SCA expands business in Mexico

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Howard Wheeler
5 years ago
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1 SCA expands business in Mexico Advantage DCT concept Responding to customer needs Valmet has over 200 years of industrial history and was reborn through the demerger of the pulp, paper and power businesses from Metso Group in December 2013.

SCA expands business in Mexico Big and beautiful flash through a visitor s mind when arriving at SCA s new tissue facility near Sahagun in southern Mexico.

2 SCA expands business in Mexico Big and beautiful flash through a visitor s mind when arriving at SCA s new tissue facility near Sahagun in southern Mexico. Started up in November, 2010, the 210 million USD, greenfield mill would make any owner very proud. The selected site is flat and open and SCA could lay out the plant in the most optimal way and implement state of the art practices in all areas of the project. The tissue line is dedicated to production of toilet tissue based on sorted office waste, 50% sourced in Mexico and 50% imported from the US. Mexico City is assumed to be the market for most of the finished goods tonnage. SCA s project plan The project plan developed by SCA was built on the concept of using a small number of vendors supplying large packages of equipment. Jim Haeffele, Vice President Technology, for SCA s North American tissue operation explains why SCA chose to go almost turn key : It is more important who you partner with and how completely you manage every aspect of the project than the execution method. For the Sahagun mill Jim Haeffele was appointed project director, a role he also had accepted eight years ago for the large Barton, Alabama project, SCA s first green field. He is into a long career with SCA, 28 years. The greenfield site offered opportunities to build both beauty and efficiency. The DIP-line and tissue machine building shows in the background.

The project started in the middle of 2008 by surveying a suitable site for the new mill in Mexico. One major reason for selecting this site near Sahagun was the good supply of water.

3 Santiago Garza López, Engineering Projects Director (left), Jim Haeffele, V.P. Tissue Technology SCA, N.A. and Mr. Cristian Hernández Hernández, Project Engineer (right) Optimal site conditions One of the first people on board the Sahagun venture was Mr. Santiago Garza López, Engineering Projects Director. The project started in the middle of 2008 by surveying a suitable site for the new mill in Mexico. One major reason for selecting this site near Sahagun was the good supply of water. We found three large wells, each with a capacity of supplying one tissue machine. The area is flat and the soil is very good. We could also acquire a large area, 103 hectares (255 acres). The SCA Sahagun project is now successfully completed and we have, according to my personal opinion, the best technology available installed in the mill. Now, our challenge is to obtain and maintain the good results expected by the company, says Lopez. Wide scope of supply A major share of the total project was awarded Metso Paper*, Karlstad, Sweden which included the complete process: engineering and automation system, from the waste paper conveyer to and including delivering jumbo rolls to the jumbo roll storage. In addition the supplier received an auxiliary package order containing among others: electricity, water treatment plant, natural gas piping, and steam boiler. The tissue machine is an Advantage DCT 200TS, 5,5 meter wide. Reeling concept is split reel, 2 x 2,75 meter, with mechanical (rotating knife) sheet slitting. Maximum operating yankee speed is m/min at 14,5 gsm reel basis weight. The total line production is ton per year of toilet tissue. It is more important who you partner with and how completely you manage every aspect of the project than the execution method. Mr. Jim Haeffele, Project Director, SCA Mexico Focus on partnership and friendship Mr. Haeffele was very conscious of the importance of a good working environment during the project execution. He encouraged all suppliers and the SCA project team members to work closely together, to share responsibilities and swiftly resolve upcoming issues in a fair and just way. Says Haeffele, Something that I thought was unique was that we worked very hard to develop partnerships and friendships. We deliberately spent time together and did a lot of things outside of the project to build report and a cohesive team. For a project of this magnitude, our team of SCA, Metso (Valmet), other vendors and construction workers, help up very well. Challenge to find the good fiber in waste paper When it comes to rating the quality of the tissue paper, the saying among tissue makers usually is, What goes in comes out. In essence this is true, although the modern tissue machine is able to influence quality, mainly in the creping process and by sheet design (layering). Consequently the Sahagun mill needs to feed the tissue machine with good fiber in order to obtain their high quality tissue off the machine. The challenge is to find, pick and clean the good fiber hidden in the waste paper. Approximately 60%, by weight, going into the DIP (Deinked Pulp)-line is coming out as furnish for the tissue machine. The remaining 40% reject consists of plastic, metal, strings, nonusable fibers and paper fillers (ash). *Operatin as Valmet from Jan

The plastic covered cartoon figure imbedded in the waste paper bales will not cause any problem in the DIP- line according to Ramón Guajardo Reyes, responsible for the tissue production.

After start-up the most complicated area was the de-inking plant, admits Ramón Guajardo Reyes, Production Manager at SCA.

The paper is classified by our technicians and after that my team for the de-inking plant prepare a mix for the next 24 hours of operation.

So far, in this early stage of operating de-inking plant, it looks very promising as far as removal of trash, stickies, dirt and achieving brightnesses.

When asked about whether SCA is getting the result in hard numbers that they expected, Haeffele responds, Quite honestly yes, the output is what we expected.

4 The plastic covered cartoon figure imbedded in the waste paper bales will not cause any problem in the DIP- line according to Ramón Guajardo Reyes, responsible for the tissue production. De-inking a critical point How is the quality of the incoming waste controlled in order to avoid the DIP-line being pushed outside its operating window? After start-up the most complicated area was the de-inking plant, admits Ramón Guajardo Reyes, Production Manager at SCA. We had a few issues, but my team kept on working until the issues were resolved. The line now works very well. We always check the quality of the waste arriving to our storage. The paper is classified by our technicians and after that my team for the de-inking plant prepare a mix for the next 24 hours of operation. The variations in quality going to the pulper, is actually very, small. Jim Haeffele agrees. So far, in this early stage of operating de-inking plant, it looks very promising as far as removal of trash, stickies, dirt and achieving brightnesses. The de-inking plant appears to be performing very well. When asked about whether SCA is getting the result in hard numbers that they expected, Haeffele responds, Quite honestly yes, the output is what we expected. We have agreed on a set of parameters for dirt count, brightness, yield, basically a large part of the performance guarantee for the de-inking plant and so far, the result is as we specified. The high consistency pulper is of a rotating drum type, HC-50. Reject from the pulper is conveyed to a press station and converted into bales. The DIP-line concept is: pulpingflotation-dispersion-bleachingwashing-bleaching. The waste paper is passing through no less than 12 process stages before the good fiber is reaching the tissue machine stock system. Alternate consistencies, dosing of chemicals and other settings of parameters will influence results both in furnish quality and operating efficiency, as well as amplifying the complexity of the process. This really emphasizes the need and importance of crew training. Roberto Caballero, Plant Director in charge of planning the extensive training program for the new mill. Right: SCA and Metso working together in the control room. 4

5 The Sahagun mill s new tissue installation is an Advantage DCT 200 TS machine The HC-50 drum pulper in the Sahagun mill constitutes Metso s first application for tissue paper 5

Creating a clean, light and open working environment for the crew working on the tissue line is no doubt an investment, with a good return. Efficient training process Mr.

The first thing we did was trying to understand what it meant to build a facility like this in a new region. We researched how SCA had done this in other locations, like in Barton Alabama.

6 Creating a clean, light and open working environment for the crew working on the tissue line is no doubt an investment, with a good return. Efficient training process Mr. Roberto Caballero, Plant Director, entered the project at the time when planning for the staffing and training of people for the new facility was taking place. The first thing we did was trying to understand what it meant to build a facility like this in a new region. We researched how SCA had done this in other locations, like in Barton Alabama. That helped us a lot. Our work plan was to set up what we call a critical mass. This is a percentage of the total amount of employees in the mill who would be experienced and would have key positions in various areas. The new hires, the green people, would then be able get guidance and support. Recruiting in waves We also split the entire hiring process into four groups, we call it waves, each with a specific purpose. The first wave was the leadership people who developed the training plan in detail and wrote all the role descriptions for the remaining waves. Their task was also to develop the main strategy for starting up the mill. In order to prepare our people for the upcoming training programs by our equipment suppliers we sent them, for a few weeks, to our existing SCA mills here in Mexico, where they were able to see and learn in similar processes. Later when the training started they already had questions and were well prepared. Simultaneous interpretation Very few of the new people were expected to speak and understand English very well. In order to make the training process as efficient as possible we used simultaneous translation in all training sessions as well as later in the field practices, explains Caballero. Jim Haeffele, who has a reference base from the Barton mill expansions, comments, The training result is as good as you can expect for all green people in a new facility. It is as good as I have seen. Also the training was excellent. The Advantage DCT concept The concept of the Advantage DCT 200TS machine is: Advantage OptiFlo TIS headbox, dual pressure rolls, 18 feet diameter. yankee dryer, Advantage AirCap hood and Advantage SoftReel reel. There is no in-line rewinder. The reel uses cores and inflatable reel spools in an automated loading and changing process. The two jumbo rolls off the reel are handled through a plastic wrapping station prior to being elevated down to the parent roll storage on the first floor. The headbox is of a single layer design. Both yankee steam and hood air temperature are generated by burning natural gas. By using a second pressure nip for maximum sheet dryness to the yankee, SCA is trading energy cost against capital and maintenance cost for the pressure roll. Full width turn-ups are not applicable due to the split reel operation. However, with the advanced reeling nip (spool/drum) control system it is possible to make tail cut turn-ups at high speed. On time - on the day Says Haeffele, The project started up on time, on the day it was planned to start-up. The Metso (Valmet) schedule was integrated into the civil schedule. We had a civil construction manager from SCA s Swedish operations, Magnus Jinnerot, who was at site and was instrumental in making sure that the buildings and surroundings were ready for the supplier. We had to work very closely together to make this master schedule work on time, on the day. The training result is as good as you can expect for all green people in a new facility. It is as good as I have seen. Also the Metso training was excellent. Jim Haeffele, VP Tissue Technology SCA, NA 6

In addition to the complete tissue production line, Metso s scope of supply included water treatment, steam generation, electrical and other auxiliary items.

Gunnar Söderqvist, leading the Metso (Valmet) team effort on site agrees: The cooperation between us, SCA and other companies on site worked extremely well.

7 In addition to the complete tissue production line, Metso s scope of supply included water treatment, steam generation, electrical and other auxiliary items. Among the SCA representatives, both local and corporate it seems to be a consensus about the success of the SCA Sahagun greenfield mill. Gunnar Söderqvist, leading the Metso (Valmet) team effort on site agrees: The cooperation between us, SCA and other companies on site worked extremely well. Since we have basically all equipment for the tissue line in our scope, our main interface was the building. We used a common model and shared the same 3-D information. The engineering instructions were followed strictly by the contractors. I do not recall that we had to move or redo a single floor penetration. Safety was also very good during the assembly of the tissue line, just a couple of minor injuries. I have been doing site project work for 30 years and this one I rank as the best so far. Tissue Machine Main Data Type Production (at 18 gsm) 100% efficiency) Sheet design Paper width on reel Max. operating speed (yankee speed) Basis weight range on reel Advantage DCT 200TS 207 ton/24 hours Single-layer mm m/min 14,5-18w gsm Creeping ratio range % On top of the project(!) Gunnar Söderqvist, Senior Project Manager, Metso Yankee diameter 18 ft (5 500 mm) 7

For more information, contact your local Valmet office. www.valmet.com e-mail: use generic e-mail adress (paper.service@valmet.

8 For more information, contact your local Valmet office. use generic adress Specifications in this document are subject to change without notice. Product names in this oublication are all trademarks of Valmet Corporation. Valmet Corpotation VI EN 2014.

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