Pacwest 2014 Official Review

REVIEW

PAPTAC

2014

PACWEST CONFERENCE A PACIFIC COAST & WESTERN BRANCHES CONFERENCE

''MOVING UP HILL'' ''MOVING UP THE THE HILL'' ‘’FROM SUN PEAKS TO SNOW-CAPPED PEAKS….’’

Participants kicked off the event with the Tradeshow and Welcoming Reception in conference the Main Hall.

They great ThePACWEST PACWEST technical conference not aenjoyed new event for 1255 meters. This is the altitude at the base of the village of The technical is is not a new event for the 1255 meters.

This the is the altitude of at the the majestic base of the village of company, hors d’oeuvres, and drinks alongside exciting Nestled against backdrop Rockies and the pulp and paper industry. midPAPTAC’s 60’s, PAPTAC’s Sun Peaks. It’s almost at the top of the world that attendees gathered pulp forand the 2013 paper edition industry. of Since the Since the midthe 60’s, Pacific Sun It’s almost at the Beauvert top of the the world that attendees conversation while the PACWEST Executive Committee, thePeaks. shores Fairmont Jasper Pacific& Coast & Western Branches and Waiting Room #6 of gathering for of thispristine week’sLacedition of the 2013 PACWEST Coast Western Branches and Waiting Room #6 of the Intergathered for the had 2013the edition of the PACWEST Conference. their partners, and guests gathered for a formal dinner and Park Lodge opportunity to welcome back the the Inter-national Brotherhood of Peddlers Migratory(IBMP) Peddlers (IBMP) Conference. national Brotherhood of Migratory contribute cocktails.

PACWEST conference. As since the mid-60’s, the confercontribute to the organization of the event. Throughout to the organization of the event.

Throughout the years,the it After a night of mountainous thunderstorms, it is a sunny start After a night of mountainous thunderstorms, it is and a sunny start ence is organized

by PAPTAC’s Pacific Coast Western years, itan remains anmeans excellent means with to network with conferpeers. remains excellent to network peers. The to the week in this European-style village, one of British Colomto Branches the weekand in this European-style village, one of British the IBMP (International Brotherhood of MiThe is confer-ence is also to anfurther occasion to further development professional ence also an occasion professional bia’s largest ski resort and, apparently, an excellent place for Colombia’s largest ski resort and, apparently, an excellent gratory Peddlers). ‘’POSITIVE BEYOND BEAUVERT’’ development while new learning about LAKE new and while learningOUTLOOK about technologies andtechnologies processes.

Only golfers and hikers in the summer. Before this is tested at the place for golfers and hikers in the summer. We will see that processes.

Only priorofto conference the openingand of conference today, prior to thetoday, opening the trade and fair, Shotgun Golf Tournament on Saturday, the week will be later in the week.

Before is tested at the Shotgun Golf Attendees arrived even this as some 20 exhibitors set up their Conference Chair, Brian to Grantham, West Fraser-Hinton the trade fair, participants will converge to industry meetings participants will converge industry meetings while others dedicated to the sharing of experience between technology Tournament Saturday, following will be booths to on display their the products anddays services to dedicated their tarPulp short introduction on PACWEST’s 2014 conwhilegave others attend short courses. attend shortacourses. developers, suppliers and industry leaders in the pulp and to geted the sharing of experience between technology consumer demographic.

As one exhibitordevelopers, put it “this ference theme “Improving Mill Results - Keys to Success”. paper industry. suppliers and offers industry leaders infor theyielded pulp and paper industry. tradeshow opportunity results!”

He reminded participants that PACWEST is celebrating its ''NOVELTYyear AT with THEaTRADE Under the title of "Improving Performance through Optimififty-second programFAIR'' recognized for the quality Under the title of "Improving Performance through Optimiza''NOVELTY AT THE TRADE FAIR'' Throughout the three-day event, delegates could expect to za-tion & Reliability”, the three days conference held at the and relevance of its contributions to the industry.

“This in proThe PACWEST Conference Trade Fair was held the tion & Reliability”, the three days conference held at the Delta takeSun in the Awards Roundtables Short coursDelta Peaks HotelDinner, addressed a range ofand topics including: gram certainly stood the test of time.” pre-function area of the Delta Sun Peaks at the centre of it all.

The PACWEST Conference Trade Fair is held in the Sun Peaks Hotel will address a range of topics including: es, a fully opportunities integrated tradeshow, two fullperformance days of inbioproducts for the and industry, The fair was opened from the Wednesday and occupied the pre-function area of the Delta Sun Peaks at the centre of it all. bioproducts opportunities for the industry, performance dustry-leading technical sessions and networking improvement through optimization and reliability, kraftopportupulping, The PACWEST Technical areafair at was the centre ofatthe until A The opened 15hconference and will beactivities occupying theFriday. area at improvement through optimization and reliability, kraft pulping, nities.optimization, With its primary focus onimprovements, “Improving Mill Results”, energy environmental mechanical Conference unites techdozen booths displayed various services and products includthe centre of the conference activities until Friday 15h.

A dozen energy optimization, environmental improvements, mechanical the conference offers the opportunity for western industry pulping and bioenergy. nology developers, repreing specialty chemical service, electrostatic precipitators and booths are displaying various services and products including pulping and bioenergy. members to come together and discuss pressing issues sentatives of the pulp and electrostatic precipitators and process control applications. specialty chemical service, and hot topics with that particular emphasis. paper industry and the process control applications.

Representatives of related Metso Automation, one of the exhibitors, many suppliers of presented and their equipment work throughout the week in particular at Representatives of Metso Automation, oneand of the exhibitors, materials thepresent “New Technologies” sessionthe (Technical 2C on will their work throughout week andSession in particular at (many golf enthusiasts, Thursday, June 13thnumfrom 4:30 (Technical to 5:30). James Goldman the “New an Technologies” session Session 2C on perhaps equal presented the 13th “Metso Analyzer” and Kari Thursday, June from to 5:30). James Goldman will ber of hockey fans).

It Metra is4:30 Recovery BrianOn Grantham, Lam-pela Metso Fiber Image Analyzer. the present thethe Metra Analyzer” andteam, Kari Chris Lamimportant to“Metso “get the bestRecovery Fraser-Hinton Pulp McAMcA-narney, fromAnalyzer.

Atlanta,West Georgia, explained how pela the from Metsoworking Fiber Image On the team, Chris value these conferone ofworking Metso’s measures KPI to how set one initial narney, fromproduct Atlanta, Georgia, explains of ences” said Grantham.

“Whether you are a mill manager performance benchmarks an entire is a Metso’s product measuresfor KPI todirectly setplant. initial or any other professional working in PlantTriage theperformance pulp and software thatfor provides control business solutions benchmarks entire plant.performance PlantTriage is a software that paper sector”.

Itan is in this spirit that the committee prepared in the ofperformance online monitoring.

Chris McAnarney also provides control business solutions in the form of the Mayform gathering, and this, since 1962. presented a technical on an will associated subject at the online monitoring.

Chrispaper McAnarney also present a techniProcess Control Session Friday morning cal paper on an Technical associated subject atofthe Process(Session Control The Conference chair made a point underlying PAP3A): “Methods toanniversary Improve Control Performance in Pulp & Technical Session Friday morning (Session “Methods TAC’s hundredth and alluded to 3A): “a 100 years ofto Paper”.

For Frank Varhelyi, the highlight of the Finnish Improve Control Performance in Pulp & Paper”.

For Frank knowledge connections”. The 2015 edition of PaperWeek companythe“show” is ofthe Moisture Analyser.

Varhelyi, highlight theMetso FinnishMR company “show” is the With the collaboration of :

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will build on these connections with a focus on operations optimization and product performance (PaperWeek 2015 from 2 to 5 February at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal).

Grantham expressed gratitude to all sponsors and partners for their generous contributions and support and acknowledged the work of the PACWEST team. He also acknowledged all of the session chairs. “Their voluntary work is invaluable”.

Keeping a Good Paper Trail “There is a promising future for Canada’s forest products industry.” Program Chair, Stew Gibson, Catalyst Paper, took the floor and also welcomed participants to this week’s kick off session. This promising future is in sight, but after a few difficult years, when the industry had to reinvent itself, Gibson believes it is the right time to implement appropriate transformational strategies. He highlighted the speakers contribution in that regard. Proven management practices, insight into public policies and programs and reflections on emerging products from wood fibre were all on the menu. In this context, the role of new technologies is enormous and while facing associated challenges we should certainly keep a good paper trail to make sure we don’t forget the good moves of the past.

Stew Gibson, Catalyst Paper Gibson also added that PACWEST can serve as a window to university-based activities and underlines one of this year’s novelty: the UBC Student Presentations session. “Linking research and innovation to mill manager’s daily challenges can certainly contribute to FPAC’s ambitious ‘Vision 2020’ goals.”

To successfully compete in a globalized market for wood and paper products, companies will need to count on teams more than brands, on people skills more than hard assets.

These are some of the conclusions stemming from the morning session that followed these introductory remarks.

Is this what Stew Gibson was thinking about while looking across the room at the snow-capped peaks above Lake Beauvert? Jasper National Park’s history, like that of the industry is rich with tales of adventure and exploration. While we discuss bottom-line results, fluid dynamics or electrostatic precipitators, our ancestors stood here wondering what the best route was to the West Coast. They needed canoes, grizzly management strategies and bushcraft KPIs but mostly, they needed fellow voyageurs that shared a same ambition.

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‘’HUMAN CAPITAL: A SOFT ASSET WITH SOLID RETURNS’’ Conference Chair, Brian Grantham, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp and Program Chair, Stew Gibson, Catalyst Paper act ed as moderators to the conference’s first session. They introduced this morning’s speakers; all “leading industry managers, consultants and analysts”.

Ted Bell, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was the day’s first speaker. He explored the theme of mill results improvement in the context of global mega trends.

Bell’s impressive bio includes a career spanning many years in the pulp Ted Bell and paper industry. In Ted PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Bell’s view the Canadian forest, paper and packaging industry is still facing important pressures despite being in a better position today than it was only two years ago. After an overview of technological change through time with a focus on the last ten years, Bell concluded, “technology is an enabler of social and behavioral change which in turn suggests that brands and products can be created (and destroyed) rapidly”. Bell shared a market research reading that concludes “young people aged 14-24 are already seeing the iPhone as a brand that is connected to the older generation”. This can only “ring a tone” (or “a bell” depending on how old you are) to pulp and paper industry representatives. New technologies have indeed been credited for having a direct effect on the reduction in paper demand. Five “megatrends” are then described: 1) technological change (does it ring a bell?); 2) accelerating urbanization (behavioral change is influenced by where people live); 3) shift in global economic power (the East accumulating wealth); 4) demographic changes (aging populations in Europe and on this side of the Atlantic); 5) climate change and resources scarcity (increased demand for sustainable supply chains anticipated). What do these trends involve for the transformative industry?

Bell cited interesting data from a PWC survey of CEOs who believe important to update strategies for investments in technology and concluded that FPAC’s vision 2020 is aligned with most of the megatrends described. For the forest industry, this involves a shift from hardware to software for example. It also involves changes in the way we think about production. Just in time and production adapted to local needs may soon become more and more noticeable.

In a presentation entitled “A Balanced Approach to Improving Mill Results”, Brian Baarda, CFO, Catalyst Paper presented some elements that are key to success and that include operational excellence on issues such as health and

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safety, productivity improvements and cost reduction strategies. He believes that what it takes is to “develop a strong team”. Getting employees involved means “setting goals that must be way up here” and the implementation of a culture of accountability. Yes, this is Brian Baarda, Catalyst Paper easier said than done but nobody said hard work wasn’t easy!

Gerry Murray, Vice President of Mills, Atlantic Packaging discussed the steps towards improvement in mill results by focusing on Atlantic Packaging’s experience. Planned reliability is the key concept he explores. Gerry Murray presented the case of Atlantic Packaging. “We had a maintenance wake up call he says, more than an operational issue we had to review maintenance processes.” This happened sometime in 2013 following a mechanical failure. It provoked a change in specs quality corresponding to a period of poor operation that affected reliability of manuGerry Murray, Atlantic Packaging facturing to schedule. A strategic plan was instigated following customer dissatisfaction with delays and commitments to supply in the timeframe.

The company was reminded that reliability and predictability are paramount over the desire for increased production.

Murray explained that this also came as the Whitby operation was coming on line and needed to get organized (upgrading of the mill, three years after closing the same facility “due to a decline in newsprint demand”). A strategic plan resulted from this multifaceted situation in February 2013.

His team had two options: contracting maintenance work or growing the capability in house. They chose the latter.

Rick Heyland, Executive VP, RLG International Project Excellence proposed dollars in savings for companies. “Great news for companies bottom-line results!” Tempting? His consultancy describes itself as an “organization of performance Rick Heyland, improvement specialists”.

RLG International Project Excellence For Heyland, “projects under budget are the exception, not the rule.” He listed a

dozen factors contributing to poor project performance before presenting one of the consultancy’s most interesting service that is applicable to Canada’s forest products industry: “Project Excellence” or “Px”. RLG describes Px as a model for the “delivery of planning, optimization and execution for capital projects”.

For Rick Heyland, planning is not done with enough seriousness, especially across departments. And planning is not just something that must be done on a spreadsheet. He used a catchy slogan to illustrate the importance of the human factor in planning. Catchy, the slogan resonated with participants: “none of us is as smart as all of us”. Essentially, teamwork is key but so is the intervention of a third party, and group that can intervene to propose an objective assessment of processes in place. Getting schedule to minimum required standard is usually well-planned and planned at least one month prior to an optimization session.

This can help but must be accompanied by flexibility and responsiveness. Quoting Mike Tyson, a boxer, he stressed the need to look ahead… daily: “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face.” Added work is disruptive says Heyland. It “reduces efficiency to those planning and executing the turnaround and impacts overall turnaround and performance results.”

The next presentation concerned human capital management - not a usual talk for an engineering consultant said Darby Kreitz, CEO, Allnorth Consultants who believes “we don’t spend enough time on human capital”. Just as it is the case with physical means of production such as digesters,

Darby Kreitz, Allnorth Consultants boiler, steel drums or whole paper mills, a company can invest in human capital and obtain ROI. “Human capital theory suggests education and training raises the productivity of workers by imparting useful knowledge and skills.” People are a critical input in business success. People drive markets, products, buildings and processes.

Improve your entire pulping operation from wood to sheet.

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Yet, human capital does not show in balance sheets. How can we change this asked Darby Kreitz? The consultant proposed a series of ideas to align leadership principles to systems and practices. One is the “commitment to giving people the opportunity to learn and grow.” During PACWEST 2013, another consultant, Christer Idhammar (IDCON) also explained how high results are achieved when work processes “revolve on craft skills”. Kreitz presented his views in the framework of McKinsey’s 7S Model: seven interdependent business strategic elements which are categorized as either “hard”: strategy, structure, systems or “soft”: shared values, skills, style, staff.

To this list of “7S’s” Larry Stefan, President, Stefan, Fraser & Associates, could add an eight one: subconscious - the sum of mental processes we are not fully aware of. Increasing Mill Performance Through Effective Employee Selection.”

Stefan, a corporate and organizational psychologist, delivered a presentation entitled: “Increasing Mill Performance Through Effective Employee Selection.” His bio note certainly makes you wonder how he survived such an extensive professional career with this communicative positivity: he personally assessed over 20,000 managers!

Identifying an organization’s human resource assets and needs may be the perfect addition to an investment strategy in human capital (see above), the consultant explained how identifying effective human resources enables Larry Stefan, pulp and paper companies Stefan, Fraser & Associates to increase their performance.

‘’TO SHOW…OR NOT TOSHOW? - TO SHOW! THE PACWEST TRADE FAIR’’ The PACWEST Trade Fair has become synonymous with the opportunity to build sales, showcase your company’s products and ideas, as well as learn something new. The event draws regional industry personnel that suppliers want to meet.

Tim Jarvis, ERCO Worldwide, was responsible for the coordination of the Trade Fair this edition and was Tim Jarvis “very pleased at the way it came together. Jasper is a great venue for the space required for such a showcase and am extremely pleased with the number of exhibitors we attracted.”

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Tim further expressed satisfaction at being able to include an Exhibitor Presentations Session this year that allowed exhibitors who wished to do so the chance to present a short fully commercial-oriented presentation. With it being new, the response wasn’t as high as expected, that said, it is with confidence that Tim and the rest of the Pacwest organizing team look to expand this in future years.

FitNir and AirStream embraced the opportunity. Ms. Cheryl Sewell of FitNir presented their “Measurement for SVP-HP CIO2 Generator” – a testing that validates chlorine dioxide generation calibration model for the SVP-HP process, and David Roberts of AirStream their “High Efficiency Boiler and Kiln Fan Upgrades”.

In speaking with other exhibitors around the room, most were pleased at the chance they had to attract new customers as well as reconnect with existing ones. Every exhibitors’ wish is to increase their exposure, capitalize their investment, and ultimately obtain Cheryl Sewell orders. Mr. Chris Shelley (Metso Expertune, Tuscaloosa), a first time attendee at PACWEST, felt these objectives were met for him and looks forward enthusiastically to returning in future years.

The same was true for a few others, and the majority were pleased with their presence here. As one exhibitor put it: “ There is a place for all the virtual technology of today but at some point , you have to meet clients in person, shake their hands, look FitNir Analyzers them in the eye, and share stories face-to-face!”

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‘’RELATIONSHIP BUILDING’’ On this first day of the PACWEST Conference, the coverage team met Robert Dufresne, Vice-President, Pulp and Paper Operations, Resolute Forest Products. PAPTAC Councilor.

Robert Dufresne has the overall responsibility of five mills operations in Canada and in the United-States (St-Félicien and Fort Francis, Canada, Coosa Pines, Fairmont and Menominee, USA). Before his vice-presidency, he was in charge of a mill in St-Félicien, Quebec. He worked there as general manager for one year but had arrived in the Resolute team with an extensive mill operations experience. In St-Félicien he had the overall responsibility of the operation of a one-line kraft pulp mill (1020 tpd) and of the management of about 230 employees.

You are now Vice-President, Pulp and Paper Operations at Resolute but what does the mill manager in you take back home from an event like the PACWEST Conference?

Historically, PACWEST was always a well-attended event and gathered a large number of mill representatives. In comparison to other conferences of the circuit, PACWEST offers a very hands-on and practical perspective on issues mill managers have to deal with on a regular basis.

The conference allows me to liaise with colleagues and this is a rare opportunity in our business where there is so much to do. In dedicated parallel sessions for mill managers, we discuss approaches to solving common challenges.

This year, we had discussions on health and safety best practices, shutdown practices as well as on recruitment strategies. Meeting with experienced colleagues allows the development of concrete approaches to problem solving. A lot to take home!

Apart from the networking, what stands out from PACWEST conferences?

PACWEST is known for the quality of the technical papers presented. Most are a very good blend between research and industrial applications. It is also very easy to discuss the papers with their authors since the conference’s program is not too charged with sessions. Less people on the site also mean more opportunities for in-depth professional exchange. PACWEST is also recognized for the quality of its trade fair. The suppliers of materials and equipment are accessible and always have interesting technologies at hand.

Do you see a need to have a pulping forum that could be similar (even if on a smaller scale) in the east?

Robert Dufresne With regard to organizing a similar event in the east, I believe it would be difficult to replicate PACWEST on the East Coast. We have very little kraft mills in operation and they are quite distant from each other in comparison to those in Alberta and British Columbia. Also, production in the east is more diversified than here. As such, I am not sure about the relevance of a similar event in the East.

PaperWeek offers a similar podium for exchanges and is also recognized for the quality of its trade fair. The two conferences are very different but touch upon different topics.

I don’t think two large pulp and paper events are too much in one year. PaperWeek and PACWEST complement each other very well.

With the 100th Anniversary of PAPTAC in 2015, what is your take on the current state of the industry and its most important needs if we consider the recent successes of regional conferences such as PACWEST and the Atlantic Branch?

There is more stability in today’s industry than there were just a few years back. Companies are more disciplined.

Flooding the markets is thus much less likely. We also have a much better understanding of the global economic situation and our employees are more sensitized to what this represents for companies. This allows us to look to the future with more confidence.

Workforce renewal will be one of our biggest challenges over the next couple of years and this was widely discussed this week. It is a growing need and a key priority in the forest products industry. We also need to market ourselves differently to attract young talents in fields such as mechanics, engineering, equipment operations or mill management! We have to attract the best. The presentation on human capital this morning was especially interesting in that regard. Lasting strategies to improve recruitment and retention concerns high-level management as much

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as HR teams.

Networking remains essential to maintain our competitiveness and each Canadian plant should collaborate to meet global competition. I believe that on this level, PAPTAC is a key player. It offers ideal podiums to help and catalyze cooperation between industry people.

‘’NEW AVENUES FOR CANADA’S OLDEST PULPING PROCESS’’ While Session 2B on Kraft Pulping and Energy was being held, Session 2A on “Mechanical Pulping and Papermaking” presented six papers under the chairmanship of Dan Davies, Evonik Canada.

Davies, an industrial chemist by training, Dan Davies, Evonik Canada introduced the presenters and their contributions to PACWEST 2014. The session allowed participants to obtain first-hand knowledge on recent experiences and advances in the fields of mechanical pulping and papermaking.

Brian O’Connor, FPInnovations gave an interesting talk centered on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), an ISO methodology for quantifying environmental impacts of a product or process. LCA is certainly an area of concern to the pulp and paper industry. It concerns the development of new products, receiving waters management, effluent treatment or energy and resource recovery from solid residues. The specific issue of Brian O’Connor’s presentation today was the quantifying of environmental benefits resulting from capital investments at a BCTMP Mill.

Doug Sweet, P.E., Doug Sweet & Associates presented a paper entitled “The Vacuum System Survey – Its Contribution to Papermaking”. An often-misunderstood industrial system is the vacuum system says Doug Sweet. Yet, a better understanding of this subsystem will allow mill managers to take action for continuous improvement efforts. Among other benefits from vacuum system surveys, we note: lower operating horsepower and reduced vacuum pump maintenance. The audience knows how much papermaking consists of many such interrelated subsystems (drying, pressing, forming, wet and chemistry or stock cleaning). The Alabama based consultant explains why the vacuum system suffers from this misunderstanding and why problems with the vacuum system operation impact sheet dewatering and paper machine performance. “Vacuum surveys require

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much more than calculating vacuum factors for each vacuum element. Every survey will acquire its own objectives and outcomes, as well as focusing on problems uncovered during the survey process. » Jean-François Hamelin, Process Optimization EngiDoug Sweet, neer, Metso Automation, presP.E., Doug Sweet & Associates ents “Benefits of Implementing a Paper Brightness Control System in a 2-machine Newsprint Mill”. Manipulation of chemicals for manual bleaching can be difficult in the context of target changes. Bleaching specialists being perfectionists, over bleaching happens too often. This becomes even more challenging in mills with more than one paper machine. Hamelin discusses the case of a mill with two paper machines that tried to maintain two different targets “using common bleach addition points”. In the case of the described mill, a control application was designed to use « manipulated variables in a multi-variable predictive control (MPC) strategy ». This allows brightness targets to be maintained on different machines and to minimize bleaching agents use thus reducing the environmental footprint of the process. Hamelin describes the next steps in research as finding the best way to « bring targets directly from the production schedule into the MPC controller ». This should ensure that brightening is minimized during grade transitions.

Other presentations from this afternoon’s session include: “Key Softwood Fibre Attributes for Tissue Making.” Ho Fan Jang, FPInnovations.

“Finding the Not-So Obvious.” Chris Shelley, Controls Engineer, PE, and Business Development Manager, Metso, ExpertTune

‘’COMMITMENT TO PROCESS CONTROL’’ While a panel discussion was taking place on the transfer of knowledge and its applications to the pulp and paper industry (Session 3B with moderator Pam Woyciehouski, Canfor CPL PGI), participants gathered next door for a parallel session on process control headed by Session Chair, for a second year, Francesca Apruzzese of West Frazer in Hinton, Alberta. “This track at PACWEST features some of the industry’s best practices and case studies on process control” she says.

Process control advancements are always of interest to paper manufacturing managers. Automation results from

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process control but well trained operating personnel are necessary to operate what can sometimes be complex processes. Mastering knowledge around this issue is essential to remain competitive and profitable. Operating our equipment to the absolute highest efficiency possible requires this engineering discipline to evolve along technological and scientific advancements and the presenters discussed means to maintaining outputs and different processes within desired range. Algorithms, mechanisms and different systems infrastructure all allow a consistent product output necessary to answer the ever-going Francesca Apruzzese challenge of reliability.

Constraints and bottlenecks need to be removed as much as possible in production while maintaining a steady operational flow.

The first presenter is Gary Caswick in replacement of David Eapen, Metso Automation. His paper on the automation of steam network control and optimization first highlights the fact that the majority of steam generated in a typical pulp and paper mill is to support “process”. In a normal scenario, “steam produced is delivered through a network at different pressures to the various steam consumers”. Gary Caswick explains that mills expect steam network controls at a regular quality and availability while maintaining overall energy efficiency but that “consumption or production disturbances can be sudden and large in magnitude and this with very little warning”. As such, traditional steam network controls lack in efficiency and this is where Metso’s “Advanced Process Controls” offers an answer to optimize steam production. Caswick presents results from three projects - two in Finland and one in Brazil. Other Metso papers presented in this session are: • “Proper use of Lab, In-Line and On-Line Measurements for Fiberline Monitoring and Control”. James Goldman, Metso Automation.

• “Fiberline pH Measurement and Controls” Kari Lampela, Metso.

• “Bleach Plant Control Optimization using InLine Brightness and Residual Measurements along with On-Line Kappa Measurements”. James Goldman, Metso Automation.

Simon Ulenberg, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp and Devin Marshman, Spartan Controls present a paper entitled “Fully Coordinated Pulp Machine MD Controls using MPC”. After an introduction to Model Predictive Control (MPC), an effective means to deal with multivariable constrained control problems that can be traced back to the 1960s, the speakers described how Hinton Pulp implemented a novel approach to Pulp

Machine MD controls using MPC. In doing so, “process constraints and regulatory control limitations are accounted for by controlling the multivariable pulp machine process using a multivariable control Simon Ulenberg and Devin Marshman method, and deadtime compensation is addressed by the predictive nature of control algorithm”. Simon Ulenberg and Devin Marshman present a preliminary comparison of performance before and after MPC implementation. They observe that the project shoehorned into migration path and schedule, that there was an increased ability to maintain and change MD controls and that machine performance has shown overall improvements.

Cristian Gheorge

“Performances and Benefits of Fiber Orientation CD Control” is presented by Cristian Gheorge, Honeywell Process Solutions.

The paper surveys the performances and benefits of a multivariable model predictive

controller for cross directional fiber orientation processes.

Results are positive as this control process effectively eliminated troubles with sheet flatness uniformity originating from board machines. The Fiber Orientation CD Control provides simultaneous optimization of “top and bottom layer fiber orientation profiles together with a derived proxy for twist”. Managers present in the room this morning realize that help and expertise abound in the field of industrial control systems. That through this complexity, there is beauty in gathering and transmitting data that is obtained during manufacturing processes.

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‘’NEW IDEAS COME WHEN YOU LOOK AT THINGS DIFFERENTLY’’

theme of this week’s discussion. It was especially the case during the Conference Forum on Thursday.

On the final day of the Conference, the PACWEST coverage team met Gerry Murray, Vice-President, Mills, Atlantic Packaging. PAPTAC Councilor.

What would you say are common preoccupations from mill managers across the table?

Gerry Murray resides in Toronto and has been involved in the pulp and paper industry for almost 40 years. An electrical engineer by training, he had a multifaceted career. He was a paper machine superintendent, a production manager as well as a mill manager. Today, he is Vice-President, Mills of Atlantic Packaging.

Reflecting on his experience at the conference, he explains, that year after year, he travels west to attend this event for the chance “to meet with Gerry Murray mill executives faced with challenges of common interest - all with very practical repercussions on production”. This was especially important for him this year as Atlantic Packaging recently upgraded its Whitby mill in Ontario to produce high-performance corrugated and lightweight packaging products.

What are some of the most valuable elements that you got from this week’s discussions?

Some of the regional perspectives on issues of common concerns that I gathered from my week here shed a new light on challenges we face in Ontario. The realities are different in the East.

The Mill Managers and Senior Executives meeting held on the first day is certainly one of the highlights in my perspective. Being able to discuss freely (this is a closed meeting) about different industry strategies allows us to learn a lot in a very short period of time. A good ROI! Exchanges held this week will enhance my company’s industrial practices in many subtle but certain ways.

Health and safety discussions are probably one of the biggest take away from this week one-on-one talks. On another note, discussions on effective relationship building with labor unions can certainly better the working environment in our facilities and I had a couple of good discussions on this as well. This is not new of course but through discussion we learn about best practices to enhance our relationships with employees and communities. The human factor, some framed it as “human capital”, is certainly a recurrent

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We talked about things that have affected mill productivity over the past few months. There is nothing that attracted my attention specifically but I notice a great interest on people and skills management. Recruitment and training are two other concerns we are all faced with in the context of the industry’s workforce renewal. A great challenge from coast to coast! Still, in this region of Canada, competition with the oil and gas industry was highlighted. This is something we may very well be facing in Ontario and the East in the years to come. Skilled workers are very mobile.

Any solutions you can bring back home to share with your co-workers?

Plenty! Let me just focus on one example. Through discussions we had at the beginning of the week, I realized that a colleague from a western-Canada mill recently installed a piece of equipment that we are thinking of installing back home in Ontario. I am now convinced that we should move ahead. I made a personal contact that will allow us to ease the transition process and I can now benchmark the idea against an existing one. This illustrates how the PACWEST Conference keeps us up to date with new technologies, market trends and techniques. There is indeed plenty useful information we can all bring back to our companies.

There was an international flavor to the meeting this year. Did this appeal to you?

An outside perspective is great. It provides different views on common challenges. Some solutions can be applied in our own context; others simply cannot because of different social systems, demographics or economies. A participant from New Zealand explained how his company changed human resources practices in relation to the average age of the employees – 62. This involves various changes in a mill’s culture. We can think of safety issues, crewing in the context of increased absences, pension plans, etc.

PACWEST 2014 gave me the opportunity to meet experts and professionals from different parts of the world but again, I believe one doesn’t always have to go very far to learn! The western-Canada perspective on the industry is already a huge plus for an Ontarian like me!

With the 100th Anniversary of PAPTAC in 2015, what is your take on the current state of the industry and its most important needs if we consider the recent successes of regional conferences such as PACWEST and

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the Atlantic Branch?

‘’LEARNING A LIVING… FOOD FOR THOUGHT’’

The PAPTAC meeting used to be the industry’s main social event. It was and still is a huge industry gathering but the dynamics have changed since the economic slowdown. Today, the industry is becoming more and more focused on the organization of events, which deliver directly relevant take-home elements. If we take the examples of PACWEST or PaperWeek, we observe a trend towards programs filled with social and networking events but also programs from which you can learn on new technology, scientific applications or management ideas that can be implemented right away. They allow companies to stay up to date in areas of relevance to their daily operations.

PACWEST participants took a break from the event’s program and gathered for the Business Luncheon, featuring guest speaker Jim Bottomley. After a great Indian-based lunch of butter chicken, Jim, Futurist and Management Consultant, launched right into his message about charting a path for the future to this gathering of pulp and paper delegates.

In this context, I believe paper companies should send more technical people to build critical mass and, to use the terms of today’s keynote speaker (Jim Bottomley), to create innovation clusters. One must remember that the pulp and paper industry is a player in the high tech economy and high tech involves collaborative work and open minds. As such, PAPTAC should continue to play an important role.

To me, the association is all about technical leadership and should keep this focus in the years to come.

‘’5K FUN RUN/WALK’’ Below constant grey skies of the week, especially in the early morning hours, which nonetheless create spectacular picture-postcard settings, some 30 participants gathered at the Clubhouse in the morning to set off on the 5K Fun Run/Walk through the extensive trail system of the Jasper Park Lodge before the technical program got underway for the day.

One of the hotel blurbs reads that “the grandeur of Jasper does more than simply take your breath away; it inspires you to slow your pace, to breath deeply and reflect” – and while “slowing one’s pace” is probably not the idea behind a 5k Run/Walk, the beautiful mountain vistas with their rugged snow-covered peaks touching the low-hanging clouds and the ancient ever-greens stretching along the shore and majestically reflecting in the crystal clear waters of Lac Beauvert, are without a doubt breathtaking and inspire reflection, while the teeming wildlife – grizzly bears, elks, mountain goats & sheeps, or wolves -- all of which have a secure home in Jasper National Park – would definitely inspire this walker to “pick up” rather than “slowing” the pace!”

Having spoken to over one-quarter million people about future success strategies, he provided insight into how social, economic, and demographic trends are shaping the years ahead, and made the case that we are entering a whole Jim Bottomley new economy – the Age of Innovation– and that the strategies for future success are changing like never before. “If organizations want to succeed, better benefits should be imbedded into all workplace cultures and processes”, he advised, “as technology advances transform our organizations in an accelerated way. Humans needs should drive planning, not the technology itself, and processes should be guided by need-based goals .” This latter observation echoed what we heard from panelists at the conference’s Opening Forum – that today it’s, or should be, about People! People! People!

With the industry facing it’s current challenge of manpower renewal and retention and running short of having the necessary time to effectively transfer knowledge from the “older” to the “new” generation, Bottomley said it right – everyone will be learning a living!

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‘’ENERGIZING TALKS ON ENERGETIC MILLS’’ A few minutes before the Awards Dinner, the PACWEST 2014 coverage team met Kevan Ross, General Manager, Pulp and Paper at Allnorth Consultants. He reflects on his experience at the conference.

Kevan Ross chaired the Kraft Pulping and Energy - Technical Session on May 29th 2014. “Papers presented in this session were all of a very high quality says Ross”. He believes there are plenty of avenues for the sustainable use of energy in mills today, that it is often just a question of good maintenance.

How do you assess the relevance of a technical session?

We each take back something different from these technical sessions but we Kevan Ross can certainly test the relevance of a session by the corridor discussions that surround the session itself and believe me, we heard a lot of talk on energy and kraft pulping this week.

It was my privilege to chair the session on Kraft Pulping and Energy and to see it so well attended. I am sure participants received value from the excellent papers that were presented and, yes, it was great to see the enthusiastic discussions after the session on issues like steam economy, precipitator sizing and performance, sulphur reductions (a smelly topic!), production rationalization by offering a grade of Northern bleached hardwood kraft, etc.

What are the highlights of the Kraft Pulping and Energy session?

This is a hard question. There was so much information shared yesterday that we must all go back to our offices and look at our notes and at the papers themselves. Depending on our areas of interest, some papers will be more useful than others but I know for a fact that participants go back to papers throughout the year pending on situations we have to deal with very rapidly. We look back at the papers but we also contact their authors. A session like this one is not just about the PowerPoints and the actual papers (all available on the CD provided to participants by PACWEST) – it is about making connections with the authors themselves and with some of the actors involved.

Manufacturing is still a critical part of the Canadian economy. We had to struggle over the last several years and not

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only financially. Mills had to face energy efficiency challenges too – whether this was to save money or to follow corporate social responsibility strategies. This is especially the case in terms of environmental sustainability. Valmet’s presentation for instance centered on energy savings possibilities from a new way to look at evaporators and concentrators – the largest energy users in a kraft pulp mill.

Yet, we learnt that evaporators retrofits represent one of the areas where significant savings in production costs and even in extra revenues can be achieved. This is just one example of how energy reduction strategies can help our sector while leading to a low-carbon economy. The pulp and paper sector is one of the most important industrial energy user on the continent. We know that by using existing technologies we can lower this energy use – and lower our operating costs.

This is not your first experience at PACWEST. Why do you come back year after year and why is Allnorth interested in such events?

The PACWEST conference provides me an excellent venue to network with my clients and I can do this in a pleasant social environment. Allnorth continuously looks for ways to better serve our pulp and paper clients. Our extensive process knowledge in pulp and paper has allowed us to assist clients across North America with strategic planning and I could share some of the most recent examples of that throughout the week. Our team includes engineers with pulp and paper mill operational and maintenance experience, so we understand mill managers goals. Still, an event like this one allows us to understand them even better. This comes from attending technical sessions but also from a good cup of coffee facing the mountains!

One of our specialty services is process and energy integration. We produce process simulations that we calibrate to accurately reflect actual mill performance. These mill simulations provide a valuable tool in determining the results of selected projects before making large capital investments.

If you could just have one take away message from the 2014 edition of PACWEST, what would it be?

Easy and straightforward: the high degree of optimism in the future of our industry. There is certainly a buzz of exciting projects being discussed around mill improvements.

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‘’ROUND AT ROUND WE GO… ROUNDTABLES THAT IS!’’ Both the Energy Reduction in Mechanical Pulping Steering Committee as well as the Mill Managers and Senior Executives held closed-doors roundtables.

As the event drew to a close, Gord Start (Engineering & Technical Manager, West-Fraser Hinton Pulpl) shared his perspective as to what he felt, as the organizer of the Mill Mgrs Rountable, were some of the highlites of the discussions, level Gord Start of participation, and what common preoccupations Mill Managers across the industry share.

Discussions centered on health and safety best practices, shutdowns, and manpower renewal, recruitment, and retention strategies. “There aren’t many common preoccupations per se”, said Mr. Start, “as each company and mill is unique and faces its own successes and heartaches, however there are common challenges.” Planning for “where we’re going”, “how are we going to get there” and “who are we going to get there with” is a shared challenge that crops into many discussions. Another concern are freight costs, which are on the rise, and forces mills to re-evaluate how to deliver products to their customers, while remaining viable and competitive and constantly looking for added-value options.

Being able to bounce around ideas and discuss with peers strategies that lead to possible solutions is in itself an added-value…of being here, which will be taken back home!

Kim Madsen (Xerium), involved with the Energy Steering Committee Roundtable, and attending members, also agreed that roundtable sessions provide a good opportunity to engage in discussion, debate and learning with peers. It’s sort of like a support group of others facing Kim Madsen similar challenges. Sadly, outages and shutdowns forbade some from participating, so attendance was a little low, but valuable nonetheless.

‘’COMMENTS FROM THE EXECUTIVE FLOOR’’ Conference Chair, Brian Grantham, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp I always have two objectives right around this time of year, said Brian: 1) that the Boston Bruins win the Stanley Cup, and 2) that the Montreal Canadiens don’t!

Kidding aside, the Chair’s objective for this 2014 edition of PACWEST was to deliver a good program promoting an exchange of ideas and where delegates, in keeping with the theme, would be able to explore and learn of strategies that will improve mill results thus ensuring the sustainability and competitiveness of the industry. He expressed great satisfaction at the total attendance of 234 and hopes to build on that for future editions.

Program Chair, Stew Gibson, Catalyst Paper In this role, the first question Gibson asked himself was “what makes a program work?”

He determined early on that it was a blend of things -- technical presentations, panel discussions networking, etc. – and the ability to build a program responsive to the conference

theme and addressing important concerns faced by most, like the unprecedentant changes in operations and services and finding a way to manage loss of experience and knowledge transfer. He believes to have achieved his objective and hopes that everyone “learns something and takes it back.”

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Incoming Co-Chair, Eric Berubé, Buckman When asked what he would like to build on for next year’s program, Eric stated that he wanted to inspire himself by one of the things this year’s keynote speaker emphasized repeatedly –need-based goals – and plans to solicit key individuals to help him identify and build a theme and program customized to what the audience wants rather than what we think it wants. New for 2014, he feels the student sessions were a great addition and wants to build on them, along with the short courses, as both were a little lacking in attendance this year.

Furthermore, he wants to continue exploring potential programs he can bring to the event to help with the ever-increasing concern of manpower renewal and transfer of knowledge.

‘’THE NEXT GENERATION’’

to connect to industry and we are finding the platforms to allow us to do so more readily. We look forward to having more practical projects to work on, in cooperation with industry.”

In this time of maximum change, students such as these will help forge the future of our industry.

Abbas Nikbakht

‘’MOVING UP THE MILL: AWARDS DINNER 2014’’ Raising a glass of champagne to all involved in the organization of the event was done diligently at the conference reception that preceded the PACWEST 2014 Awards Dinner.

As the tradition dictates, the final night of the PACWEST Conference allows participants to unwind around a good meal and to exchange final bits of information on mechanical pulping, process control, scheduling or on shotgun golf tournament algorithms.

While students in pulp and paper and engineering programs have participated at PACWEST in the past through poster sessions, this year they were given the opportunity to actually present their technical/research papers to attending delegates.

Ms. Anna Jamroz, Communications Coordinator at UBC, indicated that students were excited to have a forum to promote their research and connect to industry.

They hope industry will in turn be excited in what they have to say, support their work, and provide feedback that will prove mutually benAnna Jamroz eficial. A total of six researcher students from UBC presented their technical papers which focused on the theme of “Improving Mills Results”.

Mr. Abbas Nikbakht, part of the Executive Team of the recently established PAPTAC Student Community which groups students from the major university centers across the country, expressed disappointment that attendance at their session was a little on the low side, but is cognizant that this forum is new to the PACWEST platform and will undoubtedly gain momentum and interest in the years to follow. Nikbakht said “This is a good first step! We want

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Prior to presenting PACWEST Paper Awards, Conference Chair, Brian Grantham, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp thanks the organizing committee along with Program Chair, Stew Gibson, Catalyst Paper. All session chairs are thanked and they present the IBMP Honorary Peddler Award to Lorne Irving.

All of this year’s paper judges are thanked for their hard work and dedication. This year’s judges are: Jennifer Boese, Meredith Illman, Alan Fung and Mark Willson. All judges were thanked for their continued support, time and effort involved in judging all papers presented at PACWEST. Participants are reminded that all abstracts are available online on the PACWEST Conference site and that the full papers can be found in the CD’s handed with participant’s welcome packages.

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The Best Novice Paper Award goes to Jennifer Fowler from West Fraser-Hinton Pulp for a paper entitled “Identification of Key Odour Sources and Abatement Strategies Implemented at Hinton Pulp.”

Jennifer Fowler’s collaborators on the Stew Gibson, Jennifer Fowler, Brian Grantham paper are Gord Start, also from West Fraser-Hinton Pulp as well as Brian O’Connor and Steve Ellis of FPInnovations.

The Best Supplier Paper Award was presented to Jeff Butler from Metso for: “Online Recovery Boiler Reduction Degree - Data Review” (with Risto Ikäheimo, Antti Kokkonen, Metso).

The First Runner-up Award is given to Francesca Apruzzese, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp. The paper presented is: “Reduction of Carryover and Emissions by the Addition of a Directly Connected Pressure Diffuser to the Brown Stock Washing.”

Olaf Starck Canfor Pulp in Northwood received the conference’s highest honor, the H.R. MacMillan “Eagle” Trophy for best paper.

The H.R. MacMillan, annual Memorial Award Stew Gibson, Olaf Starck, Brian Grantham was initiated by the Western and Pacific Coast Branches and is always awarded to a “mill paper”. Olaf Starck’s paper deals with cost-plus contracts common for turnaround and maintenance work and lump sum (stipulated price) contracts. His paper was presented as “Risk Considerations for Construction Contracts”. Olaf Starck reviewed a series of construction contracts at Canfor Pulp and analyzed their respective outcomes “in terms of risk and opportunity considerations that took place or should have taken place”.

Conference Chair Brian Grantham invites Co-Chair CheMan Lee, Kemira from the IBMP Organizing Committee on the podium. Lee thanks sponsors and partners of the Conference and, among others, all mill executives for their active participation in this week’s program.

Che-Man Lee underlines the essential work of PACWEST’s Executive Secretary Ms Mary Barnes and passes the floor to Program Chair, Stew Gibson who reveals an private conversation he had the chance to have with today’s Feature Brian Grantham and Che-Man Lee Luncheon’s Keynote Speaker. The futurist announced the dates of next year’s PACWEST conference to be held in Whistler, British Columbia from 10th to 13th June 2015.

Management consultant and futurist Jim Bottomley is also supposed to have said with confidence that it would be an excellent and very productive event. IBMP’s 1st Vice President Éric Bérubé from Buckman North America presented this year’s attendance numbers. A total of 234 participants attended the conference. “An excellent attendance” says Bérubé who will be Conference Co-Chair in Whistler next year.

On the way to the Awards Dinner the PACWEST Conference coverage Team met the winner of the Best Novice Paper Award 2013: Yu Sun, UBC. The researcher attended the whole conference this week and found the experience as memorable as the one she had last year. “Each year, PACWEST invites paper award laureates to the following edition of the conference she says”. When Yu Sun received her prize in 2013 she was working for the Ligno-cellulosic

Yu Sun Material Research Centre of the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). She is now attached to UBC’s Pulp and Paper Centre as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow where she continue to work in the area of mechanical pulping technology.

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PACWEST Conference 2014 - UBC

The PACWEST Technical Conference symbolizes the interdependence of those who develop technology in the pulp and paper industry and the many suppliers of related materials and equipment. It provides an opportunity to network with peers, industry leaders and technical experts while enhancing professional development. Through the numerous sessions, short courses, roundtable discussions and the popular trade fair, participants learn about new technologies, process improvement and the latest challenges and successes of the industry. This year’s theme was Improving Mill Results – Keys for Success and the Pulp and Paper Centre had a large presence with over 20 delegates attending the events in Jasper, AB. In an inaugural Student Presentation session, six UBC students and researchers presented their technical papers and presentations to a large audience on the morning of May 30th, 2014. Who better to showcase innovative research than the young scholars that will, if not already, elevate technologies and applications in the pulp and paper sector? With 20 minutes to present followed by a Q&A, the session was chaired by Kyle Wells of West Fraser.

Dr. Ruhul Khan, Visiting Scientist was first to present his research in hopes of preventing more than 1.3 billion tonnes/ yr of food produced for human consumption that is currently going to waste. With a focus on the 2nd largest sector in business, that is, the packaging industry with a $500B worldwide market, he took the audience through applications of biodegradable packaging material and the direct effects it can have not only on the industry, but also on disease, food poisoning and increasing shelf life.

Troy Mithrush recently received his Masters in Mechanical Engineering at UBC and presented some cutting edge research. To date, not much is known about what goes on inside the refiner, so the focus of Troy’s research will improve the understanding of fluid flow inside LC refiners. With his work, it is the first time that we are able to quantify and visualize the flow of particles in the refiner and establish at least five common particle behaviours.

Abbas Nikbakht is currently a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering at UBC with interests in pulp suspension flow, rheology of pulp and micro fibres, turbulent drag reduction and producing micro fibres using the LC refiner. His talk focused on the flow characteristics of wood pulp suspensions in a pipe and the various applications of this important work including the Trans-Alaska pipeline and the flow system of fire-hoses.

Mohammad Shanb Ghazani is a Graduate Research Assistant at the Pulp and Paper Centre working on a PhD project to make and analyze a continuous particle fractionator device. His talk reviewed the two industrial methods to fractionate particles and fibers: pressure screen and hydrocylone. However, the continuous device that Mohammad is working on will apply an external force to the particle which is flowing in fluid, and it will then be possible to sort particles based on physical properties.

Yash Sharma joined us from UBC Okanagan and presented a very entertaining talk not only due to the topic, but the various video’s and 3D images of his work. Yash is a MASc candidate in Mechanical Engineering working on imaging and 3D image analysis of NBSK based paper products. In order to study the effect of the LC refining process on the microstructure and strength of paper, he divided his work into two parts: Imaging and 3D modelling. With his novel technique, he is now able to calculate many properties like bulk, paper diversity, length of fibres, coarseness and fibre contact area, to name just a few.

A. Nikbakht, M. Shanb Ghazani, E. Zaman, Kyle Wells (Session Chair), T. Mithrush, Y. Sharma. Not pictured: R. Khan. Photo: Anna Jamroz

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Ehsan Zaman was the session’s final presenter. He is currently a PhD candidate in Mechanical Engineering focusing on CFD modelling of flow field and particle separation in hydrocyclones as well as numerical simulation of dewatering process using the Eulerian-Eulerian approach. His

With the collaboration of :

objectives are to determine the optimal operation and design parameters for separation of vessel elements and to determine if concentrated vessel element fractions are appropriate feed material for NCC production. He is working on developing a CFD model using single phase Newtonian fluid and studies the motion of spherical particles in the solved flow field.

Along with the six presenters, PPC had an additional three researchers showcase their posters throughout the week.

“Surface distribution of fines in paper” by Fatehjit Singh “Effect of Chemical Additives on Z – Direction Filler Distribution in Paper” by Sima Motiee “Prototype Automated Converter for Creating Complex 3D paper folds (origami)” by Ata Sina Prior to the start of the conference, the Energy Reduction in Mechanical Pulping program held its Steering Committee meeting. The program is now in its 8th year with funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) along with a consortium of 16 industrial partners and a collaboration with four universities (UBC, BCIT, UVic and UofT). The program’s goal is to reduce energy and greenhouse gas emissions of one of BC’s largest industries by 50 per cent before 2020. Seven principal investigators provided updates on the current status of their projects that are supported by the program, along with various presentations from the industrial partners and postdoctoral research fellow, Yu Sun, on her PhD work “Specific energy reduction of TMP by interstage Ozone treatment combined with selective refining”. It was a very successful day full of innovative research and ideas that will surely help the program achieve its goal.

‘’HOME FROM THE RANGE’’ The PACWEST coverage team is home from the range, reflecting on the week behind us. PACWEST 2014 hosted a total of 234 delegates: 56 from mills and 178 from suppliers. An additional 14 students and 47 spouses joined in the fun. For three days in late May, Jasper became the forestry innovation capital of the world.

The coverage team asked a few participants to summarize the event in one message. “In just one message?” queried Conference Chair, Brian Grantham, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp. “This is truly a hard task but I can certainly say it went very well, and that the participants’ enthusiasm was over our expectations.” Gord Start, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp, and member of the conference’s executive committee said that the delegation from Hinton (the lucky West Fraser employees work just an hour away from the venue), benefited significantly from the conference. “We not only learnt about the latest trends, but were also informed about technological and market developments in other parts of Canada,” he noted.

Of Mountains, Mills and Men Reflecting on PACWEST 2014’s highlights is not an easy task. It takes participants weeks, if not months to process and integrate all of the knowledge assembled from the

To find out how you can get involved in the program, please contact Professor James Olson at james.olson@ubc.ca

roundtable discussions, paper presentations, keynote addresses, short courses and technical sessions. Moreover, almost as much information is shared informally in the hotel corridors, on an Adirondack chair facing Lake Beauvert, or on a green of Canada’s #1 Resort Golf Course (nothing is too good for maintenance, pulp and paper mill staff!) Year after year, the event is a great opportunity for pulp and paper experts to learn from best practices.

Sima at Pacwest 2014

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The Pacific Coast and Western branches of PAPTAC, and IBMP, a group of industry suppliers, organized PACWEST 2014. This year held an opening in the program for student presentations, called, “UBC Student Presentations,” chaired by Nici Darychuk, from the University of British Columbia. In past years, students were invited to make presentations in poster sessions, but 2014 offered the opportunity to learn from research at the forefront of technological and scientific developments to a larger number of attendees. It also opened the door to participation from younger generations. As Stew Gibson, Program Chair, Catalyst Paper said, “It was fantastic to see the influx of young professionals at the conference.” For him, this reinforces the belief that the industry has a “great future.”

Beyond The Forest Patch Discussions on how to improve performance through optimization of industrial processes were held concomitantly with talks on the transition to a sustainable economy. Ted Bell, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers summarized this well: “(…) Canadian mills are moving to transform their businesses in response to global trends.” These include sociologic, demographic and technological change, as well as shifting global economic power. “Indeed, there are powerful transformations happening around supply chain efficiency and security,” added Bell, “and new products in several areas. For example, Canada is at the forefront of nanocrystalline cellulose technology and is a leader in renewable fuels and solid wood construction, including nine-story wood framed buildings.”

Regardless of the very different backgrounds of participants and speakers alike, perhaps the most remarkable constant during PACWEST 2014 was the level of agreement on issues faced by all: the need to link research to industrial strategies, recognition that enormous improvements have been made at the scale of the industry, the belief that while the industry needs to differentiate itself from competitors and that its ‘green credentials’ could be a potential avenue for this, the message is not getting through, and, finally,

a call for greater attention to the management of precious “human capital.”

There was also consensus around the issue of recruitment and the widely-held belief that after a decade of losing young talent to employment opportunities in the oil fields, this brain drain may be coming to a close. Perhaps instead of the oil fields holding all of the promise, we could start to discuss the potential held in the ‘forest patch’ – though, the likelihood of Canada’s forestry sector holding employment opportunities for younger people on the scale of the oil sands, is relatively low.

The Canadian forest, paper and packaging industry is still facing important pressures, but another lesson from the week’s event is that companies are now attracting investment that leads to product line diversification and upgrades. “This year, I noticed a high degree of optimism for the future of pulp and paper and was impressed by the level of excitement around investment opportunities for projects going forward,” noted Kevan Ross, General Manager, Pulp and Paper at Allnorth Consultants.

This corresponds to what Ted Bell, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers told Paper Advance regarding a survey of 54 global forest industry organizations, “it showed that while forest industry executives are still focused on traditional industry core elements like implementing cost reduction programs, dealing with rising energy costs and fluctuating currency issues, they are also working to transform their business to address the realities of the increased pace of technological change, resource scarcity, and the search for talent in an aging and more mobile global workforce.

Canadian mills are moving in lock step with these trends.”

Participants’ Praise There are two common threads in participants’ feedback on the event, and they underscore the value the PACWEST meetings offer attendees. The opportunity to gain an improved understanding of the industry’s evolution, and the ability to socialize in an environment outside of regular mill operations are considered to be tremendously valuable aspects of the conference.

“I’ve always enjoyed the PACWEST conference for its practicality. Most of the concepts and technologies presented are readily and immediately applicable to help the mills improve their operations.” Brian Grantham, Conference Chair, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp.

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“Another great year for PACWEST with a good mix of technical papers and great panels discussions. Good to see again a great attendance with a good mix of people from the mills and key suppliers.” Robert Dufresne, Vice-President, Pulp and Paper Operations, Resolute Forest Products and PAPTAC Councilor.

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“PACWEST can enhance professional development by growing networking connections with peers and technical experts. So much can be brought back to the mill from the technical sessions including success stories and new technologies.” Che-Man Lee, Conference Co-Chair, Kemira.

PACWEST GOLF TOURNAMENT

“Attending this year’s conference has provided me with tremendous opportunities for learning about new technologies, sharing best practices, and developing good relationships.” Éric Bérubé, IBMP 1st Vice President, Buckman North America.

“Meeting people from other mills provides a great opportunity to share ideas and solutions to common issues.” Simon Ulenberg, West Fraser-Hinton Pulp.

“It is also great to see the resurgence of a more youthful attendance to this conference, which is a sign that the industry is regaining its position as a great place to start a career.” Ted Bell, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers “As a leading provider of engineering services to the pulp and paper industry in Canada, we greatly benefit from our simple presence and participation and this is why we offer our help year after year by contributing however we can.’’

Kevan Ross, General Manager, Pulp and Paper at Allnorth Consultants “The Mill Managers and Senior Executives meeting held on the first day is certainly one of the highlights in my perspective. Being able to discuss freely about different industry strategies allows us to learn a lot in a very short period of time. A good ROI! Exchanges held this week will enhance my company’s industrial practices in many subtle but certain ways.” Gerry Murray, Vice-President, Mills, Atlantic Packaging. PAPTAC Councilor.

Setting the bar high for PACWEST 2015 More than 25 technical papers were presented at the conference, covering mechanical pulping and papermaking, kraft pulping and energy, process control, transfer of knowledge, asset reliability and optimization. Topics of bioenergy and bioproducts were also discussed through these sessions, and were described by the organizers as “a unique first-hand opportunity to explore strategies and opportunities in the future bio-economy.” This topic could have warranted its very own conference!

“Management consultant and futurist Jim Bottomley predicted that the next edition of PACWEST will be an excellent and very productive event,” joked next year’s Conference Chair, Stew Gibson from Catalyst Paper. PACWEST 2015 will be held in the resort town of Whistler, British Columbia from June 10-13, 2015. From Vancouver, via the “Sea-toSky highway,” the drive is an approximate two hours long.

For those wondering, the climate is not quite coastal, not quite interior – a perfect setting for PACWEST.

Canada is known around the world for hockey and maple syrup; but did you know that we’re a popular summer golf destination also? From coast to coast, Canada is home to some of the nicest golf courses around and the Jasper Park Lodge’s Golf Course, designed by master golf course architect Stanley Thompson, is one of the finest. It hugs snowcapped mountains, meanders past glacial-fed lakes and through a wildlife corridor featuring elk, caribou, bears and wolves. It boasts elevated tees and the holes are aligned in such a way to show off the magnificent mountain views.

It is here that PacWest 2014 officially came to a close with its traditional Golf Tournament, which is such an integral component of the conference. Attendees who signed up for the tournament capped off the event by playing the 18hole Rocky Mountain course and enjoying a farewell BBQ afterwards.

The winners were: Mill Low Gross – Brain Grantham (94) Mill Low Net– Al Ward (71) Supplier Low Gross – Kim Madsen (74) Supplier Low Net – Eric Bérubé (71) Ladies low Gross – Shannon Rolin (100) Ladies Low Net – Kelly Parfitt (77) Unfortunately no one won the IBMP sponsored, $20,000 hole in one prize on the 12th hole.

Thanks to everyone who came out and had a great time!

Everyone is reminded and invited to come join us next year on the equally beautiful Chateau Whistler course.

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