Case study · Manufacturing
Pulp and newsprint mills cut chemical cost 11% and raise output without new capital
Facing falling prices and demand, a company's newsprint mill and kraft pulp mill needed more from existing equipment. USC set new goals and benchmarks, standardized operations and synchronized production, with no capital spending.
Results
11%
reduction in chemical cost at the pulp mill
10%
increase in saleable tons a day at the newsprint mill
7%
increase in saleable tons a day at the pulp mill
The situation
Competition was forcing prices down while recession cut demand, and both mills needed more from their existing equipment.
What the assessment found
- Paper machine efficiency at 85%
- Serious communication gaps between production and maintenance
- Little confidence the mills could produce to budget
- A hidden fault in the batch digester programming
How the work was done
Newsprint: set targets and standards
Set a goal of 600 tons a day from 546, gave operators process benchmarks and indices, standardized methods and trained supervisors in problem solving.
10%
increase in saleable tons a day
Pulp: synchronize the stages
Set a goal of 670 tons a day from 624 and installed production planning that let the constraint set the pace for every area.
7%
increase in saleable tons a day
Daily meetings: surface the faults
Held 15-minute daily meetings of managers, maintenance and support staff, which uncovered and fixed a programming fault in the batch digesters.
63%
reduction in digester lost time
“In addition to the increase in tonnage, the project has produced needed gains in process, quality and cost control.”
Lasting impact
Both mills raised output with the equipment they had, with every level of management accountable for daily results.
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