Pulp and Paper

With intense international competition, growing concerns for the environment and thining margins, the current skilled labour shortage only intensifies a growing list of challenges faced by the Pulp and Paper industry.

Planned outages are a costly for plants: specialized trades and equipment replacements, combined the costs of downtime itself, make for an expensive few days or weeks.

Infrared thermography is a thermal measurement process that detects areas of heat on a surface that are invisible to the naked eye. It is an effective tool for predictive maintenance as it can help identify potential problems before they lead to equipment failure.

Kitting is a method of pre-assembling all the key components into kits, in order to simplify the repair and/or maintenance process of an equipment. It allows technicians and other professionals to have the necessary parts, materials and tools to perform repairs and other services quickly and efficiently, which makes kitting a key element of efficient maintenance planning.

In my role as a consultant, one comment I often receive never ceases to surprise me. Yet, it comes up no matter what type of organization we diagnose: "I don't have time to do the work associated with my job title".

Safety valves are the last line of defense in protecting process equipment against overpressure. So many unforeseen events can occur in an industrial process: a failure in the cooling system leading to a condenser, for example, or even a power outage affecting a component of the steam system would have serious consequences if a valve did not protect the system from overpressure.

In many industrial sectors, a shortage of personnel is a concerning reality. Companies struggle to find and retain skilled workers, leading to increased pressure on those already in position. In this context, enhancing workforce value and applying the TPM principle can play a crucial role in attracting and retaining workers.

Our client, a paper mill in Quebec, was experiencing frequent machine breaks that were causing emergency shutdowns. At an average of $8,000 per hour, these incidents were having a major impact on the plant’s productivity: between $300,000 and $500,000 in losses per year. It became evident that to optimize repair timing, detect probable failures and restart correctly, their planned shutdown strategies needed to be revised.

The planner of a paper mill was looking to digitize its lubrication routes and make its maintenance strategy more efficient. Previously, the mill had implemented a maintenance solution via complex cards, encompassing lubrication and vibration tasks. They then printed out the generated cards to perform their routes on paper. Effective communication and quality of execution of the tasks was therefore an important issue.

In today's economy, expectations for plants are becoming increasingly high: improve process performance with fewer people, increase reliability with a reduced maintenance budget, and maintain quality despite changing conditions. Process automation can meet these demands by performing tasks efficiently and autonomously with minimal employee intervention. The result is increased business productivity and efficiency.

In order to sustain production and meet consumer demand, a sawmill needed to reduce losses due to mechanical breakdowns. Laurentide Controls' technicians and engineers working on this project installed the AMS 6500 Machinery Health Monitor to continuously monitor the health of the most critical equipment.

For a pulp and paper company, periodically validating the accuracy of their flow meters was becoming an expensive challenge. Disassembling, inspecting, and calibrating each flow meter required a visit from a third party and cost anywhere between $3,000 and $4,000 per case.

As the economy continues to be uncertain, many manufacturing facilities are forced to be cautious with their spending. As a result, in order to maintain stable production with reduced staff and budgets, they are often tempted to make sacrifices in their maintenance budget, preferring to cure rather than prevent. This is a mistake, however, as it could potentially harm their business in the long run.

Une usine spécialisée dans la production de papier et de carton s'est récemment retrouvée dans une situation difficile lorsque son débitmètre de 14 pouces pour une application critique de débit de pâte a connu un dysfonctionnement, causant la production à rouler à l’aveugle et risquant de perturber toute la production.