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14 NIPPON PAPER FEATURE


Pulp Paper & Logistics


Shaping the future with trees


Kazufumi Yamasaki, research & development chief at Japan’s Nippon Paper Industries, talks to Makoto Saito and Gaurav Ghosh about the paper maker’s broad range of innovative activities


Nippon Paper Industries is driving its sustainable business model forward. “As a comprehensive biomass


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company, we are creating value and contributing to better living and cultural progress. We are shaping the future with trees,” says Kazufumi Yamasaki, Executive Director of the Research & Development Division, Technical & Engineering Division and Energy Business Division. Fully integrated from forest


products to value-added paper and tissue manufacture, Nippon Paper Industries is committed to a range of innovations that include the development of applications for nano-fibres and high quality fly ash that serves as a concrete admixture. It has the largest private-sector electricity generating capacity in Japan, outside of the dedicated power generators. It most recently evolved from


the merger of Nippon Paper Industries Co and Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co to create Nippon Unipac Holding which was renamed Nippon Paper Group in 2004. Three years ago Nippon Paper Group merged with Nippon Paper Industries and started operation as Nippon Paper Industries. Sales for the year ending in


March 2016 were forecast to be more than 1 trillion Yen (US$8.5 billion), making it of the


January/February 2016


orld-leading Tokyo-based pulp and paper conglomerate


world’s top ten pulp and paper manufacturers. The company is committed to consistently investing in expanding new business areas and creating new business.


Creating new value in a sustainable way Over the years, Nippon Paper Industries has been one of the foremost industrial companies in Japan. The company prides itself on managing forests sustainably and pursuing a variety of businesses by making full use of renewable wood resources. “The challenge always remains to use wood resources effectively


in increasingly diverse ways, exploring all the possibilities of wood and creating new value to meet society’s needs,” says Yamasaki.


Business focus a must for sustainable growth In Nippon Paper Industries’ strategy, reviewing and renewing the medium-term business plan to re-align the business focus for long-term sustainable growth is key. In the latest medium-term business plan there are two main initiatives or focus areas: “We want to enhance


competitiveness in our existing businesses in order to maintain


stable quality and operation and to reduce costs,” Yamasaki says. “Secondly, we will transform our business structure. We want to expand our business in growth areas and create new businesses. “The first initiative has seen us successfully collaborate with Valmet. An example of this is our steady cooperation in services and mill improvements. Also the air dryer nozzle upgrade system and O2 reactor installed at our Ishinomaki mill are giving excellent results. The Akita mill is receiving an advanced process control system from Valmet. We always have high expectations of Valmet’s technology and services.


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