Process optimization for better productivity - Papermart
Papermart
Interviews Specialist

Process optimization for better productivity

BTG is committed to helping clients achieve significant, sustainable gains in business performance in a fast- changing market. They accomplish this through their world-class people, market-leading technologies, industry expertise and a passion for results. Their portfolio of leading edge products covers every aspect of Pulp & Paper production, from consistency control and wet end management to high-performance blades and rods for metering and doctoring application. To complement this, they offer a range of specialist consultancy services, after sales packages and training programs designed to ensure that the customers always get the very best out of their plant and people.

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Mr. Lai, Chun Yue – Manager, BTG Instruments, Asia

“BTG’s critical success factors lies in understanding the need of the customer by looking at the process, analyzing the requirement areas and then prepare the requisite solution which provides them the economic benefits”, Mr. Lai, Chun Yue, Manager, BTG Instruments, Asia, started the interaction with this statement before enlightening us about the importance of measurement & control instruments, BTG’s plans for India and most importantly optimization in paper making process. Excerpts

Optimize Process & Derive Benefits

Today, cost is a very big concern. If we look at the cost of making a sheet of paper, much of it is the fibre cost, then the chemical cost, energy cost, human resource etc forms the total cost of the sheet of paper. All the cost mentioned above will increase in near future so there is a need to optimize the process in order to reap the economic benefits. You need to take the decisions to make sure that you are measuring to ensure that you are achieving what you are set to do. We provide instruments that can measure charge in the system to optimize the dosage of chemical. Dosing of the right quantity is required, under dose will not give you the desired results and over dose will have negative results apart from wastage and effluent problem. Right measuring instruments can help in reducing the variation and ultimately saving on fibre, chemicals, optimizing energy usage etc and at the same time maintaining the product & quality specifications.

Areas to Improve in Indian Paper Mills

Highlighting the key areas which require immediate attention on measuring front he said “consistency and the charge measurement are the most fundamental things to improve in India. When we add chemicals we make assumptions that the consistency is stable, otherwise relatively speaking we are dosing in an erratic way. For getting the right furnish ratio we need to measure the consistency very well in order to control the blend of fibres.”

Growth perspective on the Indian market and the challenges

China and India are the growing markets and we expect that these two will become centre of excellence for BTG. We are further strengthening our team of process people, consultants, and service people here in India to serve the growing needs of the industry. In China we already have a strong team and now it is time to grow in India. Eventually India will be supporting the neighbouring countries because the level of sophistication is going up and the people here are working with the latest and the greatest technology. In India the midsized mills are getting more quality conscious because of the competition which is getting developed in India. They are open to the new technologies to optimize their production and cost. On challenges he added: “It is tough to make the people understand the corrective measures because they have a mindset which is being already going on with them. From the existing to the change, bringing down to the people will be a difficult job.”

Future Trends in Measuring Tools

The new trend is that people will see that there will be less and less people needed in the instrument department. The products are getting more sophisticated, easier, smarter, smaller and lighter. So these are the trends in the industry for the instruments wherein you can plug and play, install and then you forget about it. As long as it is giving you the measurement you need not even go and look for the instruments. Geographically, the trends actually differ in different countries. In last 3 years except for 2010 in US the budgets have been cut down and people keep on running the machine without the spares. But now in Asia very fortunately we have seen quite a good economic condition from last few years.

Environmental Responsibility

At BTG, we understand that our biggest impact on the environment is through the processes, machinery and equipment we supply to our customers. As a result, we strive to develop new, environmentally progressive products and solutions which allow for more efficient use of energy and raw materials, and generate less waste. We also take our environmental responsibility seriously when it comes to supply chain management, and support our partners in developing more energy-efficient and environmentally sound solutions.

Innovations at BTG

The key strength of BTG comes from the fact that they are more focused on the front line. Our strong R&D capabilities keep us abreast with changing technologies and trends. Whatever size or type of pulp and paper operation, BTG provide the varied range of cost effective and fast payback solutions all the time. Over a period of 90 years we have an impressive string of ground-breaking technical patents.