Oji Paper at a turning point
Good cooperation based on mutual trust is essential in running a paper machine in the most efficient way. Pictured are Akitoshi Matsuzaki (right) of Oji
Paper, together with Metso’s Tomi Honkala and Hiroaki Tagashira.
With a history spanning over 130 years, the Oji Paper Group in Japan has seen both highs and lows. The company is now securing its future growth through overseas expansion and increased domestic efficiency. The new wide, high-speed LWC line at its Tomioka mill plays a key role in the latter.
“I must say that the market situation right now is unusually tough,” remarks
Shinichiro Kondo, Vice President, Oji Paper Co. Ltd. “In these circumstances, we are following two policies. They are: ‘Pursuing efficiency in domestic business’ and ‘Expanding overseas business’. The first one is exemplified by our scrap-and-build project at the Tomioka mill, and the second one by our new Nantong mill in Jiangsu Province, China. Both projects are meaningful for our future development.”
The Oji Paper Group began as Japan’s first industrial-scale paper manufacturer in 1873. Today, it has 29 pulp and paper mills and 57 converting plants in Japan. “Although Oji Paper is a leading company only in Japan, it is not yet in a leading position in the global industry. Completing these two big projects and making them profitable as soon as possible will be an important turning point. Our task is now to rebuild our production system in line with market needs, to improve productivity and cost efficiency, and to build an environmentally and socially sensitive business model. Investing in new technologies will be very important in reaching our targets,” explains Kondo. “Through the new machines, we want to raise Oji Paper’s competitiveness and presence in the global pulp and paper industry.”
There were two issues that drove Oji Paper to transform its domestic business. First, the LWC market is gradually growing. Second, the company’s productivity and competitiveness in making LWC and fine paper have been low, due to its under 5-meter wide paper machines. Therefore the company decided to replace them with a wide, high-speed paper production line.
“When the global economic recession hit us at the start-up of the new machine, the original plan focusing only on the Tomioka mill was expanded. Now Oji Paper’s complete paper production system will be restructured and some machines with low competitiveness will be closed down,” says Kondo.
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“Investing in new technologies is very important in reaching our
targets,” says Shinichiro Kondo, Vice President, Oji Paper Co. Ltd.
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Japan’s first OptiLoad calender
Metso supplied the Tomioka mill with a 350,000 tpy LWC production line. The OptiConcept paper machine has a wire width of 10.2 m and a design speed of 2,000 m/min. PM 1 is an all on-line machine, featuring the first on-line OptiLoad multinip calendar in Japan. The delivery also included two WinRoll winders, various auxiliaries, a process automation system and site services.
“After comparing the machine suppliers’ technical features, section by section, Metso was chosen as the main supplier because we thought it was technologically-advanced and cost-competitive enough to bring our concept into reality. Cost competitiveness refers not only to the price of the machine, but also to the machine’s capacity to produce paper cost-efficiently,” continues Kondo.
“We have used many Metso-supplied headboxes and formers for fine paper. Their good formation and usability have raised our competitiveness in coated paper. We chose a complete newsprint line supplied by Metso for our first project abroad – the Howe Sound mill in British Colombia, Canada. In addition, our latest tissue machine at the Tokushima mill was supplied by Metso. It has run at a world record speed of over 2,000 m/min. All these machines are reliable and perform well.”
Clear quality improvements visible
With the purchase of PM 1, Oji Paper concentrated all of its LWC production at the Tomioka mill, which has long experience and versatile skills in coating technologies and colors for coated paper. The new PM 1, which replaced six old, small paper machines at Tomioka, started commercial production in February 2009. But, due to the global downturn in demand, the machine has not been running full time.
“Our target grades are A3 and LWC (bitoko). So far, we have produced only LWC in the 40-50 g/m2 basis weight range, because there is currently no demand for A3,” explains
Shoji Fujiwara, General Manager, Tomioka Mill. “The paper meets our quality targets with regard to high gloss. Usually high gloss has a tendency to cause gloss mottling, but the problem cannot be seen in paper made by the new machine. We have received positive feedback from customers on its good printability and stiffness.”
Kenji Matsuda, Deputy General Manager, Production Department, adds: “Formation is very good, and even better than we expected. Bulk and stiffness are also good. Overall, the quality matches that of major competitors, or is even better. Although three major competitors produce similar papers and Oji Paper came late to the market, we still received new orders. This has made us confident of the paper quality. If the economic situation were different, we could run the machine fully.”
Read the entire Oji Paper article
