Articles related to employees

Veritiv Corp. reported Thursday it is launching a restructuring that will result in the reduction of its U.S. salaried workforce by approximately 15% across all business segments and corporate functions.

The Swanson Group is laying off 300 workers from its plywood mill in Glendale and cutting the pay of those still working due to a shortage of orders, as businesses grind to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arauco North America said the closure results from an "economic imbalance" in the U.S. market for medium density fiberboard. The company said it will shift Eugene production work to its other U.S. facilities.

The mill currently employs 236 people with an annual production capacity of 240,000 tonnes of newsprint paper.

Company wants decision quashed and costs awarded.

The co-determination negotiations can result in the reduction of 90 persons at maximum mainly during year 2021 by estimate, and in possible temporary lay-offs and part-time work during 2020. Fabrics Business Unit employs altogether approximately 500 persons in its Tampere operations.

In a written statement, Northen Pulp stated that "the company continues discussions with government with respect to the site's hibernation plan. The length of time the facility will be in hibernation is currently unknown."

Northern Pulp says it's committed to the province and wants to operate in Nova Scotia for the long term.

It is not immediately clear what the company's decision to continue with the assessment process means for any potential long-term viability of the Northern Pulp mill.

Over the next three years, J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI) is forecasting over 6,800 full time hires as well as 2700+ student hires across the company's diverse operations in Canada and the U.S.

Clearwater Paper and the United Steelworkers Local 712 have reached a tentative agreement that will next go to union members, who will vote to ratify or reject the contract early next month.

Layoff notices were handed out to employees at Northern Pulp on Monday in preparation for the closure of the company's mill on Jan. 31, 2020.

Members of the United Steelworkers (USW) union approved a new four-year master agreement with WestRock that sets standards for wages, benefits and working conditions for more than 9,400 union workers at 62 facilities across 26 U.S. states.

Owners of the Northern Pulp mill near Pictou, N.S., have said a government refusal of their request would lead to the facility's closure and the elimination of 300 jobs at the mill and an estimated 2,400 more in the forestry sector.

Corner Brook Pulp and Paper announced Friday it is restructuring staff to keep its labour costs in line, and that will mean a loss of permanent status for some workers at Newfoundland and Labrador's only newsprint mill.

Finnish Forest Industries Federation said on Wednesday it would hold a 6-day lock-out from Dec. 12, closing half of the Nordic country's sawmills and plywood factories, aiming to put pressure on unions in halted pay negotiations.

Smurfit Kappa in Lurgan has invested in the development of its senior management team by engaging training consultancy Square Box to undertake a range of tailored training programmes.

The reduction of personnel is 179 (159 permanent and 20 temporary contracts not prolonged).

Vote shows 99.6 percent of members opposed to proposed deal.

Stora Enso plans to make organizational changes in the Paper division following the Oulu Mill conversion at the end of 2020.

More than 70 workers at the Catalyst Crofton pulp and paper mill have been laid off.

Ten people, including Graphic Packaging International Chief Executive Officer Michael Doss, were aboard the charter flight at Oroville Municipal Airport north of Sacramento on Aug. 21.

The three United Steelworkers locals at Twin Rivers Paper Mill ratified a four-year contract with the mill ending weeks of negotiations.

The center was launched as part of a companywide initiative to enhance the wellbeing of employees by providing a holistic approach to wellness and making healthcare more accessible.

Authorities said the small aircraft caught fire after experiencing complications during take-off.

The alleged threat reportedly occurred Wednesday evening, in which an employee at the Moses Lake facility allegedly made a threat involving a gun to another employee.

The news comes just two months after the company announced more than 500 people would be losing their jobs.

As of Jan. 1, 2020, the Company will be known as UFP Industries, Inc. The Company will seek to ratify the name change at its April 22, 2020, shareholder meeting.

The job openings were announced as the company is in the midst of a $115 million investment at the plant in Fox Crossing, part of a commitment that the company made as the recipient of a $28 million package of state tax incentives in late 2018 to keep the plant open.

A $100,000 state grant announced Tuesday will pay for advanced manufacturing training for 25 employees at the Sappi paper mill in Cloquet.

An employee is filing a class action lawsuit against a Wisconsin-based specialized packaging company, alleging it breached information privacy law by making workers scan their fingerprints when punching in and out of work shifts.

Sonoco announced its Board of Directors has approved the termination of the Sonoco U.S. Pension Plan for Inactive Participants effective September 30, 2019.

Sixteen management positions were cut from the former KapStone pulp and paper mill this month as the local plant began its "integration" with its new owner.

Park Falls mill could reopen within two weeks, re-employ 89 employees.

Workers at one of the Pacific Northwest's largest paper mills are worried Oregon's cap and trade bill will mean job loss and industry downsizing in a field that is already seeing cuts and companies moving overseas.

A reception was recently held at Georgia-Pacific's Brewton mill to honor Glen Freeman and his 60 years of service to the facility. Freeman's first day at the mill was June 24, 1959, and of the more than 30,000 Georgia-Pacific employees worldwide, he holds the record as the longest serving associate.

The number of persons affected is 155 and paper machine 10 in Plattling will be permanently closed by mid July 2019. Paper production on the remaining machines will be continued at the Plattling site.

McKinley Paper Co. has reached agreement with the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers Local 155 on a new labor deal that will be in effect once McKinley opens its Ediz Hook paper mill, company and union officials said Monday.

The talks between Clearwater Paper and union leaders have been going on for months. But they didn't become public until union members protested near the company's Lewiston site in April.

Kimberly-Clark announced it has awarded $920,000 in Bright Futures College Scholarships to 46 children of Kimberly-Clark employees across North America.

Smurfit Kappa is making significant progress in its journey towards becoming a fully sustainable and circular business, according to its latest Sustainable Development Report (SDR) which was published this past week.

Smurfit Kappa spirited 23 employees from crisis-hit Venezuela last year to protect their safety as the country's economy continued to implode and the company's assets there were seized by the government.

The Clearwater Paper Plant Manager who was seen holding a sign that read "Poor Baby's" driving past a union rally this week has been "removed from his position". Donnie Ely is no longer with the company at all according to a recent e-mail.

The Lewiston Clearwater Paper mill manager at the center of a union dispute was put on leave from his job Wednesday after issuing an apology.

Union members allege the mill manager of Clearwater Paper in Lewiston displayed a sign that read "Poor Baby's" as he drove past a Tuesday rally.

Workers Memorial Day, observed by unions across the globe on April 28 of each year, is dedicated to remembering those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the struggle for safe jobs. Worldwide, more than 380,000 workers die tragically at work each year, and another 2.4 million die from work-related illness.

Resolute Forest Products Inc. announced a four-year renewal of the master collective agreement covering unionized employees of three U.S. pulp, paper and tissue mills.

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

Domtar has announced plans to modernize its Espanola facility and will cut 70 jobs through normal attrition and retirements in the process.

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

At Domtar, we value our employees and want them to enjoy their work. It's why we invest in measuring employee engagement and satisfaction and use employee feedback to improve how we do business.

Metsä Wood has begun statutory labor negotiations at Suolahti and Punkaharju birch plywood mills in Finland.

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

The month of March is dedicated to the celebration of women and the remarkable contributions they make to our world.

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

After a mass layoff this week at the Neucel mill in Port Alice, B.C.'s forest minister is vowing to support the workers who are out of a job.

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

If you are looking for goods and services in the pulp and paper industry, you need to check out the Paperitalo Directory!

Over the next three years, J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI) is forecasting 7500 full time hires as well as over 2500 student hires across the company's diverse operations in Canada and the U.S.

WestRock Co. told the Colorado labor department that its facility in Centennial will shut down within two weeks of March 25.

International Paper will host a three day hiring event/job fair starting on January 31, 2019 in Baton Rouge, LA.

A woman is injured following an accident outside a Lexington International Paper facility of Friday morning.

Long Falls Paperboard (LFP) and Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) announced the sale of the Brattleboro paperboard facility, formerly owned and operated by Neenah Paper, Inc.

Canfor Corp. says it is extending the temporary curtailment of sawmill operations in British Columbia announced in November, and will cut operating hours at some sawmills throughout the first quarter of 2019.

Christmas has not arrived yet, but SCA has already started recruiting temporary workers for next summer. 80 new employees will be recruited for Piteå.

Appvion employees who lost millions of dollars in retirement savings when the company went bankrupt last year have a shot at getting their money back.

I used to say the winter price of heating oil depended on the commuting experience the heating oil traders had on their way into Manhattan from suburban Connecticut each morning. If they had a cold, miserable experience, they jacked up the price. Maybe that is not giving them enough credit, but I don't think I am far off. Believe it or not, I have sat in capital strategic planning sessions in our industry that display just about the same perspicacity...

I have been saying for some time that major capital projects often have a large political component to them. Throughout my career, this has been true to a certain extent, in the modern age with animation and graphical availability available to everyone, it is become even more the norm rather than the exception...

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As hard as it is to get innovation right, a subject to which we alluded last week, pulling the plug on a bad project is even harder. If you read the management books, they will often quote someone like Winston Churchill, Vince Lombardi or Teddy Roosevelt, with an admonishment to never, ever, give up. Sometimes you need to give up. It is called throwing good money after bad...

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As you might have guessed, November is Innovation and Strategy month at Paperitalo Publications. I thought would we would start out talking about lost innovations. There are many clever innovations with industrial application from the past that have been lost to the present era...

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When I think back over my five decades in industry, one stands out when the subject of quality comes up. It is the 1970s. The 1970s were the age of shabby. I don't care what kind of product it was, retail or industrial, I would suggest the 1970s were the low point of quality, at least in the United States. So, what changed?

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There is an old phrase, "We don't have time to do it right, but we have time to do it over!" So true. When you produce off-spec goods you will break into production to remake the order so you don't lose the customer. The losses are incalculable. Examining why you make poor quality goods or deliver poor quality services is instructive and a good place to start to buff up the overall management of your organization. Why did you produce poor quality goods? There are only three or four key high-level metrics that need to be examined out the gate...

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All of a sudden, plastic contamination is in the news. Restaurants in our area, for instance, have started posting signs concerning plastic straws with the claim that the world uses 500 million plastic straws per day. I find that number a bit incredulous, for it means that 1 in 16 of us, including newborn infants, use a plastic straw each day. There has also been a video on LinkedIn of a woman paddling up to a pile of plastic near the water's edge somewhere. It looks awful, but the video fails to comment on her being on a plastic surfboard, an item that used to be made of wood. I am, by the way, in favor of getting rid of as much plastic as we can (paperboard milk cartons and paper grocery sacks, anyone?). But what does all of this have to do with Quality Month at Paperitalo Publications. Just this...

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The new 'EveryOne' initiative has been rolled out across Europe and the Americas to encourage all employees to play their part in creating an even more inclusive workplace.

According to the BLS, "Overall employment of industrial machinery mechanics, machinery maintenance workers, and millwrights is projected to grow 7 percent from 2016 to 2026." If you're like most U.S. manufacturers today, these resources are extremely challenging to find, hire, and retain. What is your strategy?

If you have not heard of Industry 4.0, you will. In fact, later this month Paperitalo Publications is launching a new newsletter on the subject as it pertains to the pulp and paper industry. We are calling it Industree 4.0™. Industry 4.0 means more sensors, more data collection and more data analysis in real time. It will mean higher quality products made at lower costs, for upper and lower control limits will be able to be set even closer to the desired outcome for many attributes.

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Sonoco announced it has completed the acquisition of the remaining 70-percent interest in the joint venture of Conitex Sonoco, a vertically integrated global leader in the manufacture of paper-based cones and tubes used in the textile industry.

You will see it all the time, both corporately and individually. People, and people representing corporations, will demand very high quality from others but will tolerate themselves or their organizations delivering low quality goods and services. This is hypocrisy, yet it is not as bad as things can get. Those who accept low quality goods and services are nearly a lost cause when one tries to deliver high quality goods and services. They just don't get it.

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Union workers voted Saturday to strike against Voith Paper Fabric and Roll Systems in Neenah and started a picket line at 6 a.m. Monday.

Last week we talked about harassment and one-sided fantasizing. We did not call it one-sided fantasizing, but that is what it was. Our last topic in this series is going to be relationships that start at work. In this case, both parties are willing participants. I think modern communications systems have made these easier to do. Email, texting and so forth are far easier than putting "personal and confidential" notes in internal mail systems. Modern communications are also far easier to trace, too--email and texting leaves a trail that others can find (such as your spouse's lawyer)...

WestRock Company has provided an update following the landfall of Hurricane Florence.

From 1 March, the annual production volume of sawn timber at the Mönsterås sawmill will increase by 100,000 m³. This will require a third shift and approximately 30 new employees.

In my nearly fifty years in the business world, I've learned that both sexes do an amazing job of fantasizing what members of the opposite sex think of them or how they interact with them. These daydreams are often quite detailed and often R-rated. There is only one problem with them--they are false vignettes that have nothing to do with reality...

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Harassment may or may not involve members of the opposite sex. It can be male on female, female on male or sex on sex. Your coworkers engaged in harassment can have many different motives, often hard to discern. It is sometimes hard to determine if one is being harassed or not...

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Three Phases of Organizational Change

Several months ago, Helen Roush, our Executive Vice President, suggested we do a series on Male/Female/Harassment issues in the workplace. I agreed and further agreed we would do it in September, our editorial calendar month reserved for management issues. As a warning--these columns may be "R" rated in places--but since we attract an adult audience, this should not be a problem.

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Cascades Inc. has announced plans to close two sheet plants in Barrie (Jellco) and Peterborough, Ontario, as part of its ongoing efforts to reorganize and optimize its corrugated packaging platform in Ontario.

Different organisations, including the workers' unions of Cachar Paper Mill and Nagaon Paper Mill, will block National Highway 37 at Jagiroad in central Assam's Morigaon district for four hours on September 11, demanding payment of the workers' pending salaries and revival of both the industrial enterprises.

Weyerhaeuser Company announced actions to reduce the liabilities of its U.S. pension plan while maintaining the plan's current funded status.

WestRock says it is closing its Charlotte facility, a move that will result in the loss of 170 full-time jobs.

Clearwater Paper has trimmed more than 100 positions at its Lewiston tissue operations as its net earnings slip.

Talent acquisition costs your company lots of money and time. Are you attracting the talent you want and need? And are you retaining the people you do hire?

Weyerhaeuser Co. woodworkers in Washington and Oregon voted overwhelmingly last week to reject the latest contract offer from the company, but labor talks are still continuing, according to a union source.

Kimberly-Clark Corp.'s Cold Spring facility could be saved from closing if a new United Steelworkers agreement ratified by union members Monday night sways the company and is paired with state tax incentives.

At least two workers were killed and three seriously hurt in a blast at a paper mill in US Nagar's Jaspur.

Labour unrest continues to mar the operations of Bilt paper mill in Jeypore of Koraput district as workers of the mill are on a hunger strike since last five days.

A new four-year agreement between Catalyst Paper Corporation and Unifor Locals 1 and 76 in Powell River has been approved by workers, according to Unifor national representative Jim Dixon.

About 1,200 Weyerhaeuser Co. employees in Washington and Oregon voted overwhelmingly Thursday to give the regional woodworkers union strike authority, paving the way for a work stoppage if negotiators continue to disagree on terms of a new labor contract.

A new four-year tentative agreement has been reached between Catalyst Paper and Unifor, representing approximately 750 workers in British Columbia.

Independent German paper mill Feldmuehle Uetersen has confirmed that it has been acquired, with more than 95% of jobs saved.

Iggesund Paperboard, a subsidiary within the Holmen group, is currently implementing efficiency measures to secure an efficient business and safeguard the long-term profitability of Iggesund Mill.

Essity Operations Wausau LLC, which owns a paper mill at 700 Columbia Ave. in Middletown, is eliminating 60 positions at the facility. The layoffs are expected to be permanent, according to a notice filed with the state of Ohio.

The Georgia-Pacific paper mill in Augusta will be closing its doors.

Community members, pulp and paper workers, and economic-justice advocates will hold a picket April 24 to demand that WestRock, owners of the Newberg paper mill, make the idled property available for sale to buyers who would restart the mill.

Resolute Forest Products Inc. announced that a tentative four-year agreement has been reached with Unifor, subject to ratification by their members.

Company signs CEO Action pledge, celebrates outstanding workplace diversity achievements and sharpens focus on key areas of diversity & inclusion growth.

The Covington Paperworkers Union says they have ratified the WestRock offer after a vote Thursday.

They are demanding payment of salaries pending for 22 months, reinstatement of suspended workers and resumption of production at the unit.

Some Georgia-Pacific workers in Taylorsville, Mississippi, are on strike over scheduling issues after nearly a year of negotiating.

More than 160 people are losing their jobs in June when a manufacturing plant near Hazelton shuts down.

A third machine will soon be running at a previously closed Combined Locks paper mill.

Negotiations are under way for a new contract at the Westrock paper mill in Covington.

UPM paid a total of EUR 65 million as short-term incentives to employees in 2017.

Universal Forest Products is planning to spend one-third of its savings from federal tax reform on a more customized array of employee benefits.

DowDuPont is set to transfer up to 150 of its Pennsylvania specialty products division employees to Delaware next year.

Over the next three years, J.D. Irving, Limited (JDI) is forecasting over 10,400 hires across the company's diverse operations in Canada and the U.S.

Atlantic Packaging, one of North Carolina's largest privately held companies, headquartered in Wilmington, announced today that management is awarding $1,000 bonuses immediately to full-time employees.

White-collar workers in Finland's paper industry on Tuesday threatened to go on strike later this month in a dispute with employers over a new wage deal.

In a win for the Association of Pulp and Paper Workers union, a federal judge ruled this week that a KapStone Paper and Packaging supervisor discriminated against a Longview employee based on his union organizing and that the supervisor illegally attempted to interfere or restrain union activity.

Employees of Cachar and Nagaon Paper Mills of the state of Assam, the two units of Hindustan Paper Corporation which is a government of India enterprise, have threatened that they would jump into Barak river if their salaries and other dues for the last 13 months are not cleared before Namami Barak.

Some people (and I suspect they are often the same people I described above) think doing a quality job is relevant only to their outside customers and clients. Wrong! In fact, one could not be more wrong than this. Practicing internal quality principles really saves money (practicing quality externally saves and wins customers). Internally, two things go wrong when we fail to hold to the highest quality standards...

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If your reputation for quality is horrible, there is only one choice--fix it. But to reach that one choice, you must first be willing to accept the feedback that your reputation for quality is poor. This is a hurdle for many organizations; they are dismissive of customer feedback, and say to themselves, "It is only a single case" or "customers are not willing to pay for quality." I know of three organizations that have met this challenge head-on and done something about it...

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Catalyst Paper says it's implemented a new Recruitment and Onboarding system that will make it faster and easier for prospective employees to access current and future career opportunities.

Video shows smelt leaking at WestRock's Covington mill...

Wait a minute--you did not know your quality was broken? Your product or service quality is always broken. It is always broken because quality is a moving target. What may have been the best quality among your peers last month may send you to the bottom of the heap this month.

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Southworth Co., the 178-year-old paper maker that shut down abruptly one month ago, filed for federal bankruptcy protection on Thursday, according to court documents that also show the company has $9 million in underfunded pension liability.

Over a quarter of a century ago, quality was all the rage in industry. Business books on quality abounded and everyone had laser cut letter Q's sitting on their desks (at least in my world). About this time, I had a boss who attended some great quality seminar and came back reporting, "Quality is just as good as the customer requires, no more, no less." He was wrong. Welcome to quality month at Paperitalo Publications...

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Unifor members at the Domtar pulp mill in Kamloops have ratified a new four-year contract.

Many employees spend an inordinate amount of time trying to read the "tea leaves" of the boss's behavior. Most of this effort is a waste of time...

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Last week we talked about exactly who is defined as part of your team. This was done from the stance of making sure you don't, due to naïve generosity, take on work outside your scope and in the end, do everything poorly. At the same time, you must ward off the outside work without building silos or fortresses that seed discontent. This week, we will deal with two issues that may come up as you protect your team and strive for excellence in your team's area of responsibility, as well as good relations with all of your coworkers.

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A team is your specific, small group of personnel assigned to do a specific job or set of jobs. Although I am not much of a sports fan, I can give an example from there. Suppose the quarterback notices that the waterboy forgot to fill the drink containers? Does he ask for a time out so the players on the field can do this job? No. While in the bigger picture, they are all on the same team, when it comes to specific tasks they are not.

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Graphic Packaging Holding Company announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Graphic Packaging International, Inc., will close its coated recycled paperboard mill in Santa Clara, California by year end.

KapStone Container has decided to cease operations at its Oakland facility. The Kapstone closure will eliminate 67 jobs, according to an official company filing with state labor agencies.

The chief executive officer of Verso Corp. told investors he expects the shuttered Wickliffe, Ky. paper mill to be sold by the end of September.

Paper maker The Southworth Company has laid off more than 120 employees after shutting down its facilities.

I recently had a discussion with a long-time industry professional concerning this question: which is more important to a given mill--the technology or the management?

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Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Central National Gottesman Inc. has signed a definitive Purchase Agreement to acquire the business of JC Paper, based in Fremont, CA, expanding its paper distribution presence in Northern California and Nevada.

Resolute Forest Products is cutting 222 jobs at its Calhoun, Tenn., mill as it shuts down newsprint production operations and puts more focus on making tissue.

Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories are told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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The government India said that employees of Nagaon and Cachar paper mills belonging to central PSU Hindustan Paper Corp have not been paid salaries for 8 months and 10 months, respectively.

Cascades Inc. announced that it will close its packaging plant in Maspeth, New York, as part of the Corporation's modernization and optimization efforts in the Northeastern United States.

For the past 30 years, WestRock has played its role in the City of Waxahachie industrial base. However, come September, the company will shutter operations.

Every August, we focus on corruption we have seen or heard about in the industry in the past year. As usual, these stories will be told by Fos, a pulp rat. It is my privilege to put Fos's stories in print for you...

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Glatfelter announced several cost reduction measures in its Specialty Papers Business Unit. The changes include the shutdown of Paper Machine 24 at the Company's Chillicothe, OH facility...

I was talking to an old friend who spent one of his college days' summers doing fetch-and-carry work in a paper mill. Although it had been many years ago, he was still in awe of that "big ol' paper machine" and the fact that it took "twelve or thirteen men" to run it. No more, Tom, I said...

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WestRock Co. is closing its Wheatley Heights plant and laying off 152 employees, according to a WARN notice filed with the state.

"You've got to know the territory." As I remember it, this was a song sung by a chorus of some erstwhile salesmen in the Broadway show "The Music Man." If you are a mill manager or a department manager, it is your responsibility to be a walking encyclopedia about your territory and all that is in it. You've got to know your territory...

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Verso Corp. has decided not to bring back 120 employees laid off earlier this year after the company idled its No. 3 paper machine in Jay.

McKinley Paper Co. vice president of operations said his company is taking a measured approach to transforming the former Nippon Paper Industries USA paper mill at Ediz Hook, purchased March 31 by the Mexican-owned cardboard linerboard manufacturer.

The real objective of the environmental advocacy groups today is their own survival. They cannot afford to declare a great victory, for then their incomes dry up. They are in quite a predicament!

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Around 60 of the 140 employees on the Mondi packaging facility in Scunthorpe face redundancy as part of a plan by the company to downsize the business.

It was not so long ago that engineers and scientists often came from a rural background. This is still true in developing nations, but for those of us living in developed nations, it is usually no longer the case. My own experience is a good example...

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Restructuring and cost savings plan initiated to improve profitability by reducing manufacturing and administrative cost structure.

The governments of the United States, Minnesota and Wisconsin on Thursday announced an $8.2 million settlement with Honeywell International Inc, Domtar Corp and privately held XIK LLC to resolve a claim over natural resource damages at a Superfund site, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Members from the United Steel Workers Union have voted to accept a new contract from Foley Cellulose. The contract agreement comes after a year-long dispute between the union and Georgia Pacific.

This column is for the younger generation. Ready? Away we go! You get your degree and head off to the mill to work. Or perhaps your first job is with a supplier. In any case, you are proud of your accomplishments to date--but reality is about to set in. After you sign the pile of papers from the human resources department, you will be taken to your new office...

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Do you have trouble getting subordinates to do what you want them to do? There can be many reasons for this, but one of the most common is that YOU are not doing what you want THEM to do...

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In February of this year, Stora Enso announced that it planned to permanently shut down paper machine 8 at its Kvarnsveden Mill in Sweden due to structural weakening of magazine paper demand in Europe.

I have spent a lot of time talking to investment bankers. Their interest is in buying into deals, looking at bankrupt companies for possible purchase and so forth. In short, they are looking for nuggets in the pulp and paper industry. Such are the fortunes of a mature industry. If you have been located in a mill or a headquarters for some period of time, you may have already seen company names and logos come and go, while you personally occupied the same space. Observing colleagues in the industry, I have noticed a number of behaviors that could use some improvement, to the benefit of the persons whose careers may be affected...

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A labor dispute at the Foley Cellulose Mill is putting hundreds of jobs in question, leaving many locals worrying about the future.

If you are buying inspection services, make sure you are getting them. I was in a facility once where I saw what happens when these things go wrong. This facility had some high priced instrumentation for which they had an annual inspection contract. It just so happened that I was very familiar with one piece of instrumentation that was on this inspection cycle and I was standing beside it when the inspector came by. I knew every flaw this instrument currently suffered. The inspector's entire activity, as I observed it, was to take off last year's inspection sticker and put on this year's...

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A tentative agreement between Canfor Pulp and unionized workers at its three Prince George pulp mills was reached Thursday.

Resolute Forest Products announced Thursday that it will idle its paper machine No. 2 in Catawba, S.C. on June 30. The move will result in the elimination of 180 jobs.

Wandering around the industry as I do, I am often amazed at the perceived roles people think they have, as indicated by their actions and words each day. Many appear to have no clue to the overall picture. It is really quite simple...

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A printing facility in Salem is shutting down, according to a "warn notice" posted through the Virginia Workforce Network's Rapid Response program.

A person starting a career is a bit of an open book. Such people may have had some work experiences, maybe even some military experience, but, in general their expectations about the work environment are recognized, even by them, as just that: expectations that may or may not become reality. It amuses me, for instance, to hear some of the ideas soon-to-be college graduates have about work. One told me something to the effect that once she started to work, she saw excitement in life as being over--you go to work each day, do the same things each day and forty years later you retire. Sadly, I have actually met people who have done exactly this. What I am getting at here, though, is something more subtle...

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No matter how much formal education you have acquired, there is one forum that stands above others in importance. It is one in which you participate first as a receiver, and then, later, if you have children, as a provider. It is the forum of the family dinner table...

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Production at Nippon Dynawave's Longview paper packaging mill is picking up again as the company slowly gets its wastewater treatment plant working properly.

There is a lesson here for us all--an opportunity for a critical self-examination of how large decisions are made...

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Union workers at Twin Rivers Paper Company in southern Lewis County, N.Y. have a new six-year contract.

Over the years, I have heard many conversations start with, "If I were in charge of this place..." If you were in charge, what would you change? Why would you change it? How would you accomplish the changes? When would you change it? Let us take things one at a time...

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Gov. John Bel Edwards announced the plans this past week with the CEOs of Graphic Packaging International and DHL Supply Chain, companies joining together for the investment and expansion.

Recently I have seen a number of cases in which human energy was not being expended to any appreciable extent. Actually, I was witnessing laziness. I have not discussed this topic in a long time, so perhaps it is time once again to bring it up. It is a topic that tends to offend some folks, for people do not like to be singled out as lazy or unenergetic. To assuage the embarrassment of the truly guilty, let me say that we all are struck by this at one time or another. And we must admit that we know some people who are in a permanent rut of inactivity. So, who to blame? What to do?

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The former Nippon Paper Industries USA cogeneration plant has been shut down and eight of its workers laid off as the paper mill breathed its last breath -- in its present form -- for up to 18 months, McKinley Paper Co. spokeswoman Cathy Price said.

The phrase, "perception is reality" is often a cautionary warning as to how others might perceive what one is doing, or how they look and so forth. I want to talk today about times when perception is not reality and how this might affect our actions...

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Bemis is looking to graduates to fill 95 jobs at its new European Business Service Centre in Derry.

You are reading this, most likely, at an operating facility. I am going to give you two important challenges that are vital to the success of your company, no matter what your position is.

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McKinley Paper Co. officials are settling in as new owners of the nearly dormant Nippon Paper Industries USA facility in preparation for shutting it down within the next two weeks for up to 18 months.

I will bet you have tasks, if viewed by a critical eye, that would appear somewhat ludicrous. They may include a meeting you attend regularly that does nothing toward moving your enterprise forward. They may be insane reports that no one reads, or some other habitual exercise that does nothing...

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Years ago, when I started this column, I decided one important thing to be done here was to beat the drum for safety. Well, we have, and we plan to continue doing so. I am writing today, however, about general liability--caused by people or caused to people through exposures of various kinds. Some of these are safety matters, some are security matters. Others can arise out of employment law...

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PaperWorks Industries Inc. will layoff 147 when it shutters operations in one of the nation's oldest papermaking mills, the PaperWorks Philadelphia Mill in Manayunk.

International Paper has started dismantling the 2,200-acre mill site that shuttered in 2014 and cost Lawrence County nearly 1,100 jobs.

There are some ways in which original capital purchases can serve to reduce maintenance costs and downtime...

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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was slated to be on hand Monday as Pratt Industries officially opens its new 350,000-square-foot corrugated box factory in Beloit.

Today we spend lots of time talking about predictive, preventive maintenance and have all sorts of seminars and software to manage this. There is no excuse for not having a strong predictive, preventive maintenance program. But can it all come down to something as simple as proper care of bearings?

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Resolute Forest Products Inc. announced the indefinite idling of its paper mill located in Thorold, Ontario.

If you have read my thoughts on maintenance storerooms over the years, you will accuse me of having been all over the place, and you will be correct. At one time, I adopted the attitude that everyone should do what they were best at doing, and in the case of paper mills, this was making paper, so they should outsource storerooms. I still think this is good for small consumables and specialized repairs (such as roll repairs and recovering). However, for other items, such as pump assemblies, screens, motors and so forth, keep your own--but take care of them. This philosophy certainly applies for existing papermills (but read to the end)...

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Orchids Paper Products Co. announced Tuesday that it is moving its headquarters from outside Tulsa, Okla., bringing up to 25 jobs to office space at the southern edge of Davidson County.

McKinley Paper Co., a U.S. subsidiary of Mexico-based Bio Pappel S.A.B. de C.V., signed a purchase agreement Thursday to buy Nippon Paper Industries USA's struggling Ediz Hook factory, said Herb Baez, McKinley's vice president of operations.

We have been conditioned to think maintenance is a cost and unscheduled maintenance is acceptable. There is no basis for this logic; it is just a rumor passed around from board room to board room. It is time for your senior management to take a long hard look at the numbers, not the traditions...

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Quad/Graphics says its Waseca facility in Minnesota is restructuring to have the plant focus on printing special interest and professional journal publications, leading to reduced shifts at the plant and the elimination of 50 jobs.

We have spent the entire month talking about driverless trucks, drones, robots and so forth. So what is in the future for humans in this scenario?

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Dow Chemical and DuPont are on track to win European Union approval for their merger as soon as next month - before an April 4 deadline - after tweaking concessions to allay antitrust concerns, it was reported this week.

Orchard Park envelope manufacturer Quality Park Products plans to close its facility by mid-June, putting 111 employees out of work.

We have heard a lot about drones delivering packages, but not so much about the return flights--there will be a lot of deadheading going on. Can this wasted transportation resource be put to good use?

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Stora Enso will start co-determination negotiations with employees at its Kvarnsveden mill in Sweden regarding a plan to reorganize the mill, including a permanent closure of paper machine 8.

WestRock is leaving its longtime Norcross campus for one near Sandy Springs, the company announced Thursday.

While last week I was talking about long distance transportation of pulp by pipelines, let's look at what should be done locally, given the current state of technology...

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This is transportation month at Paperitalo Publications. This week, we discuss trucks and pipelines...

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Cenveo plans to close its Northwest Portland facility and lay off the 91 people who work there.

Verso Corp. has received a tax incentive to pave the way for its move to Dayton.

There are a number of actions by mill owners that drive up the costs of capital projects. We'll wrap up this month by touching on these...

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Gov. Tom Wolf announced that Domtar Corp. will make significant infrastructure and equipment upgrades at its facilities in Johnsonburg, Elk County, and DuBois, Clearfield County - a move that will retain 438 current positions over the next three years.

Construction projects are complicated, even the little ones. I can guarantee you that you can watch a five-million-dollar project all day long for its entire duration and you won't know half of what happened, not half the interactions that occurred over its duration. There is one contemporary and one post completion test you can do...

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A controversial New Hampshire-based private equity firm that scrapped Millinocket's shuttered former Great Northern Paper mill has sold the site for $1 to a volunteer economic development group that will partner with the town to revitalize Millinocket's economy, officials announced Thursday.

In addition to the fantasyland I referenced last week, there are other issues in capital projects that are landmines...

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A Florida-based demolition company has applied to raze buildings at the former Great Northern Paper Co. mill site despite a developer's interest in the facility, town officials said Monday.

Having been in the industry for over forty years and having written my fair share of expert witness reports, I can tell you that major capital projects (over, say, USD 5 million) are more likely to end up in court than not. This does not have to be. OK, Jim, you say this does not have to be, then why does it happen? There are two or three conditions that cause construction court cases. They come up repeatedly...

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Gregory Schain of New Mill Capital Holdings in New York City points to one recent success his company has had in Maine as he looks to the company's newest acquisition: the shuttered Madison Paper Industries mill.

Madison Paper Industries, which closed in May and put about 215 people out of work, has been sold to a buyer with plans to put the property back into use as an industrial site.

If you have been doing capital projects for only a few years, I think some surprises are just around the corner. Here is my assessment of where we are headed, assuming some natural or human-caused cataclysmic event does not occur...

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Whether you are the CEO, Mill Manger, Energy Czar or a Project Engineer, your job today is more demanding than ever as we deal with energy, the environment and public perception...

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With its Merritt mill now closed, Tolko remains open to selling the site, but is not actively trying to sell the property.

For many years, I have been telling the faithful readers of this column that energy is a political issue. Now the proof is in...

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Union millworkers have approved KapStone's latest contract offer, drawing an end to the protracted labor dispute that has stretched over two years at the Longview pulp and paper mill.

These two ideas have been around for a very long time, but I am amazed at how many people don't use them, not just in replacement scenarios, but in new installations. The first one I want to mention is regenerative drives. The other application is VFD (variable frequency drives) on pumps...

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Millworkers will vote on a new contract offer from KapStone next week, more than two years after their original contract expired.

Quad/Graphics will close its plant in Manchester Township by Feb. 1, a company spokeswoman said late Thursday.

We are headed for a crisis. We have a combination of operators who have little physical understanding of the systems they operate, some of them have an attitude, and, on top of that, the hardware and software that serve as their crutches is obsolete. We want to do something about this...

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Clearwater Paper Corporation announced Tuesday it will permanently shut down two of the company's highest cost tissue machines Dec. 31 at its Neenah facility, eliminating 85 of its 400 employees.

This week, we talk about some tricks you can use to unplug an innovation log jam...

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In a key victory for KapStone, a federal judge found the company acted legally when it fired union pickets in last year's strike.

The City of Ruston and regional partner North Louisiana Economic Partnership are excited to announce that Weyerhaeuser intends to relocate a regional office to Ruston, LA. With this relocation, Weyerhaeuser will bring approximately 20 jobs to the Ruston market.

These publications recognized USG Corporation as one of the top midsize companies to work for in both the Michigan and Chicagoland areas.

DuPont will no longer contribute to active employees' pension plans, a move that will affect the retirement of 13,000 workers.

I thought I would spend some time this week talking about some of the innovations I have witnessed over the years...

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I concluded several years ago, that while people like me may be naturally wired to be innovative, creativity can be taught. It boils down to several steps or realizations. I don't think I have shared these in such a wide audience before. So, here goes...

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The secret to innovation is to carve out the risk of innovation and allocate it to investors who have the attitude to handle it...

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Time and again, I have seen people conduct themselves in an exemplary manner throughout their careers, only to find themselves departing their places of employment in an untimely fashion. Once I went to work in a paper mill where this had happened en masse just before I arrived. The place was a mess. Whole departments had been eliminated and it looked as if the people had just left for a fire drill...

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In the vein of what we discussed last week, let's continue. An area where I think many fall down, especially if they are not used to being in this particular venue, is customer relations. When in doubt, defer to your customer...

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Quality comes in many shapes and forms. I want to talk about some of them this week...

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A spokesperson for Expera Specialty Solutions said employees were evaluated for smoke inhalation following a fire Wednesday morning.

Quality must not be an attribute that employees think can be turned on or off, dependent on time, place and resources. Apply the same quality everywhere all the time. Your business will thank you for it.

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Appvion's Roaring Spring pulp and paper mill will conduct a celebration event at the mill on Friday, October 7 beginning at 10 a.m. to observe the 150th anniversary of the founding of the mill.

The town of The Pas is extending a tax incentive initially offered to Tolko Industries to a potential buyer for the town's paper mill.

Once in my career, a boss told me we were building too much quality into our products. He said we should provide only the quality the customer expects. That might be true if "extra" quality costs extra expense which you cannot recover. There is another way to look at this...

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A WestRock facility located in Dillon County, South Carolina will cease operations at the end of November, according to corporate officials.

The restructuring, which is expected to be completed by mid-2017, includes the permanent closure of the small pulp dryer and idling of related assets, in addition to a workforce reduction of approximately 100 positions.

*All else being equal and if you always behave in a legal, moral and ethical manner and you understand that the invoice printer is the most important machine in any enterprise. These are a given and you should already know them by now, if you have been following me for any length of time. After forty-six and one half years of observing modern business life, I think it does indeed boil down to two things, at least in large corporations...

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Packaging Corporation of America will permanently close its 28th Street plant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania later this year, putting 51 employees out of work.

A recent study, done by Australian Bond University and the University of San Diego, of US CEOs in the supply chain industry found that 21 percent had "clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits" (psychopath: a person suffering from chronic mental disorder with abnormal or violent social behavior). Based on my 46 years in industry, I think they have nailed it, perhaps even gotten the number a bit low. So, this column is for the other 79% of you...

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Some, not all, young people in the industry often want to know what it takes to get into management. The answer is simple to state, a bit more difficult to execute. It is this: perform beyond expectations and become known for it. However, before we go further into this (likely next week), let's discuss some matters that you can use to test yourself to determine if you have the disposition to be a manager...

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Every facility in our industry has two types of assets--hard and soft. By hard I mean buildings, machinery, process control systems and so forth. By soft I mean people. When a facility produces products for a vibrant market (defined as steady or growing, not declining), which are more important to its success--the hard assets or the soft assets?

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As Corruption Month 2016 comes to a close, Pulp Rats Vel and Hae relate their experiences to Great Grandmother and the rest of the council...

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Louisiana is home to a significant portion of the North American pulp and paper industry, both mills and suppliers. When I think back to the business I have done over the decades in Louisiana, the volume is staggering (I received my first project in Louisiana in 1979 in Bogalusa). Right now several of our clients call Louisiana home as well as do many of our friends.

"I did not relate this story to the council, but I wanted to share it with you readers of Mr. Jim's column. It happened in a place where I lived and it is a bit complicated, for I do not understand all the things the Big Things do. Apparently, from the best I can gather, the Big Things make paper products for something called money. They hand other Big Things products they make and these Big Things give them this money in return. Why, I don't understand, but that is the way things seem to work..." Fos the Pulp Rat continues his tale.

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How many times have you seen a less than honest performer running out the back door as the investigators are coming in the front door? It happens quite often. Fos the Pulp Rat continues his tale...

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When the rats know we have to follow the rules, there is no excuse for us humans, is there?

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If you are a new reader, a bit of explanation is in order. In the trade journal business, at least in the northern hemisphere, August is the lightest readership month of the year. So, last year we tried something different to perk up August. We labeled it "Corruption Month" and let Fos, a pulp rat, write the stories. This was a huge hit. So, Fos is back again with more tales from the dark side of the pulp and paper industry and beyond...

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What is the impact of your mill on the world as a whole? The truth is we don't know--no one knows because there are simply bits of science yet to be discovered. It is likely, however, that the impact is not as great as environmental NGOs say it is and not as little as your CEO may concede...

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Today the number of regulations with which a business or even a homeowner must comply has reached an incalculable quantity. It is as if one were reading the Book of Leviticus and attempting to understand how one properly prepares for the Jewish Sabbath--times ten million. The regulators, bureaucrats and their contractors see it to be their sacred duty to write just one more regulation. This leaves us with an impossible task--how to comply with all the regulations and the new ones constantly being foisted upon us...

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Last week I gave you my definition of regulations: "Regulations are imposed by those who have artificially gained power on those who own assets." I would like to spend this column discussing those who have artificially gained power. There are three groups that come to mind when I think of those who have artificially gained power. They are environmental NGOs, lawyers and governments. Let's take these one at a time...

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This is environment/regulations month here at Paperitalo Publications. Issues surrounding the environment and regulations necessarily, unless you subscribe to conspiracy theories, involve the mitigation of risks. I'll tell a story on myself to set the stage....

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As we wrap up procurement month, I want to talk to you about performance-based contracts. These are very different from most other contracts. They can be complicated to write, but if awarded to a competent bidder, can bring guaranteed results...

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We talked last week about what is not in a contract and the premise that in the eyes of the law in most places, if money has exchanged hands you have a contract. This week I wanted to take a higher level look at what one might want to include in a contract. And, we'll further simplify it by focusing on a contract that is of the "time and material" variety...

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It is true that if you want something in a contract, you must put it in the contract. It is also true that there are things not in a contract that are implied. A basic principle in the laws in the United States at least is this: if you accept money to do a task, there is a contract. It may be a verbal contract, but it is indeed a contract. Unfortunately, such contracts, if they involve a substantial claim by one party against another, will be sorted out the expensive way--in court. Here's an example...

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It is procurement month at Paperitalo Publications. The mill-related troublesome issues that can be attributed to the purchasing department are myriad and legion. This is not to say that there are not great purchasing agents, but this is a focal point of interaction with outsiders. It can lead to grand levels of loss through misunderstanding, incompetence and fraud. I want to discuss two issues today, two issues that are critical even before one arrives at the content of purchasing documents...

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As we wrap up energy month, let's look at some completely kooky ideas for saving energy. The naysayers will have their negative comments, but keep in mind what looks kooky now may be the greatest thing in just a few years. After all, if a mere two hundred years ago had you tried to speculate on humankind's harnessing and use of electricity coming in just a couple of centuries, you would have been labeled a complete nut-job. So, here we go...

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The easiest energy savings follow the same philosophy as the easiest safety improvements. If it does not exist, it cannot hurt you or consume energy. Your first reaction will be this: we don't operate anything we don't need in order to run our facility. Really? I'll bet I could find all sorts of things to turn off or modify in your facility...

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Energy projects have to be looked at from many angles, particularly if they are a significant investment as compared to the depreciated value of the assets they serve. Don't develop a cost overhang situation that will sink the mill if you guessed wrong (and you can count on guessing wrong). This is why you have to develop several scenarios...

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If a mill is thinking about adding to their energy generation sources, that is by adding another boiler to their fleet--it is time to pause and take a deep breath. It is one thing if you are changing fuels, quite another if you are just adding to your total steam generation capacity...

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As we start Energy Trends month here at Paperitalo Publications, I want to make sure those of you with a few less years of experience than I have understand that energy is probably the most concomitant political and scientific subject you will ever face...

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If adding things makes a site more hazardous, taking them away should reduce the hazards. The problem is, that over time, we get used to the hazards around us and pay no attention to them until we encounter them in an accident-causing situation...

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Last week's column was titled, "Does Senior Management cause Safety Issues?" This week, I want to report on two incidents of which I have direct knowledge where safety missteps by plant managers got them fired...

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There are times when the demands of management, which I'll admit include demands to conduct all work in a safe manner, sometimes force us to forget safety and push on to achieve the business operational objectives. Further, there is often a fine line when one is ascertaining how to proceed. Nearly everything we do has a dangerous component to it...

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It is Safety Month at Paperitalo Publications. Let's start off by understanding two things: (1) serious, sometimes fatal accidents occur in our mills today, this is not something that happens in the past or somewhere else and (2) what we tell our fellow employees, through words, deeds and actions is extremely important to conducting operations in a safe manner.

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No matter the department, people who love their jobs and care for the assets are the best inside-the-fence chance your mill has at succeeding.
This goes double for maintenance.

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We humans have a propensity for collecting things; it is in our nature. There is an entire industry that has developed in the last three or four decades to cater to this mental disorder--the self-storage industry. You drive by self-storage units all the time--how many of them do you think hold contents whose value equals just one year's rental on the unit? Just because we are in the corporate world does not mean we do not make poor decisions about keeping junk.

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In decades past, in the United States, engineering students came off the farm. It was often a first step up for farm family children to go to engineering school. I was a classic example. I left the farm and became a mechanical engineer. Today, entry level personnel, even if they are trained engineers, often do not have the practical background we used to have...

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You will never know if a mill is well maintained if you follow the mill's "tour route"--you know, the route they keep clean and in great shape for executives, board members and customers. Didn't know that mills have "tour routes"? Have I got some hot property in Florida for you! In a mill that is in really bad shape, you won't have to go to the places I am going to tell you about, for they, that is those in charge, will never let you get there. Thus, the first clue you are in a poorly maintained mill is if you run into resistance to a full blown tour...

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Over my career, the best operating mills and companies I have seen have had very open communications. In these systems, there is a culture encouraging communications between departments and between mills. Conversely, the worst I have seen have been those with a fortress mentality, both internally to a site, between departments and externally to the site, between mills. The worst I have ever seen was in a company making grades in declining markets. The mills saw each other as every bit as big a competitor as the mills actually belonging to competitors...

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In some cases, I have seen mills go to great lengths to negotiate strong contracts for their long-haul freight, only to ignore what was happening on their own property, perhaps because of the location of their mills. You can't do much about the location of your mill, if you happen to have arrived after the grand opening. But you might be able to do something about the shuffling of trucks, containers and rail cars about your site...

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Railroads could advance a lot further in serving their customers--in our case, pulp and paper mills and their customers...

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When the Allies invaded France in June of 1944, they knew they would have to conquer transportation problems if they were to be successful in reaching their objective. Starting on 24 August 1944 and running until 16 November 1944, the Red Ball Express operated 5,958 vehicles and moved 12,500 tons of freight each and every day from the coast of France to the front lines.

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Where will we see automation next? Driverless trucks. They are less than five years away, folks. You can take it to the bank. The question is, will you be ready for them in your mill?

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Failure takes many forms--the budget was too low, the schedule was wrong, training was poor, markets were not as predicted and on and on and on. However, I have never seen a project fail badly if it had a good design basis...

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I once worked for a company that was proud of its capital projects and how the completion of such projects added to the assets of the company. The next company I worked for was proud of its return on investment (ROI) and had a philosophy of investing as little as possible in capital projects, for such investments drove down the ROI. This seems like a conundrum, but there are always other details that need to be explained to understand such matters...

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Capital projects consist of three elements--money, time, and space. Getting two out of three right is not too hard. Getting all three correct is like bowling a perfect game.

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A new year, and it is capital projects month on the Paperitalo Editorial Calendar. In my nearly forty-six years in this industry, I have seen capital projects from all sides. I have seen so many projects, from the truly frightful to shining examples, that I could write a book. In fact, I did. ... I want to start this month's columns with a slightly different slant. I want to begin by talking about the relationship between suppliers and owners.

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As we wrap up power and energy month here at Paperitalo Publications, remember this: unless energy prices change rapidly and drastically (either up or down), the actual practices of energy consumption in your mill are likely driven by your mill's culture more than any other parameter. Of course, this is true of nearly everything that happens in your mill, but it bears noting in particular as we look at energy consumption.

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Here in the pulp and paper industry, we have a difficult problem explaining our energy needs to the public. The scale of our facilities, the energy needs, just do not compute for the individual who is not regularly exposed to the scale of the business. This works to our detriment when the population puts pressure on the politicians. What to do about this?

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If you want to wring unpredictability out of your energy budget, you will push conservation no matter the price of your energy sources. Energy that you don't have to purchase (at any price) reflects energy costs that cannot destabilize your energy budget. It is as simple as that.

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Where can we use the force of gravity to eliminate energy costs?

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In fact, most of the time, that is exactly what large companies do. Earlier in this series I talked about the inertia of large companies and the inability for them to innovate. So, they do the next best thing--they buy it...

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The problem is, good innovation often looks like fiction on the surface. So, challenge innovation--challenge what will make it work. If it is in contracts, challenge the legality. If it is in products, challenge the science. And if it is in services, challenge the psychology that will cause people to behave in the manner that will result in the outcome predicted...

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In our own industry, we are known for inertia. We are not known for innovation, in fact, innovation is almost discouraged. We are known for politics. If I took off my socks right now, I don't have enough digits on my hands and feet to count all the bad managers I know in positions of power in our industry. Politics wins...

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Innovation has its problems, both from the practitioner and the manager perspectives...

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You probably have heard it said many times, "Quality is an attitude." This is correct. Quality, safety and housekeeping all go together...

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Don't let your photo screen you out of a great opportunity...

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If you look around, you'll find dimensions are everything. Don't casually dismiss them when you think about quality...

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Over the years, I have seen many attempts to obtain an advantage in markets by selling product based on quality. I have also seen many shenanigans as people try to short cut quality...

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I am often told by managers, "I can't get (fill in the blank) to do what I want done." Sometimes this statement highlights a training deficit. Sometimes it highlights a personality deficit. Sometimes it is a motivational issue. However, most often it is something else--these managers have not bothered to put themselves in the subordinates' shoes and look at the world from their point of view...

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All the technology exists right now to make this happen. Here is a chance for a paper industry centric company to become a real high tech leader recognized by the general population. How about it?

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Great people make great companies.  And like it or not, headhunters often stand between you and great people.  Set high expectations and build a long term relationship with a headhunter that is looking out for you.

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Recent events seem to suggest we can, in real time, watch a retail brand being destroyed right now... 

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Over the years, it has been interesting to watch the fear level of employees... 

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