Chinese design engineering firm

Valmet or Voith

That's covered in Fsc certifications

most factory work does that. Kind of irritating, but definitely importante

@@supernovaskies5044 Fortunately we have lobbied the government deregulate restrictions so we dont have to do the epa garbage. The air belongs to everyone and it can smell bad if i make money. get over it. if you hate money then just leave.

@@supernovaskies5044 yea it is kind of irritating when people complain about the importance of making money. you tell em. Its just stink. Its not proven to get you sick or anything jeez

I just applied for a mechanical journeyman position at a mill near me. This video definitely shows how much there is to maintain in a paper mill. Were you in the maintenance department for your whole 30 years? Also, what areas of the mill did you work in?

Yeah maintenance at a mill would suck! Rather do the general labor

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Don't think it maters if they are wet when they go to the pulping process... and if it does they probably have a dryer section where they can dry it before pulping.

My Dad also worked for Schweitzer's in MN for 30+ years. I'm sure he was at your mill many times.

Not a bad job , Good pay and easy work if all is running good . I think the mill I worked in for almost 30 years was the easiest job I ever had if you can take the heat ,noise and long shift work hours ..We where paid pretty well too Our overtime pay was after 8 hours you got time and a half ,every scheduled day off that you came in was time and a half ,every 6th day worked in a week was time and a half ,Every Sunday was double time even if it was the only day you worked that week and if you worked on a holiday like thanks giving you got double time plus a days pay . The longest I worked was 16 hours a day for 33 days in a row with no days off . That was fun , I'm glad I lived 1.7 miles from the mill.

@@larrygregoire842 Lol. That 33 day stretch must have been tough but the shmonies.....

@@TamunoOpuboCooksCookeyGam It really sucked . And every week you changed shifts backwards 1 week would be day shift 7am to 3pm then Monday comes it's Midnight shift 11pm to 7am.Then the next week 3pm to 11pm . You can agree with your co workers (relief) to stay in a steady shift until what we called a freeze was over . All of this was going on because it was getting close to the mill closing down and people getting laid off as equipment shut down , and most of us had 6 weeks vacation and 5 days pay so near the end you got stuck there if some one took vacation Even worse when some one is on vacation and another guy goes out sick in your group wich causes 16 hour days 20 hours voluntary. We worked what we called a 7 day tour every 7 days your shift changed Day shift would start on Sat .and end on Fri. Then Sat to Tues. Off .Start Midnight shift Wed night until Tuesday, then Wed. Thurs off and start day shift again on Friday . I did this for almost 30 years .

@@larrygregoire842 Damn. I don't think I could do that long term. This mill, interviewed Tuesday, say they have a great work life balance and room for growth. So I hope it's a better experience

@@TamunoOpuboCooksCookeyGam I'm sure it will be better there ..We even had a department that was on 10 day tour 10 days on 4 days off and a weekend shift where you would work 16 hours Sat and Sunday and the rest of the week off wich was not so bad Sunday was a double time day so you got 32 hours pay for 16 and Sat was 16 hours strait time so you got paid 48 hours for them days ..

Thank you Brett for taking the time to watch this video and for the positive comments. We very much appreciate your hard work and dedication to the Spring Grove mill. As you know, the operation spans several counties so providing security for such a large operation is no small task. Thanks for all that you do to help keep us safe and secure at the mill.

Our pleasure Thomas. Glad we could bring back some of the good memories. As you know, Papermaking requires a special craftsmanship. You can't just put anyone on a machine and expect it to work. The papermaker needs to understand his/her machine and what it likes and dislikes. It understandable that after three decades you would miss working your craft. Thank you for your 30 years of service to the industry.

@@pixellespecialtysolutions3490 You are totally correct. Each machine has its own personality to be learned and handled in a certain way.

I worked in a cigarette paper mill I. Spotswood NJ for about 30 years first year I worked in the finishing dept running a Dusenbury,The next year drove a forklift that supplied the dusenbury's with rolls then to the Machine room running a paper machine for 22+ years as they where slowly shutting down machines over the years I got moved to the pulp mill section running Flax digesters , they made the fist hemp paper as an experiment before using flax . I think we where the only paper mill in the world that made flax cigarette paper .Philip Morris was our main customer and we developed the FSC paper Which is more refined stock with less porosity made to go out if you stop hitting on it . This job made me quit smoking

We had 6 paper making machines in our mill and each one was different. When I was trained to run the machine I was going to work with I also had to train 2 weeks on all the others before I was ready to be on my own . And yes each machine was run differently.

I’m just getting into the business as a design engineer in a R&D department. I’m pushing to visit one of our paper mills for personal and business reasons. As a model railroader, I’d like to incorporate the industry on my layout.

Most responsible paper companies / forest management companies plant more trees than they consume.

Hello, Orpheus. Thank you for calling this to our attention. We apologize for the delays and challenges you dealt with at our Chillicothe facility. Our goal is to always act as a good partner with the truck drivers who help move our papers, but we know that as we navigate these challenging times, we sometimes don't reach that goal. Fortunately, we have implemented a number of changes to help improve our service levels. First, we have hired more employees. It will take some time to fully train everyone, but we are doing everything we can to expedite that process. Second, we have implemented a new dock schedule that requires carriers to set pickup appointments, which allows us to limit the number of trucks being scheduled so drivers have reduced wait times. We have several other workstreams in process to help improve service. Thank you again for taking the time to contact us. Your feedback is important and appreciated.

Not the loaders fault 🙌

Thanks Ray for taking the time to watch the video. Glad you like it. To answer your question, thickness or caliper of our paper is primarily controlled at the end of the paper machine as the paper goes through a calendar stack. The rollers in the stack apply pressure to the paper essentially flattening it to the desired thickness. Some calendar stack are on machine and some are off machine and some are called super calendars. We use those when the sheet really needs pressed hard. This also applies an extremely smooth surface to the paper.

@@pixellespecialtysolutions3490 Are 20 and 24 pound probably the most common? We use a lot of different weights and sizes but those seem to be what i see the most of. It was also interesting to see how the packs are wrapped. The brown paper wraps are so much better when it comes to unloading trucks then the plastic wrap.

@@rayessex2837 Yes, those are two of our more popular weights for our printing grades of paper. We also agree that the brown craft wrap is easier to work with and recycle than the plastic wraps. Typically we only use poly wrap when the product absolutely requires it. Otherwise, we are all about the paper!

@@pixellespecialtysolutions3490 I really appreciate you responding to my questions. One more and i won't bug you with anymore, How are paper supplies are they ample or will we be limited?

@@rayessex2837 paper supply remains very tight. Paper producers have closed a significant amount of capacity over the past two decades in order to manage the supply/demand balance. When a mill closes, it really can't ever be restarted due to costs and other liabilities. When demand spikes as is the case right now, there's not enough capacity to fulfill demand. Add to this container ships stuck in ports due to logistical issues....so imports have not been as effective at relieving demand pressures. Industry Analysts believe supply is going to be tight for the foreseeable future.

Thank you Enrique for the kind words and for sharing this educational video. Very much appreciated.

I am very sorry to hear of your mill closure. It is frustrating to see so many mills across the country close due to changing demand patterns, imports, rising costs, raw material disruptions, etc. I've been in the industry for 22 years, so that makes me a newbie. In my time, I've seen a lot of change and many mill towns devastated. After celebrating 150 years of continuous operation in Spring Grove, PA, even we underwent some change when private equity purchased our operation. Fortunately, they've provided the investments we needed, but never a day goes by that we don't have to overcome a challenge. I suppose that is one thing that never changes.

We modernize our mill from the debarking of the trees to having a thermal mechanical pulping to an new core room to having the same paper machine you have in this video and having up to date finishing room and rapping machine and only 180 employees when they closed the mill

If a any one who is interested look up FRANK ANSON ABITIBI POWER AND PAPER he started ABITIBI

The beauty of paper is that it comes from a renewable resource. Unlike plastics and other materials that rely on limited resources and remain in the environment for decades or even centuries, paper can be recycled many times and trees that are cut can be regrown. You need to keep in mind that land is valuable. If we are not harvesting and replanting trees, then the land will be used for something else…..most likely commercial development. Land will never sit idle. Plus, you need to look at all the applications that require the use of paper. Many of the tapes used by Amazon and other retailers to ship packages to your home are paper-based. Release liners for building insulation, bandages, signage, stickers, etc. are paper. Greeting cards, playing cards, books, labels, food packaging all use paper. Baby diapers use cellulose fibers from trees to create the absorbent cores as do feminine hygiene products that are relied upon the world over. Paper is used as an interleaver for food, glass and even steel to provide protection from scratching. Paper is also used as part of the high-pressure laminate construction for kitchen countertops. This is just a very small example of how paper impacts our ever day life. To answer your question, no, I do not see paper or our dependance on renewable resources disappearing in ten years. Renewable resources are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution.

You would be very surprised how much paper is around you that you don't realize. Remember, not only are trees plants that can be regrown (and better cut down than fallen down to become forest fire kindling), but their waste is biodegradable unlike plastic.

Tissue paper is Also paper. Let's see how computer chips replace that paper.

Relative to burning coal, which is better than wood logs (depending on the exact type of wood/coal and the burning process). The only way to go cleaner would be to go nuclear, but even that has some footprint due to construction materials and maintenance. Solar and wind are insufficient for industrial purposes, which need to run 24/7 to remain cost effective. Biofuels lack the energy density needed, and are usually a net negative on the environment since the fertilizers used to produce biofuels in the first place come from fossil fuels.

@@r3dp9 Well, paper mills shouldn't need to burn anything else. They should be more thasn self sufficient on energy from just the chemical recovery side in pulping process. at least here in finland majority of em are.

⁠@@kevytrosvoI work in chem recovery. It doesn’t provide near the steam load needed for our mill. Depends how many machines you have also. We have 3 machines and a multiple pulp lines. Other mills near us don’t have all that so maybe they can get buy with less. Also chem recover fluctuates based on production speed. You still need power boilers or dual fuel sources for slow backs and such. We have 2 recovery boilers and 3 power boilers and still buy power from the grid. All boiler have multi fuel sources.

Hello Kevin. Our main job is to produce specialty papers that are used the world over by consumers. To do this we consume renewable resources like trees. There are countless videos available that explain the many benefits of utilizing renewable resources, but suffice it to say, when trees are not harvested to build houses, furniture, paper, etc., the land is often overtaken by real estate development, highways, etc. When that happens, the forest is lost forever. By managing forest lands, we protect them from development, we reduce the likelihood of forest fires, we minimize the growth of evasive species, protect natural habitats, and we replant and regrow new tress which helps sequester carbon. In so many different ways, we help protect the environment. I encourage you do learn more about this topic online.

Some pulp/paper mills grow trees solely for paper, which is better than destroying a forest.

@@pixellespecialtysolutions3490 This right here. Cutting down random forests isn't only irresponsible, it's economically impractical. The idea of importing tropical rainforests trees to an inland facility is absurd. It's easier to maintain high quality, accessible trees when those trees are managed, planted, and thinned locally. Just like any farm, except that you don't need to cull the local wildlife.

Give it a rest

Trees are giant asparagus plants :) they can be replanted (metaphor, not literal). And, better cut down than fallen down to become kindling for a forest fire.

Thank you Wendy! We appreciate you watching.