Increasing performance through technical improvements.

Portucel Soporcel Group of Portugal shows how a company can achieve higher output with existing machinery.

A common way to achieve higher production output and reduce maintenance work is to invest in new equipment. However, in some cases upgrading older equipment can be an attractive alternative to achieve similar productivity improvements. The companies of the Korber PaperLink Group have developed such alternatives in the form of Technical Improvement Programs or T.I.P.s. These T.I.P.s offer the opportunity to modernize machinery manufactured by the KPL companies through conversions and retrofits, rather than entire machine replacements.

The Portucel Soporcel Group is an example of a company that took advantage of the T.I.P.s program and raised the total output of their 14-year-old cut-size line by 10% compared to data from 2003. The implementation of the T.I.P.s program as well as other operational and organizational measures taken to increase productivity helped increase production from an average of 106 metric tons/day in 2000 to 143 metric tons/day in 2004.

The Portucel Soporcel Group resulted from the union of Portucel and Soporcel in 2001. It is one of the five largest European producers of uncoated woodfree papers, with production capacity of more than 1 million metric tons of paper and revenues of more than EUR 1 billion (US $1.3 billion). To produce cut-size paper formats, the Group's Setubal plant relies on a cut-size line from E.C.H. Will consisting of a SLK 216.10 10-pocket sheeter installed in 1990 and a 260.11 11-pocket sheeter installed in 1997.

Working with mill management, E.C.H. Will conducted an audit of mill production in 2001 to determine the feasibility of a retrofit to contribute to the goals of higher quality, productivity, efficiency, and safety. This audit included machine inspections, logistics, and staff as well as identifying sources of lost time.

E.C.H. Will analyzed failure numbers and sources, then set up a database of bottlenecks and remedial actions. Some of the problems included unscheduled ream discharge breakdowns and the risk of line stop-page due to obsolete electrical components. E.C.H. Will recommended tuning Setubal's SLK 216.10 sheeter using four E.C.H. Will T.I.P.s and conducting a training module for operators and maintenance staff.

TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS

The first T.I.P.s action involved replacing the mechanical cam head on the overlapping shaft with an electronic cam head. This improvement saved production time and improved accuracy by allowing programmable adjustments to the reject gate and separating fingers. The modification of grippers with direct pneumatic control (the second technical improvement implemented), increased operational reliability and helped achieve higher production. The third technical improvement specified replacement of the Contraves drive system for ream discharge with new AC AMK servo drives, enabling an optimized ramping speed. Fourth, the mechanical gripper carriage drive was modified with the addition of a maintenance-free AMK servo drive motor.

E.C.H. Will also developed a training program for the Setubal plant operators and technical maintenance staff. Course content included guidelines for the day-to-day operation of the sheeter, starting with the unwind stand, followed by the slitter/cutter section and finishing with the collating unit.

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As a result, staff members can identify problems such as bottlenecks and resolve them quickly and effectively. Maintenance stops are shorter and equipment availability and worker productivity have both increased.

The combination of training and technical improvements has led to higher production. In 2001, before the SLK 216.10 was tuned, the average output per day was 110 metric tons. In August 2004, shortly after the T.I.P.s and new training procedures were implemented, the line's average yearly output was 143 metric tons/day. Further improvements during the September to December period, such as general overhauls, raised the maximum monthly average to 159 metric tons/day.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Kristian Sumfleth is vice president customer service for E.C.H. Will, a member of the Korber PaperLink Group, Germany. Contact him by email at [e-mail].

Carlos Miguel da Silva Luis is a mechanical engineer with Portucel Soporcel Group, responsible for converting room maintenance at the Setubal Mill.