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Surely you've completed one of those "simple" home projects that ended up requiring multiple trips to Home Depot. Once finished you likely breathed a deep sigh of relief as you quietly kicked yourself for your lack of planning. Similarly, the paper industry is a very capital intensive industry - referring to last month's article, many capital projects focus on reducing fossil fuel usage. But when your capital project ends up requiring multiple trips and delays due to forgotten items, results can be disastrous. So what are proven steps management can take to reduce these needless trips and delays?

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.

Our mill-based water champions are leading day-to-day efforts at our large manufacturing facilities to identify opportunities, implement projects and track progress on water use reduction in our operations.

Pixelle Specialty Solutions' Androscoggin Mill is expected to permanently close about April 30. The company made the announcement in September. Initially it was to close in the first quarter of 2023.

De Jong Packaging Group's core business is corrugated converting where its product portfolio includes corrugated trays, regular slotted boxes ('American boxes'), specialty folding boxes, corrugated sheets as well as other products like solid board boxes. Services include custom box designs, tray erecting, packaging automation, pre-printing and logistics services.

The pulp line is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2023 and is anticipated to impact approximately 300 positions across the organization by the end of the year.

Central National Gottesman Inc. (CNG), a $9B global sales, marketing, and distribution leader in the pulp, paper, tissue, packaging, wood products, and metals industries, announced that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire S.P. Richards (SPR), an independent business products wholesaler based in Atlanta, Georgia. The closing is expected to take place on January 31, 2023.

Cosmo Specialty Fibers Inc. has gained new ownership following more than 12 years since the mill was bought by The Gores Group, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, in 2010. The United Kingdom-based firm, Charlestown Investments, is the new owner.

Mondi plans to invest around €200 million in converting the existing lightweight coated mechanical paper machine at the mill into a high-quality, cost-competitive recycled containerboard machine with an annual capacity of around 420,000 tonnes.

This temporary reduction in output is expected to be mostly concentrated outside of Interfor's US South operating region.

Progroup has invested around Euro 72 million in the project at the site, which covers around 28,000 square metres, and created 50 new jobs.

The delivery is scheduled to take place in December 2023, and the start-up is planned for the first quarter 2024.