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Week of 1 April 2024: The role of standards in safety
Week of 1 April 2024: The role of standards in safety

Observing mill engineering departments for a few decades, I've noticed a haphazard application of well known nationally and internationally recognized standards in small, mill originated upgrade projects. I'll even admit that, decades ago, I likely participated in this negligence. Standards are created for a reason.

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Week of 25 March 2024: How to fix your maintenance--really
Week of 25 March 2024: How to fix your maintenance--really

This is the column I promised you last week. Your reaction will be either scoffing at it or believing it--there will be no middle of the road reactions. If you decide to believe, contact me and I will help you, at no charge, to get started.

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Week of 18 March 2024: Maintenance as a morale booster
Week of 18 March 2024: Maintenance as a morale booster

I don't think I have ever been around more depressing pulp and paper mills than those experiencing poor maintenance. The only thing that can drive morale down faster is producing a product in a declining market (anyone remember newsprint?). Sadly, many senior managers view maintenance as a cost.

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Week of 11 March 2024: Maintenance on the fringes
Week of 11 March 2024: Maintenance on the fringes

Sometimes I think maintenance suffers from "macho disease." We talk about changing out press rolls, monitoring machine bearings and other sorts of "big deal" maintenance projects. I would hate to think how many times I have been exposed to pump and motor alignment. Yes, it is an important subject, but it is not everything. There are other things that can shut you down, too (or at least cause you to lie).

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Week of 5 March 2024: Maintenance--my favorite month
Week of 5 March 2024: Maintenance--my favorite month

It is my favorite month because maintenance can pay huge dividends. Or maintenance can kill you if you ignore it. I've told many mill related tales of maintenance in this column over the years. For some reason, when I started to think about maintenance for this year's column series, I went back to my youth and some maintenance disasters that took place when I was a teenager at home.

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Week of 26 February 2024: A Possible Answer?
Week of 26 February 2024: A Possible Answer?

We have spent the last three weeks talking about transportation issues and challenges in the pulp and paper industry today. About a year ago, I had an epiphany in the transportation and warehousing area. I went out and got a "patent pending" status on it. Due to all my other activities, I only feebly marketed it. At the time, my idea was to sell the idea. In the meantime, I have now decided to present it here for you to ponder.

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Week of 19 February 2024: Stop moving stuff
Week of 19 February 2024: Stop moving stuff

Jerry Seinfeld has an old joke that goes like this. He is out driving in a rural area. He passes a log truck. Then he meets a log truck coming towards him. He asks, "If the people over here need logs and the people over there have logs, couldn't they just call each other up and avoid driving these logs all over the place?" It got a big laugh. Of course, real life is not this simple.

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Week of 12 February 2024: Watch the terminations in transportation
Week of 12 February 2024: Watch the terminations in transportation

To borrow from last week, I don't care if it is the bar of soap going down the conveyor or the shipment of pulp from Brazil, the costs in transportation is the onloading and the offloading. These termination points are also the points most susceptible to mishandling and accidents. Granted the load must be secured appropriately, depending on the application, but you'll find the problems and the costs are at the ends.

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Week of 5 February 2024: Transportation Thoughts
Week of 5 February 2024: Transportation Thoughts

It is transportation month here at Nip Impressions, and there is a lot to talk about. I almost titled this first column of the month "Transportation Follies" but then thought better of it. There certainly are many transportation follies in the headlines these days. However, I thought I would spend this first column of the month in a cerebral fashion. What do you think of when you think about transportation?

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Week of 29 January 2024: Dishonest Dealings in Capital Projects
Week of 29 January 2024: Dishonest Dealings in Capital Projects

I promised you this column last week. Everyone in a capital project is under pressure. The mill team is under pressure to bring the project in on budget (remember how you kept shaving the budget to get the project through the board of directors?). The suppliers are under pressure to win the project at the highest possible profit for them, and will promise the moon, if they don't have to put it in writing. And this is all good, for it gives an old guy like me a steady income as an expert witness in project lawsuits. The grayer and thinner my hair has gotten, the more I can charge.

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Week of 22 January 2024: Nothing Magical
Week of 22 January 2024: Nothing Magical

I have served as an expert witness in several capital project cases (dare I say disasters?). How do projects end up in this condition (disasters)? There only seem to be two major causes of such fates. The first is believing in magic and the second is dishonest dealings. We'll cover magic this week.

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Week of 15 January 2024: Foolish Capital Choices
Week of 15 January 2024: Foolish Capital Choices

There have been several capital decisions in recent years that have left me scratching my head. In these cases, a great deal of funds have been expended to clean out old paper machine halls for the express purpose of installing new machines of a different grade.

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Week of 8 January 2024: Beware the Package Deal
Week of 8 January 2024: Beware the Package Deal

Back when I started in the industry, one bought everything for their new machine, printing press, or flexofolder/gluer piecemeal. Yes, there was a primary machinery supplier, but the capital project team and the project engineers bought everything else separately and integrated it all into one concomitant system. Due to growth of the industry, project teams became less experienced, and the system fell apart. Startup dates and startup curves were missed because of missing but vital components. Major machine suppliers had ready excuses for not meeting performance guarantees and there was a lot of finger pointing.

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Week of 1 January 2024: What you can't see can hurt you
Week of 1 January 2024: What you can't see can hurt you

I am speaking about the capital projects sector for 2024 and going forward a bit.

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Week of 25 December 2023: Keeping the gas and electricity flowing to our mills this winter
Week of 25 December 2023: Keeping the gas and electricity flowing to our mills this winter

I am sure you have heard the story many times about how I lost all steam producing capability in a northeastern Ohio mill in the winter of 1987. It was early February and temperatures had plunged to -20 F. I was not at the mill at the time, but no difference, both the powerhouse and the maintenance departments reported to me...

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Week of 18 December 2023: Conserving Water
Week of 18 December 2023: Conserving Water

As you have probably noticed by now, I have taken a bit of a cynical view in this power and energy month here at Nip Impressions. I tend to do this when secular subjects become so widespread and accepted as the whole truth, all other theories be damned. Experience and logic tell me that such widespread, cult like belief must have a few cracks somewhere and those cracks must be explored. Thus, I will continue down this path this week and next.

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Week of 11 December 2023: Do we detect an inflection point?
Week of 11 December 2023: Do we detect an inflection point?

The Cop28 Climate Change Conference currently underway in Dubai seems to have hit a couple of speed bumps on the way to banning fossil fuels.

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Week of 4 December 2023: Power & Energy--Make your own
Week of 4 December 2023: Power & Energy--Make your own

There are a group of Mennonites in southern Ohio I love dearly. I try to go visit them a couple of times a year for a few days. My next visit is planned for the weekend of 16 - 17 Dec 2023. When I get there, my phone goes off and into my bag. There is no electricity. Heat is wood. Farming and local transportation is done with horses. They do use the bus system for long-distance traveling, and they do this quite often. Sounds inconvenient? It is the price of freedom.

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Week of 27 November 2023: Innovation--your turn
Week of 27 November 2023: Innovation--your turn

The question for you, dear reader and marketer, is what are we missing? Our typical product cycle is to try out a feature or a concept and gauge the reaction. Then it lives or dies. But let's turn this around. You may know better than we do what the next innovation in digital marketing to the pulp and paper industry should be. Sometimes one can be so close to something that they miss the obvious. We want to make sure that is not happening to us. Hence we want to hear from you.

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Week of 20 November 2023: Barriers to Innovation--Part 2
Week of 20 November 2023: Barriers to Innovation--Part 2

Often, the barriers to innovation boil down to an unwillingness to take risks. If those risks involve technological changes, that just adds to the resistance. In the last thirty years, communications, for instance, have gone through startling changes, more changes than had been seen by humankind from the first written and spoken words up until then. These changes profoundly affected the pulp and paper industry and have blown by as if we were sitting still.

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Week of 13 November 2023: Barriers to Innovation--Part 1
Week of 13 November 2023: Barriers to Innovation--Part 1

One of the major barriers to process innovation is knowing too much about the subject. Knowledge of a subject sets up unconscious barriers to innovation. Think of learning to drive an automobile. I have taught three teenagers how to drive. In all three cases, their first time behind the wheel experience resulted in eyes darting about rapidly. As they became familiar with driving, the eye darting subsided because they learned what was important and dismissed everything else. Same is true of a process or procedure. If you know it with your eyes closed, so to speak, you are dismissing a great deal of information that might be helpful in innovation. It's the "we've never done it that way syndrome." There are a couple of ways to shortcut this.

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Week of 6 November 2023: Innovation and Strategy Month
Week of 6 November 2023: Innovation and Strategy Month

A couple of seemingly disparate items strike me as we start to think about innovation and strategy this month. The first is the press release a couple of months ago announcing the coming departure of the chairman of a major pulp and paper company. Reading between the lines, one could infer that this chairman and the board are out of ideas as to how to take the company forward. The other is the current popular human resource acronym, DEI, which stands for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. As with most such acronyms, this one is too simplistic and is itself too inclusive, likely being applied where it is not appropriate.

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Week of 30 October 2023: Quality is people and culture
Week of 30 October 2023: Quality is people and culture

At their best, all the sensors, software and specifications you have pertaining to quality are merely aids to your personnel as they produced quality services and goods at your company. This is true for even the most sophisticated (buzz word alert!) AI systems. If your people and culture are not tuned in and dedicated to producing quality, it will not happen. In the pulp and paper industry, we have not done such a good job of starting where quality starts--with our people and our culture.

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Week of 23 October 2023: Pre-Emptive Quality
Week of 23 October 2023: Pre-Emptive Quality

Everything that comes onto your mill site must meet established standards before it gets to your mill site. Multiple suppliers must be in place to provide quick backup if a primary supplier fails. I would dare say the plan for the quality of the product you will make in a month or two must be already established now. When it comes to the quality actions needed from the human component of your operation, that must be planned six months to a year before you need it.

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Week of 16 October 2023: Quality is Attitude, Part 2
Week of 16 October 2023: Quality is Attitude, Part 2

Little did I know when I wrote the column last week, "Quality is Attitude" that there would be a sequel, but here it is. We usually think of quality, and concomitant attitudes about quality, as we think of suppliers serving customers. So, what would you say about customers providing outstanding, unheard-of quality to their suppliers? Would you infer from this that such a company, if it existed, would have quality service so ingrained that their customers could rest assured the quality they receive in service and products is top notch? I have found such a company and unabashedly want to tell you about them and their president.

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Week of 2 October 2023: Quality--easier to receive than give?
Week of 2 October 2023: Quality--easier to receive than give?

Many of us recognize quality and we love to acquire it. Few of us love to create it. We'll explore the love of quality and how to create it this month.

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Week of 9 October 2023: Quality is Attitude
Week of 9 October 2023: Quality is Attitude

As we continue to think about quality in a different way this month, I have to say quality is attitude. I have seldom seen an angry person produce quality services or products. Likewise, I have never seen a glib, happy-go-lucky person produce quality either. Let's face it, quality is serious business. It can be a complicated business, too.

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Week of 25 September 2023: What to do if you are quietly cut
Week of 25 September 2023: What to do if you are quietly cut

It has been widely reported recently that companies are "quietly cutting" employees. If you are not familiar with this term, it means your job has been eliminated, but you haven't. You'll be put on the sidelines until a place can be found for you. Likely your department has been eliminated, but to avoid paying you a severance package, you are "being placed in inventory" until a position can be found that matches your perceived skill set.

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Week of 18 September 2023: Where does DEI fit into your hiring and promotion practices?
Week of 18 September 2023: Where does DEI fit into your hiring and promotion practices?

Extremely touchy subject, but I have never let that stop me before. DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) is at least on the lips of every human resource professional today. What should be your posture and response?

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Week of 11 September 2023: Smurfit and CCA Redux?
Week of 11 September 2023: Smurfit and CCA Redux?

It is being reported that Smurfit, of Dublin, Ireland, and WestRock, of Atlanta, Georgia, are in merger talks. These are interesting times indeed. I recall in 1986 when Smurfit bought Container Corporation of America (CCA) with the help of Morgan Stanley. In fact, the combined company name included Morgan Stanley. Long term, that merger did not end well.

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Week of 4 September 2023: Present at Work
Week of 4 September 2023: Present at Work

There is a new norm for work attendance. It was caused by the Covid lockdown, and if you are not aware of it, you must have been under a rock for the last three years. In the hourly ranks in our mills, it seems to be working itself out. Mills are adopting the twelve-hour day and hourly workers in many cases are working fourteen twelve-hour days out of each twenty-eight days, on various schedules of day and night shift. Maybe this will work and be widely adopted. That is a few hours more than a straight forty hour per week job, but who works forty hours per week. Salaried staff schedules have been more of a problem.

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Week of 21 August 2023: Pulp Rats, Week 3
Week of 21 August 2023: Pulp Rats, Week 3

Fos the Rat says, "We've been talking to Mr. Jim this month and he has told us some amazing stories. Let's see what he has for us this week."

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Week of 28 August 2023: Pulp Rats, Week 4
Week of 28 August 2023: Pulp Rats, Week 4

Fos the Rat says, "Every August, I look forward to taking over Mr. Jim's column and providing the insights of the Pulp Rats. This year we've done things a little differently, but here we are, already, at the end of the month. I hope you have enjoyed these interviews as much as I have enjoyed doing them. Let's see what Mr. Jim has to tell us today."

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Week of 14 August 2023: Pulp Rats, Week 2
Week of 14 August 2023: Pulp Rats, Week 2

As we discussed last week, this year we are using a different format. Fos the Rat is interviewing Mr. Jim in a side room at the Pulp Rat Convention. Last week's story relayed matters that can happen within one's company. This week, we'll move outside the walls and see what can go wrong when an outside company has an evil intent.

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Week of 7 August 2023: It is August, time for Pulp Rats
Week of 7 August 2023: It is August, time for Pulp Rats

Fos, the Rat, says, "I am going to use a slightly different format this year. Yes, the rat convention is going on as usual, but I have reserved a private room off the main convention floor and Mr. Jim has agreed to being interviewed concerning some of the situations he has seen over his fifty plus year career in this industry."

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Week of 31 July 2023: Too much?
Week of 31 July 2023: Too much?

How clean is clean? What are we willing to pay for things to be incrementally cleaner?

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Week of 24 July 2023: A new third party
Week of 24 July 2023: A new third party

Let's not forget what business we are in. Simply, that is to manufacture, convert, and/or print paper. There are many other activities in which mills must engage but these must be our focus--this is how we spin our invoice printer. I have lived through nearly the entire environmental era to date. Perhaps it is time for a new third party to rise up and help us with the entire environmental equation.

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Week of 17 July 2023: Reasonable people all want the same thing
Week of 17 July 2023: Reasonable people all want the same thing

By and large, we all want the same thing for ourselves, our families and our friends. Clean air, clean water, and a pleasant view of nature. In most places governments have disincentivized (read: one can go to jail) managers from disobeying when it come to environmental regulations, so regular and repeated excursions from what is expected are matters of reasonably respecting compliance requirements. So why do your mill's neighbors have an adversarial relationship with your mill? There can be several reasons for this.

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Week of 10 July 2023: Corruption and Hysteria
Week of 10 July 2023: Corruption and Hysteria

Conditions should not be us and them, but that is what they have become. My solution? At this point, you have no choice but to be absolutely transparent to your local neighbors and be cautious of the traveling rabble-rousers. This situation is no fault but our own.

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Week of 3 July 2023: Another year...what has changed?
Week of 3 July 2023: Another year...what has changed?

This is environmental/regulations month here at Nip Impressions. I must ask, what has changed in the past year? It appears the rhetoric has become shriller, the regulations more onerous and the government has become more invasive.

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Week of 26 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing, Part 4
Week of 26 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing, Part 4

Last week we talked about the missing doctor blades and how the solution cost the mill serious money through their own inability to manage their needs. I have a story from the other side of this issue as well.

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Week of 19 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing, Part 3
Week of 19 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing, Part 3

If I am being a bit hard on purchasing this month, it is because I often see purchasing as a silo in our mills and corporate structures. Purchasing is often thought of as price, terms and conditions. There is a lot more that purchasing can do for the mill. It is not all about pricing, terms and conditions.

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Week of 12 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing, Part 2
Week of 12 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing, Part 2

Today's purchasing professionals are much better than the ones I ran into early in my career, but there is still room for improvement. A great purchasing executive must be a strategic and tactical thinker, also keeping their company's ESG goals in mind.

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Week of 5 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing
Week of 5 June 2023: Let's talk about Purchasing

We can't start talking about purchasing without talking about corruption. This is my 54th June in industry, and I wish I could tell you that corruption in purchasing has diminished over this period, but I can't. One bright spot I know is a mill in Texas where a new purchasing agent eliminated all hats, pens, calendars, meals...any freebies provided by the vendors and suppliers. Sounds harsh? Once the camel gets its nose under the tent, there is no stopping.

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Week of 29 May 2023: 'til we meet again
Week of 29 May 2023: 'til we meet again

No, this is not a retirement announcement. I am merely pointing out that we are done with energy for this month. We'll be back with more energy columns in December. If you haven't figured it out yet, Nip Impressions features energy two months per year--May and December. Energy is that important. As I have said before, it has been important for my entire career and will be far into the future.

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Week of 22 May 2023: Absolute Energy Improvements to Implement now
Week of 22 May 2023: Absolute Energy Improvements to Implement now

I have been beating around this energy trends subject all month. It is time for me to get serious and give you some help. Are there any sure-fire energy solutions you can do now and not be required to back track later? Let us think about it for a minute and see what we can develop and what can be set up for continuous improvement.

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Week of 15 May 2023: Where are we going with electricity?
Week of 15 May 2023: Where are we going with electricity?

At this point in time, we have forgotten that using electricity as a widespread energy form is an almost new experience. My own grandparents, for instance, were born (early 1880's) when electric lights were brand new and only in the homes of the rich in concentrated urban places like New York City. It was years before they experienced these in the US Midwest. While electricity brought many advantages and improvements to life, business and industry, it was not without its negative side effects, too.

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Week of 8 May 2023: Energy Independence
Week of 8 May 2023: Energy Independence

Let's take a walk down nostalgia and fantasy lanes this week. I am so frustrated with energy issues; I see no other choice.

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Week of 1 May 2023: What can we say about energy that we have not said before?
Week of 1 May 2023: What can we say about energy that we have not said before?

It is energy month again, and, quite frankly, I am getting tired of talking about energy matters. As I have stated before, the first energy crisis occurred about four months after I received my undergraduate degree. We have been talking about energy ever since, not only in our mills, but in life in general. At first, the issue was, do we have enough? At the time, known petroleum reserves were about eight years, which would have gotten us to 1981. Obviously that was incorrect. Later in my career, climate change became the issue when the powers that be decided we face global warming instead of global cooling.

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Week of 24 April 2023: Finally, this safety month...your health
Week of 24 April 2023: Finally, this safety month...your health

When I was young, binge drinking seemed to be the personally destructive behavior of choice. In one mill where I worked, the staff was in the habit of having a beer blowout after every shutdown day. I don't know if that is still a widespread activity or not. Of course, drugs, especial fentanyl, are widespread today and kill many people. We have had this tragedy hit close to us. Today, however, I want to talk about overeating and weight. We all, including me, struggle with this.

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Week of 17 April 2023: Implant this in your mind now
Week of 17 April 2023: Implant this in your mind now

What I am about to describe can happen anywhere...work or home. Most of us would say our life is more important than material goods. However, here in our neighborhood, two people have lost their lives in the last six months because, in a rapidly developing situation, they thought saving material goods was paramount. They didn't have time to think it through.

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Week of 10 April 2023: Safety in life outside of work
Week of 10 April 2023: Safety in life outside of work

In recent years, companies have started emphasizing safety off their premises as well as at work, for anything that causes an employee to be missing from work is a cost. It is just a matter of how big that cost is.

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Week of 3 April 2023: Safety in Maintenance
Week of 3 April 2023: Safety in Maintenance

As we start safety month, we could almost repeat the issues discussed last month in maintenance month. We'll spend some time this month talking about attitudes as well. Attitudes have a lot to do with safety.

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Week of 27 March 2023: If it doesn't exist, you don't have to maintain it
Week of 27 March 2023: If it doesn't exist, you don't have to maintain it

We started off this month talking about obsolete equipment and processes left in place. This is not what I am talking about now. Here, I am talking largely about installed spares.

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Week of 20 March 2023: Better Maintenance through better materials
Week of 20 March 2023: Better Maintenance through better materials

There has been a vast improvement in the selection of materials for new capital projects during my 53-year career. There are new materials, upgrades to old materials and a general view of specifying materials more suitable for the application now than in prior decades. If you have read me for any length of time, you know I like galvanized steel for all structural components (indoors and out) and stainless for nearly everything else where appropriate in pulp and paper mills. Granted, there a bleach plants constructed of titanium, but those are more the exception than the rule. I like plastic, too. CPVC pipe, FRP tanks are your friend.

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Week of 13 March 2023: Cleanliness and Oil/Grease
Week of 13 March 2023: Cleanliness and Oil/Grease

Last week, we talked about the first step to better maintenance. That was cleanliness, as in wholesale cleanliness by removing dead and obsolete equipment. To me, the next thing after cleanliness is oil and grease--lubrication.

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Week of 6 March 2023: A Maintenance Travesty
Week of 6 March 2023: A Maintenance Travesty

If you have taken an automobile to a dealer's repair shop lately, you have no doubt noticed how clean and neat the facility is. I have been wheeled into operating rooms in prestigious hospitals with more clutter and cobwebs than one will find in the typical auto dealer repair shop. Automobile dealers work at a high charge out rate, out of a rate book. They have a constant struggle between the profitability demanded by their owners and the resistance of the customers to high prices. The repair shop is a profit center. The repair services provided by the maintenance department in your pulp or paper mill are treated as a cost center, a cost center the mill does not want to own. Big difference from the automobile dealership repair shop. Perhaps this is at least one reason why pulp and paper mill maintenance centers are so unkempt and trashy.

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Week of 27 February 2023: A novel use for transportation intelligence
Week of 27 February 2023: A novel use for transportation intelligence

Your mill has all sorts of motive equipment, from skid steer loaders to clamp trucks to over-the-road transportation providers. The outside suppliers who maintain this equipment have a tremendous amount of valuable information that can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes on a monthly basis. The key is how you approach accessing this information.

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Week of 20 February 2023: Transportation--Electric v. Petroleum Fuels
Week of 20 February 2023: Transportation--Electric v. Petroleum Fuels

At this point the decision to go electric in your motive equipment or trucks is an easy one. If the vehicles are used for short range and there is charging time, go electric if it makes economic sense. For everything else, don't even bother doing the calculation.

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Week of 13 February 2023: Corporate Travel
Week of 13 February 2023: Corporate Travel

A lot of money leaks out of a company through the travel budget. It does not need to be this way.

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Week of 6 February 2023: A bit about railroads
Week of 6 February 2023: A bit about railroads

It is transportation month and I will be the first to admit that this column will likely not make you any money. But occasionally, we should have a little education and fun without worrying about ROI, eh? Over the years, when I have brought up these matters with individuals, I get, "Well I didn't know that." So perhaps I can give you a little education, too.

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Week of 30 January 2023: Now you must run it
Week of 30 January 2023: Now you must run it

If you are building statues or monuments, when the construction is done, you are done. We don't build statues and monuments in the pulp and paper industry.

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Week of 23 January 2023: Capital Projects: Improper Cash Flow Planning
Week of 23 January 2023: Capital Projects: Improper Cash Flow Planning

If you have spent your career in the shelter of large, rated companies, you likely have not experienced this problem. Some explanation. By "rated" I mean a company that carries a rating by a Dun & Bradstreet, Fitch, or some other recognized rating agency. Most such companies fund their capital projects through their corporate treasury.

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Week of 16 January 2023: Second Number Uttered
Week of 16 January 2023: Second Number Uttered

Very long time reader Dene Taylor wrote me a note after last week's column (Week of 9 January 2023 "First Number Uttered") suggesting the second number uttered is the time to complete a project. Mike Higgins offered a similar comment. This is so true and in line with the items I covered the first week of this series, the week of 2 January 2023. I have seen so many schedules blown over the years that they are uncountable. The worst are the rebuild schedules, for they are the ones that take an operating machine out of production for a period of time, endangering the customer base. There is a lot of pressure to make these as short as possible.

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Week of 9 January 2023: First Number Uttered
Week of 9 January 2023: First Number Uttered

Capital project budgets suffer from "first number uttered" syndrome. Whatever project cost number gets to the executive suite first is the one that every decision hangs on. That number may arrive from a back of the envelope exercise, an article read in a trade publication, or some other unresearched source. The corollary to "first number uttered" is, "surely we can beat competitor x's reported costs." More projects have been doomed by these kinds of thinking than any other I have ever known, and remember, we're talking about my fifty-three-year career here.

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Week of 2 January 2023: Capital Projects Month
Week of 2 January 2023: Capital Projects Month

What continues to amaze me are the stories of projects gone bad. Large, small, makes no difference, there are still for me, after nearly 53 years of watching projects from all sides, reports of disastrous projects. In this time period, experienced and learned people have brought forth courses, books and institutes to tackle the subject of project management, yet my side gig of being an expert witness in construction lawsuits continues to thrive. These are the top five reasons I think capital construction projects fail...

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Week of 26 December 2022: One final thought on energy savings
Week of 26 December 2022: One final thought on energy savings

The 10,000-pound elephant in the room is that old digester that you abandoned in place. Or maybe it is an old paper machine, or an old bleach plant. Managers have gotten really cute about abandoning old equipment in place rather than take a write-down. The error in this is that one has no idea what kind of energy consumption or fluids consumption (water, lubricants and so forth) are taking place in that abandoned unit operations.

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Week of 19 December 2022: There are always many new ways to save energy
Week of 19 December 2022: There are always many new ways to save energy

The first energy crisis started within four months of my graduating from college. You might say I, and anyone younger than me, has spent their entire career energy centric. Yes, at times energy became relatively less expensive than at others, but it was always there.

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Week of 12 December 2022: More Energy Follies
Week of 12 December 2022: More Energy Follies

I think my long-term proclamation that all energy is political (which is proven true every day in the popular press), licenses me to wander a bit from our normal management and technical topics here as we attempt to figure out how to get the pulp and paper industry through this coming Northern Hemisphere winter.

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Week of 5 December 2022: Where's the energy coming from?
Week of 5 December 2022: Where's the energy coming from?

In May of each year, we talk about Energy Trends, and we wrap up in December with Power & Energy. Energy is an important topic in the industrial and post-industrial world. As I have said many times, modern energy is all politics. It doesn't help that most politicians and journalists did not go to STEM schools for their secondary education.

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Week of 28 November 2022: When it is time to break the rules and innovate anyway
Week of 28 November 2022: When it is time to break the rules and innovate anyway

So, what have we learned from this series of columns?

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Week of 21 November 2022: Sometimes you want execution, not innovation
Week of 21 November 2022: Sometimes you want execution, not innovation

Discerning when to be innovative or not is just as important as the art of innovation itself.

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Week of 14 November 2022: Another innovation example
Week of 14 November 2022: Another innovation example

Be creative, but make sure you are creative from many points of view. Additionally, don't get hung up on your idea, there may be a better one.

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Week of 7 November 2022: How to get started in innovation
Week of 7 November 2022: How to get started in innovation

I think anyone can train their brain to be creative. It is a matter of recognizing and knocking down the subconscious mental barriers in your thinking. I believe most are not creative because they won't let themselves explore the possibilities. I know this happens to me even though I am aware of this barrier.

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Week of 31 October 2022: Quality in your products
Week of 31 October 2022: Quality in your products

I suspect when I started this series four weeks ago and you saw the word quality, you immediately thought about the products or services your company provides. That is normal. However, we first must get our house in order, starting with ourselves, before we talk about the products or services our company provides.

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Week of 24 October 2022: Quality in your customer relations
Week of 24 October 2022: Quality in your customer relations

As we talked about attitude last week, you should have picked up some ideas for making sure your customer relations exude quality, but there are a few more items I would like to emphasize.

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Week of 17 October 2022: Quality in your attitude
Week of 17 October 2022: Quality in your attitude

Generally, I think that a cheerful countenance and an empathetic attitude convey a person of quality, and like I have said in other parts of this series, an aura of quality is contagious throughout your entire sphere of influence.

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Week of 10 October 2022: Quality with your phone
Week of 10 October 2022: Quality with your phone

The modern phone is a miracle device. The downside is that it may expose us in multifaceted ways that are not flattering.

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Week of 3 October 2022: Quality in your workspace
Week of 3 October 2022: Quality in your workspace

Quality starts at home, and that home is often your home, your car, and your workspace. Organization exudes quality. Ever walked into an automobile dealership? Was it disheveled or spotless? How would you react if you walked into an automobile dealership that was untidy? If we are going to talk about quality, we must start with ourselves in the places we live and work.

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Week of 26 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 4
Week of 26 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 4

Hidden Costs

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Week of 19 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 3
Week of 19 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 3

Nothing is free

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Week of 12 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 2
Week of 12 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 2

Spinning the Invoice Printer

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Week of 5 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 1
Week of 5 September 2022: The Eclectic Management Series, part 1

So, you want to be a consultant

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Week of 29 August 2022: And everything else
Week of 29 August 2022: And everything else

Well, after a few days, the Great Mother came back. She did not mention gorging herself and neither did anyone else. Great Mother, "We have gotten very far behind, and our time is almost up. Til, can you come forward and read the remaining cases? If we have time, we will take them up at next year's conference." Til came forward.

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Week of 22 August 2022: Threats
Week of 22 August 2022: Threats

The Rats took a break for a couple of days. We found a pond for swimming and had a good time. On the way back to the meeting area, we went past a place where the Big Things eat food that they heat up very quickly. Out behind, there were bins full of discarded food, so we had quite a feast. The Great Mother got sick from gorging herself and was very embarrassed. The Great Mother always takes her role very seriously and is very conscious of her decorum. Gorging herself was out of character. She must have felt quite ill, for when we reconvened the Junior Mother was presiding. "Attention, please!" she called us to order. "The Great Mother is a bit under the weather and has asked me to preside over this session. Today, we are going to quickly look at cases where Big Things threatened the companies for which they work. Clerk, please read the cases."

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Week of 15 August 2022: The Big Things are up to their old tricks
Week of 15 August 2022: The Big Things are up to their old tricks

After a brief recess, the Great Mother called us together again. "What is on the docket for today?"

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Week of 8 August 2022: The Rats find a new problem
Week of 8 August 2022: The Rats find a new problem

After three lights, the Great Mother called us together again. "We have heard a particularly disturbing story," she began. "It seems as though the Big Things want to be known for protecting this whole place where we live, but some of them take what they call shortcuts at times. The RBI, or Rat Bureau of Investigation, has been looking into this. I'll let them explain." Phineas Kirby came to the front of the room...

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Week of 1 August 2022: Fos takes control of the computer
Week of 1 August 2022: Fos takes control of the computer

By Jim Thompson interpreting for Fos the Rat ... Yes, it is August again and its is corruption month at Paperitalo Publications. We rats have observed in the past year that the human engagement in corruption is not limited to pulp and paper mills. This last statement may sound naïve, but one must understand our methods of communications are rather limited (basically just walking around and talking to each other) so we perhaps don't get all the information Big Things do.

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Week of 25 July 2022: HR and Regulations
Week of 25 July 2022: HR and Regulations

As we wrap up Environmental and Regulations Month here at Paperitalo, we would be remiss if we did not mention the minefield that regulations relating to Human Resources have become.

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Week of 18 July 2022: Don't make this regulatory mistake
Week of 18 July 2022: Don't make this regulatory mistake

Don't think you can turn regulations into a marketing advantage. Thinking that a customer base must buy a certain good or service and hence this will make an automatic market for you is a potential mistake.

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Week of 11 July 2022: When Regulations get Political
Week of 11 July 2022: When Regulations get Political

The general intent of regulations is to keep order in society and keep the population safe. A dictionary definition of regulations is "a rule or directive made and maintained by an authority." My cynical version is this: "those who have power by fiat telling those who own assets what to do." Over the decades, we have seen many actions that follow my definition here in the pulp and paper industry.

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Week of 4 July 2022: Asphyxiation by Regulation
Week of 4 July 2022: Asphyxiation by Regulation

A little regulation is probably good, but a lot of regulation chokes business to death.

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Week of 27 June 2022: We interrupt the Purchasing Series to talk about Energy Again
Week of 27 June 2022: We interrupt the Purchasing Series to talk about Energy Again

Sorry about that, but the energy news is coming thick and fast for all of us these days. I am sure you remember old Jim telling you to carefully preserve your boilers, regardless of what form of energy they consume (I have also said these are the only types of idled assets to save). I hope you have heeded my advice. It appears the rapid transition to "Green Energy" sources appears to have some problems.

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Week of 20 June 2022: Purchasing and Gifts
Week of 20 June 2022: Purchasing and Gifts

A tough subject and one all of us, not matter what side of the negotiating table we sit, should treat with respect, not forgetting our fiduciary duty.

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Week of 13 June 2022: Procurement Today
Week of 13 June 2022: Procurement Today

Today, we need to know the delivery status of items way before their expected delivery date. We even need to know what ship they are on and where that ship is at any given moment. As shortages continue, this becomes even more important.

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Week of 6 June 2022: Procurement Opportunities
Week of 6 June 2022: Procurement Opportunities

The purchasing department is an area of great opportunities. It is also a place where all the profits of the mill can be dribbled away, and a potential source of grossly unimaginable corruption. The purchasing department must be carefully managed.

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Week of 30 May 2022: Always use less
Week of 30 May 2022: Always use less

As we wrap up this month on energy trends, there is one certainty over which you have complete control. That certainty is this...energy you don't use frees you from others' control. If we think of a pulp and paper mill as a "black box" this means that energy we use inside the mill that we generate ourselves frees us from the vagaries of the markets and external suppliers.

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Week of 23 May 2022: Energy Security
Week of 23 May 2022: Energy Security

If you have read this column for any length of time, I am about to repeat something you have heard before. I am always in favor of removing obsolete and unused equipment quickly with one glaring exception. That exception is this: power plants.

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Week of 16 May 2022: It's Electrifying!
Week of 16 May 2022: It's Electrifying!

The answer to dirty energy today seems to be electricity. For mobile transportation, cars and trucks, electricity moves the emissions from many points (tail pipes) to either single points (power stations) or theoretically no points (solar, wind and hydroelectric). The first thing we need to understand is that our choice of energy is cost, ease of use, and emotions. Notice that glaringly absent from this list is science. Energy choices have long since left science out of the equation.

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Week of 9 May 2022: Energy is Important
Week of 9 May 2022: Energy is Important

Of course, it is. You ask how I can write a column about this. What we don't realize is how rapidly and how important energy has become to modern societies. The following is a column I wrote for my hometown newspaper about six months ago. While not about energy, it describes a real scenario, that while current, could have easily been widespread conditions about 70 years ago in the United States. The boiler, an important object in this piece, was manufactured only about sixty years ago.

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Week of 2 May 2022: Energy Trends Month
Week of 2 May 2022: Energy Trends Month

On the Nip Impressions calendar, May is energy trends month. There is hardly a timelier topic, except perhaps food trends, but Nip Impressions does not cover food and my doctor wants me to lose ten pounds, so I try not to think about it. I would guess a good half of the headlines in the popular press today are about energy. These then fall into two categories, security of supply and what to do about, what I will call "dirty" energy.

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Week of 25 April 2022: Bragging about safety records (and more)
Week of 25 April 2022: Bragging about safety records (and more)

I was doing some consulting in a mill a number of years ago that had a sign by their entrance that stated they had won some "safety award of the year" some years before the time I visited. I chided them and asked what they had been doing since the time of the award? Obviously, they had not won it again. Unfortunately, about five years after my visit, they had a triple fatality at that mill--contractors on an outage. There are a couple of issues I would like to unpack from my opening paragraph.

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Week of 18 April 2022: (Legitimate) drug use on outages (and more)
Week of 18 April 2022: (Legitimate) drug use on outages (and more)

Many of us take OTC (Over The Counter) drugs. These can be abused, too. Especially on outages. I'll tell a story on myself...

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Week of 11 April 2022: Without much time to think
Week of 11 April 2022: Without much time to think

There was a fatal automobile accident in our neighborhood lately that can serve as an excellent study on how we think when there is little time to sort out the situation. There are lessons here for all of us.

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Week of 4 April 2022: A Safety Resource
Week of 4 April 2022: A Safety Resource

I like to remind people of the following resource any time I get a chance. It is a good way to start off safety month here at Paperitalo Publications. It is simply this. On our website, PaperMoney (www.globalpapermoney.com), we have been keeping track of the industry's safety performance. In its sixth year now, the department, "Reported Risks" is a current chronicle of "Risks: Fires, Fatalities and Catastrophes." It is a good learning resource and a source of endless safety meeting subjects.

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Week of 28 March 2022: Additive manufacturing of spare parts moves to an essential activity
Week of 28 March 2022: Additive manufacturing of spare parts moves to an essential activity

It has been over a decade ago that I started talking about manufacturing your own spare parts with additive manufacturing. It is now moving from an interesting idea to a vital necessity. Between logistics problems and world turmoil, the spare parts needed for your machine may not be available. Most, except those of the most critical metallurgy, you can make in your own shop with less skills than a first-class welder or machinist.

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Week of 21 March 2022: Importance of Lubrication
Week of 21 March 2022: Importance of Lubrication

Over the years, I have talked about this miserable old mill that I worked at long ago. When I was young, when I had a choice, I always ran towards opportunities that had lots of problems. My philosophy was that situations in trouble were the best way to advance your career. I have never been interested in career safety, it is boring and leads to complacency. So, I end up at this mill, in the prime of my career. It is large, ancient and a mess...

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Week of 14 March 2022: Will vs. Means
Week of 14 March 2022: Will vs. Means

We have more aids for maintenance today than ever before. Detection instruments, storeroom software, built in monitors, training, you name it. Maintenance has never had more help than is available today. So, why do we still have maintenance failures?

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Week of 7 March 2022: Maintenance Month
Week of 7 March 2022: Maintenance Month

Probably after August (Pulp Rats Month), Maintenance Month is my favorite month of the year on the Paperitalo editorial calendar. My dad was notorious for avoiding maintenance. It was an expense he loathed in the same manner as many mill managers and operations executives do. I followed his example for a while, saw the fruits of such policies and became a maintenance fanatic. A couple of old family incidents are in order.

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Week of 28 February 2022: Logistics up close and personal
Week of 28 February 2022: Logistics up close and personal

I don't think most mills realize how close we are to interacting with robots every day. The box plants are ahead of us on this. The new Super Plants require about two thirds the employment for the same level of productivity. They are all 110" corrugators and they have a heavy component of robotics. I am expecting to see a flurry of box plant upgrades between now and 2030. Super plants won't be super then--they will be the norm. Back in the papermill, a couple of ready for here and now human aids are available.

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Week of 21 February 2022: Frequent Flier Miles for your new Refiner
Week of 21 February 2022: Frequent Flier Miles for your new Refiner

In today's world, you may want to think long and hard about how the new or replacement piece of equipment (or other vital supplies) reach your mill. If you can afford to wait 12 - 18 weeks for those special refiner plates to arrive, put them on a ship. If you are losing production or quality every day because you do not have them, fly 'em, the most economical overall cost.

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Week of 14 February 2022: This old term is your friend now: FOB
Week of 14 February 2022: This old term is your friend now: FOB

Back in the old days, we used the term "FOB." This meant "Freight on Board." There are other terms these days, but they mean nearly the same thing. One could purchase items "FOB seller's dock" or "FOB purchaser's dock." Internal logistics personnel have, for the last couple of decades, thought it smart to handle the logistics and freight themselves and purchase nearly everything "FOB seller's dock." They think they are saving money and justifying their existence. No more. In today's world, I would recommend that you purchase nearly everything, especially capital goods, "FOB purchaser's dock."

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Week of 7 February 2022: What are you doing about logistics?
Week of 7 February 2022: What are you doing about logistics?

If you are like most facilities these days, your transportation system, outside the fence, if not in shambles, is at least limping along. What to do?

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Week of 31 January 2022: Capital Project Done...or is it?
Week of 31 January 2022: Capital Project Done...or is it?

Give your operations and maintenance folks the help they need to make the project truly successful.

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Week of 24 January 2022: After the approval--managing the capital project
Week of 24 January 2022: After the approval--managing the capital project

I've often been asked, "how often should our project team meet once our project is under way?" My answer is based on your average spend over the life of the project and at peak times (especially in rebuilds).

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Week of 17 January 2022: What is acceptable risk in a capital project?
Week of 17 January 2022: What is acceptable risk in a capital project?

I have written assessments on lots of projects. Every one of them follows the same pattern in the same order. Three questions: 1. What are the markets? 2. What are the raw materials? 3. What are the assets (including tangible assets and human assets) that you place between (1) and (2) to have a successful project? If you don't start here, your chances of success are very low.

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Week of 3 January 2022: How to manage your capital budget this year
Week of 3 January 2022: How to manage your capital budget this year

Most of the people I talk to today have not prepared or managed capital budgets under the conditions we find ourselves in now. Well, I saw my first capital budget in an industrial setting in March of 1970. Perhaps I can help you a bit--we had similar issues back then as those we are facing today--the administration in the White House in those days thought they could control inflation with price controls which caused me to miss two planned 25 cent raises as a co-op student, from $2.75 per hour, to $3.00 per hour to $3.25/hour, over a period of 18 months. Glad I could do my part to help tame inflation; as a student operating on the pay as you go plan (no loans), one makes too much money anyway.

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Week of 10 January 2022: Upside down thinking when it comes to capital planning
Week of 10 January 2022: Upside down thinking when it comes to capital planning

Have you ever had a conversation like this? "I was going to by a car from Brand X because it is cheaper and has more features than Brand Y." "Well, you obviously bought Brand Y. Why?" "Brand X didn't have any in stock and didn't know when they would get any." So, really, in the end, Brand X didn't mean anything because you could not get Brand X. Their price could have been twice the price or half the price of Brand Y, it just didn't make any difference. You may find yourself in this place with certain pieces of capital equipment now. You may have to become a "satisfier" instead of an "optimizer."

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Week of 27 December 2021: Is there a magic elixir for an energy marketing advantage?
Week of 27 December 2021: Is there a magic elixir for an energy marketing advantage?

I don't think this is a one size fits all question as you look at your marketing going forward. Some customers will be interested in your energy usage, others will be interested in what your products can do to save them costs in their manufacturing and logistics schemes. Please note that in all scenarios in this column, I will be talking primarily about business-to-business sales, not business to consumers.

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Week of 20 December 2021: Changing ROI in Power & Energy
Week of 20 December 2021: Changing ROI in Power & Energy

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal which was discussing the write down coming in some energy assets, such as coal reserves, as the economy switches to "greener" energy sources. Like it or not, agree with it or not, there seems to be a move afoot to completely change our acceptable energy sources. You can interpret this as follows: energy is going to get more expensive, a lot more expensive, in this new world.

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Week of 13 December 2021: Identity Energy
Week of 13 December 2021: Identity Energy

What concerns me today is that we seem to be more interested in the form of energy rather than its efficiency or cost. Energy has taken on somewhat of an "identity politics" persona. In earlier days, it was security of supply and efficiency. Today it is products of combustion that seems to garner the attention.

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Week of 6 December 2021: Now more than ever
Week of 6 December 2021: Now more than ever

If you have read this column for any length of time, you know that old Jim has told you countless times to carefully mothball energy assets that are out of favor, for sooner or later, they will come back into fashion again. This statement is a corollary to my principle, all energy decisions are political. This calendar year has seen a sudden swing to an overwhelming global opinion that climate change is "settled science" and we can't decarbonize fast enough. Couple this with ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) principles and boards of directors worldwide are moving at warp speed towards these extremely popular ideas.

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Week of 29 November 2021: Innovation in the near future
Week of 29 November 2021: Innovation in the near future

The components and devices to do what I will describe here exists now. Someone just needs to assemble the bits and pieces.

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Week of 22 November 2021: Innovation is possible for anyone
Week of 22 November 2021: Innovation is possible for anyone

If you think you can't innovate, the problem is purely mental. Creativity can be learned and you can use it in many ways to make your work environment more productive and safer.

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Week of 15 November 2021: Innovation speed
Week of 15 November 2021: Innovation speed

Getting innovation right is crucial to optimizing profitability. Too soon, and the equipment may not be able to deliver as promised. Too late and your competition may have already eclipsed you.

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Week of 8 November 2021: Innovation as you go
Week of 8 November 2021: Innovation as you go

There have been many attempts to institutionalize innovation. Sometimes the domiciles of higher education seem to think they have a lock on innovation capabilities. Likely, in some areas, they do. The innovation with near term payoff, however, often takes place at the millsite. It is an activity in which everyone can participate and can be made into a fun (and profitable) activity if structured correctly.

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Week of 1 November 2021: Innovation Month
Week of 1 November 2021: Innovation Month

We are in the process of revitalizing and restarting the Light Green Machine Institute, a 501c3 educational institute we created back around 2008. The Light Green Machine Institute's mission statement is "Holistically reducing the environmental impact of pulp and paper processing."

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Week of 25 October 2021: The fourth step in Quality
Week of 25 October 2021: The fourth step in Quality

The fourth step in quality is the training and morale of your personnel. All your employees need to be thoroughly trained for the job at hand and not only trained but taught to think so that they can take action when they see something occur that can affect quality.

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Week of 18 October 2021: The third step in Quality
Week of 18 October 2021: The third step in Quality

The third step in Quality is the quality of your raw materials. Some might have thought this is the second step. No, it's the third, for you don't know the quality of raw materials required until you know the quality you are promising your customers.

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Week of 11 October 2021: The second step in Quality
Week of 11 October 2021: The second step in Quality

The second step in Quality is a solid standard of product performance. If you are in the tissue and towel business, these are likely internal standards. If you are in the containerboard or other paper products businesses, these are likely recognized industry standards. You don't know what quality is if you can't define it.

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Week of 4 October 2021: The first step in Quality
Week of 4 October 2021: The first step in Quality

The first step in the path to producing a quality product is the housekeeping in your facility. I know I sound like a broken record, but in truth, housekeeping is the first step in many actions in your mill or converting facility. I have never seen quality products consistently produced in dirty or sloppy facilities. It is just not possible.

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Week of 27 September 2021: Get out of your office
Week of 27 September 2021: Get out of your office

If you are the top person on your site, get out of your office and visit your people regularly. I recommend 6 a.m. rounds, with flashlight and small notepad in hand to take notes on what you find (or put them on your phone). Shake hands, get to know your people. If you are over a large facility, don't do it all in a day, but make sure you visit every department at least once per week.

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Week of 20 September 2021: Human/Machine Interface today
Week of 20 September 2021: Human/Machine Interface today

Where human/machine interface is going in our paper mills is hard to guess, it seems to be just at the cusp of arriving as we implement Industry 4.0. On one hand, it will make us better papermakers, but on the other, like my automobile experiences, we will likely have many of the unconscious dependencies...

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Week of 13 September 2021: Video Games and Paper Machine Operation
Week of 13 September 2021: Video Games and Paper Machine Operation

I was assistant project manager in the engineering department at a mill back in the early 1980's. I have referenced this experience a number of times in this column over the years. One of the upgrades we made at the time was to go from pneumatic controls to digital computer control. This means that the machine, which only a few days ago was operated from benchboard on the floor was now operated from a control room. Now a mere month later, the bench boards are gone. Keep in mind, the crews on this machine had been running it from benchboards for about 14 years...

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Week of 6 September 2021: Management Today
Week of 6 September 2021: Management Today

This is my 52nd September in the workforce. I think management is tougher than ever. Think about it--when I started even OSHA did not exist. People were glad to have jobs and they put up with all sorts of things at work that simply aren't tolerated today, both from the standpoint of society's mores and from a labor regulatory perspective.

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Week of 30 August 2021: Fos wraps up for 2021
Week of 30 August 2021: Fos wraps up for 2021

Silas, the CEO of REO, wasn't finished last week. He had another story he wanted to relate.

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Week of 23 August 2021: Fos continues...
Week of 23 August 2021: Fos continues...

After a few lights of recreation, the Great Mother convened us once again. "Rats," she announced, "Let me introduce the Rat 'Em Out Detective Agency. You can just call them "REO" for short." Six wizened looking old rats came to the front of the room.

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Week of 16 August 2021: Fos continues...
Week of 16 August 2021: Fos continues...

The Great Mother called the meeting to order after a short break. "Who has a case for us?" Dis came up the side aisle. There were a lot of rats at the meeting. They had been attracted by the thoughts of a trip to the Big Things capital city and to their building where the biggest rats of all congregated. The Great Mother seemed to be in a benevolent mood, "And what is your story, my child?" "In the mill where I work, there is this female Big Thing. I should say, 'there was.' She is in jail now."

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Week of 9 August 2021: Fos continues...
Week of 9 August 2021: Fos continues...

The Rats arrived at the big building with the big half ball on top. What we didn't count on is how bad it stinks inside! Don't know how the Big Things stand it, but after a day or two, we pretty much got used to it. I guess because it has been here a long time and gotten saturated with the residuals of Big Thing's activities causes it to stink so. The Great Mother called us to order. "Thank you for coming. As usual, the Big Things have been working overtime again creating havoc and committing crimes throughout the land. What's on the docket today?"

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Week of 2 August 2021: Already, it is corruption month again!
Week of 2 August 2021: Already, it is corruption month again!

By Jim Thompson interpreting for Fos the Rat: You Big Things may think we rats are in the dark about your activities. Of course, if you have been reading this column for any length of time, you know that is not true. I (Fos) have been reporting on your misdeeds and malfeasance since August of 2015. Yes, this makes the seventh year Mr. Jim has yielded his column to me for the month of August.

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Week of 26 July 2021: Environmentalism--an (un)educated public
Week of 26 July 2021: Environmentalism--an (un)educated public

If you have read this series of July columns, you might be thinking I take a dim view of environmentalism principles. I don't--as long as they are measured in their application or make good economic sense. Don't trust the public to be informed. I'll use an example that is not necessarily environmental to prove my point and to show you some of the ways misinformation abounds...

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Week of 19 July 2021: Environmentalism--Marketing
Week of 19 July 2021: Environmentalism--Marketing

You would be hard pressed to find a topic or concept more universally and shamelessly exploited as a marketing aid than environmentalism. Positive vibes from environmentalism are used by nearly every marketer on earth to show alignment of their products and services with clean air, clean water and less landfill waste. It is a safe bet--who doesn't want clean air, clean water and less landfill waste? Sadly, as an industry, we were a bit slow on the uptake.

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Week of 12 July 2021: Environmentalism--Weaponized
Week of 12 July 2021: Environmentalism--Weaponized

Never heard of the Sunrise Movement? You should check them out--www.sunrisemovement.org. On 28 June 2021, they blocked all entrances to the White House to get attention. Some were promptly arrested. One might characterize the Sunrise Movement as Greenpeace on steroids. Youth oriented, the Sunrise Movement has a multifaceted activism focusing on the environment and the Green New Deal. On their website, they list twelve principles. You will have to deal with them.

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Week of 5 July 2021: Environmentalism--Science
Week of 5 July 2021: Environmentalism--Science

In the innocent days of the 1970's, the US Environmental Protection Agency was formed. It came into being on 9 July 1970. Other countries had formed similar bodies in the same era. Sweden's was founded in 1967, for instance. Others were formed as late as the 1990's. Back in those days, air and water pollution were spewing forth with little control and little was being done about it. The correct approach was science coupled with appropriate regulations. This has happened worldwide now, by one of two methods.

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Week of 28 June 2021: Procurement Expediting Tales, part 3
Week of 28 June 2021: Procurement Expediting Tales, part 3

In this final set of scenarios, I was in the role of Services Manager (responsible for maintenance, engineering, and the technical and power departments) at a mill in Ohio. We were having trouble with contaminants in our recycled fiber supply. The state-of-the-art solution at the time was to replace screen baskets with holes with ones with very small slots. Of course, like all such situations, this solution had spread around the industry as fast as it would on Facebook today (but this was pre-internet). We had screen baskets of the requisite specifications on order, but delivery was months away.

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Week of 21 June 2021: Procurement Expediting Tales, part 2
Week of 21 June 2021: Procurement Expediting Tales, part 2

We were in the middle of engineering and planning a rebuild. Our instrument engineer comes strolling into my office one morning. He's concerned about the delivery of the new distributed control system. On the paper machine, we were going from bench boards on the operating floor (with pneumatic controls) to a digital system in a new control room. Huge change. Our instrument engineer, I'll call him Jeff, was getting conflicting stories from the supplier concerning delivery. I told him to make a couple of more calls, and if he was not happy with the answers he was getting, we would jump on a plane. We jumped on a plane.

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Week of 14 June 2021: Procurement Expediting Tales, part 1
Week of 14 June 2021: Procurement Expediting Tales, part 1

As I mentioned last week, we are in a new era of shortages, delays and high costs. Back when many of you engineers and purchasing agents in the mills in the United States were still watching Sesame Street, some of us were going to extraordinary lengths to get the goods our mills needed to stay on schedule and operating. You may need to start thinking this way, too--but be sure to read the safety cautions at the end of this column.

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Week of 7 June 2021: Procurement Month Arrived Early This Year
Week of 7 June 2021: Procurement Month Arrived Early This Year

This is the month I talk about procurement. If you buyers or purchasing agents have been moping around for years, thinking you are not getting any recognition, those days are over. Suddenly, you are the center of attention. Pricing and schedule are paramount these days.

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Week of 31 May 2021: Energy Decision Caution
Week of 31 May 2021: Energy Decision Caution

As I wrap up the energy columns for this month, I wanted to leave you with a few words of caution.

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Week of 24 May 2021: Energy Strategy--does this make sense?
Week of 24 May 2021: Energy Strategy--does this make sense?

We have traditionally calculated the investment in energy projects based on savings against alternatives, fuel supply availability or regulatory requirements. What if we drag the marketing folks into the equation and ask them how much more product they could sell or what kind of a competitive advantage they could realize if they could say your facilities and products are more favorable on the carbon question than other manufacturers? Is there a piece of the economic question that could be answered with this discussion?

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Week of 17 May 2021: When your infrastructure is worth more than your mill
Week of 17 May 2021: When your infrastructure is worth more than your mill

For decades I have been saying the pulp and paper industry is one of the most exciting sectors in the manufacturing world. It is full of surprises, never ceases to be entertaining and is continually offering new ways to succeed. Now an outfit called Allrise Capital has once again reinforced my beliefs in this thinking.

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Week of 3 May 2021: What is your energy strategy now?
Week of 3 May 2021: What is your energy strategy now?

Regardless of your personal beliefs or the science you (do) (do not) believe, carbon neutrality is in your energy future. There are many high-profile companies and CEOs involved in the "CEO Carbon Neutral Challenge" including our own advertising partner, SAP. The Carbon Neutral Challenge has a list of six guiding principles.

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Week of 10 May 2021: What is your energy strategy now? Part 2
Week of 10 May 2021: What is your energy strategy now? Part 2

Here in the United States, with a change in administrations, there is often a change in energy policy. It seems no different this time. If you will recall, many times I have said all energy policy is political. This has not changed. My confidential touchstone on energy activity tells me energy research requests are up, too.

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Week of 26 April 2021: The Extremes of Safety--Discernment
Week of 26 April 2021: The Extremes of Safety--Discernment

Occasionally you will run into a safety situation that is not covered by your training. What to do? My approach to such situations is multi-pronged. Urgency, risk, obvious and unknown are adjectives I would use to describe my approach in these matters, coupled with a heightened awareness of my surroundings.

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Week of 19 April 2021: The Extremes of Safety--Routine
Week of 19 April 2021: The Extremes of Safety--Routine

Last week, we talked about excitement creating dangerous safety conditions. This week let's talk about the opposite--routine creating dangerous safety conditions. Because we work around large machinery, clamp trucks and so forth, which, for the most part behave as they should, we become complacent that about these items. Paper machines can kill--and they have. Clamp trucks can kill--and they have. Dynamic accidents (things flying apart, things falling) are dangerous.

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Week of 12 April 2021: The Extremes of Safety--Excitement
Week of 12 April 2021: The Extremes of Safety--Excitement

One of the most dangerous times, at work, home or wherever is when we get excited. When excited, we often don't think about safety. How many times have you come into the mill excited (perhaps by the traffic you had just driven in)? How many times have you left the mill excited, with plans to go on vacation or do something else exciting when you got off shift that day? How do we fix this?

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Week of 5 April 2021: The Safety Conflict
Week of 5 April 2021: The Safety Conflict

The pressure to meet production goals is directly in conflict with safety procedures unless you work hard and creatively to take the conflict out of this scenario, for there is a conflict here, no matter what anyone says. In reality, doing tasks the safest way is often the most efficient way.

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Week of 29 March 2021: Boneyard Blues
Week of 29 March 2021: Boneyard Blues

I hate boneyards. These piles of junk provide a false sense of security, causing clueless managers to think there is something there that can get them out of a maintenance jam. I haven't kept track, but my perception is that boneyards in my past caused far more problems than they cured.

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Week of 22 March 2021: Overdependence
Week of 22 March 2021: Overdependence

From July 1925 to December 1970, Popular Science Monthly, a familiar magazine here in the US, ran a feature called Gus Wilson's Model Garage. The typical story was an automobile owner who came to the garage with a vexing car problem. Gus, through his experience, wit and intuition, could figure out the problem and put the driver back on the road, problem solved. In our pulp and paper mills today, perhaps we need more Gus's.

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Week of 15 March 2021: Maintenance--it is not just wrenches and volt meters any longer
Week of 15 March 2021: Maintenance--it is not just wrenches and volt meters any longer

Risking raising the hackles of the IT department, this writer thinks it is time to fold IT into maintenance, for that is what it often is. IT should be held accountable for downtime, just like regular maintenance. Downtime should be broken into scheduled and unscheduled, just like regular maintenance and KPI's should be kept on it. Recently, one major company in our industry experienced a ransomware attack. Within two months, the CEO suddenly retired. Coincidence perhaps, but who on the outside knows?

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Week of 8 March 2021: Who dominated your mill design--operations or maintenance?
Week of 8 March 2021: Who dominated your mill design--operations or maintenance?

With experience, one can walk on to an operating floor and determine which faction, operations or maintenance, had the larger influence in a paper mill's design. It is really quite easy. The first giveaway is the width of the operating, or tending, aisle versus the drive aisle.

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Week of 1 March 2021: Maintenance Month
Week of 1 March 2021: Maintenance Month

Is there anything left to be said about maintenance that I have not already said in the last twenty years of writing this column? Yes, there is always something to be said about maintenance. We have more tools, monitoring devices, tracking systems, more than we have ever had before, yet we still have unscheduled maintenance above the levels that should be acceptable in most mills. What should be our standard for maintenance? May I suggest the airline industry?

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Week of 22 February 2021: Improving Society One Boxcar at a Time
Week of 22 February 2021: Improving Society One Boxcar at a Time

By accepting graffiti laden railcars on your site, you are approving of a certain level of mediocrity and malaise associated with your business. Further, you are contributing to a plague on society, every time those railcars pass through any town in the country, not just when they are near or on your property. Cleaning up the railcars will be a huge boost to the overall morale of society.

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Week of 15 February 2021: Horizontal Transportation
Week of 15 February 2021: Horizontal Transportation

The containerboard industry sorely needs its own "conex" for rolls wider than 110 inches. This needs to be a system that allows rolls to be placed horizontally, or perhaps, at an angle to reduce the height normally achieved by vertical rolls.

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Week of 8 February 2021: Vertical Transportation
Week of 8 February 2021: Vertical Transportation

Vertical transportation systems, that is, those which stack goods vertically, tend to occupy disproportionately more space than one would first think due to the need to have aisles to retrieve those goods in storage. From a floorspace allocation perspective, only half of the floor is devoted to storage, the other half is devoted to space for retrieval equipment to operate. One system I have seen that overcomes this problem is a vertical storage finished roll warehouse.

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Week of 1 February 2021: Electric Trucks
Week of 1 February 2021: Electric Trucks

In transportation month last year, we talked about electric trucks. We are still talking about electric trucks today and for years to come.

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Week of 25 January 2021: Do not forget to purge your files
Week of 25 January 2021: Do not forget to purge your files
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Week of 25 January 2021: Do not forget to purge your files
Week of 25 January 2021: Do not forget to purge your files

Engineers and scientists have a propensity to save their data. Saved information can come back and bite your company and you. Many a career has been ruined by a fastidious hoarder. Even worse, most think, "it can't happen to me."

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Week of 18 January 2021: Capital Project Leadership
Week of 18 January 2021: Capital Project Leadership

Project management is about leadership, not democracy. The objective is to complete the project at the least expenditure of time and money. Treat others with respect, yes, but have clearly defined roles for each person and hold them accountable for their piece, replace them if they cannot successfully accomplish their role. These days, we often spend too much time with our eyes off the prize.

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Week of 11 January 2021: Learnings from quasi-public funding for Capital Project Management
Week of 11 January 2021: Learnings from quasi-public funding for Capital Project Management

Much of the mismanagement of capital projects could be eliminated, from my experience, if companies adopted the discipline of quasi-public funding project monitoring. These are projects which are not financed through balance sheets but by issuance of tax-exempt or taxable project specific debt. In the last thirty years, I have had experience as the Technical Advisor on 22 such projects (in pulp, paper, energy, steel, medium density fiberboard and cement) with an installed capital base of billions. I have seen a few things.

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Week of 4 January 2021: Capital Projects Month
Week of 4 January 2021: Capital Projects Month

After nearly fifty-one years in the business, my anecdotal guess is that about half of capital projects are successful, meaning: on time, on budget and fulfilling the original scope. The rest suffer from a myriad of deficiencies.

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Week of 28 December 2020: Energy in the Future
Week of 28 December 2020: Energy in the Future

To wrap up this month on energy columns, I thought I would go to the brightest group I know in the energy business--the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (www.nrel.gov) in Golden, Colorado. NREL had an end of year seminar on the future of energy generation in the United States, 2020 - 2050.

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Week of 21 December 2020: Hydrogen?
Week of 21 December 2020: Hydrogen?

As we continue to talk about energy this month, we would be remiss if we do not bring up hydrogen as a potential fuel. Of course, hydrogen is the "perfect" fuel for combustion, for the "exhaust" is water (H2 + O => H2O). The problem in the past has been that it has not be plentiful or economical.

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Week of 14 December 2020: Solar becomes serious
Week of 14 December 2020: Solar becomes serious

In a decade, I've moved from being a skeptic to saying some alternative energy sources just may be possible for our industry right around the corner.

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Week of 7 December 2020: Power and Energy--I told you so
Week of 7 December 2020: Power and Energy--I told you so

Several times in this column over the years, I have told you to not demolish energy assets (that are in good shape) just because you stopped using them. Properly secure and preserve them and wait for policies to change. With an impending change in federal administrations here in the United States, expect an energy priority change within a year. This may come about by regulation changes or economics (the ranking of various fuel costs changing). These changes may be so severe they push some mills out of business.

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Week of 30 November 2020: Strategy
Week of 30 November 2020: Strategy

This is supposed to be innovation and strategy month but up to this point, I have focused on innovation. Strategy is important, too, but strategy must be focused on solid science, statistics and mathematics. I have seen many strategic initiatives fail over the years. That does not mean we should stop doing them, it means we should make sure our foundation was solid.

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Week of 23 November 2020: Innovation by Elimination
Week of 23 November 2020: Innovation by Elimination

We usually think of innovation as being creative and coming up with some gee whiz new idea. If you have been in business for more than a week, it is easier than that. Just use a critical eye to eliminate the unnecessary. The unnecessary comes in many forms.

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Week of 16 November 2020: Innovation--be aware of your surroundings
Week of 16 November 2020: Innovation--be aware of your surroundings

There are many failures in innovation. One chronic failure to keep in mind is to be aware of your surroundings. You may think you have a fantastic idea. But if it is not obvious that it solves a problem or it is a solution more complicated than the original problem, it likely will fail.

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Week of 9 November 2020: Whence comes innovation?
Week of 9 November 2020: Whence comes innovation?

Innovation is a process of the desperate and the opportunistic. There are countless examples through history where, with backs against the walls, innovators have broken through. The Internet, a solution in search of a problem, was probably the biggest innovation of all time, at least in communications. The paper grades that died, had they caught on early enough, may have survived in a better fashion than they did. However, it was not in the mindset of the people and entities involved to (a) perceive they were in trouble or (b) do something about it. So, within our industry, where will innovation come in the near future?

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Week of 2 November 2020: What happened to jute liner? (part 3 of 3)
Week of 2 November 2020: What happened to jute liner? (part 3 of 3)

Finishing up... There are two extraordinary transient conditions at the present time. One is well under way, and the other is just around the corner.

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Week of 26 October 2020: What happened to jute liner? (part 2 of 3)
Week of 26 October 2020: What happened to jute liner? (part 2 of 3)

Picking up from last week... With the push from landfill costs in Europe and the United States, plus the other drivers I have mentioned previously, manufacturers and scientists began to work in earnest on the performance requirements for recycled containerboard products.

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Week of 19 October 2020: What happened to jute liner? (part 1 of 3)
Week of 19 October 2020: What happened to jute liner? (part 1 of 3)

This is a story of quality improvement, one that many today may not know.

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Week of 12 October 2020: Quality--a paradox of Consumer Demand and Employee Performance
Week of 12 October 2020: Quality--a paradox of Consumer Demand and Employee Performance

I strongly suspect this observation has always gone along with becoming a septuagenarian, but I am not sure, having not been one before. Yet when I was younger, it seemed as though older employees around me were always griping about the younger generations (lazy, did not know what they were doing, caused a lot of rework and so forth). Well, this septuagenarian has some of the same feelings. I note at the same time that customer and competitive driven demands of our products dictate higher and higher quality levels. I heard it explained this way once...

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Week of 5 October 2020: They don't make 'em like they used to
Week of 5 October 2020: They don't make 'em like they used to

I belong to a couple of old car groups on Facebook. Every week or so, some folks get into mild arguments concerning the quality of automobiles. The argument always goes the same--the cars of the '50's and '60's were much better than the cars of today. Are you kidding me? The cars of today are fantastic and, for all their gee-whiz features, cheap. A $3,500 car in 1965 would cost nearly $29,000 today. For that kind of money today you can get a car with better safety protection, air conditioning, lane control assist and so forth. I know, because I bought one for that kind of money last year. Same with paper. The paper, any grade, of 50 years ago was nothing compared to the paper of today. On a constant cost basis, today's paper is very, very inexpensive...

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Week of 28 September 2020: What are you worth?
Week of 28 September 2020: What are you worth?

Friend of mine recently told me a story. It went like this. Decades ago, when he was first hired by a major company in this industry, his boss sat him down and said, "We have your salary wrong." This was a startling revelation. The boss went on, "When we hire young folks like you, we slot you into the system based on lots of studies and identifying attributes. But it is all just a guess. For sure, what you are worth is not reflected in your salary right now, for we are just not that smart. In a few months, we'll have a better idea of what you are worth. We may be overpaying you or underpaying you now, but the truth will come out in time..."

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Week of 21 September 2020: A curious loss of competitive edge
Week of 21 September 2020: A curious loss of competitive edge

As we continue to talk about management issues this month, I want to bring up something that has been bothering me for a long time. It is simply this...in the human resources area I think well developed countries may be losing a competitive edge when it comes to thinking about the newer generations of employees, hourly and salaried, entering our mills these days. My thoughts are these...

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Week of 14 September 2020: When you are lost as a manager
Week of 14 September 2020: When you are lost as a manager

Especially when I was a younger manager, I would lose sight of the objectives at hand. After all, forces are tugging you in a million different directions at once, it is easily to become distracted. Print this column and carry it around in your pocket if you need to for a while.

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Week of 7 September 2020: So you want a new job
Week of 7 September 2020: So you want a new job

We will cover three topics this week.

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Week of 31 August 2020: The Big Lie
Week of 31 August 2020: The Big Lie

I returned to the convention and another case was just wrapping up. Missed it. Sorry. The Great Mother said, "Any more cases?" The clerk responded, "Gup is here and has something to say about project management." "Come on up, Gup!"

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Week of 24 August 2020: Fos takes a trip
Week of 24 August 2020: Fos takes a trip

Well, while the convention continues, I wanted to take some time to tell you a story I witnessed firsthand. This happened many lights, ago, so many I can't count them. What Mr. Jim doesn't know is that I have been following him around for a very long time, since he was a young man. One time, on a certain project, it was his job to escort Big Things called "contractors" across the sea to check out some equipment that was to be installed at his papermill. When I heard about this, I was certain I did not want to miss it. So, I slid in his briefcase, went home with him, and then along on the trip.

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Week of 17 August 2020: Dealing with Suppliers
Week of 17 August 2020: Dealing with Suppliers

Our convention had finally settled down and we were getting a number of interesting stories. The Great Mother, after a break, ask if anyone had a story to relate, perhaps not from the pulp and paper industry, but that would be a lesson learned. Old Soc raised his tail...

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Week of 10 August 2020: Where do we get these people?
Week of 10 August 2020: Where do we get these people?

Well, we finally got relocated to the new location. Much safer here than it was in that crazy city. The Great Mother called us to order. "Okay, rats, what do we have on the docket for today?"

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Week of 3 August 2020: Corruption Month
Week of 3 August 2020: Corruption Month

Since last year, the Great Mother has passed on to Rat Heaven and we have a new cadre in charge. The word came out early in the year that we will be convening in a big city on a big lake in the middle of the country. There is a lot of pulp and paper business there and so many rats live fairly close at hand.

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Week of 27 July 2020: Not an excuse
Week of 27 July 2020: Not an excuse

Environmental policies and other regulations are the cost of doing business in the modern civilized world. If you are going to operate a business in today's world, you must do it legally, it is part of the job. I have seen a number of excuses made over the years that do nothing to endear customers to businesses when such matters are used as excuses.

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Week of 20 July 2020: Keeping Focused
Week of 20 July 2020: Keeping Focused

I don't think there has ever been a time in my fifty years in industry that I have seen more potential hazards distracting us from our primary purpose in business which is, of course (all together), "spinning the invoice printer." We have been forced to step beyond the traditional corporate responsibilities (environment, regulations, equal opportunity employment and so forth).

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Week of 13 July 2020: Has the Covid-19 experience soiled the Environmental Movement?
Week of 13 July 2020: Has the Covid-19 experience soiled the Environmental Movement?

I have met no one who doesn't want clean soil, water and air for themselves, their families and succeeding generations. How could anyone be against such attributes? Yet there are portions of the environmental movement that hinge on the invisible. The whole discussion on the proper balance of carbon dioxide that is appropriate in the atmosphere, for instance, is a discussion best left to learned scientists and mathematicians. Carbon dioxide, in its gaseous form is invisible. Just like Covid-19. The effects of Covid-19 are visible and timely while Covid-19 is just as invisible as Carbon Dioxide.

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Week of 6 July 2020: Environmental/Regulations Month: the new rules today
Week of 6 July 2020: Environmental/Regulations Month: the new rules today

As we find ourselves mid-year 2020, our standard editorial topics for the month, Environmental/Regulations seem almost naïve. I have not heard anyone talk about the environment for months. There is plenty of talk about regulations, but they are not the kinds of regulations we normally talk about. The world of 2020 is something we have not seen before, and, on top of that, it is not a local thing--it is worldwide.

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Week of 29 June 2020: Purchasing and Graft
Week of 29 June 2020: Purchasing and Graft

The purchasing department should not only set the example for dealing with suppliers, the purchasing department should be the department that sets the policy for the entire mill. And, then, they should be the one that polices it, too. What is the right limit to be allowed for favors brought in by suppliers?

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Week of 22 June 2020: Providing true expediting service to your mill
Week of 22 June 2020: Providing true expediting service to your mill

Granted, it is a long time since I was internal to a mill as an employee and just maybe this probably has been fixed by now, but I doubt it. I am talking about expediting services. By the way, Amazon provides expediting updates for free on the tiniest of orders--it is part of their overall service. So, do not tell me, purchasing department, you cannot do this.

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Week of 15 June 2020: You are not fooling anybody
Week of 15 June 2020: You are not fooling anybody

Once in a while, a purchasing department decides to get clever and extend payment terms. You can pull this stunt about once with each supplier. For when they figure it out, your prices are going up. Your suppliers and their competitors do not have to collude to raise your prices, they all instinctively know that if you are doing this to everyone, all your suppliers are going to pay you back in kind.

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Week of 8 June 2020: Purchasing and Education
Week of 8 June 2020: Purchasing and Education

Last week we talked about the role of purchasing. I never once brought up negotiating a good price. I am not going to bring up negotiating a good price this week, either. This week, we will talk about educating the purchasing department. And we are not going to talk about contract writing as we talk about education.

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Week of 1 June 2020: What is the role of purchasing?
Week of 1 June 2020: What is the role of purchasing?

Purchasing experiences in my career are legion and become cuter and cuter as time goes by. I have the whole month of June (5 columns) to explain this statement, so I'll not bother doing so now, but faithful readers will see it unfold as we go along. What is the first and most important job of purchasing?

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Week of 25 May 2020: One more view on energy trends
Week of 25 May 2020: One more view on energy trends

Energy is saved by the milliliter, not the liter or dekaliter. In order to do this, you must have everyone looking for the opportunities.

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Week of 18 May 2020: More Energy Trend Problems
Week of 18 May 2020: More Energy Trend Problems

This month, I have been telling you, when it comes to energy trends, what you do not control you cannot predict. Thus, I have been admonishing you to know what you control, control it, and then miserly buy what other energy you may need. I thought I would give you a couple of examples, one new, one old, demonstrating energy matters you cannot predict.

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Week of 11 May 2020: What is predictable in energy trends?
Week of 11 May 2020: What is predictable in energy trends?

In a world where every storage tank, every ocean-going tanker, every cavern or old mine that can be modified for oil storage is full to overflowing, what can we say about energy trends? Add to this the popular public anathema to fossil fuels, and one can find themselves in a tight box with no way virtually no way out. In these times, energy trends become what you can control. What you can control means what you own. It was pretty clear in my Mennonite example last week how they control their energy costs. You, mill manager, have to do the same thing.

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Week of 4 May 2020: When energy is precious
Week of 4 May 2020: When energy is precious

In July of 2018, I received a letter from a gentleman who lives in a Mennonite community in southern Ohio. He had been reading my opinion column in a small southern Ohio town's newspaper for several years. He, and the leaders of the community, liked my viewpoints. They invited me to visit them. We corresponded a bit and I arranged to come see his family and the community in October of that year. I got off the bus (the method of travel he recommended) at another small southern Ohio town and he was there to meet me with a buggy. It took us a couple of hours to make the ten-mile trip from the bus stop to his farm. Our method of propulsion for this buggy journey was, I kid you not, "Rocket"--a small middle-aged black gelding, about thirteen hands high.

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Week of 27 April 2020: The Safety Gulf
Week of 27 April 2020: The Safety Gulf

Safety failures seem to fall into two categories.

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Week of 20 April 2020: Robots mean maintenance safety
Week of 20 April 2020: Robots mean maintenance safety

In the current pandemic, we are seeing grocery stores accelerate their adoption of robots to restock store shelves. Once done, this will never go back to the old ways. The world of maintenance in our pulp and paper mills (and downstream plants) can work the same way.

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Week of 13 April 2020: Lurking Dangers
Week of 13 April 2020: Lurking Dangers

If there is one thing the current COVID-19 crisis should teach us, if taken as an allegorical experience, is that dangers affecting safety are not always out in the open. I've told this story many times before, but perhaps you have not heard it...

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Week of 6 April 2020: How appropriate--it is safety month!
Week of 6 April 2020: How appropriate--it is safety month!

No, I am not going to give you another COVID-19 advisory. You have no doubt already read countless admonishments on that subject. You do need to take them seriously, of course. But at this point, for the literate and sighted part of the population, I say let Darwinism take its course--you have been warned. For the infirm, the weak, the young and the very old -be generous and help them out. What is appropriate, though, in this first week of Safety Month, is to warn you about distractions. I can't think of another time in my nearly seventy years of life that I have ever seen the entire world focused on one subject as it is now. And, admit, it is a distraction. Distractions take our attention off safe practices.

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Week of 30 March 2020: Brave new world: How do you do maintenance with a 6 foot separation between employees?
Week of 30 March 2020: Brave new world: How do you do maintenance with a 6 foot separation between employees?

The first thing that popped into my mind was to dress all your maintenance people in pre-Civil War hoop skirted ball gowns. Although it will maintain the distance, I can think of many other reasons this won't work. For the future, this just emphasizes more predictive maintenance and solid maintenance monitoring. If you know the condition of your equipment and the failure curve it is on, you can plan on how to prepare it in a timely fashion.

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Week of 23 March 2020: Maintenance Contractors need to step up their game
Week of 23 March 2020: Maintenance Contractors need to step up their game

OK, everything today is coronavirus. No matter which way you turn. Reminds me of a year's worth of Reader's Digest that I bought at a flea market years ago. The year was 1944 and nearly every story in every issue of that year was about the war. Well, one might say we are in a war now. If you are a maintenance contractor, likely you need to step up your game.

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Week of 16 March 2020: Ford vs. Ferrari
Week of 16 March 2020: Ford vs. Ferrari

When you look at auto racing, at least 50% of the difference between winners and losers is maintenance. The recent movie, Ford vs. Ferrari, drives this point home. Watch the movie, watch the maintenance. You just may learn something and improve your operations.

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Week of 9 March 2020: What to maintain?
Week of 9 March 2020: What to maintain?

Seems like a simple question, but it is often missed. How do you determine what to maintain? It starts with what you intend to keep. How do you determine what to keep?

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Week of 2 March 2020: Maintenance Again
Week of 2 March 2020: Maintenance Again

“Maintenance Again” is pronounced in many mills with a slight groan and downward inflection in the voice. In many CFO offices, the words “Maintenance Again” are recognized about as easily as any phrase in Klingon. By the way, you can translate “Maintenance Again” to Klingon—it is “leH jatlhqa” so don’t let the person holding the checkbook in your mill get by with feigning ignorance of the necessity of maintenance, no matter what language you use. I have been writing this column for over eighteen years and I have railed against the cheap maintenance managers for nearly fifty years. It is absolutely criminal to not do prescribed maintenance.

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Week of 24 February 2020: Transportation entities must watch their Public Relations
Week of 24 February 2020: Transportation entities must watch their Public Relations

Whether truck, rail, air or jitney, transportation companies often have a public relations problem.

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Week of 17 February 2020: Conveyors are transportation, too!
Week of 17 February 2020: Conveyors are transportation, too!

Throughout my career, I have seen lots of goods moved within many facilities' sites...

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Week of 10 February 2020: Cancer!
Week of 10 February 2020: Cancer!

Expecting a column on transportation here in February, you may have been slightly startled by this week's column title. This is the way cancer strikes, you are going along, minding your own business, planning what you'll do next and cancer rears its ugly head.

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Week of 3 February 2020: What's developed in transportation in the last year?
Week of 3 February 2020: What's developed in transportation in the last year?

We last visited transportation in February of 2019. What's new?

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Week of 27 January 2020: Dainty and Rugged Capital Projects
Week of 27 January 2020: Dainty and Rugged Capital Projects

I have seen few project engineers successfully transfer their skills between the two extremes of the paper industry. On the front end, we find incoming long wood, chippers, chip piles and so forth. At the other end of the business, we find printing and packaging lines with the daintiest of doodads, which must nevertheless work properly and flawlessly for long periods of time.

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Week of 20 January 2020: Leveraging Capital Negotiations
Week of 20 January 2020: Leveraging Capital Negotiations

If you have the corporate foresight to do so, leveraged buying can provide tremendous savings for the procurer and savings for the supplier as well.

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Week of 13 January 2020: The Emotion in Capital Budgets
Week of 13 January 2020: The Emotion in Capital Budgets

When you are in the trenches looking up, it is often easy to see the perceived capriciousness of capital budgets. Hence, as the project manager overseeing the actual project implementation, it is sometimes easy to be lackadaisical about the funding. Do this at your own peril.

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Week of 6 January 2020: Do low interest rates make for sloppy capital projects?
Week of 6 January 2020: Do low interest rates make for sloppy capital projects?

I have been around long enough to remember when retail interest rates were in the +20% range. At the time, corporations were not usually being charged at these levels, but they did reach into the mid-teens. The usual reaction at that point was not to do capital projects, but to wait. Even if corporations were self-funding, they often waited because they could make larger and safer returns with their money at interest in the bank. Today, interest rates are trivial, even for construction loans. Gone are the days when there was a sharp focus on construction interest costs.

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Week of 30 December 2019: Power & Energy: Hubris and Finality
Week of 30 December 2019: Power & Energy: Hubris and Finality

As we wrap up December's Power & Energy Emphasis, I want to offer a caution or two.

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Week of 23 December 2019: Power & Energy: Fossil Fuels
Week of 23 December 2019: Power & Energy: Fossil Fuels

I have admonished readers a number of times over the years not to demolish their fossil fuel-powered assets. Although they may be out of favor at the moment, history indicates nothing is ever permanent in the energy sector.

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Week of 16 December 2019: Power & Energy: Hydroelectric
Week of 16 December 2019: Power & Energy: Hydroelectric

Hydroelectric power has been a significant component in pulp and paper mills for over 120 years. Early modern paper mills quickly adopted electric power produced by streams near their facilities. It was a natural--the pulp and paper mills needed water and when the ability to generate hydroelectric power came along they quickly built dams and harnessed this renewable power.

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Week of 9 December 2019: Solar is getting closer to making economic sense without subsidies
Week of 9 December 2019: Solar is getting closer to making economic sense without subsidies

Solar cells are continuing to improve in efficiency. My best source tells me that within a few years, we will likely be seeing solar arrays of multiple layers, each layer tuned to a particular wavelength emitted by the sun. Why is this important now?

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Week of 2 December 2019: For the 46th Year in a row...energy is a big topic
Week of 2 December 2019: For the 46th Year in a row...energy is a big topic

I largely look at energy on a cost avoidance basis. Yes, we all want clean air (low emissions) but let's not go crazy following ideas that are not well proven scientifically (don't send me surveys on what scientists believe about energy consumption--people's opinions are not science). Nevertheless, when looking at places where energy is dear makes me realize we still have a long way to go to make our industry as efficient as possible.

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Week of 25 November 2019: Creativity, the imperfect mortar in the Innovation and Strategy Structure
Week of 25 November 2019: Creativity, the imperfect mortar in the Innovation and Strategy Structure

If the problems with Innovation and Strategy are that we can never be certain as to how they will turn out, Creativity, the mortar that holds the other two together, suffers this fate in an even larger measure.

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Week of 18 November 2019: Strategy Pitfalls
Week of 18 November 2019: Strategy Pitfalls

There is the old children's story of the blind men describing an elephant. As the story goes each one of them walks around the elephant and feels different parts of it. As they do so, each has a different impression of what an elephant might be, based on the parts they touch. Some companies operate as the blind men did when it comes to setting a future course--their strategy. They are so lost in their myopic view of the world they miss the big picture.

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Week of 11 November 2019: Sources of Innovation
Week of 11 November 2019: Sources of Innovation

Many years ago, when I purchased a motorcycle, I wanted the equivalent of a "cruise control" for it. I shopped around and found this clever little mechanical device that fits on the right handlebar and gently locks the accelerator into position. With the flick of a handy little lever, you could turn it off. My cousin, a machinist, saw this and said, "I can copy that." I didn't let him. I think inventions should belong to the originator in perpetuity (I think we should still be paying royalties to the descendants of the inventor of tables and chairs--marvelous inventions in and of themselves). At least that is the way I used to think...

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Week of 4 November 2019: Innovation
Week of 4 November 2019: Innovation

This is innovation and strategy month here at Nip Impressions. The sources of innovation (which can either lead or lag a strategic vision) are many. These days, it is popular to do innovation in an institutional environment with government or other deep pocket funding. That’s OK, however there is another way of which I am fond. That is when we do innovation out of necessity or when a bright entrepreneur has an “Aha!” moment. Here is one of those...

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Week of 28 October 2019: A whole different look at Quality, part 4
Week of 28 October 2019: A whole different look at Quality, part 4

In my travels this past spring and summer, I saw the matters I described in these four columns. In fact, I saw a lot more than I have had space to share. The urban settings were difficult enough, but what really struck me was one rural scene I saw and with which I have a history.

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Week of 21 October 2019: A whole different look at Quality, part 3
Week of 21 October 2019: A whole different look at Quality, part 3

The question for this week gets a bit tougher as we look at quality in a different way.

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Week of 14 October 2019: A whole different look at Quality, part 2
Week of 14 October 2019: A whole different look at Quality, part 2

We talked about lobbies last week. This week let's imagine a valued customer showing up at your facility unannounced. What would they see? What would be their reaction? From what I have seen in my travels this year, I'll give you some examples.

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Week of 7 October 2019: A whole different look at quality, part 1
Week of 7 October 2019: A whole different look at quality, part 1

In quality month, we usually examine product quality. We are going to take the subject in a little different direction this year. This will be a four-week series, so you will want to make sure you don’t miss any of it if you really want to make a difference in quality in our industry.

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Week of 30 September 2019: What will management in the future look like?
Week of 30 September 2019: What will management in the future look like?

Management has changed radically in my lifetime. The future promises much of the same—an evolving landscape with many perils for those who fail to keep up with what society considers acceptable.

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Week of 23 September 2019: The Most Important Machine
Week of 23 September 2019: The Most Important Machine

I would be shocked if I have to tell any Nip Impressions reader what the most important machine is, but in keeping with the theme I am following this month, I will—the invoice printer.

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Week of 16 September 2019: Bean Bags and other Nonsense
Week of 16 September 2019: Bean Bags and other Nonsense

I haven’t seen this situation in any actual pulp and paper mill offices yet, but I am sure it is coming. It is hard to resist fads and the more outlandish, the harder they are to oppose. I am speaking about these modern office layouts.

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Week of 9 September 2019: The Second Most Important Task
Week of 9 September 2019: The Second Most Important Task

You already know what the most important job is (if you don’t, I will be reminding you before this month is out, for sure). Today, however, I want to talk about the Second Most Important Task. The Second Most Important Task (SMIT) is to create new products, or fresh modifications of your existing products.

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Week of 2 September 2019: The Most Important Management Job
Week of 2 September 2019: The Most Important Management Job

Over the years, I have written many columns and books on management, particularly management in pulp and paper mills. However, if I can summarize this subject in one sentence, that sentence is: "Make your boss look good." There is no better way to advance your career or the business of your company than following this platitude. However, this does not come without some caveats and assumptions.

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Week of 26 August 2019: Pulp Rats 2019--Fourth Week:  Fos commutes
Week of 26 August 2019: Pulp Rats 2019--Fourth Week: Fos commutes

One day, when no one was noticing, I jumped in the admin leader's BTI (you may remember from early episodes this is what the rats called cars, trucks, and so forth--Jim). She seemed to always take the most food and I thought she might leave some crumbs in the BTI that I could eat.

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Week of 19 August 2019: Pulp Rats 2019--Third Week:  Fos in the Supply Room
Week of 19 August 2019: Pulp Rats 2019--Third Week: Fos in the Supply Room

In our mill, all the workers wear uniforms and have badges, that is a picture of themselves on a piece of plastic that has their name on it. I found one of these one day and tried to eat it. Not very good and it gave me a tremendous stomachache. Anyway, there is this large room where parts and supplies are kept. Most of the time, an employee is stationed at the door, and this employee retrieves materials for other employees that ask for them. This employee usually eats their lunch there, so the place is guarded all the time. This happens on all three shifts.

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Week of 12 August 2019: Pulp Rats 2019 - Second Week
Week of 12 August 2019: Pulp Rats 2019 - Second Week

Fos the Rat continues...

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Week of 5 August 2019: Pulp Rats for 2019--first week
Week of 5 August 2019: Pulp Rats for 2019--first week

From here on out, Fos the Rat will be writing for the month of August, just like he has for the last four years, while I take a break.

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Week of 29 July 2019: Rebuttal to column of 8 July 19,
Week of 29 July 2019: Rebuttal to column of 8 July 19, "Thoughts on the Environmental Dialogue"

It is important to note that I put my comments at the beginning of this column, not the end, for I desire that you, dear reader, leave this column with the words of the rebutters, not mine, fresh in your mind. Now to the rebuttals...

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Week of 22 July 2019: Other Regulatory Impacts
Week of 22 July 2019: Other Regulatory Impacts

When we think of regulatory enforcers, we often think of professionally dressed folks showing up at the front entrance of our facility with briefcases full of forms. Or, perhaps we are thinking of Wall Street regulators, making sure there is no insider trading or those sorts of matters. Other regulators abound all around us. Many are on the payroll of our employer.

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Week of 15 July 2019: Remember this about Regulators
Week of 15 July 2019: Remember this about Regulators

A mistreated regulator can find ways to cost your company money beyond what is necessary to maintain a legal, moral and ethical business.

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Week of 8 July 2019: Thoughts on the environmental dialogue
Week of 8 July 2019: Thoughts on the environmental dialogue

I was asked the other day where I thought our audience’s opinion was on the question of global warming, climate change, and so forth. My unscientific response is that I believe that about 90% of our audience remains somewhat skeptical, down from 100% just a few years ago. I remain skeptical for several reasons...

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Week of 1 July 2019: The Environment and Regulations
Week of 1 July 2019: The Environment and Regulations

If we are going to spin the invoice printer at its optimum and retain as much profit as possible, we must find a way to get the environment and regulations game under control. We have to do it ourselves; no one is going to do it for us.

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Week of 24 June 2019: Purchasing in the future
Week of 24 June 2019: Purchasing in the future

Not far ahead, purchasing is going to be much different from what it is today. With the coming of Industry 4.0 (do you read our monthly newsletter on this subject, Industree 4.0TM?) smart mills will be operated in a totally different way. As equipment self-diagnoses its ailments, it will order its own spare parts. No human intervention.

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Week of 17 June 2019: Fine tuning the procurement function
Week of 17 June 2019: Fine tuning the procurement function

If you survived last week's column on procurement and are back for more, welcome to the continuing discussion.

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Week of 10 June 2019: What should be the scope of the procurement function?
Week of 10 June 2019: What should be the scope of the procurement function?

This story was told about a CFO, but it will serve us well as we talk about procurement this week. It seems as though a certain paper company hired a new CFO from outside our industry. Attending his first budget meeting, the annual budget was being reviewed. This is a large company, the line item for machine clothing was well over 8 digits. Pounding his fist on the table, he said, "This is outrageous. Why are we spending so much on employee uniforms?" He didn't last long.

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Week of 3 June 2019: Procurement 2019
Week of 3 June 2019: Procurement 2019

In times gone by (and, sadly, to some extent still today) procurement has been prone to a considerable amount of graft and general corruption. For party of the first part is trying to persuade party of the second part to buy certain goods and services. Procurement officers are fiduciarily charged with getting the best deal for their companies. Sellers are taught to get the order. Less than sterling ethics on either side can corrupt the process and unfairly cheat one party, often the buyer, with inflated prices, shoddy goods or services and less than maximum value.

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Week of 27 May 2019: Coming changes in Energy Consumption
Week of 27 May 2019: Coming changes in Energy Consumption

Land-grant colleges and universities were funded by the Morrill Acts (1862 and 1890). The beginning of the agricultural revolution in the United States approximates these acts. When I say “the agricultural revolution” I am referring to the phenomenal improvement in the productivity of agriculture that has occurred from the mid-19th century until today. We need go no further than note that at the beginning of this period, over 98% of the population was engaged in agriculture, today less than 2% is, despite massive growth in the number of mouths to feed. Agriculture has always been ahead of industry in efficiency improvements.

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Week of 20 May 2019: Energy Trends outside the Fence
Week of 20 May 2019: Energy Trends outside the Fence

In containerboard grades, relative cost position curves are becoming a metric of the past, not the future. Actually, what may happen is they bifurcate into two distinct sets, one recycled mills and the other virgin mills. We are on the cusp of an era where putting them up against one another is meaningless.

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Week of 13 May 2019: Historical Energy Trends
Week of 13 May 2019: Historical Energy Trends

Sometimes it is worthwhile to look back on where we have come from to assess where we are and where we are going...

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Week of 6 May 2019: Energy Trends 2019
Week of 6 May 2019: Energy Trends 2019

If you have read my columns for a while, you know that for many years, I have been saying "all energy is political." Let me assure you, this reality has not changed. Particularly when tied into discussions concerning climate change, global warming and similar subjects, energy discussions are more political than ever.

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Week of 29 April 2019: Office Safety
Week of 29 April 2019: Office Safety

We spend a lot of time talking about safety in production and forestry settings, often neglecting offices in the discussions. It is easy to be seriously injured in an office, too.

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Week of 22 April 2019: The 360 look
Week of 22 April 2019: The 360 look

How many safety incidents do we encounter in our mills where we are focused on the potential safety issue in front of us when another is lurking beside or behind us?

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Week of 15 April 2019: Know your coworkers--a key to safety
Week of 15 April 2019: Know your coworkers--a key to safety

In the military, there are lots of discussions about "battle buddies.' A battle buddy is a person who sticks with you and you with them so you continuously know each other's condition. It is a safety issue in an environment that is often not safe.

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Week of 8 April 2019: Who should do safety inspections?
Week of 8 April 2019: Who should do safety inspections?

Personally, I think at least two individuals should be involved in any safety inspection.

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Week of 1 April 2019: Safety Record in the Pulp and Paper Industry
Week of 1 April 2019: Safety Record in the Pulp and Paper Industry

For a long time, the industry has patted itself on the back for its safety record; perhaps we have had a small part in pulling it up by its leash on this subject. I do think the industry has gone from a time of poor safety performance (pre 1975 or so) to good safety performance (approximately 1975 to 1995) and now, in the last twenty-five years it has regressed somewhat.

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Week of 25 March 2019: How to tell if a Maintenance Department is Effective
Week of 25 March 2019: How to tell if a Maintenance Department is Effective

There are only two or three conditions one has to observe to determine if a maintenance department is effective. Fixing them if they are not is a whole other chapter in our quest for a properly operating mill. This week we'll just look for clues as to effectiveness.

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Week of 18 March 2019: Prejudice in Maintenance equals Ineffective Maintenance
Week of 18 March 2019: Prejudice in Maintenance equals Ineffective Maintenance

As I go around the industry, it seems like the last bastion of old-fashioned prejudice is the maintenance department. It's often the rough and tumble end of the mill and many times the workers in this area may have been overlooked in general training for the softer parts of doing their jobs. It has been a male dominated area forever. I have seen some racial prejudice in this area, but not near as much as I have male/female prejudice.

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Week of 11 March 2019: Maintenance is not popular
Week of 11 March 2019: Maintenance is not popular

I have been railing and writing about maintenance for decades. All of this energy has not turned the tide on the popularity of maintenance. No one likes it and to the uninitiated it is just a cost. It indeed often seems like an intangible cost, for the results of good maintenance are that everything runs just fine, there is no drama, no excitement. Hence the desire to put it off as long as possible, hopefully until the manager in charge of the budget can get promoted. At least that is the manager's position; employees close to the process always know better because bad maintenance makes their lives miserable...

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Week of 4 March 2019: It's maintenance month!
Week of 4 March 2019: It's maintenance month!

I am told others can't wait for August (Corruption Month) when the Pulp Rats come out to play. I'll admit I enjoy that month, too, but I further admit that Maintenance Month is likely my favorite in the Paperitalo Editorial schedule. I contend that lack of proper maintenance is the largest contributor in failing to maximize the spinning of your invoice printer. I'll further contend that once you get behind on maintenance, it takes a serious effort to catch up. In most organizations and cultures, catching up is nearly impossible--everyone fights you...

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Week of 25 February 2019: What will another year bring in transportation?
Week of 25 February 2019: What will another year bring in transportation?

Of course, it is hard to say, but I will say this: "I would be leasing all my transportation equipment if I were you, and, further, I would be signing leases with relatively painless exit clauses."

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Week of 18 February 2019: Autonomous Internal Transportation cont'd.
Week of 18 February 2019: Autonomous Internal Transportation cont'd.

A category of business where I see little movement towards autonomous vehicles but where I think there is lots of opportunity is in maintenance and related activities.

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Week of 11 February 2019: Internal Transportation already autonomous...
Week of 11 February 2019: Internal Transportation already autonomous...

Last week we talked about the coming over-the-road autonomous trucks. Inside your facility, autonomy is already here for most routine production tasks.

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Week of 4 February 2019: The Autonomous Truck is still coming
Week of 4 February 2019: The Autonomous Truck is still coming

For the past several years, when transportation month comes around on our editorial calendar, I have been talking about driverless trucks being right around the corner. They still are, but the corner is closer.

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Week of 28 January 2019: Capital Project Managers--the good, the bad and the ugly
Week of 28 January 2019: Capital Project Managers--the good, the bad and the ugly

Sadly, the Good are few and far between.

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Week of 21 January 2019: Training engineers to manage capital projects
Week of 21 January 2019: Training engineers to manage capital projects

I have been amazed at the inexperienced personnel that have, on occasion, been allowed to manage capital projects. Such selections, as I have seen them, have usually been made by senior managers who rose through the production ranks and who give little thought to what it might take to manage a capital project, even one of a very modest size.

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Week of 14 January 2019: Capital Projects are still political
Week of 14 January 2019: Capital Projects are still political

Mid-career operations managers and capital project managers have usually seen one or two complete disasters by the time they reach this stage in their careers. Typically, they resolve something like this, "If I ever get to the point that I am in charge of a capital project, I am going to do it differently. I will _______." Their failing is they never spend the time to learn how to do a project correctly and they seldom get a chance to hire someone who knows how to do a project correctly. Of course, for the latter to be true, they have to recognize that they do not know how to do a project correctly and they have to be given the latitude to seek out someone or some firm that does...

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Week of 7 January 2019: Capital Projects--what is new?
Week of 7 January 2019: Capital Projects--what is new?

I have been working on capital projects since March 1970. I didn't know that was what they were called when I showed up for my first co-op position that March, but looking back on it, I was certainly working on machinery that fit into our customer's capital project. What has changed since then?

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Week of 31 December 2018: Where are we going?
Week of 31 December 2018: Where are we going?

As designs continue to evolve, energy costs will continue to decline, regardless of their root costs. We don't have to do anything emotional or nonsensical about energy costs, just continue to think of better and more efficient ways to do things with less energy...

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Week of 24 December 2018: Where it started
Week of 24 December 2018: Where it started

Until about 1712, humankind depended largely on human and animal exertion for work. There was the occasional water-power dam and, in parts of the world, windmills, but these were specifically location- dependent. Thomas Newcomen freed work from location and muscle, with the invention of his atmospheric steam engine around 1712. There had been precursors to this invention, but Newcomen is credited with the first practical design. This was only 300 years ago, a mere dash in time when compared to all of human history...

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Week of 17 December 2018: Energy Data Continued
Week of 17 December 2018: Energy Data Continued

One reader last week challenged my citation of Wikipedia stating the consumption of kerosene for illumination, even today, equals that of the consumption of jet fuel (essentially kerosene) in the United States. If anyone has a solid, better source of data, please share it and I will be happy to pass it on here in one of the remaining columns this month. In The Economist issue of 1st - 7th of December 2018, right on schedule, their Technology Quarterly special section was titled "Towards Zero Carbon--Conquering CO2." The good news, and I believed I read this portion of the magazine fairly carefully, was that the pulp and paper industry was barely cited--steel and cement manufacturing were the bad boys of the industrial sector.

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Week of 10 December 2018: Energy Shocks
Week of 10 December 2018: Energy Shocks

With various analogies over the years, I have talked about our myopic look at energy issues. Your view of energy production, consumption and other KPIs related to energy are largely dependent on where you sit and what you read. Often, we find this is wrong, when the real numbers are placed in front of us. So, we are going to travel a little outside our normal realm of pulp and paper this week, hopefully giving you material not only to think about but to challenge you, the next time you think you know something, to dig a bit deeper...

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Week of 3 December 2018: Energy Update
Week of 3 December 2018: Energy Update

For years, Energy has been our editorial topic for December. We have covered every side of it--from science, engineering, politics and personal perception. Yet, energy always remains a fresh topic since it is so important...

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Week of 26 November 2018: Put a proper perspective on strategic decisions
Week of 26 November 2018: Put a proper perspective on strategic decisions

I used to say the winter price of heating oil depended on the commuting experience the heating oil traders had on their way into Manhattan from suburban Connecticut each morning. If they had a cold, miserable experience, they jacked up the price. Maybe that is not giving them enough credit, but I don't think I am far off. Believe it or not, I have sat in capital strategic planning sessions in our industry that display just about the same perspicacity...

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Week of 19 November 2018: Strategic Politics
Week of 19 November 2018: Strategic Politics

I have been saying for some time that major capital projects often have a large political component to them. Throughout my career, this has been true to a certain extent, in the modern age with animation and graphical availability available to everyone, it is become even more the norm rather than the exception...

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Week of 12 November 2018: Pulling the Plug
Week of 12 November 2018: Pulling the Plug

As hard as it is to get innovation right, a subject to which we alluded last week, pulling the plug on a bad project is even harder. If you read the management books, they will often quote someone like Winston Churchill, Vince Lombardi or Teddy Roosevelt, with an admonishment to never, ever, give up. Sometimes you need to give up. It is called throwing good money after bad...

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Week of 5 November 2018: Innovation and Strategy--Back to the Future
Week of 5 November 2018: Innovation and Strategy--Back to the Future

As you might have guessed, November is Innovation and Strategy month at Paperitalo Publications. I thought would we would start out talking about lost innovations. There are many clever innovations with industrial application from the past that have been lost to the present era...

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Week of 29 October 2018: It wasn't Camelot
Week of 29 October 2018: It wasn't Camelot

When I think back over my five decades in industry, one stands out when the subject of quality comes up. It is the 1970s. The 1970s were the age of shabby. I don't care what kind of product it was, retail or industrial, I would suggest the 1970s were the low point of quality, at least in the United States. So, what changed?

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Week of 22 October 2018: Using quality to manage your business
Week of 22 October 2018: Using quality to manage your business

There is an old phrase, "We don't have time to do it right, but we have time to do it over!" So true. When you produce off-spec goods you will break into production to remake the order so you don't lose the customer. The losses are incalculable. Examining why you make poor quality goods or deliver poor quality services is instructive and a good place to start to buff up the overall management of your organization. Why did you produce poor quality goods? There are only three or four key high-level metrics that need to be examined out the gate...

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Week of 15 October 2018: Quality and Plastic Contamination
Week of 15 October 2018: Quality and Plastic Contamination

All of a sudden, plastic contamination is in the news. Restaurants in our area, for instance, have started posting signs concerning plastic straws with the claim that the world uses 500 million plastic straws per day. I find that number a bit incredulous, for it means that 1 in 16 of us, including newborn infants, use a plastic straw each day. There has also been a video on LinkedIn of a woman paddling up to a pile of plastic near the water's edge somewhere. It looks awful, but the video fails to comment on her being on a plastic surfboard, an item that used to be made of wood. I am, by the way, in favor of getting rid of as much plastic as we can (paperboard milk cartons and paper grocery sacks, anyone?). But what does all of this have to do with Quality Month at Paperitalo Publications. Just this...

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Week of 8 October 2018: The future of quality
Week of 8 October 2018: The future of quality

If you have not heard of Industry 4.0, you will. In fact, later this month Paperitalo Publications is launching a new newsletter on the subject as it pertains to the pulp and paper industry. We are calling it Industree 4.0™. Industry 4.0 means more sensors, more data collection and more data analysis in real time. It will mean higher quality products made at lower costs, for upper and lower control limits will be able to be set even closer to the desired outcome for many attributes.

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Week of 1 October 2018: Quality Hypocrisy
Week of 1 October 2018: Quality Hypocrisy

You will see it all the time, both corporately and individually. People, and people representing corporations, will demand very high quality from others but will tolerate themselves or their organizations delivering low quality goods and services. This is hypocrisy, yet it is not as bad as things can get. Those who accept low quality goods and services are nearly a lost cause when one tries to deliver high quality goods and services. They just don't get it.

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Week of 24 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 4
Week of 24 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 4

Last week we talked about harassment and one-sided fantasizing. We did not call it one-sided fantasizing, but that is what it was. Our last topic in this series is going to be relationships that start at work. In this case, both parties are willing participants. I think modern communications systems have made these easier to do. Email, texting and so forth are far easier than putting "personal and confidential" notes in internal mail systems. Modern communications are also far easier to trace, too--email and texting leaves a trail that others can find (such as your spouse's lawyer)...

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Week of 17 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 3
Week of 17 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 3

In my nearly fifty years in the business world, I've learned that both sexes do an amazing job of fantasizing what members of the opposite sex think of them or how they interact with them. These daydreams are often quite detailed and often R-rated. There is only one problem with them--they are false vignettes that have nothing to do with reality...

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Week of 10 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 2
Week of 10 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 2

Harassment may or may not involve members of the opposite sex. It can be male on female, female on male or sex on sex. Your coworkers engaged in harassment can have many different motives, often hard to discern. It is sometimes hard to determine if one is being harassed or not...

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Week of 3 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 1
Week of 3 September 2018: Management, Sex and Mayhem, Part 1

Several months ago, Helen Roush, our Executive Vice President, suggested we do a series on Male/Female/Harassment issues in the workplace. I agreed and further agreed we would do it in September, our editorial calendar month reserved for management issues. As a warning--these columns may be "R" rated in places--but since we attract an adult audience, this should not be a problem.

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Week of 27 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, Fourth Week
Week of 27 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, Fourth Week

Every August, starting back in 2015, we have focused on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. This has become the most popular month of the year for original Nip Impressions columns. As usual, these stories will be told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos' stories in print for you. We continue with Chapter 19...

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Week of 20 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, Third Week
Week of 20 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, Third Week

Every August, starting back in 2015, we have focused on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. This has become the most popular month of the year for original Nip Impressions columns. As usual, these stories will be told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos' stories in print for you. We continue with Chapter 18...

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Week of 13 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, Second Week
Week of 13 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, Second Week

Every August, starting back in 2015, we have focused on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. This has become the most popular month of the year for original Nip Impressions columns. As usual, these stories will be told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos' stories in print for you. We continue with Chapter 17...

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Week of 6 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, First Week
Week of 6 August 2018: Corruption Month 2018, First Week

Every August, starting back in 2015, we have focused on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. This has become the most popular month of the year for original Nip Impressions columns. As usual, these stories will be told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos' stories in print for you.

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Week of 30 July 2018: The future of the Environmental Movement
Week of 30 July 2018: The future of the Environmental Movement

I have long railed against what seems to be poor science, or at least sloppy science, when it comes to predicting future temperatures. That does not mean I believe we should be lackadaisical about our care of the planet; it just means I want to be assured we are getting it right. I am still not convinced that we are. However, a couple of things are appearing on the horizon that may indicate we have lost interest in the environment or that we will have to change our thinking about it.

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Week of 23 July 2018: The What and Why of Regulations
Week of 23 July 2018: The What and Why of Regulations

Sometimes we blithely discuss terms without thinking about their genesis or reason for being. The word "regulations" and its derivatives falls within this category. My favorite definition of regulations is this: Regulations are rules, standards or principles administered and enforced by those without assets upon those who have assets. It seems nonsensical. Allow me to explain.

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Week of 16 July 2018: Regulations
Week of 16 July 2018: Regulations

Over the years, I have come to accept that some regulation is good, even desirable. After all, regulations are the government equivalent of standards combined with the teeth of enforcement. Regulations have gotten so good, in fact, that they have nearly put industrial unions out of business--besides pay, the unions served a great need in holding employers accountable for workplace safety. Let's explore some other avenues from this subject for a minute. Hold on--it may get a bit political, not my normal posture in these columns...

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Week of 9 July 2018: Dealing with the public
Week of 9 July 2018: Dealing with the public

I had occasion last week to deal with a citizen in a community that was upset because the EPA was allowing the sewage discharge from their town to go into a large recreational lake. Actually, they were the gullible victims of an organization that was attempting to obtain favorable passage of an activity this organization wanted, and one of their tactics was "greenwashing." Let's break this down. There are many instructive lessons here...

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Week of 2 July 2018: Kicking off Environment and Regulations Month
Week of 2 July 2018: Kicking off Environment and Regulations Month

Talking about the environment, it's condition and its trajectory, is as fraught with danger as revealing one's political affiliation in the United States today. Everyone has an opinion about the state of today's environmental conditions, the trajectory for them in the future, and, furthermore, they know they are right, well grounded in science and the other side is biased and bought off by _______ (fill in the blank). Nevertheless, we will slog on amid the rising waters of discontent and disbelief.

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Week of 25 June 2018: Listen to everyone
Week of 25 June 2018: Listen to everyone

I think the sales/procurement function is often broken or at least inefficient. And I have a surprise for you--I am sure you think I spend a lot of time thinking about how paper mills operate. I do, but I spend at least as much time thinking about the dysfunctional sales and procurement function I find in mills. We spend a lot of time here at Paperitalo Publications thinking about it, too...

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Week of 18 June 2018: Penalizing the Purchaser
Week of 18 June 2018: Penalizing the Purchaser

Last week, we left our hapless suppliers attempting to defend their overhead costs. They had been asked questions designed to be embarrassing and did the best they could to maintain their cool and answer the questions politely. The potential buyer is smug--he has them on the ropes. Not so fast. There are plenty of arrows left in the sellers' quiver, so to speak. Even when there are two or three offerings on the table, sellers can still maintain their operating margins if they play the game correctly...

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Week of 11 June 2018: Great Negotiations
Week of 11 June 2018: Great Negotiations

If you have never been on both sides of the procurement table, I don't think you can appreciate the art of procurement. I have been fortunate enough to spend time on both sides. Today, I want to talk about being on the buying side...

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Week of 4 June 2018: Inefficiencies galore
Week of 4 June 2018: Inefficiencies galore

Purchasing, or procurement, is one of the least efficient functions in our businesses. It is also the environment where much corruption occurs (we talk about this nearly every August in "Pulp Rats" month). Procurement involves the exchange of goods and services for money. Everyone gets funny around money. I am convinced that so-called "arm's length" negotiations often waste money and result in the acquisition of something other than what the procuring party wanted. I am equally convinced that negotiated pricing, an implication that the effort is more open, wastes money, too. Then there is corruption, where sellers buy the business...

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Week of 28 May 2018: Energy Trends--Back to the future: Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company
Week of 28 May 2018: Energy Trends--Back to the future: Consolidated Water Power and Paper Company

Consolidated Power and Paper just may be the path to the future for humankind...

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Week of 21 May 2018: Energy Mistakes
Week of 21 May 2018: Energy Mistakes

I have cautioned the readers of this column many times not to get carried away with the energy trend du jour. It can be fatal to your enterprise. At the same time, I have cautioned you to watch for politically driven energy initiatives from governments. Being in industry for all the time that energy shortages and costs have been in the forefront, I have seen some really crazy expenditures, caused by companies and managers caught up in the hysteria of the day. We certainly need reliable energy sources to keep our enterprises operating in the present, but we must be careful in such times to do the best we can to perceive what may actually happen in the long run...

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Week of 14 May 2018: Lighting
Week of 14 May 2018: Lighting

I think our attitude in the industry has been that lighting is merely a rounding error in our overall energy cost equation. Perhaps it is time for us to put pencil to paper and run the numbers so to speak...

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Week of 7 May 2018: Energy Trends Month
Week of 7 May 2018: Energy Trends Month

I don't care if you are talking oil, gas, coal, wood, solar, wind, thermal or any other energy source you can conjure up, they all have their proponents and detractors. It is just a matter of what is in favor at a particular time at a particular location in the world when you are talking about energy costs.

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Week of 30 April 2018: Other kinds of safety
Week of 30 April 2018: Other kinds of safety

We are still in safety month at Paperitalo Publications and this column is going to be a bit of a stretch to complete the month editorially. But indulge me for a few minutes and I'll bring us back around to safety...

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Week of 23 April 2018: The seriousness of safety
Week of 23 April 2018: The seriousness of safety

The seriousness of our safety talks here were brought home within forty-eight hours of the publishing of my column last week (16 April 2018: Safety in the Air). A worker in a facility related to our industry lost his life, apparently due to, as I described last week, a gravity related failure. I know nothing of the circumstances and wouldn't offer a comment on them even if I knew everything. But from what I have read, three girls no longer have a daddy...

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Week of 16 April 2018: Safety in the air
Week of 16 April 2018: Safety in the air

When I think back on it, most of the safety problems I have seen in our industry involve rapid and unplanned changes in elevation of various items. Gravity works, folks, and if you don't believe it, just hang around for a while.

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Week of 9 April 2018: Safety Shenanigans
Week of 9 April 2018: Safety Shenanigans

As I lambasted company safety records last week, some of you may have been feeling a bit smug. Not to worry, it is your turn this week...

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Week of 2 April 2018: Safety is a joke
Week of 2 April 2018: Safety is a joke

Yes, it is Safety Month here at Paperitalo Publications and time to emphasize this topic once again. We emphasize it every week at the end of this column, but this month we have the opportunity to dive a little deeper.

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Week of 26 March 2018: Let's wrap up Maintenance Month
Week of 26 March 2018: Let's wrap up Maintenance Month

I am at the IDCON Pulp & Paper Industry Reliability & Maintenance Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina this week. Paperitalo Publications has been a media partner for this conference and we have been a long-term supporter of IDCON. So, what do they talk about at maintenance conferences? The latest tolerances for setting a pump? Alignment allowances for offset machine centerlines? Mean Time between Failures? None of the above.

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Week of 19 March 2018: Kitting done another way
Week of 19 March 2018: Kitting done another way

Last week we talked about "kitting" or the idea of having all the parts, gaskets, nuts, bolts and so forth on a unique cart, ready to go, for most maintenance tasks. There is another time-saving way to do this for some other parts...

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Week of 12 March 2018: Outage Kitting
Week of 12 March 2018: Outage Kitting

Outage kitting can help improve your productivity. It can also contribute to work being done correctly the first time if you are careful in copying all the instructions and specifications for a particular job and putting them on the cart.

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Week of 5 March 2018: Most important, most unglamorous subject
Week of 5 March 2018: Most important, most unglamorous subject

There is probably no subject we cover more and that is ignored more than maintenance. Let's face it, maintenance is not glamorous. It is not a new machine. It is often not even a piece of a new machine. It is simply maintaining what you have. Yet, maintenance is everything.

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Week of 26 February 2018: A Different Set of Transportation Problems
Week of 26 February 2018: A Different Set of Transportation Problems

This is the end of transportation month here at Paperitalo Publications. I wanted to take this time to offer a different perspective and a challenge to you.

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APP eyes India for possible mill
APP eyes India for possible mill

The management of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), one of the largest paper manufacturers in the world, has evinced interest to set up India's largest paper mill in Andhra Pradesh.

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Week of 19 February 2018: Transportation Optimization
Week of 19 February 2018: Transportation Optimization

I was introduced to "Just-in-Time" manufacturing concepts sometime in the mid-1980s--over thirty years ago. At that time, this meant that suppliers of paper products were supposed to keep warehouses full of product made to customers' specifications and deliver it to them on a moment's notice. We kept it on our books, assumed the liability for its potential damage or loss and owned the warehouses. Some savings! In the years since then, mills have clawed back some of the costs that were transferred to them by their customers during this trend...

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Week of 12 February 2018: Using Transportation Costs as a KPI
Week of 12 February 2018: Using Transportation Costs as a KPI

KPI, in case you have been living under a rock, means "Key Performance Indicator." KPI's have been all the rage for a number of years. Everyone has been looking for the Holy Grail of KPI's for a very long time. I'll submit I have found it...

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Week of 5 February 2018: Autonomous Closer
Week of 5 February 2018: Autonomous Closer

Once again it is February and we are in Transportation Month here at Paperitalo Publications. For the past several years we have been talking about "driverless trucks" at some point during the month of February. This year is no different and the general comment is no different from that of the past several years--driverless trucks are getting closer to being "mainstream."

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Week of 29 January 2018: Capital projects are often political
Week of 29 January 2018: Capital projects are often political

I have spent much of my career, dating back to 1970, in and around capital projects. This predates my entry into the pulp and paper industry around 1974. If I was not up to my elbows in capital projects, from my perch elsewhere they were fluttering about me. Categorically, I can say capital projects are political 99% of the time...

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Week of 22 January 2018: Negotiation Enthusiasm
Week of 22 January 2018: Negotiation Enthusiasm

When considering capital projects, especially those of larger sizes, I have always been bemused by the owner's team approach to negotiations with goods and services providers...

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Week of 15 January 2018: Does converting old assets make any sense?
Week of 15 January 2018: Does converting old assets make any sense?

Converting newsprint machines to produce linerboard has become the rage in recent times. There has also been at least one mill that has converted a portion of its directory paper business to tissue (they did replace the machines, they just used the old buildings). Then there are facilities planning to tear down old machines to build new ones in the same grades. This latter idea makes sense to me; the two former ideas, I am not so sure...

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Week of 8 January 2018: Desperation in Procurement
Week of 8 January 2018: Desperation in Procurement

I mentioned last week how we may be entering a period of shortage of goods and services required for capital projects. I have seen this happen several times in the past, and for the uninitiated, a story and a couple of comments may be instructive...

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Week of 1 January 2018: Capital Projects Month
Week of 1 January 2018: Capital Projects Month

It is Capital Projects Month at Paperitalo Publications. How timely this is this year...

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Week of 25 December 2017: The never-ending misperceptions
Week of 25 December 2017: The never-ending misperceptions

In the popular press, it sells stories to depict industry as mean, uncaring, lawbreakers and so forth. And for many of the average persons on the street, these stories fit the narrative they have been believing all their lives. These stories are bolstered by people credentialed as chemists and scientists who may or may not have their own axes to grind. The lesson for those of us in the industry is multifaceted...

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Week of 18 December 2017: The Clean Energy Report
Week of 18 December 2017: The Clean Energy Report

The International Energy Agency released a report in June 2017, "Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2017." Regardless of your political views on energy (and remember: old Jim says everything about energy is political), it is worthwhile to read material such as this. It reflects the viewpoint the general public will adopt and hence, the direction our industry must go in the future if we are to avoid pickets, boycotts and other unpleasant actions. Here are the "Key Messages" in the report...

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Week of 11 December 2017: Has the base case changed since 2010?  Not by much if at all.
Week of 11 December 2017: Has the base case changed since 2010? Not by much if at all.

Some will consider this column to be very negative and indeed it may be--but the following needs to be said.

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Week of 4 December 2017: A reminder
Week of 4 December 2017: A reminder

I have said for a long time, energy is all political (welcome to Energy Month at Paperitalo). As a political matter, the cost of energy does not necessarily obey the laws of supply and demand or act in any way like a true commodity. Certainly, it does in the short run, but never in the long run. My career, going back to the early 1970's, attests to this.

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Week of 27 November 2017: Now let's get practical, part 2
Week of 27 November 2017: Now let's get practical, part 2

Last week we talked about personnel; I promised to talk about maintenance this week.

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Week of 20 November 2017: Now let's get practical, part 1
Week of 20 November 2017: Now let's get practical, part 1

In the first two weeks of Innovation and Strategy month we have talked about theory and the principles you might consider in approaching Innovation and Strategy in your own mill or company. It is time to get real and talk about opportunities and threats we all face today.

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Week of 13 November 2017: Beware of the sizzle when sorting out Innovation & Strategy
Week of 13 November 2017: Beware of the sizzle when sorting out Innovation & Strategy

Think about it, every graph you have ever seen was designed to convey the story the presenter wanted to present. Think about what you have done yourself as you set about preparing graphs for a presentation. I know you chose all the attributes of the graph based on the conclusions you wanted to convey to your audience. Everybody does it.

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Week of 6 November 2017: Lessons from the iPhone X
Week of 6 November 2017: Lessons from the iPhone X

We often think innovation should occur as swiftly as possible. When we are up against stiff competition, this is true. It is also true when we have a break-through product. But in the normal course of events, it is often best for the bottom line if you pace yourself on innovation (as you might have guessed, our topic for the month is "innovation and strategy").

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Week of 30 October 2017: Quality--the first frontier
Week of 30 October 2017: Quality--the first frontier

Sadly, mills have the same problems as suppliers when it comes to phone systems, but you can fix this...

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Week of 23 October 2017: Internal Quality
Week of 23 October 2017: Internal Quality

Some people (and I suspect they are often the same people I described above) think doing a quality job is relevant only to their outside customers and clients. Wrong! In fact, one could not be more wrong than this. Practicing internal quality principles really saves money (practicing quality externally saves and wins customers). Internally, two things go wrong when we fail to hold to the highest quality standards...

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Week of 16 October 2017: When your reputation for quality is horrible
Week of 16 October 2017: When your reputation for quality is horrible

If your reputation for quality is horrible, there is only one choice--fix it. But to reach that one choice, you must first be willing to accept the feedback that your reputation for quality is poor. This is a hurdle for many organizations; they are dismissive of customer feedback, and say to themselves, "It is only a single case" or "customers are not willing to pay for quality." I know of three organizations that have met this challenge head-on and done something about it...

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Week of 9 October 2017: When you can't figure out how to fix your quality
Week of 9 October 2017: When you can't figure out how to fix your quality

Wait a minute--you did not know your quality was broken? Your product or service quality is always broken. It is always broken because quality is a moving target. What may have been the best quality among your peers last month may send you to the bottom of the heap this month.

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Week of 2 October 2017: Quality Advantages
Week of 2 October 2017: Quality Advantages

Over a quarter of a century ago, quality was all the rage in industry. Business books on quality abounded and everyone had laser cut letter Q's sitting on their desks (at least in my world). About this time, I had a boss who attended some great quality seminar and came back reporting, "Quality is just as good as the customer requires, no more, no less." He was wrong. Welcome to quality month at Paperitalo Publications...

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Week of 25 September 2017: Management compliments and criticisms are not always obvious
Week of 25 September 2017: Management compliments and criticisms are not always obvious

Many employees spend an inordinate amount of time trying to read the "tea leaves" of the boss's behavior. Most of this effort is a waste of time...

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Week of 18 September 2017: Be careful how you define your team, part 2
Week of 18 September 2017: Be careful how you define your team, part 2

Last week we talked about exactly who is defined as part of your team. This was done from the stance of making sure you don't, due to naïve generosity, take on work outside your scope and in the end, do everything poorly. At the same time, you must ward off the outside work without building silos or fortresses that seed discontent. This week, we will deal with two issues that may come up as you protect your team and strive for excellence in your team's area of responsibility, as well as good relations with all of your coworkers.

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Week of 11 September 2017: Be careful how you define your team, part 1
Week of 11 September 2017: Be careful how you define your team, part 1

A team is your specific, small group of personnel assigned to do a specific job or set of jobs. Although I am not much of a sports fan, I can give an example from there. Suppose the quarterback notices that the waterboy forgot to fill the drink containers? Does he ask for a time out so the players on the field can do this job? No. While in the bigger picture, they are all on the same team, when it comes to specific tasks they are not.

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Week of 4 September 2017: What assets are affecting your performance?
Week of 4 September 2017: What assets are affecting your performance?

I recently had a discussion with a long-time industry professional concerning this question: which is more important to a given mill--the technology or the management?

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Week of 28 August 2017: Corruption Month 2017, Fourth Week
Week of 28 August 2017: Corruption Month 2017, Fourth Week

Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Week of 21 August 2017: Corruption Month 2017, Third Week
Week of 21 August 2017: Corruption Month 2017, Third Week

Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Week of 14 August 2017: Corruption Month 2017, Second Week
Week of 14 August 2017: Corruption Month 2017, Second Week

Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Week of 7 August 2017: Corruption Month is here again!
Week of 7 August 2017: Corruption Month is here again!

Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories will be told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Week of 31 July 2017: People versus computer technology
Week of 31 July 2017: People versus computer technology

I was talking to an old friend who spent one of his college days' summers doing fetch-and-carry work in a paper mill. Although it had been many years ago, he was still in awe of that "big ol' paper machine" and the fact that it took "twelve or thirteen men" to run it. No more, Tom, I said...

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Week of 24 July 2017: How well do you know your territory?
Week of 24 July 2017: How well do you know your territory?

"You've got to know the territory." As I remember it, this was a song sung by a chorus of some erstwhile salesmen in the Broadway show "The Music Man." If you are a mill manager or a department manager, it is your responsibility to be a walking encyclopedia about your territory and all that is in it. You've got to know your territory...

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Week of 17 July 2017: The quandary of environmental advocates
Week of 17 July 2017: The quandary of environmental advocates

The real objective of the environmental advocacy groups today is their own survival. They cannot afford to declare a great victory, for then their incomes dry up. They are in quite a predicament!

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Week of 10 July 2017: Being Hands-on Engineers and Scientists
Week of 10 July 2017: Being Hands-on Engineers and Scientists

It was not so long ago that engineers and scientists often came from a rural background. This is still true in developing nations, but for those of us living in developed nations, it is usually no longer the case. My own experience is a good example...

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Week of 3 July 2017: Make your office make a statement
Week of 3 July 2017: Make your office make a statement

This column is for the younger generation. Ready? Away we go! You get your degree and head off to the mill to work. Or perhaps your first job is with a supplier. In any case, you are proud of your accomplishments to date--but reality is about to set in. After you sign the pile of papers from the human resources department, you will be taken to your new office...

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Week of 26 June 2017: Do you feel like somebody's watching you? They are...
Week of 26 June 2017: Do you feel like somebody's watching you? They are...

Do you have trouble getting subordinates to do what you want them to do? There can be many reasons for this, but one of the most common is that YOU are not doing what you want THEM to do...

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Week of 19 June 2017: Preparing for your personal buy-out day
Week of 19 June 2017: Preparing for your personal buy-out day

I have spent a lot of time talking to investment bankers. Their interest is in buying into deals, looking at bankrupt companies for possible purchase and so forth. In short, they are looking for nuggets in the pulp and paper industry. Such are the fortunes of a mature industry. If you have been located in a mill or a headquarters for some period of time, you may have already seen company names and logos come and go, while you personally occupied the same space. Observing colleagues in the industry, I have noticed a number of behaviors that could use some improvement, to the benefit of the persons whose careers may be affected...

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Week of 12 June 2017: Inspect inspections
Week of 12 June 2017: Inspect inspections

If you are buying inspection services, make sure you are getting them. I was in a facility once where I saw what happens when these things go wrong. This facility had some high priced instrumentation for which they had an annual inspection contract. It just so happened that I was very familiar with one piece of instrumentation that was on this inspection cycle and I was standing beside it when the inspector came by. I knew every flaw this instrument currently suffered. The inspector's entire activity, as I observed it, was to take off last year's inspection sticker and put on this year's...

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Week of 5 June 2017: Your role in your company
Week of 5 June 2017: Your role in your company

Wandering around the industry as I do, I am often amazed at the perceived roles people think they have, as indicated by their actions and words each day. Many appear to have no clue to the overall picture. It is really quite simple...

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Week of 29 May 2017: My feelings about feelings
Week of 29 May 2017: My feelings about feelings

A person starting a career is a bit of an open book. Such people may have had some work experiences, maybe even some military experience, but, in general their expectations about the work environment are recognized, even by them, as just that: expectations that may or may not become reality. It amuses me, for instance, to hear some of the ideas soon-to-be college graduates have about work. One told me something to the effect that once she started to work, she saw excitement in life as being over--you go to work each day, do the same things each day and forty years later you retire. Sadly, I have actually met people who have done exactly this. What I am getting at here, though, is something more subtle...

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Week of 22 May 2017: Table talk can be educational
Week of 22 May 2017: Table talk can be educational

No matter how much formal education you have acquired, there is one forum that stands above others in importance. It is one in which you participate first as a receiver, and then, later, if you have children, as a provider. It is the forum of the family dinner table...

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Week of 15 May 2017: The problem of scattered assets--some new, some old
Week of 15 May 2017: The problem of scattered assets--some new, some old

There is a lesson here for us all--an opportunity for a critical self-examination of how large decisions are made...

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Week of 8 May 2017: How would you change things if you could?
Week of 8 May 2017: How would you change things if you could?

Over the years, I have heard many conversations start with, "If I were in charge of this place..." If you were in charge, what would you change? Why would you change it? How would you accomplish the changes? When would you change it? Let us take things one at a time...

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Week of 1 May 2017: Up and at 'em--or just sitting?
Week of 1 May 2017: Up and at 'em--or just sitting?

Recently I have seen a number of cases in which human energy was not being expended to any appreciable extent. Actually, I was witnessing laziness. I have not discussed this topic in a long time, so perhaps it is time once again to bring it up. It is a topic that tends to offend some folks, for people do not like to be singled out as lazy or unenergetic. To assuage the embarrassment of the truly guilty, let me say that we all are struck by this at one time or another. And we must admit that we know some people who are in a permanent rut of inactivity. So, who to blame? What to do?

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Week of 24 April 2017: Perception vs. Reality
Week of 24 April 2017: Perception vs. Reality

The phrase, "perception is reality" is often a cautionary warning as to how others might perceive what one is doing, or how they look and so forth. I want to talk today about times when perception is not reality and how this might affect our actions...

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Week of 17 April 2017: Hindsight vs. Foresight
Week of 17 April 2017: Hindsight vs. Foresight

You are reading this, most likely, at an operating facility. I am going to give you two important challenges that are vital to the success of your company, no matter what your position is.

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Week of 10 April 2017: Taking control of your time
Week of 10 April 2017: Taking control of your time

I will bet you have tasks, if viewed by a critical eye, that would appear somewhat ludicrous. They may include a meeting you attend regularly that does nothing toward moving your enterprise forward. They may be insane reports that no one reads, or some other habitual exercise that does nothing...

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Week of 3 April 2017: General liability and the cost of not caring
Week of 3 April 2017: General liability and the cost of not caring

Years ago, when I started this column, I decided one important thing to be done here was to beat the drum for safety. Well, we have, and we plan to continue doing so. I am writing today, however, about general liability--caused by people or caused to people through exposures of various kinds. Some of these are safety matters, some are security matters. Others can arise out of employment law...

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Week of 27 March 2017: Thinking new thoughts about maintenance
Week of 27 March 2017: Thinking new thoughts about maintenance

There are some ways in which original capital purchases can serve to reduce maintenance costs and downtime...

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Week of 20 March 2017: When we were younger, when things were simpler
Week of 20 March 2017: When we were younger, when things were simpler

Today we spend lots of time talking about predictive, preventive maintenance and have all sorts of seminars and software to manage this. There is no excuse for not having a strong predictive, preventive maintenance program. But can it all come down to something as simple as proper care of bearings?

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How many hours of uptime do you estimate your facility loses per year due to a lack of the correct spare part?
How many hours of uptime do you estimate your facility loses per year due to a lack of the correct spare part?

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Residues climb as wood pellet feedstock
Residues climb as wood pellet feedstock

Wood pellet manufacturers in both the US and Canada are increasingly diversifying their feedstock to reduce fiber costs and take advantage of less utilized fiber sources, according to analysis by Wood Resources International.

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Week of 13 March 2017: Maintenance Storerooms
Week of 13 March 2017: Maintenance Storerooms

If you have read my thoughts on maintenance storerooms over the years, you will accuse me of having been all over the place, and you will be correct. At one time, I adopted the attitude that everyone should do what they were best at doing, and in the case of paper mills, this was making paper, so they should outsource storerooms. I still think this is good for small consumables and specialized repairs (such as roll repairs and recovering). However, for other items, such as pump assemblies, screens, motors and so forth, keep your own--but take care of them. This philosophy certainly applies for existing papermills (but read to the end)...

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Does your company budget unplanned maintenance costs?
Does your company budget unplanned maintenance costs?

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Anthony Pratt's Visy borrows $150m from super funds in groundbreaking deal
Anthony Pratt's Visy borrows $150m from super funds in groundbreaking deal

Anthony Pratt has struck a groundbreaking deal for his private manufacturing giant Visy Industries to raise $150 million in long-term debt from two Australian superannuation funds.

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Week of 6 March 2017: Maintenance
Week of 6 March 2017: Maintenance "Costs"

We have been conditioned to think maintenance is a cost and unscheduled maintenance is acceptable. There is no basis for this logic; it is just a rumor passed around from board room to board room. It is time for your senior management to take a long hard look at the numbers, not the traditions...

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Do you think there will be more or less attractive jobs in the transportation sector in the future?
Do you think there will be more or less attractive jobs in the transportation sector in the future?

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Valmet to supply an evaporation line to Sappi's pulp mill in Ngodwana, South Africa
Valmet to supply an evaporation line to Sappi's pulp mill in Ngodwana, South Africa

Valmet will supply an evaporation line to Sappi Southern Africa Limited to be built at the company's pulp mill in Ngodwana, South Africa.

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RYECO announces new sheet-break detector
RYECO announces new sheet-break detector

Sheet-break failures from heat, debris, web strikes, operator paper-hooks, coating splashes, sizing splashes, mount failures, excessive sensor bouncing and more are a thing of the past with RYECO's new Smart-ONE Break Detection System.

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Cascades Sonoco Announces Multi-Million Dollar Investment in Birmingham, Ala., Facility
Cascades Sonoco Announces Multi-Million Dollar Investment in Birmingham, Ala., Facility

Cascades Sonoco, a joint venture of Sonoco Products Company and Cascades Inc. announced the investment of approximately $16 million for the expansion of its existing Birmingham, Ala., facility.

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Week of 27 Feb 2017: Future jobs in transportation
Week of 27 Feb 2017: Future jobs in transportation

We have spent the entire month talking about driverless trucks, drones, robots and so forth. So what is in the future for humans in this scenario?

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Week of 20 Feb 2017: Deadheading Drones
Week of 20 Feb 2017: Deadheading Drones

We have heard a lot about drones delivering packages, but not so much about the return flights--there will be a lot of deadheading going on. Can this wasted transportation resource be put to good use?

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Do you have any driverless vehicles on your site (inside or outside)?
Do you have any driverless vehicles on your site (inside or outside)?

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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Södra invests and expands sawmills
Södra invests and expands sawmills

Södra is investing just over SEK 200 million in the Långasjö, Värö, and Orrefors sawmills.

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Week of 13 Feb 2017: Rethinking local transportation needs
Week of 13 Feb 2017: Rethinking local transportation needs

While last week I was talking about long distance transportation of pulp by pipelines, let's look at what should be done locally, given the current state of technology...

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How may years do you think it is until we have driverless trucks?
How may years do you think it is until we have driverless trucks?

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Mondi Group acquires Excelsior Technologies
Mondi Group acquires Excelsior Technologies

Mondi Group has acquired 100% of the outstanding share capital of Excelsior Technologies Limited from funds managed by Endless LLP and certain other minority shareholders, for a total consideration of GBP 33 million (Euro 38 million), on a debt and cash-free basis.

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Avery Dennison says it will acquire Yongle Tape Company Ltd.
Avery Dennison says it will acquire Yongle Tape Company Ltd.

Avery Dennison announced it has agreed to acquire Yongle Tape Company Ltd., a manufacturer of specialty tapes and related products used in a variety of industrial markets, including the global automotive industry.

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Week of 6 Feb 2017: What has changed? What is new?
Week of 6 Feb 2017: What has changed? What is new?

This is transportation month at Paperitalo Publications. This week, we discuss trucks and pipelines...

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What did Jim miss in helping you have a successful capital project?
What did Jim miss in helping you have a successful capital project?

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Week of 30 Jan 2017: Keeping Capital Project Costs Low
Week of 30 Jan 2017: Keeping Capital Project Costs Low

There are a number of actions by mill owners that drive up the costs of capital projects. We'll wrap up this month by touching on these...

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Has your mill ever been harmed by the way a general contractor treated a subcontractor?
Has your mill ever been harmed by the way a general contractor treated a subcontractor?

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AF&PA Elects New Chair, Announces Officers
AF&PA Elects New Chair, Announces Officers

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) announced the election of Clearwater Paper Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Linda Massman as the new AF&PA Board Chair and released the 2017 slate of AF&PA Board officers.

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Nippon Paper acquiring Plus Paper Foodpac
Nippon Paper acquiring Plus Paper Foodpac

Japan's Nippon Paper Industries Co. Ltd is entering the Indian market by acquiring the largest local paper cup manufacturing company owned by the BK Modi Group for an undisclosed amount.

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Definitive Agreement Reached for WestRock to Acquire Multi Packaging Solutions for $18 per share
Definitive Agreement Reached for WestRock to Acquire Multi Packaging Solutions for $18 per share

WestRock Company and Multi Packaging Solutions International Limited announced Tuesday that a definitive agreement has been reached for WestRock to acquire all of the outstanding shares of MPS for $18.00 per share in cash and the assumption of an estimated $873 million in net debt, for a total enterprise value of $2.28 billion.

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American Forest & Paper Association Backs Presidential Directive in Support of Manufacturing Growth
American Forest & Paper Association Backs Presidential Directive in Support of Manufacturing Growth

American Forest & Paper Association President & CEO Donna Harman issued a statement in support of President Trump's directive to support U.S. manufacturing by expediting the permitting process and reducing regulatory burden affecting domestic manufacturing.

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Kadant Solutions Introduces the Next Generation Creping Holder
Kadant Solutions Introduces the Next Generation Creping Holder

Kadant Solutions, a division of Kadant Inc., announced the launch of its Conformatic™ AL creping holder

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WestRock Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Divest Home, Health and Beauty Business for $1.025 Billion
WestRock Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Divest Home, Health and Beauty Business for $1.025 Billion

WestRock Company announced Monday, 23 Jan 2017, that it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement with Silgan Holdings Inc. under which Silgan will purchase WestRock's Home, Health and Beauty business for $1.025 billion in cash plus the assumption of approximately $25 million in foreign pension liability.

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Week of 23 Jan 2017: What you don't know about your capital project
Week of 23 Jan 2017: What you don't know about your capital project

Construction projects are complicated, even the little ones. I can guarantee you that you can watch a five-million-dollar project all day long for its entire duration and you won't know half of what happened, not half the interactions that occurred over its duration. There is one contemporary and one post completion test you can do...

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Friendly suppliers
Friendly suppliers

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Researchers, $1M in grants to help Maine recover from 'natural disaster' of mill closures
Researchers, $1M in grants to help Maine recover from 'natural disaster' of mill closures

About $1 million in federal grants and access to the federal laboratory that began the Atomic Age will help the state's $8.5 billion forest products industry determine its future, officials announced Wednesday.

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First Nation Forestry Council and four B.C. Pulp & Paper Companies work together to promote greater co-operation
First Nation Forestry Council and four B.C. Pulp & Paper Companies work together to promote greater co-operation

The First Nation Forestry Council and four B.C. pulp and paper companies are pleased to announce they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to promote and support the growing role and influence of First Nations in the B.C. forest sector. The four companies include: Catalyst Paper, Nanaimo Forest Products (Harmac), Paper Excellence Canada and Zellstoff Celgar Limited Partnership.

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BillerudKorsnäs makes further investment in Internet of Packaging
BillerudKorsnäs makes further investment in Internet of Packaging

BillerudKorsnäs is taking a further step into the Internet of Packaging by investing in a minority holding in UK technology company Hanhaa.

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Fire at Kaukauna, Wisconsin Expera paper mill
Fire at Kaukauna, Wisconsin Expera paper mill

KAUKAUNA, Wisconsin (From WLUK) -- Fire in a ventilation system at a Kaukauna paper mill was quickly put out Friday afternoon, the 13th of January.

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Week of 16 Jan 2017: Why mills lose at capital projects
Week of 16 Jan 2017: Why mills lose at capital projects

In addition to the fantasyland I referenced last week, there are other issues in capital projects that are landmines...

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Have you ever seen a capital project end up in court?
Have you ever seen a capital project end up in court?

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Social Security Administration Suspends Mailing of Social Security Earnings Statements, Leaving Many without Access to Critical Savings Tool
Social Security Administration Suspends Mailing of Social Security Earnings Statements, Leaving Many without Access to Critical Savings Tool

Consumers for Paper Options, a coalition advocating for access to important paper-based services and information, has expressed strong opposition to a new decision by the Social Security Administration (SSA) to suspend the mailing of Social Security Statements to workers under the age of 60.

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AF&PA Targets Regulations, Taxes, Transportation, Trade Among Top 2017 Advocacy Priorities
AF&PA Targets Regulations, Taxes, Transportation, Trade Among Top 2017 Advocacy Priorities

The American Forest & Paper Association announced 2017 advocacy priorities that include smarter regulations to unleash economic growth, comprehensive tax reform, efficient transportation and trade policies that advance U.S. competitiveness. The association will pursue these over the coming year to support the paper and wood product manufacturing industry's ability to create jobs and grow the economy.

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Kemira invests in expansion of ASA capacity in Nanjing, China
Kemira invests in expansion of ASA capacity in Nanjing, China

Kemira announced that it will make a multi-million euro investment in the production line expansion of sizing agent (ASA) at its Nanjing site in China.

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Trump adviser wants mega-mergers, like DuPont Dow, blocked
Trump adviser wants mega-mergers, like DuPont Dow, blocked

Bruce Rastetter, an Iowa entrepreneur and ag adviser to Donald Trump, wants the president-elect to block pending mega-mergers like the $130 billion marriage between DuPont and Dow Chemical Co.

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Report: Paper industry still vital part of Maine's economy
Report: Paper industry still vital part of Maine's economy

The death of Maine's pulp and paper industry is highly exaggerated. That's the conclusion of a new preliminary report by Mindy Crandall, an assistant professor of Forest Management and Economics at the University of Maine.

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Glatfelter Names Tim Hess to Lead Specialty Papers Business Unit
Glatfelter Names Tim Hess to Lead Specialty Papers Business Unit

Glatfelter announced the promotion of Timothy R. Hess to Senior Vice President and Business Unit President, Specialty Papers.

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Week of 9 Jan 2017: Lawyers and Capital Projects
Week of 9 Jan 2017: Lawyers and Capital Projects

Having been in the industry for over forty years and having written my fair share of expert witness reports, I can tell you that major capital projects (over, say, USD 5 million) are more likely to end up in court than not. This does not have to be. OK, Jim, you say this does not have to be, then why does it happen? There are two or three conditions that cause construction court cases. They come up repeatedly...

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Do you think capital project activity is about to heat up?
Do you think capital project activity is about to heat up?

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Buyer of closed Madison, Maine paper mill envisions success with new use
Buyer of closed Madison, Maine paper mill envisions success with new use

Gregory Schain of New Mill Capital Holdings in New York City points to one recent success his company has had in Maine as he looks to the company's newest acquisition: the shuttered Madison Paper Industries mill.

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Södra: New autumn planting record
Södra: New autumn planting record

In autumn 2016, 6.1 million saplings from Södra were planted. This is an increase of 1.3 million saplings compared with the 2015 autumn planting season. Södra delivered a total of 33.6 million saplings in 2016.

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Stora Enso divests Formeca
Stora Enso divests Formeca

Stora Enso has divested its 100% shareholding in its Finnish subsidiary Formeca Oy, a provider of high-quality machines for automated packaging lines, to Amitec Oy, a specialised engineering and machine construction company based in Finland.

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Valmet to supply white liquor pressure disc filter to Daio Paper in Japan
Valmet to supply white liquor pressure disc filter to Daio Paper in Japan

Valmet will deliver a white liquor pressure disc filter to Daio Paper Co. Ltd's Mishima pulp mill in Japan.

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Crown Timber changes name to Södra Wood Ltd
Crown Timber changes name to Södra Wood Ltd

On 1 January, Crown Timber Group Plc was renamed Södra Wood Ltd. The forest industry Group Södra acquired Crown Timber in March last year and the integration of the companies has proceeded at a high pace since then, culminating with this name change.

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 AF&PA Statement on Proposed National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Kraft Pulp Mills
AF&PA Statement on Proposed National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Kraft Pulp Mills

"By signing the proposed rule, the EPA has indicated that the 2001 maximum achievable control technology (MACT) rule protects public health: That's a positive testament to our industry's investments and commitment to air quality and sustainability..."

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Closed Madison, Maine mill sold to 'joint venture' of companies
Closed Madison, Maine mill sold to 'joint venture' of companies

Madison Paper Industries, which closed in May and put about 215 people out of work, has been sold to a buyer with plans to put the property back into use as an industrial site.

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Week of 2 Jan 2017: Capital Projects are about to change
Week of 2 Jan 2017: Capital Projects are about to change

If you have been doing capital projects for only a few years, I think some surprises are just around the corner. Here is my assessment of where we are headed, assuming some natural or human-caused cataclysmic event does not occur...

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Valmet delivers a defibrator system to Quansen Wood in China
Valmet delivers a defibrator system to Quansen Wood in China

Valmet will deliver a defibrator system to Quansen Wood Co., Ltd's new fiberboard line located in Mengcheng county in Anhui province, China.

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Södra: Record increase in timber exports to Poland
Södra: Record increase in timber exports to Poland

Södra's exports of sawn timber to Poland have increased 150 percent in 2016. Although Poland is not an entirely new market for Södra, it has grown rapidly in recent years and is interesting from various perspectives.

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Fire at Smurfit facility
Fire at Smurfit facility

Firefighters from Forney and Terrell extinguished a fire at the Smurfit Kappa paper mill on Friday night.

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Week of 26 Dec 2016: Energy/Perception/ Environment Blend
Week of 26 Dec 2016: Energy/Perception/ Environment Blend

Whether you are the CEO, Mill Manger, Energy Czar or a Project Engineer, your job today is more demanding than ever as we deal with energy, the environment and public perception...

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Do you think your mill will be revising its energy budget in the first quarter of 2017?
Do you think your mill will be revising its energy budget in the first quarter of 2017?

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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Brazil's Hypermarcas in talks to sell diaper unit to Belgium's Ontex
Brazil's Hypermarcas in talks to sell diaper unit to Belgium's Ontex

Belgium's Ontex Group NV is in advanced talks to buy the diapers business of Hypermarcas SA, Brazil's most diversified pharmaceutical firm, the companies said.

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Fortress Paper enters into an agreement with Chadwick Wasilenkoff for his continued role as executive chairman
Fortress Paper enters into an agreement with Chadwick Wasilenkoff for his continued role as executive chairman

Fortress Paper Ltd. announced that it has entered into an agreement with Chadwick Wasilenkoff for his continued role as Executive Chairman of the Company on a full-time basis.

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Universal Forest Products senior executive sentenced to prison time
Universal Forest Products senior executive sentenced to prison time

A Universal Forest Products executive was sentenced in federal court on Thursday to 50 months in prison for conspiracy, mail fraud, money-laundering and making false statements in a loan application in connection with the construction of Vineyard Commons in Highland, N.Y.

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SCA enters wound care with $2.9 billion deal
SCA enters wound care with $2.9 billion deal

Svenska Cellulosa AB will acquire BSN Medical for 2.74 billion euros ($2.9 billion) as the Swedish maker of Velvet tissues expands into wound care and orthopedics ahead of a planned split from forestry products.

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Clearwater Paper Acquires Manchester Industries
Clearwater Paper Acquires Manchester Industries

Clearwater Paper Corporation announced it has acquired Manchester Industries of Richmond, Virginia, a leading, independently-owned paperboard sales, sheeting and distribution supplier to the packaging and commercial print industries.

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Glatfelter Announces Planned Executive Leadership Transition in Human Resources
Glatfelter Announces Planned Executive Leadership Transition in Human Resources

Glatfelter announced that Senior Vice President of Human Resources & Administration, William T. Yanavitch II, will retire from the company, effective March 31, 2017.

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Week of 19 Dec 2016: I told you energy is political!
Week of 19 Dec 2016: I told you energy is political!

For many years, I have been telling the faithful readers of this column that energy is a political issue. Now the proof is in...

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Estimate the number of VFD pumps installed in your mill
Estimate the number of VFD pumps installed in your mill

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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UPM biodiversity programme receives an honourable mention from FIBS
UPM biodiversity programme receives an honourable mention from FIBS

The UPM biodiversity programme received an honourable mention in the 2016 corporate biodiversity awards by Finland's leading corporate responsibility network FIBS. The six finalists presented their proposals to a judging panel and audience in a pitching event.

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Watchdog launches action over 'flushable' wipes advertising
Watchdog launches action over 'flushable' wipes advertising

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it had instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Kimberly-Clark Australia and White King seller Pental Limited.

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U.S. President-elect Trump's get-tough trade plan could benefit Maine forest industry
U.S. President-elect Trump's get-tough trade plan could benefit Maine forest industry

Maine sawmills and timber harvesters could benefit if President-elect Donald Trump goes through with a draft plan to aggressively renegotiate trade terms for competing softwood lumber imported from Canada.

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ABB launches online system for measuring, monitoring and controlling freeness in pulp mixtures
ABB launches online system for measuring, monitoring and controlling freeness in pulp mixtures

ABB has launched L&W Freeness Online, what the company describes as a reliable, repeatable and cost-effective online system for measuring, monitoring and controlling key quality variables - Canadian Standard Freeness (CSF) and Schopper-Riegler (SR) - in paper stock preparation.

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Company: Florida lignin investment approved
Company: Florida lignin investment approved

The board of directors of Borregaard and Rayonier Advanced Materials have decided to go ahead with the investment project in Florida after securing necessary permits as well as incentives from local authorities.

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Week of 12 Dec 2016: Easy Energy Money
Week of 12 Dec 2016: Easy Energy Money

These two ideas have been around for a very long time, but I am amazed at how many people don't use them, not just in replacement scenarios, but in new installations. The first one I want to mention is regenerative drives. The other application is VFD (variable frequency drives) on pumps...

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BillerudKorsnäs explores new technologies - launches full scale tests adding MFC to its paperboard
BillerudKorsnäs explores new technologies - launches full scale tests adding MFC to its paperboard

After promising initial tests, BillerudKorsnäs is now moving ahead with full scale trials adding microfibrillated cellulose, MFC, to its paperboard products. The initiative is made possible through a new cooperation with Norwegian biorefinery pioneer Borregaard.

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Stora Enso - Change in the reporting of costs related to growth of biological assets
Stora Enso - Change in the reporting of costs related to growth of biological assets

Stora Enso is changing its reporting regarding the costs related to the growth of biological assets (i.e. growing trees) starting from the fourth quarter of 2016.

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UPM Biofuels joins Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials
UPM Biofuels joins Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials

UPM has become member of RSB, the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials. RSB is a global standard and certification scheme for sustainable production of biomaterials and biofuels. It is also an independent multi-stakeholder coalition, which works to support the sustainability of biomaterials.

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Longview, Washington millworkers to vote on new KapStone offer
Longview, Washington millworkers to vote on new KapStone offer

Millworkers will vote on a new contract offer from KapStone next week, more than two years after their original contract expired.

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Austrian, Chinese victims of Pakistan crash worked for Andritz group
Austrian, Chinese victims of Pakistan crash worked for Andritz group

The two Austrians and a Chinese man who died in a plane crash in Pakistan worked for Austrian engineering group Andritz on a hydropower project in the north of the country, a spokesman for the company said on Wednesday.

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Nippon Paper Industries reviews the production structure of glassine paper
Nippon Paper Industries reviews the production structure of glassine paper

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. decided to review the production structure of glassine paper and achieve a more efficient production structure, as part of the restructuring initiatives, on the basis of the contraction of the domestic paper market.

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Interfor completes sale of Tacoma sawmill property
Interfor completes sale of Tacoma sawmill property

Interfor Corporation has completed the final step in the monetization of its former sawmill in Tacoma, Washington, with the closing of the sale of the Tacoma sawmill property for gross proceeds of $32.4 million.

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Week of 5 Dec 2016: Power & Energy
Week of 5 Dec 2016: Power & Energy

We are headed for a crisis. We have a combination of operators who have little physical understanding of the systems they operate, some of them have an attitude, and, on top of that, the hardware and software that serve as their crutches is obsolete. We want to do something about this...

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Have you ever changed venue, path or some other physical condition in order to gain a different perspective on a problem?
Have you ever changed venue, path or some other physical condition in order to gain a different perspective on a problem?

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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CelluForce and Fibria sign a strategic partnership agreement
CelluForce and Fibria sign a strategic partnership agreement

Buoyed by growing interest and technological advances in its innovative product called CelluForce NCC™, a form of high quality cellulose nanocrystals (CNC), CelluForce has signed a multifaceted strategic partnership with Fibria.

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Stora Enso celebrating 100 years on the Helsinki Stock Exchange
Stora Enso celebrating 100 years on the Helsinki Stock Exchange

Stora Enso is one of the world's oldest limited companies and has a documented history dating back to 1288 when shares were issued in Stora Kopparberg. On the Helsinki Stock Exchange Stora Enso has been listed for 100 years.​

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Veritiv opens Fairfield, Ohio operations center
Veritiv opens Fairfield, Ohio operations center

After opening its new operations center in Fairfield, Veritiv Corp. is looking forward to expanding its workforce in the region.

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Week of 28 Nov 2016: Innovation--when you are stuck
Week of 28 Nov 2016: Innovation--when you are stuck

This week, we talk about some tricks you can use to unplug an innovation log jam...

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Looking back on your career, do you think there is more innovation now?
Looking back on your career, do you think there is more innovation now?

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DuPont to end pension contribution for active employees
DuPont to end pension contribution for active employees

DuPont will no longer contribute to active employees' pension plans, a move that will affect the retirement of 13,000 workers.

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Week of 21 Nov 2016: Innovations--winners and losers
Week of 21 Nov 2016: Innovations--winners and losers

I thought I would spend some time this week talking about some of the innovations I have witnessed over the years...

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Technical difficulties
Technical difficulties

With our quiz this past week...

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OMNOVA Solutions Inc. announces CEO succession
OMNOVA Solutions Inc. announces CEO succession

OMNOVA Solutions Inc. is moving forward with its CEO succession process, and Kevin M. McMullen is stepping down as Chairman, CEO and President, and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective December 1, 2016, to pursue other interests.

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Week of 14 Nov 2016: I can teach you innovation
Week of 14 Nov 2016: I can teach you innovation

I concluded several years ago, that while people like me may be naturally wired to be innovative, creativity can be taught. It boils down to several steps or realizations. I don't think I have shared these in such a wide audience before. So, here goes...

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How to add innovation to our industry
How to add innovation to our industry

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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Duluth, Minn. caps electric franchise fee, saving Verso $390,000
Duluth, Minn. caps electric franchise fee, saving Verso $390,000

Heeding concerns that a proposed franchise fee could jeopardize the future of Verso Corp.'s paper mill in West Duluth and the 260 jobs it provides, city councilors unanimously voted Monday night to roll back the fee the company could have seen tacked onto its mammoth electric bill.

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Week of 7 Nov 2016: How to add innovation to our industry
Week of 7 Nov 2016: How to add innovation to our industry

The secret to innovation is to carve out the risk of innovation and allocate it to investors who have the attitude to handle it...

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The final act
The final act

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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Longtime Louisiana-Pacific CEO Harry Merlo dies at 91
Longtime Louisiana-Pacific CEO Harry Merlo dies at 91

Harry Merlo, the former long-timer chief executive officer of Louisiana-Pacific Corp., died Oct. 24. He was 91.

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Week of 31 Oct 2016: Quality--the final act
Week of 31 Oct 2016: Quality--the final act

Time and again, I have seen people conduct themselves in an exemplary manner throughout their careers, only to find themselves departing their places of employment in an untimely fashion. Once I went to work in a paper mill where this had happened en masse just before I arrived. The place was a mess. Whole departments had been eliminated and it looked as if the people had just left for a fire drill...

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Do you think you treat business acquaintances the same, no matter whether they are customers or suppliers?
Do you think you treat business acquaintances the same, no matter whether they are customers or suppliers?

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Week of 24 Oct 2016: Other Quality, Part 2
Week of 24 Oct 2016: Other Quality, Part 2

In the vein of what we discussed last week, let's continue. An area where I think many fall down, especially if they are not used to being in this particular venue, is customer relations. When in doubt, defer to your customer...

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Being on time
Being on time

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SCA and the UN Foundation Convene Fourth Annual Dialogue on the United Nation's Global Agenda
SCA and the UN Foundation Convene Fourth Annual Dialogue on the United Nation's Global Agenda

SCA President and CEO Magnus Groth to address the power of public-private partnerships in achieving the Global Agenda and advancing hygiene awareness and standards globally.

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SCA Recognized as World Leader for Corporate Action on Climate Change
SCA Recognized as World Leader for Corporate Action on Climate Change

SCA has been identified as a global leader for its strategies and actions in response to climate change and has been awarded a position on the Climate A List by CDP, the international not-for-profit that drives sustainable economies.

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Duluth, Minn. to modify electric fee to help paper mill
Duluth, Minn. to modify electric fee to help paper mill

Duluth Mayor Emily Larson announced Tuesday that her administration will ask the City Council next week to amend its ordinance which raises the city's electric utility franchise fee from 1 percent to 3 percent starting next year, bending to the complaints from the Verso paper mill that said the higher fee could force its closure.

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SCA Joins the Ellen MacArthur Foundation CE100 program
SCA Joins the Ellen MacArthur Foundation CE100 program

SCA announced that it has joined the Circular Economy 100 (CE100), an Ellen MacArthur Foundation program established to enable organizations to develop new circular opportunities.

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Week of 17 Oct 2016: Other Quality, part 1
Week of 17 Oct 2016: Other Quality, part 1

Quality comes in many shapes and forms. I want to talk about some of them this week...

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On Inside Quality
On Inside Quality

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Pratt Industries sets new production record
Pratt Industries sets new production record

Pratt Industries announced that it has set a company production record recently when the company's four, 100% recycled paper mills combined to produce more than 5,000 tons of the "industry's best paper" for the first time in a single day.

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Verso paper mill workers in Minnesota ask West Duluth council to reconsider electric franchise fee
Verso paper mill workers in Minnesota ask West Duluth council to reconsider electric franchise fee

Employees of the Verso Paper Co. in West Duluth again implored city council members Monday night to reconsider their decision last month to triple a local electric franchise fee it charges.

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Week of 10 Oct 2016: Inside Quality
Week of 10 Oct 2016: Inside Quality

Quality must not be an attribute that employees think can be turned on or off, dependent on time, place and resources. Apply the same quality everywhere all the time. Your business will thank you for it.

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'Imminent' spruce budworm outbreak worries New Brunswick forest industry
'Imminent' spruce budworm outbreak worries New Brunswick forest industry

Insect been wreaking havoc near border in Quebec and several 'hot spots' in province have been sprayed

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Veritiv forms new business services segment, appoints three executives
Veritiv forms new business services segment, appoints three executives

Veritiv Corp. has formed a new business segment, Veritiv Services, to oversee growth of the company's logistics and value-added services.

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N.C. State conference a big
N.C. State conference a big "family reunion"

More than 300 attend annual meeting and LGMI conference is coming to Raleigh in mid-October

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Week of 3 Oct 2016: How much quality?
Week of 3 Oct 2016: How much quality?

Once in my career, a boss told me we were building too much quality into our products. He said we should provide only the quality the customer expects. That might be true if "extra" quality costs extra expense which you cannot recover. There is another way to look at this...

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There are only two requirements for a successful career
There are only two requirements for a successful career

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Week of 26 Sep 2016: There are only two requirements for a successful career*
Week of 26 Sep 2016: There are only two requirements for a successful career*

*All else being equal and if you always behave in a legal, moral and ethical manner and you understand that the invoice printer is the most important machine in any enterprise. These are a given and you should already know them by now, if you have been following me for any length of time. After forty-six and one half years of observing modern business life, I think it does indeed boil down to two things, at least in large corporations...

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Do you think your CEO exhibits psychopathic traits?
Do you think your CEO exhibits psychopathic traits?

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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AF&PA appoints new communications director
AF&PA appoints new communications director

The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) has selected Barbara Riley as communications director.

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Week of 19 Sep 2016: Make them sign for it
Week of 19 Sep 2016: Make them sign for it

A recent study, done by Australian Bond University and the University of San Diego, of US CEOs in the supply chain industry found that 21 percent had "clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits" (psychopath: a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior). Based on my 46 years in industry, I think they have nailed it, perhaps even gotten the number a bit low. So, this column is for the other 79% of you...

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Coldwater acquires EZ eco smart cleaner Technology for Wires and Press Felts-- 90% Less Water and Eliminates Need for Mist Removal
Coldwater acquires EZ eco smart cleaner Technology for Wires and Press Felts-- 90% Less Water and Eliminates Need for Mist Removal

David Withers, President, announced that Coldwater has acquired the EZ eco smart cleaner technology for wires and press felts.

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Are you management material?
Are you management material?

Our readers weigh in on the subject...

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Week of 12 Sep 2016: Are you management material?
Week of 12 Sep 2016: Are you management material?

Some, not all, young people in the industry often want to know what it takes to get into management. The answer is simple to state, a bit more difficult to execute. It is this: perform beyond expectations and become known for it. However, before we go further into this (likely next week), let's discuss some matters that you can use to test yourself to determine if you have the disposition to be a manager...

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Week of 5 Sep 2016: Hard or soft?
Week of 5 Sep 2016: Hard or soft?

Every facility in our industry has two types of assets--hard and soft. By hard I mean buildings, machinery, process control systems and so forth. By soft I mean people. When a facility produces products for a vibrant market (defined as steady or growing, not declining), which are more important to its success--the hard assets or the soft assets?

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Week of 29 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, fifth week
Week of 29 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, fifth week

As Corruption Month 2016 comes to a close, Pulp Rats Vel and Hae relate their experiences to Great Grandmother and the rest of the council...

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Louisiana Flood and Paperitalo Friends
Louisiana Flood and Paperitalo Friends

Louisiana is home to a significant portion of the North American pulp and paper industry, both mills and suppliers. When I think back to the business I have done over the decades in Louisiana, the volume is staggering (I received my first project in Louisiana in 1979 in Bogalusa). Right now several of our clients call Louisiana home as well as do many of our friends.

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Week of 22 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, fourth week
Week of 22 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, fourth week

"I did not relate this story to the council, but I wanted to share it with you readers of Mr. Jim's column. It happened in a place where I lived and it is a bit complicated, for I do not understand all the things the Big Things do. Apparently, from the best I can gather, the Big Things make paper products for something called money. They hand other Big Things products they make and these Big Things give them this money in return. Why, I don't understand, but that is the way things seem to work..." Fos the Pulp Rat continues his tale.

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Week of 15 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, third week
Week of 15 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, third week

How many times have you seen a less than honest performer running out the back door as the investigators are coming in the front door? It happens quite often. Fos the Pulp Rat continues his tale...

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Week of 8 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, second week
Week of 8 Aug 2016: Corruption Month 2016, second week

When the rats know we have to follow the rules, there is no excuse for us humans, is there?

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Week of 1 Aug 2016: It's corruption month!
Week of 1 Aug 2016: It's corruption month!

If you are a new reader, a bit of explanation is in order. In the trade journal business, at least in the northern hemisphere, August is the lightest readership month of the year. So, last year we tried something different to perk up August. We labeled it "Corruption Month" and let Fos, a pulp rat, write the stories. This was a huge hit. So, Fos is back again with more tales from the dark side of the pulp and paper industry and beyond...

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Week of 25 July 2016: Impact
Week of 25 July 2016: Impact

What is the impact of your mill on the world as a whole? The truth is we don't know--no one knows because there are simply bits of science yet to be discovered. It is likely, however, that the impact is not as great as environmental NGOs say it is and not as little as your CEO may concede...

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Week of 18 July 2016: Just one more
Week of 18 July 2016: Just one more

Today the number of regulations with which a business or even a homeowner must comply has reached an incalculable quantity. It is as if one were reading the Book of Leviticus and attempting to understand how one properly prepares for the Jewish Sabbath--times ten million. The regulators, bureaucrats and their contractors see it to be their sacred duty to write just one more regulation. This leaves us with an impossible task--how to comply with all the regulations and the new ones constantly being foisted upon us...

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Week of 11 July 2016: The source of regulations
Week of 11 July 2016: The source of regulations

Last week I gave you my definition of regulations: "Regulations are imposed by those who have artificially gained power on those who own assets." I would like to spend this column discussing those who have artificially gained power. There are three groups that come to mind when I think of those who have artificially gained power. They are environmental NGOs, lawyers and governments. Let's take these one at a time...

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Week of 4 July 2016: Saving us from ourselves
Week of 4 July 2016: Saving us from ourselves

This is environment/regulations month here at Paperitalo Publications. Issues surrounding the environment and regulations necessarily, unless you subscribe to conspiracy theories, involve the mitigation of risks. I'll tell a story on myself to set the stage....

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Week of 27 June 2016: What's in a Contract? Part 3
Week of 27 June 2016: What's in a Contract? Part 3

As we wrap up procurement month, I want to talk to you about performance-based contracts. These are very different from most other contracts. They can be complicated to write, but if awarded to a competent bidder, can bring guaranteed results...

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Week of 20 June 2016: What's in a Contract? Part 2
Week of 20 June 2016: What's in a Contract? Part 2

We talked last week about what is not in a contract and the premise that in the eyes of the law in most places, if money has exchanged hands you have a contract. This week I wanted to take a higher level look at what one might want to include in a contract. And, we'll further simplify it by focusing on a contract that is of the "time and material" variety...

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Week of 13 June 2016: What's in a contract? Part 1
Week of 13 June 2016: What's in a contract? Part 1

It is true that if you want something in a contract, you must put it in the contract. It is also true that there are things not in a contract that are implied. A basic principle in the laws in the United States at least is this: if you accept money to do a task, there is a contract. It may be a verbal contract, but it is indeed a contract. Unfortunately, such contracts, if they involve a substantial claim by one party against another, will be sorted out the expensive way--in court. Here's an example...

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Week of 6 June 2016: Procurement Follies
Week of 6 June 2016: Procurement Follies

It is procurement month at Paperitalo Publications. The mill-related troublesome issues that can be attributed to the purchasing department are myriad and legion. This is not to say that there are not great purchasing agents, but this is a focal point of interaction with outsiders. It can lead to grand levels of loss through misunderstanding, incompetence and fraud. I want to discuss two issues today, two issues that are critical even before one arrives at the content of purchasing documents...

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Week of 30 May 2016: A flight of fantasy--wild and crazy energy ideas
Week of 30 May 2016: A flight of fantasy--wild and crazy energy ideas

As we wrap up energy month, let's look at some completely kooky ideas for saving energy. The naysayers will have their negative comments, but keep in mind what looks kooky now may be the greatest thing in just a few years. After all, if a mere two hundred years ago had you tried to speculate on humankind's harnessing and use of electricity coming in just a couple of centuries, you would have been labeled a complete nut-job. So, here we go...

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Week of 23 May 2016: The easiest energy savings
Week of 23 May 2016: The easiest energy savings

The easiest energy savings follow the same philosophy as the easiest safety improvements. If it does not exist, it cannot hurt you or consume energy. Your first reaction will be this: we don't operate anything we don't need in order to run our facility. Really? I'll bet I could find all sorts of things to turn off or modify in your facility...

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Week of 16 May 2016: Energy ROI Calculations are suspect
Week of 16 May 2016: Energy ROI Calculations are suspect

Energy projects have to be looked at from many angles, particularly if they are a significant investment as compared to the depreciated value of the assets they serve. Don't develop a cost overhang situation that will sink the mill if you guessed wrong (and you can count on guessing wrong). This is why you have to develop several scenarios...

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Week of 9 May 2016: Energy Leakage
Week of 9 May 2016: Energy Leakage

If a mill is thinking about adding to their energy generation sources, that is by adding another boiler to their fleet--it is time to pause and take a deep breath. It is one thing if you are changing fuels, quite another if you are just adding to your total steam generation capacity...

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Week of 2 May 2016: Energy is always political
Week of 2 May 2016: Energy is always political

As we start Energy Trends month here at Paperitalo Publications, I want to make sure those of you with a few less years of experience than I have understand that energy is probably the most concomitant political and scientific subject you will ever face...

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Week of 25 April 2016: The safest mill
Week of 25 April 2016: The safest mill

If adding things makes a site more hazardous, taking them away should reduce the hazards. The problem is, that over time, we get used to the hazards around us and pay no attention to them until we encounter them in an accident-causing situation...

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Week of 18 April 2016: When safety is used by top management to set an example
Week of 18 April 2016: When safety is used by top management to set an example

Last week's column was titled, "Does Senior Management cause Safety Issues?" This week, I want to report on two incidents of which I have direct knowledge where safety missteps by plant managers got them fired...

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Week of 11 April 2016: Does Senior Management cause Safety Issues?
Week of 11 April 2016: Does Senior Management cause Safety Issues?

There are times when the demands of management, which I'll admit include demands to conduct all work in a safe manner, sometimes force us to forget safety and push on to achieve the business operational objectives. Further, there is often a fine line when one is ascertaining how to proceed. Nearly everything we do has a dangerous component to it...

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Week of 4 April 2016: Kicking off Safety Month
Week of 4 April 2016: Kicking off Safety Month

It is Safety Month at Paperitalo Publications. Let's start off by understanding two things: (1) serious, sometimes fatal accidents occur in our mills today, this is not something that happens in the past or somewhere else and (2) what we tell our fellow employees, through words, deeds and actions is extremely important to conducting operations in a safe manner.

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Week of 28 March 2016: The greatest of these is love
Week of 28 March 2016: The greatest of these is love

No matter the department, people who love their jobs and care for the assets are the best inside-the-fence chance your mill has at succeeding.
This goes double for maintenance.

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Week of 21 March 2016: More on Boneyards and more
Week of 21 March 2016: More on Boneyards and more

We humans have a propensity for collecting things; it is in our nature. There is an entire industry that has developed in the last three or four decades to cater to this mental disorder--the self-storage industry. You drive by self-storage units all the time--how many of them do you think hold contents whose value equals just one year's rental on the unit? Just because we are in the corporate world does not mean we do not make poor decisions about keeping junk.

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Week of 14 March 2016: From whence comes Maintenance Personnel?
Week of 14 March 2016: From whence comes Maintenance Personnel?

In decades past, in the United States, engineering students came off the farm. It was often a first step up for farm family children to go to engineering school. I was a classic example. I left the farm and became a mechanical engineer. Today, entry level personnel, even if they are trained engineers, often do not have the practical background we used to have...

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Week of 7 March 2016: How to know if a mill is well maintained
Week of 7 March 2016: How to know if a mill is well maintained

You will never know if a mill is well maintained if you follow the mill's "tour route"--you know, the route they keep clean and in great shape for executives, board members and customers. Didn't know that mills have "tour routes"? Have I got some hot property in Florida for you! In a mill that is in really bad shape, you won't have to go to the places I am going to tell you about, for they, that is those in charge, will never let you get there. Thus, the first clue you are in a poorly maintained mill is if you run into resistance to a full blown tour...

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Week of 29 February 2016: Communications
Week of 29 February 2016: Communications

Over my career, the best operating mills and companies I have seen have had very open communications. In these systems, there is a culture encouraging communications between departments and between mills. Conversely, the worst I have seen have been those with a fortress mentality, both internally to a site, between departments and externally to the site, between mills. The worst I have ever seen was in a company making grades in declining markets. The mills saw each other as every bit as big a competitor as the mills actually belonging to competitors...

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Week of 22 February 2016: Transportation on your site
Week of 22 February 2016: Transportation on your site

In some cases, I have seen mills go to great lengths to negotiate strong contracts for their long-haul freight, only to ignore what was happening on their own property, perhaps because of the location of their mills. You can't do much about the location of your mill, if you happen to have arrived after the grand opening. But you might be able to do something about the shuffling of trucks, containers and rail cars about your site...

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Week of 15 February 2016: I've been workin' on the railroad!
Week of 15 February 2016: I've been workin' on the railroad!

Railroads could advance a lot further in serving their customers--in our case, pulp and paper mills and their customers...

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Week of 8 February 2016: The Red Ball Express
Week of 8 February 2016: The Red Ball Express

When the Allies invaded France in June of 1944, they knew they would have to conquer transportation problems if they were to be successful in reaching their objective. Starting on 24 August 1944 and running until 16 November 1944, the Red Ball Express operated 5,958 vehicles and moved 12,500 tons of freight each and every day from the coast of France to the front lines.

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Week of 1 February 2016: Transportation--taking your clues from trucks
Week of 1 February 2016: Transportation--taking your clues from trucks

Where will we see automation next? Driverless trucks. They are less than five years away, folks. You can take it to the bank. The question is, will you be ready for them in your mill?

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Week of 25 January 2016: When Capital Projects Fail
Week of 25 January 2016: When Capital Projects Fail

Failure takes many forms--the budget was too low, the schedule was wrong, training was poor, markets were not as predicted and on and on and on. However, I have never seen a project fail badly if it had a good design basis...

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Week of 18 January 2016: Assets--the intended results of Capital Projects
Week of 18 January 2016: Assets--the intended results of Capital Projects

I once worked for a company that was proud of its capital projects and how the completion of such projects added to the assets of the company. The next company I worked for was proud of its return on investment (ROI) and had a philosophy of investing as little as possible in capital projects, for such investments drove down the ROI. This seems like a conundrum, but there are always other details that need to be explained to understand such matters...

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Week of 11 January 2016: Capital Projects are serious business--not fiction
Week of 11 January 2016: Capital Projects are serious business--not fiction

Capital projects consist of three elements--money, time, and space. Getting two out of three right is not too hard. Getting all three correct is like bowling a perfect game.

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Week of 4 January 2016: Welcome to January--especially those of you with new capital projects
Week of 4 January 2016: Welcome to January--especially those of you with new capital projects

A new year, and it is capital projects month on the Paperitalo Editorial Calendar. In my nearly forty-six years in this industry, I have seen capital projects from all sides. I have seen so many projects, from the truly frightful to shining examples, that I could write a book. In fact, I did. ... I want to start this month's columns with a slightly different slant. I want to begin by talking about the relationship between suppliers and owners.

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Week of 28 December 2015: Energy and Culture in your Mill
Week of 28 December 2015: Energy and Culture in your Mill

As we wrap up power and energy month here at Paperitalo Publications, remember this: unless energy prices change rapidly and drastically (either up or down), the actual practices of energy consumption in your mill are likely driven by your mill's culture more than any other parameter. Of course, this is true of nearly everything that happens in your mill, but it bears noting in particular as we look at energy consumption.

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Week of 21 December 2015: Understanding the scale of energy generation
Week of 21 December 2015: Understanding the scale of energy generation

Here in the pulp and paper industry, we have a difficult problem explaining our energy needs to the public. The scale of our facilities, the energy needs, just do not compute for the individual who is not regularly exposed to the scale of the business. This works to our detriment when the population puts pressure on the politicians. What to do about this?

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Week of 14 December 2015: Your 2016 Energy Budget
Week of 14 December 2015: Your 2016 Energy Budget

If you want to wring unpredictability out of your energy budget, you will push conservation no matter the price of your energy sources. Energy that you don't have to purchase (at any price) reflects energy costs that cannot destabilize your energy budget. It is as simple as that.

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Week of 7 December 2015: A modest start
Week of 7 December 2015: A modest start

Where can we use the force of gravity to eliminate energy costs?

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Week of 23 November 2015: Innovation can be bought
Week of 23 November 2015: Innovation can be bought

In fact, most of the time, that is exactly what large companies do. Earlier in this series I talked about the inertia of large companies and the inability for them to innovate. So, they do the next best thing--they buy it...

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Week of 16 November 2015: Innovation is not fiction
Week of 16 November 2015: Innovation is not fiction

The problem is, good innovation often looks like fiction on the surface. So, challenge innovation--challenge what will make it work. If it is in contracts, challenge the legality. If it is in products, challenge the science. And if it is in services, challenge the psychology that will cause people to behave in the manner that will result in the outcome predicted...

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Week of 9 November 2015: Innovation vs. politics
Week of 9 November 2015: Innovation vs. politics

In our own industry, we are known for inertia. We are not known for innovation, in fact, innovation is almost discouraged. We are known for politics. If I took off my socks right now, I don't have enough digits on my hands and feet to count all the bad managers I know in positions of power in our industry. Politics wins...

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Week of 2 November 2015: Elusive Innovation
Week of 2 November 2015: Elusive Innovation

Innovation has its problems, both from the practitioner and the manager perspectives...

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Week of 26 October 2015: Quality, like safety, is a 24/7 job
Week of 26 October 2015: Quality, like safety, is a 24/7 job

You probably have heard it said many times, "Quality is an attitude." This is correct. Quality, safety and housekeeping all go together...

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Week of 19 October 2015: The Quality of...your LinkedIn photograph
Week of 19 October 2015: The Quality of...your LinkedIn photograph

Don't let your photo screen you out of a great opportunity...

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Week of 12 October 2015: The most important quality--dimensional
Week of 12 October 2015: The most important quality--dimensional

If you look around, you'll find dimensions are everything. Don't casually dismiss them when you think about quality...

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Week of 5 October 2015: Quality Trouble
Week of 5 October 2015: Quality Trouble

Over the years, I have seen many attempts to obtain an advantage in markets by selling product based on quality. I have also seen many shenanigans as people try to short cut quality...

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Week of 28 September 2015: The most difficult management task is the most rewarding
Week of 28 September 2015: The most difficult management task is the most rewarding

I am often told by managers, "I can't get (fill in the blank) to do what I want done." Sometimes this statement highlights a training deficit. Sometimes it highlights a personality deficit. Sometimes it is a motivational issue. However, most often it is something else--these managers have not bothered to put themselves in the subordinates' shoes and look at the world from their point of view...

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Week of 21 September 2015: Managing the unmanageable
Week of 21 September 2015: Managing the unmanageable

Your subordinates came to you by one of three routes. You were promoted to be their boss, they transferred into your area of responsibility or they were hired in from the outside. How you treat them depends somewhat on how you acquired them...

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Week of 14 September 2015: It's management's fault
Week of 14 September 2015: It's management's fault

It is always management's fault, for by the very definition management is in charge. So whether your facility succeeds or fails, makes the best profit in its history, or is handing out notices that it is closing, it is management's fault...

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Week of 7 September 2015: Management is often the solution
Week of 7 September 2015: Management is often the solution

Unfortunately, management failures happen at all levels. Further, we often think we can solve them by buying something. Sometimes, as an alternative to spending money, we think we need to fire someone, or perhaps promote someone. Often the first thing we should do is simplify what we are doing and see if that is a solution...

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Week of 31 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, fifth week
Week of 31 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, fifth week

We would like your feedback on our first attempt at Corruption Month. We already have plenty of stories for next year. However, if you have any stories or any feedback, just email me at jthompson@taii.com. I'll be sure to keep them confidential.

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Week of 24 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, fourth week
Week of 24 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, fourth week

Any resemblances here to real people, places, institutions or events are purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction. Warning: this episode is quite graphic, especially toward the end. I tried to figure out how to tone it down, but in keeping with the flow of the story, I could not determine a way to do it. My apologies in advance if you are offended. We pick up where we left off last week, still in Chapter 5...

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Week of 17 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, third week
Week of 17 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, third week

Disclaimer: Any resemblances here to real people, places, institutions or events are purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction. We pick up where we left off last week, still in Chapter 4...

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Week of 10 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, second week
Week of 10 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, second week

Disclaimer: Any resemblances here to real people, places, institutions or events are purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction. Let's pick up where we left off last week, continuing in Chapter 4...

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Week of 3 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, first week
Week of 3 August 2015: Corruption Month 2015, first week

Disclaimer: Any resemblances here to real people, places, institutions or events are purely coincidental. This is a work of fiction. Let's pick up where we left off last week...

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Week of 27 July 2015: Getting started on August--Corruption Month
Week of 27 July 2015: Getting started on August--Corruption Month

We often talk about corruption in mills as a thing of the past. I can assure you it is a matter in the present. We have recent correspondence with readers who have told us very interesting stories of things they say are going on right now as you read this. All of this leaves us in a dilemma, for if we tell the stories we know as straight up reporting, we could be sued, called into court and so forth. How to get around this is a problem. Fortunately, I started a book on this subject a while back...

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Week of 20 July 2015: Dimensions
Week of 20 July 2015: Dimensions

Probably once a month or so, I encounter a client who is having problems. Be it the width of paper rolls, the fit of a pipe, you name it, dimensions are a big problem. Many people seem to think that mere dimensions are beneath them, that having conquered calculus, such arithmetic is child's play. Let me tell you, it is not and dimensional mistakes, particularly on a construction site, are probably the largest cause of backcharges and overages. Face it: we live in a three dimensional world and everything has to fit...

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Week of 13 July 2015: The Board is coming--an introduction
Week of 13 July 2015: The Board is coming--an introduction

So, you have been informed that the board of directors, or other high ranking officials from headquarters, are coming to see your facility. The range of emotions at your site will range from snickers and sighs to people who are actually looking forward to this. May I suggest a neutral viewpoint be adopted? This is an occasion as important as any event in the life of any facility. It is somewhat akin to making paper--it is simply part of your duties, an important part.

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Week of 6 July 2015: Changing Cultures
Week of 6 July 2015: Changing Cultures

Whether it is a mill, a supplier or some other entity where a group of people gather to achieve objectives, culture matters. Getting it right is critical and difficult while getting it wrong is easy and disastrous. Fixing a broken culture is extremely difficult and sometimes nearly impossible. How do you know if you have a broken culture?

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Week of 29 June 2015: You ain't seen nothing yet!
Week of 29 June 2015: You ain't seen nothing yet!

I was taught long ago that one should build quality into a product, not inspect it in after it has been made. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? This is why I have always been troubled by the location of gauging systems on paper machines. Look at where they are: at the end of the machine, after the product is made. In the future, we may still have the old stationary gauges in their traditional locations, but I see something totally different right around the corner, perhaps as soon as in five years. What will it be?

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Week of 22 June 2015: I don't believe it
Week of 22 June 2015: I don't believe it

Everything goes on in your mill, from the honest and upright to the scandalous and felonious. It all happens, and if you don't think it does, I have a shiny bridge over the East River in New York I would like to sell you...

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Week of 15 June 2015: The Topic of Cancer
Week of 15 June 2015: The Topic of Cancer

No, not the Tropic of Cancer--the topic of Cancer. This column is off topic---but it is on topic. It's entirely possible that some readers of this column will get the news, within the next couple of weeks, that they or someone they know has cancer. If it jolts them out of denial, it was well worthwhile for all of us to spend a week of column time on it.

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Week of 8 June 2015: Contradiction?
Week of 8 June 2015: Contradiction?

I received such a great comment in response to my past two columns that we'll devote this week's column to answering it.

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Week of 1 June 2015: Integrity First
Week of 1 June 2015: Integrity First

If you are looking for a foundation upon which to build your employment principles, integrity is the place to start. How many actions have you seen in your place of work, mill, supplier or elsewhere, where if people had acted with integrity all would be well? How many disciplinary issues have you seen, which, again, if people had acted with integrity, would not have even been necessary?

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Week of 25 May 2015: Are you going to follow the rules or get something done?
Week of 25 May 2015: Are you going to follow the rules or get something done?

There are people who feel constrained to follow the rules and there are those who see an opportunity for the company and exploit that opportunity for the benefit of the company ... Also, you might want to take our quiz this week, if you are interested in improving your career in your mill.

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Week of 18 May 2015: Report: AUVSI Convention in Atlanta
Week of 18 May 2015: Report: AUVSI Convention in Atlanta

When it comes to robotic and cutting-edge technology, where do we stand in the pulp and paper industry?

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Week of 11 May 2015: Unique vs. Weird
Week of 11 May 2015: Unique vs. Weird

I am often telling anyone who will listen that there is a fine line between being "Unique" and being "Weird." Unique is attractive, weird is repulsive. Rush right over to the unique side, stay away from the weird. Don't be weird unless you are a rock star. It certainly won't work in the pulp and paper industry...

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Week of 4 May 2015: How to innovate
Week of 4 May 2015: How to innovate

The advantage children have over us older folks is they don't know what can't be done. Take a group of 40- to 50-year-old papermakers and put them in a room. Ask them to come up with new ways to make paper. If someone dares raise their hand and proffer a suggestion, it will be batted down by the rest of the crowd before they can complete three sentences. Experience and legacy investments prevent innovation. This industry is certainly loaded with both, but there are ways around these barriers...

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Week of 27 April 15: Where to start
Week of 27 April 15: Where to start

A person new to the industry was recently talking to me about a personal training plan for learning the ins and outs of manufacturing paper. Of course, the plan included a few short courses, reading some training materials and watching some videos. Then the discussion turned to self-designed on-the-job training. I asked where in the process was the starting point. The answer was at the wet end, more precisely at stock prep, and moving through the process. I challenged this...

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Week of 20 April 15: When everyone seems to be against you
Week of 20 April 15: When everyone seems to be against you

First, be absolutely sure you are correct in the path you are taking. Test this several ways. Checking with people you trust who are not directly involved in the outcome of what you are attempting to do is one of the best ways. Hint--these people are usually called mentors. Once you are confident of the path, move to a plan of action...

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Week of 13 April 15: Being Thorough
Week of 13 April 15: Being Thorough

In our mills, how much work, especially in maintenance, is caused by a lack of thoroughness? My wild guess is probably something in neighborhood of 25%. How many accidents are caused in our mills by lack of thoroughness? In the "Safety Show '15" on Pulp & Paper Radio International, I can think of several accidents we described that were the result of not being thorough. So how do we teach thoroughness?

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Week of 6 April 15: Benchmarking
Week of 6 April 15: Benchmarking

The best benchmarking I have ever seen is this: benchmark yourself against running flat out, 24/7. This should always be the goal, nothing else should count. Why benchmark yourself against your competitors? Are you telling me your goal is to become just as good as (not better) than your competitors? Some goal! What if your competitors aren't very good?

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Week of 30 March 15: Stop doing Maintenance!
Week of 30 March 15: Stop doing Maintenance!

Sometimes we get so caught up in doing maintenance on an existing asset that we cannot see that there is a better way. Sometimes we are trapped by the accountants and finance department--the old assets are still on the books at a ridiculously elevated value and cash is too tight to do things right. Nevertheless, you should raise a stink...

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Week of 23 March 15: Do we need ladders and platforms?
Week of 23 March 15: Do we need ladders and platforms?

It is time to stop playing chutes and ladders in our mills. This is not a game--lives have been lost and there is a potential for more lives to be lost on these dangerous structures. Start seriously evaluating every ladder and platform on your site today.

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Week of 16 March 15: Maintenance Malfeasance starts at the Top
Week of 16 March 15: Maintenance Malfeasance starts at the Top

If you are a CEO, I suspect you obey religiously all maintenance and recall notifications you receive for your Mercedes, Jaguar, or Tesla. Why don't you treat your operating assets with such care? Why do you let your mill operators get by with lousy maintenance practices? It couldn't be because you are afraid it will affect your bonus, could it?

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Week of 9 March 15: Do we require Managers or Technicians? Part II
Week of 9 March 15: Do we require Managers or Technicians? Part II

Two weeks ago we talked about the attributes of the person who fills the top job in a large pulp and paper company. This week, we are going to tumble a few rungs down the ladder to the role of the production manager...

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Week of 2 March 15: Maintenance Month
Week of 2 March 15: Maintenance Month

I have seldom ever seen managers, at the top or at the production level, who give enough credit to maintenance. A well-maintained facility is a dream to operate; a poorly maintained facility loses money, has poor morale, and is a safety nightmare...

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Week of 23 February 15: Do we require Managers or Technicians? Part I
Week of 23 February 15: Do we require Managers or Technicians? Part I

I hear lots of discussions these days along the lines of "what is wrong with this industry is it is run by a bunch of MBAs that don't know anything about pulp and paper." I will agree that the industry is run by a bunch of MBAs that don't know anything about pulp and paper but I will not agree that that is what is wrong with this industry...

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Week of 16 February 15: You are surrounded
Week of 16 February 15: You are surrounded

Yes, pulp and paper is alive and well and everywhere...

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Week of 9 February 15: Forty years is long enough
Week of 9 February 15: Forty years is long enough

Four decades ago, I went through some training that affected my view of everyone. I will not presume to be able to distill that intensive training and forty years' application experience into one Nip Impressions column, but I will give you some key introductory points.

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Week of 2 February 15: Two stupid comments and a complaint
Week of 2 February 15: Two stupid comments and a complaint

As we reported on Pulp and Paper Radio International this past Monday morning, last week, Governor Paul LePage of the State of Maine, said "[Verso] get out of the State of Maine." ... I have heard politicians make stupid statements before, but this ranks right up at the top.

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Week of 26 January 15: Get a grip, folks
Week of 26 January 15: Get a grip, folks

We will be going slightly off topic this week, unless your affiliation with the pulp and paper industry requires you to spend a lot of time on airplanes as I do...

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Week of 19 January 15: Resources
Week of 19 January 15: Resources

When I observe employees in mills today casually discussing problems, I see them behaving in much the same way as we did forty years ago. They seem just as lost on where to turn for help, just as confused on the path out of the current dilemma, just as mixed up when seeking a verifiable answer to a question. This astounds me...

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Week of 12 January 15: You need an RPA Policy Now
Week of 12 January 15: You need an RPA Policy Now

RPAs are not in the future any longer. I plan on owning a serious one before the end of the month myself. By serious, I mean one that can carry a payload of one or two cameras. Don't worry, I will not be bringing it to your mill--yet...

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Week of 5 January 15: Confederacy of the Dunces
Week of 5 January 15: Confederacy of the Dunces

There is a book called "Confederacy of the Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole. The book was published in 1980, eleven years after Toole committed suicide. It is set in New Orleans, and centers on a coterie of quirky individuals who essentially see the world as they want to see it. Of course, this is cockeyed by a normal metric, hence, the "confederacy of the dunces." I find the overarching theme of this book applicable nearly everywhere...

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Week of 29 December 14: Be Safe
Week of 29 December 14: Be Safe

I think there are more opportunities for accidents in pulp and paper mills this time of year as compared to any other. Why? Despite fewer participating than in the past, this is still the prime season for shutdowns around the world...

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Week of 22 December 14: When you want something...
Week of 22 December 14: When you want something...

In this season of the year, we are often reminded of children, sitting on Santa Claus' (or Father Christmas') lap asking for things. We are amused by this, for it shows a child's greed and a lack of finesse on their part. We enjoy seeing these attributes laid naked for what they are. There are a couple of other places where one can see these same attributes, however, that are quite surprising and show us such tactics are not limited to the infant mind...

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Week of 15 December 14: Christmas Presents for the Geek in your life
Week of 15 December 14: Christmas Presents for the Geek in your life

Here are my recommendations for this year...

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Week of 8 December 14: Real Leadership
Week of 8 December 14: Real Leadership

This is a short but powerful column...

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Week of 1 December 14: What if you are a follower?
Week of 1 December 14: What if you are a follower?

We hear and read many pieces of advice on how to be a leader, how to develop your leadership skills and so forth. Seldom, if ever, have I seen anything on being an excellent follower. Why is this?

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Week of 24 November 14: Your temper can kill your career
Week of 24 November 14: Your temper can kill your career

An ill-tempered disposition is mostly self-defeating unless one aspires to a career as a pirate. Although, they have not been completely eradicated, pirates' numbers are small and their lifespans short. So, we'll assume you have other aspirations, perhaps even as a pulp or paper mill manager. I can almost guarantee that if you exhibit a "short fuse" and an angry temper, you'll not make your goal...

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Week of 17 November 14: Don't single out thought leaders
Week of 17 November 14: Don't single out thought leaders

Instead, make everyone a thought leader, at least part time. So, how do we make everyone a "thought leader?" It is really quite simple...

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Week of 10 November 14: Free paper mill sites?
Week of 10 November 14: Free paper mill sites?

At 432 Park Avenue, Manhattan, New York, a new building is under construction. It will be 1,396 feet tall. The top penthouse apartment has already been sold for $95 million. Couple this with idea we promulgated last spring at the Light Green Machine® Institute of the vertical paper machine. The idea is simple, yet revolutionary--build a paper machine standing on its head, forming at the top, winding at the bottom...

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Week of 3 November 14: The Strange Phenomenon of Work Expanding to fit the Time
Week of 3 November 14: The Strange Phenomenon of Work Expanding to fit the Time

If you work in production, as a majority of the readers of this column do, there are parts of your day dictated by the rhythm of production. Yet even in a production setting, there are still portions of your day in which you have some freedom as to pace. You might want to work on these...

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Week of 27 October 14: Messes Part Two--fixing your own mess
Week of 27 October 14: Messes Part Two--fixing your own mess

Last week we talked about inheriting messes. This week we will talk about fixing one you created. This is tougher...

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Week of 20 October 14: Messes Part One--Inheriting a Mess
Week of 20 October 14: Messes Part One--Inheriting a Mess

This is a subject we covered over a decade ago in this column. But we have many newer readers and the rest of us likely have forgotten what I said on the subject. It is worth going over again, and there are some fresh ideas to discuss, as well...

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Week of 13 October 14: Exploiting a trend/providing a service
Week of 13 October 14: Exploiting a trend/providing a service

If you don't think Ebola is going to spread widely and rapidly, I have a bridge to sell you in New York. As long as Ebola remains a contact-transmitted (not airborne) virus, the pulp and paper industry has an opportunity to help contain this disease.

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Week of 6 October 14: Using tools carefully
Week of 6 October 14: Using tools carefully

When I was a child, my dad taught me about guns and fire, and how they could be used for good or they could be misused. He never allowed me to have a BB gun--he thought they were ambiguous--is it a toy or a weapon? Like BB guns, we have some ambiguous tools today, too. And these tools can be used for good or they can be misused. I am speaking of Facebook and LinkedIn. Are they toys, weapons, or something else?

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Week of 29 September 14: Derailed
Week of 29 September 14: Derailed

When you run into vile behavior at work (or anywhere else), don't be intimidated. The person hurling invectives at you is most likely more afraid of something than you should be of them...

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Week of 22 September 14: Be all that you can be
Week of 22 September 14: Be all that you can be

Now, I will admit that everyone is not cut out to "be all that you can be." In the next breath, I'll express my belief that more are cut out to do this than actually do it, however. And I think we should promote this goal more than we do...

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Week of 15 September 14: Quality work
Week of 15 September 14: Quality work

If you will take a simple step with all of your work, your quality will go up, guaranteed. This will work even if you have been doing the same thing for a very long time...

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Week of 8 September 14: A disorder affecting most daily
Week of 8 September 14: A disorder affecting most daily

I know because I have been there--you probably have, too. It's that place where When One Thing Goes Wrong, Everything Goes Wrong (WOTGWEGW).

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Week of 1 September 14: Getting Started
Week of 1 September 14: Getting Started

First impressions matter, so let's examine this important topic from both the newbie's and manager's perspectives.

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Week of 25 Aug 14: New Management Tool
Week of 25 Aug 14: New Management Tool

I predict some companies will soon be using this tool on their company-issued phones despite its being designed for use by parents and teenagers. It may be effective for companies, but it will mask underlying management problems. Let's look at it from both sides...

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Week of 18 Aug 14: Maturity
Week of 18 Aug 14: Maturity

After 64 years of stumbling and bumbling about, I think I am becoming a mature adult in my thinking (and yes, there will be many that disagree). And I don't think this was a gradual thing, it is something that has only hit me in the last few years. The good news is that I am having fun with it. My admonishment to you is don't wait so long...

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Week of 11 Aug 14: Harry's
Week of 11 Aug 14: Harry's

Harry's means business for the packaging industry. If you are not familiar with Harry's just go to harrys.com. Yes, I'll give them a free plug. We also discuss safety this week...

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Week of 4 Aug 14: More on Government Influence
Week of 4 Aug 14: More on Government Influence

You may be very involved in your mill’s business. You may think you understand all the business aspects from raw materials to markets.  Yet, unbeknownst to you, there are always outside forces trying to find a way to influence your business, sometimes for the better, sometimes not...

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Week of 29 Jul 14: The folly of subsidies in a for-profit world
Week of 29 Jul 14: The folly of subsidies in a for-profit world

Government subsidies (as well as tax rates, regulations and so forth) are uncertain because they are not set by markets, but are set by shifting political winds.  Competitive markets as a price setting function are as reliable as gravity.  Government mandates, ones that extract money, ones that provide money are not...

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Week of 21 Jul 14: A competitive advantage for suppliers
Week of 21 Jul 14: A competitive advantage for suppliers

I have been dealing with suppliers for decades, and suppliers keep behaving in the same manner. That manner is this: they simply have a “tin ear” when it comes to being cognizant of paper machine downtime. I saw it happen again last week, but I can tell you stories that are decades old. In fact, I think I will...

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Week of 14 Jul 14: People vs. Science and Engineering
Week of 14 Jul 14: People vs. Science and Engineering

Scientific results and engineering results must be studied carefully and analyzed many ways in order to ascertain their veracity.  I fear in the world of today, we capriciously slap the words “science” or “computer analysis” on endeavors which need much further study.  Sometimes this is done through ignorance, sometimes maliciously. 

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Week of 7 Jul 14: Lying to yourself
Week of 7 Jul 14: Lying to yourself

We all do it, and I think more people are harmed by lying to themselves than are harmed by lies told by others...

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Week of 30 Jun 14: That can't be
Week of 30 Jun 14: That can't be

I have never seen an attitude that has led to so much failure in so many fields as that reflected by the title of our column this week.  Life, love, career, home, you name it — an attitude of refusing to believe a sequence of events that might happen is responsible for a great deal of personal and corporate misery. A few examples may illustrate the issue.

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Week of 23 Jun 14: Attitude
Week of 23 Jun 14: Attitude

I have decided the most important attribute to consider when evaluating employees is to divide them into “givers” and “takers.”

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Week of 16 Jun 14: The future of transportation
Week of 16 Jun 14: The future of transportation

Let's take a brief look at the history of transportation, and examine its future, including driverless trucks...

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Week of 9 Jun 14: Lesson learned again
Week of 9 Jun 14: Lesson learned again

The folks in the state of Maine are once again learning the lesson learned so many times by other communities.  That lesson is this: pulp and paper mills have a useful life, and eventually, that life is over...

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Week of 2 Jun 14: Still, no one prepares...
Week of 2 Jun 14: Still, no one prepares...

I will go out on a limb and say that the first pulp and paper mill attack by a Remotely Piloted Aircraft will be within the next 18 months to two years. You must start to formulate a plan—now...

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Week of 26 May 14: What about ink?
Week of 26 May 14: What about ink?

While our communications paper companies continue to look hard at finding ways to produce their products more economically, perhaps the biggest savings of all has been missed—how to make cheaper inks...

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Week of 19 May 14: A real advantage for paper
Week of 19 May 14: A real advantage for paper

While we at Paperitalo Publications strongly support the printed word, we recognize that electronic publications have certain positive qualities.  It is not lost on you, smart reader, that Paperitalo Publications publishes nothing on paper, except books.  Yes, we like the challenge—exclusively publishing electronically to the pulp and paper industry. However, there is one area that is developing into an area for serious discussion concerning the printed word.  That is in the area of young children, children under 3 or 4 years old. Evidence is building that allowing these young children excessive access to smart phone and tablets may be quite detrimental...

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Week of 12 May 14: Energy is always the question; the problem is discerning the answer
Week of 12 May 14: Energy is always the question; the problem is discerning the answer

In my four plus decades in this business, there has been one constant amongst all the variables.  That constant is: What should be our energy source?  In virgin pulp mills, the recovery boiler has been a steady contributor.  However, for supplemental thermal energy, or for thermal energy in mills without a pulp mill, history shows the answer is the flavor of the month. Let’s step back even further for a moment...

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Week of 5 May 14: I don’t think like you do
Week of 5 May 14: I don’t think like you do

The reality is none of us think alike. In fact, if you are a senior manager, you’ll want people of all kinds of flavors. Just don’t make the mistake of putting them in the wrong position in your organization...

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Week of 28 April 14: I guess we’ll just leave the machine down until morning...
Week of 28 April 14: I guess we’ll just leave the machine down until morning...

The recent news from France is that work emails are banned after 6 p.m.  Left unspecified, apparently this does not apply to some jobs.  Let’s hope the exemptions include the pulp and paper industry, unless you are so competitive you wish to knock off your French competitors by any means possible. This situation is indicative of a problem confronting employers since the beginning of the industrial revolution.  That problem is this—how do we get workers to exhibit and perform as entrepreneurially as they did when they were peasants down on the farm?

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Week of 21 April 14: The Most Valuable Attribute
Week of 21 April 14: The Most Valuable Attribute

Given that you lead a legal, moral, ethical life (I’ll fire you on the spot if you do not), the most valuable attribute I see in employees in any setting is the ability to get things done.  And, yes, we can add all sorts of qualifiers to this—on time, on budget and so forth.  However, stripped to its bare essentials, the most coveted quality in the workplace is the ability to get things done...

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Week of 14 April 14: LGMI Vertical Concept has people up in the air
Week of 14 April 14: LGMI Vertical Concept has people up in the air

A couple of weeks ago, a comment I made on the Light Green Machine Institute Weekly newsletter excited paper makers around the world. I proposed that we flip the paper machine on end, head box at the top, winder on the ground floor. Let's explore this topic in greater detail...

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Week of 7 April 14: The Lessons of Growing Older
Week of 7 April 14: The Lessons of Growing Older

Why do we make life so difficult?  If you think about it, mostly our own inventions complicate our lives. Life is simple.  Why isn’t yours?  

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Week of 31 March 14: Being Competitive in Today's World
Week of 31 March 14: Being Competitive in Today's World

Being competitive starts with the people who work for your firm.  A close second is the culture of your company.  Let’s talk about both of these.

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Week of 24 March 14: The Alpha and Omega
Week of 24 March 14: The Alpha and Omega

What if we can say the luxury goods market is completely bookended by paper products?  What if tissue and newsprint are the Alpha and Omega of luxury goods?  This is a story we should be running with—the luxury goods for everyone, regardless of income, are those made by our wonderful pulp and paper industry.

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Week of 17 March 14: App frugality
Week of 17 March 14: App frugality

Every time I see a new app, I have to try it out.  Yet, even worse than wasting my own time, I have a tendency to forward them to my employees.  If I don’t get this habit under control soon, I’ll have to hire an employee just to make up for the time I and my current employees waste trying to save time with new apps.  All of this is caused by my urge to be efficient. You may have a similar problem.  I’ll share with you the ways I propose to deal with it.

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Week of 10 March 14: Are you where you are?
Week of 10 March 14: Are you where you are?

If you are not where you want to be, I suggest you find a way to get yourself there.  Why be miserable?  I can attest to you, at the age of 63, that a 40-year career goes by in the wink of an eye.  Get yourself to a place you want to be.

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Week of 3 March 14: Outernet
Week of 3 March 14: Outernet

Folks, the innovations are coming fast and furious this year.  I’ll predict they will keep coming fast and furious, too...

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Week of 24 February 14: Barcodes are obsolete
Week of 24 February 14: Barcodes are obsolete

Amazon Flow is a game changer in many ways. What does this do for all packaging? My challenge is for us as an industry to become proactive, not reactive to change.  For instance, now that the Amazon Flow technology is out of the bag, how can we help them exploit it throughout the entire product chain?  

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Week of 17 February 14: More on resumes
Week of 17 February 14: More on resumes

I am a safe place to try out your resume.  I have looked at and worked on enough resumes that it just might be possible that I know what works...

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Week of 10 February 14: A collision of events, once again
Week of 10 February 14: A collision of events, once again

With developments in technology, I believe that retail and office space will to start to disappear in very rapid numbers. What does this mean for the pulp and paper industry?

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Week of 3 February 14: Country Risk
Week of 3 February 14: Country Risk

Should we open our mills to more scrutiny? I think so...

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Week of 27 January 14: Energy, Environment and Human History
Week of 27 January 14: Energy, Environment and Human History

The next time a rabid environmentalist gets in your face and talks about you, as a paper industry professional, destroying the earth, tell them you’ll be happy to follow their example as soon as they strip to their birthday suit, move to the Amazon, and adopt a diet of raw fish...

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Week of 20 January 14: An industry not lacking in surprises
Week of 20 January 14: An industry not lacking in surprises

Having spent the last forty years in pulp and paper, I’ll be the first to tell you the pulp and paper industry has been a surprise a minute. The most recent surprise has been the announcement that Verso is planning to acquire NewPage and what that has done to the PM40...

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