PPI (PULP & PAPER INTERNATIONAL) MAGAZINE: Finding a niche

Slovenia's Goricane Paper Mill rebuilds to increase flexibility and product quality and reduce customer response time

March 2007
By Justin Toland, Editor

How can a small mill in one of Europe's emerging markets compete with the economies of scale and cost per product unit of the industry's giants? This was a question that the management of Goricane Paper Mill in Medvode, Slovenia (some 15 km from Ljubljana) has pondered long and hard in recent times. "In the end we came to a unanimous conclusion," says marketing director, Janez Pelhan. "It is our flexibility, the daily adjustment to the market and the needs of our buyers, the common search for solutions and the extremely quick responses." The big players "have not [been] and probably will not be able" to apply these virtues on the market, Pelhan adds.

Increasing flexibility

Goricane employs 196 people and had net sales of Tolar 9.3 billion ($50 million) for the first nine months of 2006. The mill's sole paper machine, PM 1, was installed in 1975 and has been rebuilt a number of times since (see: PM 1 at a glance). The unit manufactures uncoated and coated woodfree, carbonless and specialty paper. In 2002, following the transition from state control (via the Slovenian Development Association) to private ownership (Papigor is the major shareholder), long-term investment plans were drawn up. These included a plan for a rebuild, slated for 2007. Thanks to good financial results, the mill was able to bring the project forward by one year.

Goricane invested some Euro 14 million ($18.2 million) in total in last year's upgrade, which, though primarily focused on quality, also aimed to boost output on PM 1 from 72,000 tonnes/yr to 80,000 tonnes/yr and to extend the basis weight range to 37-150 g/m2.

Earlier plans to add a new off-line coater were shelved, however. "It was too much; it was Euro 10 million additional," explains managing director, Goricane Paper Mill, Andraz Stegu.

Following a Pöyry feasibility study, the mill chose to take a "multi-vendor" approach to purchasing equipment. "The best stuff for the best price," as head of automation, Janez Gale, says.

This meant a new SymFlo AD headbox from Metso Paper, with Voith Paper supplying a DuoFormer D top wire. PT Engineering coordinated the installation work, which was carried out by Kremsmüller. The Austrian supplier also replaced the wire breast roll; while Slovenia's Tinex Vrdzevanje changed the wire drive rolls and various press section rolls.

Other changes to the machine included a new KanEng double doctor (top roll of third press), and Metso air doctor and PressNip blow box with fan. TIP95 supplied twin run blow boxes in the pre-dryer section.

All seven guide rolls in the dryer section were replaced and the lubrication systems upgraded by Dimas and Vogel (SKF). ProJet supplied an appliance for high-pressure cleaning of the upper dryer fabric.

Some 31 paper machine drives were modified or replaced (reductors from Hansen, motors from Siemens) to enable a future speed increase up to 1,000 m/min (from 800 m/min today).

The Metso OptiSoft calender was also upgraded to cope with higher-speed papermaking, with the installation of new spreader and guide rolls and a tail threading system.

PM 1 is fed with hardwood and softwood baled virgin pulp (suppliers include Riaupulp and Estonian Cell). The upgrade project extended to the stock prep lines, where Metso supplied new refiners, high-consistency cleaners, deflakers and other technology. Andritz provided new pumps and GL&V, centrifugal cleaners. Some 80% of the pipeworks were replaced, the new pipes being manufactured by F+H of Germany.

The softwood line can now be used just for softwood refining or for combined refining of softwood and certain species of hardwood. An automation upgrade (equipment from Metso Automation, engineering by EAS of Austria) enables group starts of lines, among other improvements.

A brand new control room houses the controls for the complete papermaking line from stock prep to pope reel. The mill's automation package includes a metsoDNA DCS, ABB QCS, Parsytec web inspection system and Ryeco paper web defect marking system.

The upgrade also extended to the mill's power plant, where new pipework, control valves and air coolers were installed.

PM 1 was shutdown for the overhaul on June 1, 2006 and restarted on Sunday, June 18. The first saleable output from the revamped machine was a parent roll of Sora Matt 80 g/m2 paper, produced at 17:25. (Sora is the umbrella brand name for all the firm's papers).

According to production manager, Marjan Kocjanèiè, "The priority task of the production plant in the first two months after the investment was to become familiar with the new appliances as soon as possible in order to try and produce all paper grades within [Goricane's] production program."

The mill provided additional employee training during the startup period, with operators and other staff receiving tutelage from Metso Paper, ABB, Parsytec, Siemens and Voith about the new equipment.

In July 2006, just a few weeks after the restart, the goal of producing every paper grade was achieved. It is a particular source of pride to the mill that it has successfully manufactured 37 g/m2 pigmented SORA Light on the rebuilt PM. The base paper grammage (30 g/m2) is the lightest formed on a Voith top wire machine (matched only by one unit in Japan).

In addition, the desired boost to paper quality is being realized. "We have already noticed considerable improvements in paper formation, which directly influences the printing properties," says Kocjanèiè.

Goricane's consultant to the managing director, Joze Raušl, says that the next stage is, "To focus on the optimization, top-level quality and efficient marketing of all products planned." To this end, the firm has expanded its sales department and set up new logistics chains to ensure that buyers receive, in the words of the Sora marketing slogan, "quality paper: on time, quality paper: your size".

A new storage warehouse with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes of sheets and reels is also in the pipeline. The foundation stone was laid on November 24, 2006, in a ceremony officiated by Cardinal Franc Rodé.

The storage space will be ready by September 2007 "at the latest" says Stegu. The building may also house another sheeting line in future.

Cardinal Franc Rodé blessing the foundation stone of the mill's new storage warehouse, watched by Goricane MD, Andraž Stegu (facing)

Profitable niches

Goricane exported 91% of its output in the first half of 2006, mainly to other European Union countries. Some paper is also sold in the Middle East and the US (the high-value-added products Sora Medico and Sora Light go to the latter).

Sales area manager Andrej Gradišek explains that, "Although matt coated papers still represent more than half of all Goricane products, their market is currently under the most serious price pressure." It is also the case that, in this sector, the Slovenian mill is up against the biggest worldwide producers. For this reason, says the sales area manager, "Our wish is to decrease the share of matt papers produced in the future as much as possible and replace them by papers providing higher added value."

Last year's investment has given Goricane many new opportunities in this regard, believes technical director, Marko Perdih. For instance, the light weight Sora Medico and Sora Light uncoated and pigmented product groups were initially developed for the pharmaceutical industry, a sector that now accounts for less than 20% of consumption. However, prior to the latest rebuild, "Poor formation and a low opacity level prevented our paper from being usefully applied for any other purposes," he says. Following the machine upgrade, Goricane is now able to target printers and publishers of technical handbooks and catalogs, encyclopedias, directories and even Bibles. "Our investment will be profitable only if we achieve a considerably higher market share with these papers as well as with other niche products," notes Perdih.

However, cautions Gradišek, "Specialty paper markets differ greatly from the common ones." Potential customers are reluctant to change paper suppliers and think very carefully before they do. "It often takes more than a year from the initial successfully conducted trial to the first official order," he points out.

Stegu is confident that the mill can rise to the challenge. "We have increased the diversity of our products, improved paper quality, and become able to offer the most demanding paper grades and (with constant development) enter market niches that we were not capable of joining before."

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