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Propapier forms a reputation for innovation
Visiting Propapier's new machine in Burg, Germany, is like entering a different dimension in the paper industry. From the paper machine technology to the number of employees, Propapier has injected innovative ideas into its first ever paper project
by Rhiannon James
Installing the world's first corrugating materials machine with two gap formers would raise the stress levels at most paper companies. Building the machine at a greenfield mill would invariably lead to more concern at the top of the company. Add into the equation the fact that the machine will be the producer's first foray into the papermaking world, and the panic button would have been pressed long ago in most board rooms. But Jürgen Heindl, president and 51% owner of the corrugated sheet producer, Prowell, is not a typical paper executive and his company is not a typical paper producer.
If all goes to plan, this month will see the startup of Prowell's first paper machine, built on a greenfield site in Burg, Germany, as part of the company's new subsidiary, Propapier. Heindl appears to have more than his fair share of the Germanic trait for efficiency, which makes it unlikely that the startup will be anything but successful, but his other essential quality of being an innovator is also likely to prove beneficial to the project.
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The new plant in Burg, Germany, is well located to capitalize on growth in eastern Europe
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Innovation appears to be hallmark of Prowell's performance so far in the corrugated sheet business and also plays a central part in the new testliner and fluting paper machine project. The two gap formers on the new 300,000 tonne/yr PM are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of new ideas at a company that has secured itself a solid position in the corrugated sheet market in just eight years of existence (Box 1).
The company chose to work with Valmet as the supplier for what is touted to be the world's fastest testliner machine. The Propapier machine is also a challenge for Valmet as it will be the first time that the company's new technology is put to the test in the field. Lars Blomberg, vice president of project management at Valmet, explains, "We previously had experience with machines with one gap former at the top and a fourdrinier at the bottom and vice versa. We also carried out extensive trials in our pilot plants, but this installation is very important for us too."
With a design speed of 1,500 m/min and a projected working speed of 1,300 m/min, Propapier's PM 1 is certainly streets ahead of the traditional suppliers, which typically trail behind at 900-1,000 m/min. The high speeds were the main reason behind the moves to install the special forming arrangement.
"To achieve the final speeds of 1,300 m/min and above, we had to install two gap formers on the machine," Udo Uyting, the mill manager explains. "Two ply is much better for testliner grades as well," adds Björn Fransson, the process engineer for board machines at Valmet.
After the unique forming section, the paper moves into the Sympress B press section which incorporates a shoe press. Drying is then achieved using a SymRun (Twinrun) unit, equipped with 52 cylinders, 33 of which are in the single-tier predrying area. "The machine uses single-tier drying, which ensures high runnability and hopefully less breaks," Uyting comments. At the end of the line, the paper arrives at a Valmet Windrum M winding system. "This is a continuos winding concept which uses few people," Fransson at Valmet comments.
Painting the paper machine red
Jürgen Heindl, the president of Prowell, appears to have established a reputation for innovation when he decided to install the world's fastest testliner machine and try out a completely new forming arrangement for the grade. But the company's innovative ideas do not stop there. Just take the machine building, for example. In contrast to many paper mills, the new Propapier building is certainly easy on the eye. All the drives, girders and accessories are painted in what is described as "Pro" red - the company's red color that appears on all its promotional material. Although the building is aesthetically pleasing, Udo Uyting, the mill manager, explains that there is a more serious reason behind the colorful paintwork. "We want to motivate the staff by providing them with a user friendly work place," he says.
Innovation has always been at the heart of Heindl's group since he decided to set up Prowell in 1992. Before going solo, Heindl worked at PWA - and at 31 he was the youngest general manager to be hired by the paper producer. Heindl explains the decision to set up his own company producing corrugated sheets, saying, "We wanted to be an independent player in a market where most people were producing the sheets and then converting them. We just produce sheets so that we do not compete with our customers like the other companies."
In order to compete with the larger groups operating in the market, Heindl put efficiency and hi-tech operations at the top of his agenda. To achieve these goals, he came up with the idea of linking Prowell's computer systems with its customers in what would now be seen as a business-to-business (B2B) relationship. ""We've been working in a B2B way for years," Heindl comments. Since 1992, Prowell has been linked to its customers via the company's own developed Prokom software. The system allows customers to access all of Prowell's order information, tracking, stock levels, etc.
The main reason that Prowell set up the system was to cut down on administration costs and to create a lean and efficient workflow. "Short orders are our specialty. We often have 1,000 orders per plant per day. If an order is valued at DM 300, we do not want to see costs of DM 200 for sales and administration," Heindl points out.
He also explains that the 1,000 orders can involve 35 different grades, 500 different customers and 60-70 trucks leaving each plant per day. It is easy to see the benefits that an integrated supply chain solution can bring to the customer and the producer. Prologistik, the group's logistics arm, can also take advantage of the Prokom system when planning the transport agenda for the different plants. "Some 60% of our orders are delivered within 48 hours from the time of ordering," Heindl says.
Special service
On top of the logistics, paper and corrugated operations, the group also includes a unit called Proservice, which offers a marketing and communications service to Prowell's customers. As the company only produces sheets and is not in direct contact with the end-user, Heindl believes it is important to help their smaller customer with marketing and sales issues.
Heindl sums up the company's attitude by saying, "We are physically focused on producing paper and corrugated sheets, but we also see ourselves as a consultant or service company for our customers in some way."
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The paper is then transported to the automated warehouse area - a huge building which has the capacity to hold 20,000 tonnes of paper at any one time. "It is important for us to run continuously, we don't want to stop because we have run out of space. This is also the centralized warehouse for all our corrugated plants, which is why it is so big. We want to avoid high stocks at our other plants," Heindl points out.
In addition to the gap formers, Valmet believes that the closed draw system used on the machine is also innovative. "The draws are virtually closed from the wire to the Optisizer," Fransson explains. Additional features include a Turn Float air cushion, which allows the starch to penetrate into the paper for a longer period without contacting the roll, according to the supplier. "Another important feature is that the tail threading in the drying section is not done with ropes but air. This is safer and avoids problems with ropes breaking," Fransson adds.
Going wide
But for Prowell's president, one of the special aspects of the machine is actually its dimensions. Heindl says, "The width of the paper machine is quite unusual in this sector, but it is linked to our corrugated output. We wanted to improve productivity as much as possible on our corrugator in Burg. The machine has a width of 2.8 m, which improves productivity compared to conventional machines, but it is not that big a step."
As a result, Prowell looked into building an even bigger corrugator than the newest one at its Burg plant. The outcome is that the company will open another plant in the Czech Republic in the first of quarter of 2002 housing the world's first corrugator with a width of 3.3 m. Mathematicians will be quick to calculate that the standard width of 2.5 m in the corrugated industry, plus the 3.3 m wide machine in the Czech Republic, gives a grand total of 5.8 m - exactly the width of the new paper machine. "The 2.8 m width of the corrugator in Burg does not fit with the width of traditional paper machines at 5.0 m. So we needed a paper machine with a minimum width of 5.6 m (or 2.8 m plus 2.8 m). With the 5.8 m setup, we will achieve a productivity improvement of 35% on the corrugator," Heindl comments.
Although there are a number of unique features on PM 1, the stock preparation system is also full of surprises. Voith Paper Fiber Systems was responsible for supplying the unit, which handles 100% recovered paper. Right from the beginning, the stock preparation uses a new pulping concept, which consists of a kneading drum followed by a drum screen. For the first time, the system can handle both B12 and B19 wastepaper grades at the same time, the supplier explains. According to Uyting, the system provides quite a few advantages. He says, "The energy consumption of the pulping drum is lower and it produces a clean, smooth pulp. There are not so many stickies with this system, which is crucial when running at high speeds."
New technology is used in other areas of the stock preparation unit, including the latest EcoMixer cleaner system and EcoDirect Disperger. The latter technology will be used on testliner and fluting for the first time and incorporates direct heating rather than an additional heating screw.
Automated answer
As the technology used on both the stock preparation and the paper machine are highly advanced, the company has also shelled out on the latest developments in automation. PM 1 is equipped with the most up-to-date technology from Neles Automation (now known as Metso Automation), including its DNA solution. The automation is crucial considering the number of employees that will be working on the site. Propapier is employing just 80 workers to operate the new PM. Uyting hopes that the lean employee structure will lead to fatter productivity gains. He claims that the average tonne/employee ratio is in the region of 1,500-1,600 tonnes/ employee, but Propapier's team will be churning out a staggering 3,500 tonnes/employee.
Obviously, with this low number of staff, Propapier is using a different working pattern to traditional paper mills. "With this low number of employees we can't work in a traditional way," Heindl says. Utying explains that there will be a high level of team work involved and employees will have more responsibility. "Flexibility is an important factor, people will not just be working on one part of the machine. The wages will be based on the team's performance as well." The smaller staff numbers and alternative working methods are linked to Prowell's overall aim "to do things differently" with its new paper machine.
Heindl explains that in building a greenfield mill, the company has the opportunity to start from scratch, with new structures and no established hierarchy. "Our philosophy is to start with young, well educated people from outside the industry. We want them to learn, not to have to forget old ways and then learn," he comments. In fact, the average employee within the Prowell group is just 24 years old. Utying adds, "The first six months will be hard, but after that I think we will be at an advantage." This philosophy has led Propapier to spend considerable time training the new recruits and working with the suppliers to familiarize themselves with the technology. On top of that, the company will have to outsource some of its maintenance tasks.
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Propapier's first machine is due to start up this month
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Paper attraction
Propapier has certainly invested considerable money in both staff training and state-of-the-art technology for its machine. The effort involved would be enough to put off many players from investing in a totally new production area. Heindl comments, "It was a huge decision to invest in papermaking for Prowell. At the time, we had a turnover of DM 160 million and the paper machine project cost was DM 260 million!" He explains that the main reason for integrating backward into paper production was to make the company more independent and have a continuous supply of raw materials at a balanced price. "When the paper markets are bad, the corrugated industry tends to do well and vice versa. Over the long term, we want to have a more balanced and stable business. Integration will allow this."
Although the project has involved considerable investment and effort, the machine will be coming on line in favorable market conditions, according to Heindl. "I think we've timed our investment very well. Usually the industry decides to invest when the market is doing well, we did the opposite and now we are starting up in a good phase."
With a corrugated capacity which is roughly equal to the 300,000 tonne/yr capacity of PM 1, Prowell could theoretically withdraw from the market as a buyer of corrugating materials. But the company is keen to keep its finger on the pulse and aims to use about 60% of its output internally and trade the remainder on the open market. At first, the machine will produce equal amounts of fluting and testliner, but eventually the focus will turn to churning out more testliner.
According to Heindl, "We intend to buy and sell from the first day. This means that the market will not lose too much volume and on top of that our own growth will generate demand. In the last two years, we have added over 100,000 tonnes to our capacity. We will be taking some of it back with our paper integration project, but we will grow again in the next two to three years with the new Czech plant."
Fast forward to the future
Moving from being a corrugated sheet supplier to a paper producer might seem like a backward step to some people, but this is only in terms of the supply chain direction. In reality, the German company's focus is firmly placed on the future and growing the business. In a little over eight years, Prowell has managed to build itself up into a company with a capacity of some 300,000 tonnes/yr in corrugated sheets and the latest in papermaking technology with its new 300,000 tonne/yr machine. Along the way, the company's president has earned a reputation for being both innovative and dynamic and it looks like he chose the right name for his company in 1992. "Pro" means "positive" in German, while "Well" comes from the term "Wellpappe" for corrugated board. Judging by the amount of innovation and dynamism at the company's paper wing, it looks like the choice of "Propapier" might well pay off too.
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