UPM-Biofore-Magazine-1-2016-ENG

plant. Normally the noisiest part of the integratedmill site, the debarking plant is silent today because of a shutdown. There are no logs moving down the production lines, of which there are now two instead of just one. The new line, which debarks and chips birch wood, was built alongside the old one in June. Clad in overalls, debarking plant manager Markku Tamlander and plant worker Jouni Martikainen have just replaced the chipper’s blades. How do they see the investment as having impacted their everyday work? “Manufacturing is steadier now. There are fewer production interruptions. And it’s more cost-efficient,” Martikainen says. The chipper gets blocked less often, for example. Another major benefit is the fact that one of the lines remains in use even if there are problems with the other. “We have higher production volumes and the end results are better quality,” Tamlander says. And that, indeed, is what everyone wants: better products. The quality assurance process in fact begins far away from the mill, in the forest, with the expert wood buyer who selects the logs. They mustn’t be too thin or rotten, and they mustn’t be allowed to rot by keeping them on the roadside or in a warehouse for too long. This must mean that the piles of logs in the debarking plant’s yard will

soon be fed into the chipper? “Yes indeed. And now that our production volumes have increased, we also buy more wood. We need an extra 800,000 cubic metres of wood per year,” explains Laaksonen. The pulpmill’s investments are visible over an extensive area. The increasing demand for wood has sped up harvesting, which in turn brings more money to forest owners. The knock-on effects are extensive, not only regionally, but also nationally. Above all, the investment has had a positive impact on the atmosphere at work. “Pulp is valuedmore than before, whichmeans manufacturing is profitable. The modernised pulp mill is an attractive workplace,” says Mikko Pajari , supervisor of the pulp mill’s morning shift. After all, why would anyone leave a job with solid long-termprospects? Modernised softwood fibre line We leave the debarking plant and head for the next improved site, the fibre line. A traffic sign points us in the right direction. We pass a huge white liquor tank to reach the control room, where we find several line operators closely analysing complex charts on their monitors. These charts tell themhow much chlorine dioxide is being used, for example. This is an issue that is especially important to departmental supervisor Mika Hohti . Apparently, consumption has decreased, which seems like good news.

Jouni Martikainen

Jouni Martikainen keeps a close watch on the new debarking line.

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