mutual trust, and thrives on its work. The alternative is antagonism over how the cake is cut, for any aspect. That slows the rate at which the cake grows - and so reduces the size of everyone's slice. This misdirected energy might be thought of as "human broke".

Slightly less obvious is the need for each individual to accept greater responsibility for furthering their small part of the industry. Trust includes recognizing business practices that distort reality, among which are political correctness, lip service, common sense dressed up (expensively) as something novel, decisions made without due regard to the facts, and of course, corruption.

Also, new developments should be judged on their merits, not just by conventional yardsticks. I add that with feeling, as the creator of the computer-based encyclopedia, Paper Help, which has few conventional credentials. Sticking to conventional yardsticks considerably dampens the potential for novel developments, and is not in the self-interest of the industry.

History is full of examples of decadence reaping destruction when fortune changed direction. It is the responsibility of everyone in our industry to respond to the challenges and to confound this precedent. Had the pendulum swung sooner in this direction, our industry's share of the Asian turmoil would have been less severe. The present provides a good opportunity for a New Millennium's Resolution that could restore satisfaction to the workplace and improve the prospects of the industry over the next 40 years. We cannot afford otherwise.

Roger Grant, UK-based Independent Consultant and National Editor

Grant scrutinizes the great and the good

PaperCom

By the time I joined English China Clays and became interested in developments in the European paper industry, PPI was still something of a lonely fledgling, but became one of my first and continuing contacts in the industry.

At that time in the mid-1960s, there really was no such thing as a European paper industry or market. Except for a few grades and essential materials like chemical pulp and minerals, national markets were protected by tariffs, traditions, difficult distribution and government intervention. As a result, paper producers were small, local, fragmented and very traditional in their outlook.

Among the few multinationals around at that time, the majority and the largest were British. There were a number of reasons for this, but it was mainly due to the sheer size of the domestic UK market, which was then the largest in Europe, as well as their trade links with the old "Empire" - what would now be termed the Commonwealth market.

Making the change

Today, both the market and the industry have been transformed almost out of all recognition. Firstly, there was the enlargement of the European Common Market and its evolution into the European Union with the single market, and now, the euro. At the same time, there have been significant reductions in tariffs and other trade barriers worldwide. Along with faster movement of information, capital and technology, these elements have combined to create a genuine, increasingly transparent and dynamic European market, in what is now a global and fiercely competitive business.

This has in turn stimulated the increase in both machine and company size, with a dramatic change in ownership patterns. Many of the long-established names familiar at the birth of PPI have gone and many new names have appeared. As a result, the paper business has become more capital intensive, cyclical, competitive and risky.

For me, this transformation in market and business horizons overshadows any changes in technology, production techniques and product developments, which have been much more gradual and evolutionary. The Fourdrinier brothers would recognize today's jumbo machines with less difficulty than the original Reeds, Bowaters, Beghins, Gutzeits and Zanders would recognize the business of today.

PPI has reported a lot of changes in the past 40 years but not as many, I predict, as it will be reporting over the next 40.

David Clark, Executive Director, PaperCom Europe, and former Chairman, CEPI

Clark finds his natural stride

Voith Sulzer

Müller is inclined to support the view that automation has brought the biggest changes to the industry over the past four decades. "I believe that the improvements to the speed and accuracy of the process have made the biggest impact over the past 40 years, but I still believe that we can do a lot more to improve the accuracy and the stability of the process. Newsprint provides a good benchmark. I recently looked at some research that showed it's been speeding up by about 50 m/min each year and that kind of progress is going to continue. It will be about 1,800-2,000 m/min for the next generation of newsprint machines and our next pilot machine is likely to designed to run at 3,000 m/min."

Such speeds are a far cry from the installations that Müller was involved in during his early career as a startup engineer. Standing beside a 120-ton Yankee cylinder on a new tissue PM at Athens Papermill in Greece years ago, Müller was tempted to think that this record-breaking machine might signal the limit to which companies would wish to build. He laughs about such a notion now and confidently predicts a vast range of further improvements that will see capacity rise and rise as PMs get bigger, faster and better.

Looking ahead, Müller suggests the industry is set to change in two major ways. Firstly, he is cautiously optimistic that pulp and paper companies may finally be in a position to tackle the cyclicality that has affected the business for so long. "One major factor for us is the business cycles. Basically, we're an engineering and manufacturing business and our fixed costs can't be adjusted very readily. But I think if the industry can start adjusting to more even utilization rates, rather than these ups and downs, we'll be able to do better as well. Consolidation should help even out the cycles, and on my second point, I think that this will also help companies become more disciplined at shutting capacity when it is necessary."

Big deal

On a more personal level, Müller says that his career highlight to date was putting together the deal that saw Voith Sulzer Paper Technology clinch the two massive new 400,000 ton/yr woodfree PMs for Asia Pulp & Paper's Dagang mill in China. Apart from being the single biggest sale either he or the company had ever put together, the nature of how the deal was clinched made it all the more fun. As Müller explains, the two companies had many meetings before the contract was signed. But there was one meeting in particular that sticks out.

"The machines we were initially talking about were 9.6 m wide. But during the negotiations I met up with Wijaya (Asia Pulp & Paper's supremo) and while we were sitting in the car on the way to the hotel he asked me how wide we could build the paper machines. I said about 10.5 m," explains Müller. "When we arrived at our destination, he got out, had a quick talk with his people and then came over and said, 'OK, 10.5 m it is'. And that's how it came to be 10.5 m wide."

For Müller though, the deal-making is unlikely to stop soon. Among other things, one of his hopes for the medium term is that Voith Sulzer Paper Technology will eventually secure the much-vaunted tie-up with another of Germany's prestigious machine builders - Jagenberg. When and if such a merger happens are issues that are still open to debate. But Müller hopes that it will be sooner rather than later, and that it will provide the two companies with a secure future over the next 40 years of the two companies' corporate lives.

Hans Müller, President and CEO, Voith Sulzer Paper Technology

Müller sees further growth and radical change

ECC

A steady increase in environmental regulations forced papermakers to allocate more investment dollars for pollution control, particularly in the 1970s and early 1980s. This was initially done at the expense of capacity expansion. Mills were thereby forced to operate existing machines more efficiently, for example, using additives such as pigments or specialty chemicals to obtain incremental quality or sheet improvement.

During this period paper companies reduced headcount to remain economically viable, particularly in technical support and engineering departments. The convergence of these factors created an opportunity for mill suppliers to absorb greater responsibility for these roles.

Economic influences can be seen in the way papermaking has changed from an acid to neutral environment. Initially, neutral papermaking was a response to the presence and economic attractiveness of local carbonates, usually in the form of chalk, which was a regular brightness product. However, subsequent acceptance and improvement of retention aids allowed the use of higher brightness carbonates such as ground marble. As a result, logistics costs heavily aided the growth of regional carbonate suppliers based in Vermont, Alabama, Illinois, Wisconsin, Washington, and elsewhere. Furthermore, this factor, among others, influenced the growth of satellite PCC (precipitated calcium carbonate) plants.

Finally, papermakers have achieved a heightened focus by concentrating on their core business. This development involved outsourcing by mills, which began gradually with smaller applications, such as improving chemistries in the mill, and led to larger-scale outsourcing, which now includes "renting" (or contracting) rather than owning wood yards, utilities, etc. This has allowed mills to do what they do best, ie making paper, and in the process they have freed themselves and their balance sheets of capital and overhead costs, creating greater earnings to attract additional capital.

The above discussion suggests an observation attributed to the philosopher Kierkegaard. Our lives make sense when viewed from the end looking backward. The problem is that we live life looking forward and the perspective is different.

Phil Jones, VP Technology, ECC International

Beloit

Gap formers were introduced in the mid-1960s. Today, the concept has grown to the point that all machine builders are successfully marketing gap formers. They are being used for literally all paper grades, with the dominant application in the graphics paper marketplace.

Fabric technology blossomed with the introduction of the gap former. Double, triple and other specialty fabrics were developed to cater to the particular needs of gap formers. Revolutionary fabric cleaning and mist control concepts were also introduced to support the efficient operation of the new forming fabrics at speeds that now exceed 5,000 fpm (1,500 m/min). Modern designs put the forming zone of hybrid, top-wire formers very near the headbox in an effort to replicate gap forming results.

Consistent change

Consistency profiling headboxes have also made a significant impact. In the past, the cross-machine basis weight profile was regulated by deforming the headbox slice lip. This forced the stock flow (and fibers) exiting the headbox to fill voids or flatten excesses in the weight profile as measured by a cross-machine scanner at the dry end of the paper machine. Slice deformation control points were supplied on narrower and narrower centers until a physical limit was reached at about 3 inches (75 mm).

This still failed to satisfy basis weight profile requirements for some grades and another approach had to be found. The solution was the control of weight profile by regulating the cross-machine consistency of the flow within the headbox. This altered the amount of fiber present at any point and therefore the basis weight profile.

Fiber control (dilution) is accomplished by introducing and regulating a flow of low consistency whitewater to the headbox, which joins the main stock flow at control points as narrow as 1.4 inches (35 mm).

Basis weight profiles have never been better and the system boasts the added benefits of independent control of the fiber angle and the fast attainment of CD weight profile requirements from a cold start (or when changing grades on a multi-grade machine). These advantages make the consistency profile controlled (or dilution controlled) headbox a favorite choice for most paper and board grades.

Impressed

Press sections have also seen some radical changes over the years. Conventional presses in the 1960s featured several press nips that typically took the sheet from 20% consistency exiting the forming section to approximately 43% entering the dryer section. The presence of several press nips, and the sheet transfer problems that resulted from the open draws, limited pressing efficiency as paper machine speeds increased. The development of the "extended", "long-nip", or "shoe press" reduced the number of presses required and increased sheet dryness out of the press section.

The result of the closed extended nip press is a compact, highly effective press that eliminates much of the oil contamination and felt and/or belt damage that was experienced with the early, open arrangements. An added result of the extended nip press is the dramatically higher wet strength that is found on the dryer sheet. Machine operating efficiency benefits from this improved wet strength as the sheet is transferred to the dryer section.

Today it is not unusual to see shoe presses being utilized on all grades and several installations feature dual shoe presses (no roll presses). This is designed to achieve the driest sheet, while maximizing machine operating efficiency.

In the dryer section, sheet behavior in the pockets of conventional two-tier dryer sections has long been recognized as the cause of sheet breaks and inefficient dryer section performance. Air flow and sheet behavior was partially controlled by the application of vacuum/pressure devices that were placed in these pockets. But it wasn't until the development the BelRun drying concept that significant improvement in sheet behavior and dryer section performance was achieved. This involved single tier drying with a vacuum roll placed between closely-spaced dryers at the base of the pocket.

Staying dry

The added sheet restraint of this arrangement not only controls sheet behavior, but drastically reduces shrinkage as the sheet dries. The pressure/vacuum devices that are added to the small pockets of these BelRun dryers are much more effective in dealing with the reduced air flow present. Early applications of BelRun alternated top and bottom felted dryer sections, resulting in an arrangement that was called Bel-Champ. The bottom-felted sections of Bel-Champ caused broke removal problems, while the top felted section was able to clear broke automatically. This resulted in the modern "uni-run" dryer section. This consists of total, top-felted BelRun sections enhanced by drying the sheet on the side not contacting the dryer cylinders with air, ie air that is impinged against the sheet surface by Bel-Cap dryers.

Toward the end of the PM setup, the TNT reel is one of Beloit's contributions to modern paper technology. The conventional paper machine reel was developed in the 1940s and features sheet transfer to reel spools placed in primary arms which rotate around stationary reel drums. These deposit partially wound jumbo rolls on secondary rails as the control of nip and torque transfers between the arms.

Studies conducted in printing houses in the early 1990s revealed that a majority of press room problems related back to the winding of jumbo rolls at the paper machine reel. The most troublesome rolls were made from paper wound at the base of the jumbo roll and the end rolls of these sets were the most problematic.

A new reeling concept was developed to address these problems and the result was the Torque Nip Tension reel, or the TNT. This concept features a movable reel drum, which maintains a programmed nip condition between the drum and the paper being wound on the spool. The jumbo roll is wound on a set of level rails from first wrap to last and the discontinuities caused by transferring between arms is eliminated. The mill also benefits by being able to wind larger jumbos and by leaving less paper on the spent reel spools at the winder unwind stand to be slabbed. Slabbing losses with TNT are measured in wraps of paper as opposed to inches of paper.

Bob Brauns, Marketing Director, Beloit, USA

Valmet

PPI has always had a special position in Valmet's pulp and paper sector. It seems to me that during these 40 years it has made its success mainly by a special ability to sense what business wants and needs. This it has fulfilled by using very skilful editors and other writers.

A particular reason why PPI is so widely read in my company is of course the special issues, such as the Annual Review and Top 150. These statistical issues are of great interest to me personally, and obviously of great importance to marketing, sales and promotion people.

I have also noticed with pleasure that practically all issues include many news stories about Valmet, either newsflashes or technical and commercial articles. I have also noticed that our product groups use PPI very heavily as probably their main advertising medium - a trend that started with the first issues. This issue probably even has at least one advertisement from Valmet and/or Rauma or their subsidiaries.

I guess PPI will continue to play an important role for the future of the Valmet-Rauma Corporation, which begins its operation as of 1 July 1999.

Keep up the good work and quality!

Matti Sundberg, President and CEO, Valmet Corporation

Sundberg sends support

ABB

New technology has also driven things the other way around. As more capable computer technologies and advanced measurements were applied to control the processes, it opened the way to take another step in mechanical complexity, such as wider and faster paper machines, multi-layered structures with advanced headboxes, profiling possibilities, online coating etc.

As the machines grew larger, the business cycle became shorter and deeper. During the 1970s and 1980s, the industry could still live with these variations. But during the fast-growing 1990s, the investment community had had enough. Suddenly shareholder value became the mantra.

This has led to the furious merger activity which will continue into the next decade until the industry has rationalized itself to 20 global companies, each producing 15 million tons/yr of paper. The rest of the world's demand will be met by small, local companies involved in producing recycled or specialty grades.

Green movement

On the environment front, we saw the 1970s as the decade of denial; the 1980s as the decade of awareness and the 1990s as the decade of action. Considerable progress in the reduction of environmentally unsound practices has been achieved. The industry can be proud of its record, although there is always more to be done.

Accelerating trends towards bulk production in new territories such as Latin America and Asia in the 1990s forced radical change in the competitive environment. Europeans and North Americans had to rethink their strategies and cost burden. More value-added grade strategies were adopted, but machines continue to be rebuilt to produce more advanced grades.

It gradually became apparent that the most modern mills would not be built in the traditional markets. Instead, they would appear in Latin America and Asia - a permanent switch on the world paper industry map. Hence for suppliers, a shrinking customer base and a shift to unfamiliar markets drove a restructuring trend among them as well.

In my opinion, the surprising lack of change in many areas is of equal importance to the dramatic technological and demographic change just described. A mechanism to control the tendency to ride ever deeper and sharper business cycles is conspicuously absent so far, although the recent restructuring trend is an attempt to embark on a global strategy of containment at least.

The absence of a demand shortfall based on the digitalization of the world is another surprising phenomena. The industry has enjoyed a steady, but small, 2-3% growth rate throughout the period, despite the alarmists' cry of the death of the newspaper.

This lack of competitive pressure from other media might also explain the almost total lack of successful new uses for wood fibers. Cloths and bed sheets made of paper were attempted, but seemingly without genuine success. Most other new products around are merely improvements on existing ones and do not open up new markets.

Changing jobs

Despite tremendous advances in the availability of information in mills, very little has so far been used to empower the operator and develop his/her job into more meaningful tasks. Very few mills have encouraged operators to become online businessmen and women, which he or she should have the potential to become. With greater responsibility, a more interesting job could be created which would provide the opportunity to attract more qualified staff. This would be positive for papermakers and shareholders alike.

Finally I am surprised that the concept of mini-mills has taken such a long time to come to realization. A parallel with mini-steel mills and their tremendous success in the late 1970s and 1980s is so far absent. Recycling pulp mills and deinking plants have been in existence for some time. But small, tightly integrated pulp and paper mills of less than 100,000 tons/yr have rarely been built and operated to date, although some concepts are in the planning stage. Perhaps such mini-mills will become fashionable in the next millennium as a stark reaction to the gigantic two million ton/yr facilities of today.

Nils Leffler, Pulp and Paper Business Chairman, ABB

Continental

One of the best things for the sector over the years has been the continued growth in paper consumption over the years, which has kept ahead of GDP growth. Apart from keeping us in business, it has been good for the pulp sector, because it meant that paper consumption growth was always expanding.

The increase of free trade and the removal of tariffs and other barriers has also helped enormously. Well, except for the UK I suppose, because they lost their dominance in what was previously quite a large market.

Henry Houghton, MD Pulp, Continental Cellulose

Eka Chemicals

When the transition to new bleaching processes began with the introduction of oxygen bleaching in the 1960s, the chemical pulp mill was one of the most pollutive industries in the Nordic countries, with significant emissions to air and water. The pulp industry is now on the way to using more closed processes with less effluent and salmon have returned to our rivers.

Behind this transformation lies an increased interest in the environment and powerful environmental opinion. However, the fast reaction would have been impossible without the farsightedness that put the industry well ahead in terms of research and development. In their cooperation with chemicals suppliers, the pulp industry could respond quickly to environmental pressure with new bleaching processes based on oxygen, chlorine dioxide and hydrogen peroxide as replacements for chlorine gas.

How hydrogen peroxide used to be produced at Eka Chemicals Bohus plant in Sweden using the electrolytic method

The industry has displayed a considerable will to invest in development. Frequently, this was done on a very large scale as the industry expanded its knowledge of bleaching processes and their impact on the environment.

I think it is positive that, on the whole, the industry and the market have made necessary, rational investments in research and refrained from taking drastic measures, even when meeting what have been on occasion, very powerful environmental opinions, lacking the scientific support necessary to back up their assertions. There should now be satisfactory concordance in regard to these environmental matters within the industry, on the market and with the authorities. This, I believe, bodes well for future environmental work.

In paper chemicals, the development of the micro particle system has been the most important event in our view. Since its introduction, micro particle technology has become well established and shown great potential for further development to optimize papermaking, irrespective of paper grade or machine technology.

There are many ways in which we as chemicals suppliers contribute to establishing pulp and paper as a long term, sustainable part of the ecological cycle of cellulose fiber.

Dag Strömqvist, President, Eka Chemicals

Hercules

The recent addition of BetzDearborn's speciality chemicals to Hercules' performance chemicals, for example, has enabled our new pulp and paper division to offer customers a total resource for mill-wide performance, process and water treatment programs, as well as chemical feed control and monitoring equipment.

The rising price of water, the cost of treating effluent and environmental restrictions on wastewater discharge are among the factors that are driving the trend toward water closure. Maintaining product quality with water re-use requires the optimization of influent treatment, boiler, cooling and wastewater operations, as well as control of problems such as pitch/stickies, scale build-up, corrosion, foaming, microbiological growth, retention and sizing, all in systems with higher contaminant levels. The trend toward water closure in paper mills is thus focusing attention on the need for totally integrated chemical programs.

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on health, safety and environmental issues. Combined with the implications of European legislation such as the Biocidal Products Directive, this has resulted in a demand for environmentally responsible microbiological control. Suppliers have responded with new products, eg mercurials and pentachlorophenols were replaced with solvent-based microbial products, which have in turn been replaced by water-based products. New actives called biofilm inhibitors are now on the market and a new wave of products, including enzymes, are being developed.

High speed machines operating within a closed water system produce grades that contain high levels of recycled fiber, but they also present demanding challenges that have been changing fabric design, fabric conditioning and cleaning programs.

The paper industry has evolved to a new level of understanding regarding the impact and importance of maintaining good performance of all fabrics, including forming fabrics, wet felts and dryer fabrics. In addition, recent developments to allow easier release from center rolls have also taken place.

Moving off

There has been a steady trend since the late 1980s/early 1990s to move away from oil-based products such as defoamers, primarily due to environmental concerns. The newest products in the foam control market are the 85% to 100% active concentrates that are hydrocarbon oil-free. These products offer a number of advantages such as lower deposit tendency, less interference with sheet quality, reduced chemical storage and transport costs and generally improved ease of handling and feeding.

Other trends that will continue to reshape the industry include the move to alkaline papermaking, neutral sizing, microparticle retention/drainage systems, the increased use of deinked waste fiber, the conversion of pulp mills to elemental chlorine-free bleaching and all linked to greater control demands on wet end chemistry.

Chris McGregor, Senior Marketing Manager, Hercules Pulp & Paper Division