PAPER & CARD | APPLICATION REPORT
The solution, for a paper production plant in Germany, enables maintenance and inspection of a hoist and its load handling attachments without interrupting the operation of adjacent cranes in the same bay. “Year-on-year growth continues to be
forecast for the paper industry,” Lange says. “Above-average growth is expected for packaging papers in particular. We’re seeing strong demand from a variety of regions.”
NO MORE STALLING This growth in demand for paper and cardstock products is prompting paper companies to start investing in long- delayed upgrades, at least in the United States. Ricky Barnes, regional manager for the Southeast for Whiting Services, in Monee, Illinois, USA, says that since November 2020, the growth in demand has stressed machinery to the point that much of the older equipment cannot handle the strain. Barnes says that he is currently working with a number of Whiting customers to begin repairing, replacing, and modernizing equipment. “Our customers are bringing lines back up that have been idle for as much as ten years,” Barnes says. “Procrastination has caught up with
them. We’re actually working with two major (American) production facilities right now, one in the southeast of the United States and one in the northeast. where we are bringing a crane back online that’s been idle for ten years.”
Whiting primarily serves the North American market, with some limited projects in Puerto Rico. He says that the pandemic has prompted paper and card companies, and hoist operators, to change procedures. Overstressing cranes has become more dangerous since the Covid-19 pandemic started. More frequent equipment failures means more frequent site visits from support personnel, which can enable the virus to spread more quickly. Now, Barnes says, a number of companies in the paper and card industry have implemented procedures to avoid overstressing machinery in order to reduce the need for maintenance. Robert Smilak, Whiting Corporation’s
regional sales manager for the Southern United States, says that while paper and card has traditionally been a maintenance market, mills are often now looking to make upgrades to increase capacity and improve reliability. One Whiting customer is currently upgrading a hoist used for an occasional lift task. Whiting worked with this customer to determine how many times per year the hoist can make the lift without exceeding 125% capacity. “Reliability upgrades are happening a lot,
through controls and other safety features,” Smilak explains. “If you have a paper roll sitting there and you can’t move it, that’s wasted product and wasted money. So on our end, we’re seeing a lot of modernization upgrades designed to keep the uptime high and keep people off the crane.” Smilak says that while demand for paper products is growing, the industry
is moving away from newsprint and magazine paper. He suspects an increased need for personal protective equipment is responsible for the industry’s growth. Medical-grade pulp is a critical component of surgical masks and medical gowns, and it is also used in the production of N95 respirator masks. Media reports indicate that demand
for medical-grade pulp has substantially increased. In March 2020, Harmac Pacific told Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News that one of its American customers, a medical supplies manufacturer, doubled its standard order of K10S medical-grade pulp in order to increase production of medical supplies. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported in May 2020 that Harmac Pacific is the only pulp mill in Canada that manufactures K10S medical- grade pulp. Barnes expects that paper mills will soon begin prioritizing automated hoist installs. Some of the newer paper plants built in the last few years are almost entirely automated, which, coupled with advanced monitoring technology, enables them to essentially run “with the lights out”. Paper mills use various types of hoists
and cranes for multiple different types of tasks; however, Barnes says a number of mills are prioritizing capacity upgrades for the support cranes that are used during paper machine maintenance. In paper, uptime is a key concern. There is also an emerging opportunity for
better-engineered hoists that have a longer lifespan. Smilak says that over the last 20 years, the American market has become more standardized toward European product specifications and standards that typically require a rebuild every ten years. American paper mills, however, are starting to change their buying attitudes regarding the total cost of ownership. “The European specs are designed for
a ten-year lifecycle,” Smilak says. “But the American mills are starting to prefer a longer-lasting product. That trend isn’t everywhere yet, but I’m starting to see it.”
R An Ingersoll Rand Infinity FA2i dual-purpose air winch commonly used in pulp and paper applications. Overload protection and e-stop come standard on CE-certified units and are available as an optional feature on other units
26 | July 2021 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
SAFETY FIRST As in many industries, the paper and cardstock industry has specific safety needs that are influencing the kinds of equipment in use. Mark Koski, North American commercial leader at Ingersoll Rand in Davidson, North Carolina, USA, says a paper mill is a harsh environment, and paper production involves a significant amount of water.
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