Core board manufacturer Papertech exceeded the targets of production increase originally set for the rebuild of its PM1 at Tudela mill, Spain.
At the end of 2018, Toscotec carried out a turnkey rebuild of the dryer section, installing 20 new TT SteelDryers. The supply included TT AirTail, an advanced rope-less tail threading system, which features a simple air flow regulation that guarantees stable tail threading for any basis weight. PM1 came online at the beginning of 2019 and successively exceeded the production targets Papertech originally set for this rebuild.
Mr. David Rubio, General Manager of Papertech and Dr. Luis Miguel Calvo, Mill Manager, openly discussed what they achieved with their rebuild project.
- Who is Papertech?
Mr. Rubio: Founded in 1952, Papertech is a core board specialist in Spain. The Group has four paper mills in Europe and Asia: Tudela mill in Northern Spain, two mills in Indonesia and one in China. A couple of years ago, Sonoco Corporation, the global packaging company, bought 100% of the company’s shares. The group manufactures paper tubes and cores and other industrial applications such as cones for the textile industry, laminates, composite cans and dividers. Currently, Tudela mill has an annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes, and the group total production is approximately 300,000 t/y.
- PM1’s rebuild was your first cooperation with Toscotec. Why did you select Toscotec?
Mr. Rubio & Dr. Calvo: Our goal was to increase production. Out of the various technical solutions we evaluated, Toscotec gave us the most advantages. Firstly, with TT SteelDryers you can customize the diameter, and they offered a larger diameter than that of the cast iron cans we had; secondly, TT SteelDryers feature a bigger drying surface than cast iron dryers of the same face length. Basically, maintaining unchanged the overall length of the dryer section of the paper machine, we significantly increased our drying capacity, due to the larger diameter and drying surface of the new steel dryers. As a result, we were also able to preserve our existing hood, which is still working well. Toscotec had many successful references of similar rebuild projects and we were rather impressed with their extensive experience.
- Why did you choose a turnkey supply?
Mr. Rubio & Dr. Calvo: This has been a key part of our growth strategy and we wanted to have one single company in charge and responsible for every aspect of the supply, including the mechanical and electrical part and services. Toscotec supplied all of the equipment and provided erection, supervision, commissioning and start-up assistance. They did a great job, we are very satisfied with their management of this turnkey supply.
- Let’s focus on the project implementation. Are you satisfied with time management?
Mr. Rubio & Dr. Calvo: We were very focused on the machine downtime, because any delay would have put us in the difficult position of handling unplanned downtime, which is very costly. Toscotec’s team managed the project schedule beautifully. Our machine downtime was executed exactly as planned. It was perfect!
- Did you achieve your production targets?
Mr. Rubio & Dr. Calvo: Yes, we achieved our targets of production increase. Actually, we surpassed the targets we had originally set for this project. TT SteelDryer lived up to our expectations and delivered a high drying capacity, which allowed for this production increase.
Toscotec’s rope-less tail threading system has been another upgrade of our existing line. It was specifically designed for low speed and high basis weight, because we were to apply it also to our higher basis weight range. As we went along, the expertise of our operators increased, which contributed to improve its final efficiency. Now, we are happy with it.
- How would you describe the cooperation with Toscotec?
Mr. Rubio & Dr. Calvo: The cooperation has been very profitable. Toscotec is a very professional and flexible supplier, who delivered and implemented a successful rebuild. Their team provided fast responses and assistance whenever needed, solved problems and coordinated all the involved parties in the best possible way.
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