Variability Reduction key for the success in the Paper Industry

Reducing Variability should be the highest priority of any operation.

A Pulp and Paper process is very complicated process impacted by numerous process parameters in the effort to manufacture a quality products with the minimal cost. To produce high quality product and lower the overall daily cost, pulp and paper mills need to increase their effort in Variability Reduction. 

Pulp and paper processes have many sources of process variability. Variability in the raw material input streams including chips and other imported raw materials will cause process variability. However it is typical that most of the process variability is generated internally by the process equipment and by the control loops. Sources of variability in the pulp and paper industry are many and they include:

• Bad agitation and mixing
• Poor and improper consistency control
• Variable air content in the pulp
• Bad or insufficient chemistry control
• Inconsistent control of the process within the shifts
• Poor tuning of the controllers
• Maintenance of control valves

In the past variability in pulp mill processes have been getting generally small amount of attention due the fact that there has not been available technology on the market, that actually could monitor the variability and even  better successfully could control of it. The latest improvements in the measurement technology of the NIR optical measurement principles allow Conmark Systems to offer Advanced Control and Measurement Technology for most of the liquor and fiber processes within the pulp mill. Reduction in the variability in these processes have been documented to produce several million dollar savings in the energy and reduced material cost. This variability reduction can be measured directly in the bottom-line of the pulp mill operation.

Bad agitation is one of the major sources for variability either in liquor or fiber processes. Simple and inexpensive replacement for more advanced propeller design can reduce variability drastically. Conmark Systems offers full line of agitators, mixers and agitator replacement blades for different processes.

Most of the mills are introducing process variability in the blow tank area with poor consistency measurement and control and that in the effect is making brown stock washing to run inefficiently creating soda losses and wasting energy. Conmark Systems offers Total Consistency Management technology to help mills to reduce variability in their pulp mill processes.

In the paper production, main sources for variability are stock prep and wet end area. In the stock prep area bad agitation and poor consistency control are main sources for variability. It has been documented that variability in the High Density Tower has direct correlation in the variability of the final paper product produced by the paper machine. The wet end operation is the source for variability related for faster and most of the time smaller variability caused by bad chemistry and problems with short circulation of the wet end. Conmark Systems offers several product for improvements of the paper production including dry end, wet end and stock prep area products and services

Conmark Systems Inc. offers complete Solutions for each step of your Six Sigma Projects:

1. Define
   1. Process Studies
   2. Engineering Services
2. Measure
   1. Duralyzer Liquor Analyzer
   2. FreeEye Freeness Analyzer
   3. IRMA Moisture Meter
   4. Wet End Moisture Scanner
   5. Scienta Gauging System
3. Analyze
   1. PM Event Analyzer
   2. ProcessMiner
   3. PMVideo Web Monitoring
4. Improve
   1. Agimix Agitator
   2. Total Consistency Management
   3. Paper Machine Lubrication
5. Control
   1. Advanced Control Packages for several processes

 

Six Sigma in Pulp and Paper:

Conmark Systems is your partner who can help you to apply Six Sigma principles for real-time variability reduction in the pulp and paper processes utilizing process know-how combined with advanced control and monitoring technology.

Over the past 20 years many companies have successfully leveraged Six Sigma to increase their competitive position in their markets. GE, for instance, became a major adopter of Six Sigma in the mid 1990s. Reports indicate that GE has saved over 4 billion dollars.

Pulp and Paper industry can directly utilize these same principles adding more in to their bottom line with the understanding that Variability in their Processes is the major cause of the breaks, the broke and the defective products .

The Six Sigma philosophy:

• What is critical to your customers?
• How well are you performing today?
• How can you leverage facts and data?
• How can you sustain improvement?

Six Sigma encourages you and your organization to focus on what is absolutely critical to your customer by:

• Improving quality and performance in the areas of greatest reward.
• Translating what is critical to customers into something measurable.

Six Sigma uses a specific philosophy, measure, and methodology to provide tangible savings that are directly traceable to the bottom line of your mill operation.