ACHIEVING AND SUSTAINING BENCHMARK THREADING PERFORMANCE AT THE SIZE PRESS AND ONLINE COATERS

摘要

Achieving maximum profitability is the ultimate goal of papermakers worldwide. Optimizing machine efficiency and increasing machine availability are two key areas that have a significant effect on profitability. Threading is one key process that can have a major impact - either positive or negative - on efficiency and availability. Only the top 1% of paper machines worldwide realize the 97% global benchmark for machine efficiency. The rest, 99% of paper machines in advanced countries are only achieving an average efficiency of 80 - 82% in their process. One of the key differentiating factors that sets the top 1% of paper machines apart from the others is their consistent threading performance. The top performers can only maintain their high efficiency levels by repeatedly achieving their threading benchmark times. While the average papermaker achieves his threading benchmark less than 50% of the time, these top producers do so over 95% of the time. Successfully and consistently threading size presses and on-line coaters requires very specific processes and expertise. These 2 areas have long been identified as some of the most difficult applications on a machine and one where mills lose significant amounts of efficiency. Not reaching the set threading benchmark consistently has a significant negative impact on the overall operation of the paper machine: lost machine efficiency, insufficient capacity utilization and decreased safety. Whereas machine availability gains from 5 - 7% are achievable through appropriate implementation of technical innovations and optimized threading processes alone.