Recent Articles

Here in the United States, a storm hit the northeastern corner of the country last week, Hurricane Sandy.  It is quite obvious the general population and the civilian support services (fire, police and so forth) were not at all prepared for a storm of this severity. I have seen the same result in pulp and paper mills...

Listen to this column in your favorite format

iTunes           MP3             WAV

We recently produced a show over on Pulp & Paper Radio International called: "The New Consultant and their Spouse." It has been listened to many, many times. Doing this show, however, reminded me how important the spouse is to the overall actions and reactions of the employee.

Listen to this column in your favorite format

iTunes           MP3             WAV

A successful mill requires all to be engaged.  If the person at the top is not engaged, there is no hope that anyone else is.  Sooner or later, the facility will fail, if headquarters does not replace that person first.

Listen to this column in your favorite format

iTunes           MP3             WAV

The trend towards fewer employees in our pulp and paper mills started many years ago. It was originally driven by cost and quality. Employees obviously cost money.When computers came along that could adjust various attributes in real time, as opposed to employees monitoring conditions, pulling levers and turning valves, the replacement was inevitable.

Listen to this column in your favorite format

iTunes           MP3             WAV

When a paper mill in a small, remote, town is facing shutdown,  governments are often quite helpful to new industrial developments, which should make replacing a dying mill with a data center all the more attractive to a developer.