SFK Pulp Upgrade to Help Mills Better Meet Market Needs
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SFK Pulp Fund, Longueuil, Qué., Canada, this week announced a plan to upgrade activities at its mills in Fairmont, Va. (USA); Menominee, Mich. (USA); and St-Félicien, Qué. The goal of the upgrades is to increase productivity in all operations through an employee training program as well as the improvement of its business processes.
SFK Pulp's program focuses on improving product quality at these mills, while reducing production costs and avoiding unnecessary waste. The company will gradually implement an operational excellence management model to optimize all of its activities. This business-critical approach to improve operational performance, derived from the "Toyota" system, will not only help the mills react quickly to new market conditions, but also adapt to clients' needs and upcoming challenges, maximize its assets, which include its human capital, as well as secure new markets, the company points out.
As part of the upgrade plan, employees will have access to various training programs, which will promote a greater acquisition of skills and a more effective knowledge transfer within the organization. Moreover, this upgrade plan includes the reassignment of 12 unionized employees of the St-Félicien mill, which will lead to an improved management of the workforce at the mill in the future, and the elimination of 42 non-unionized positions within the organization overall, of which 13 are eligible for retirement benefits. All terminated employees will receive various separation payments and be given access to a job transition program, at an overall cost of approximately $1.8 million. This upgrade should lead to annual savings of approximately $4 million, the company says.
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