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Representative illustration: A North American pulp and paper producer saw bleaching chemical costs climb by more than $14M a year, with routine overuse built into daily practice.

Case Study · Pulp & Paper

A North American pulp and paper producer saw bleaching chemical costs climb by more than $14M a year, with routine overuse built into daily practice.

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1Challenge

Bleach application varied widely across shifts. Adding too much chlorine dioxide early caused waste down the line, with no change in customer demand to explain the cost.

2Approach

  • Mapped the process and critical-to-quality factors with operators, shift managers and supervisors
  • Introduced operator change logs, Pareto charts and 15-minute end-of-shift reviews; a logged reason was required to exceed additive limits
  • A Six Sigma Master Black Belt trained engineers in SPC, Gage R&R and hypothesis testing to cut brightness and Kappa variability

3Results

$2M

Annualized savings on bleach chemicals

$7.64/t

Saving per ton

$450K

Increased wood fiber yield

A trained workforce and a repeatable process to take to other mills.

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© USC Consulting Group 2026 | Pulp & Paper. Representative industry image. Results are engagement-specific; sizing and forecast figures are labeled as such.