Two New Mills Join TAPPI SRW Damage Prevention Trial Program

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In the three months following start of the trial, the system processed 1,099 pre-load equipment inspections with an acceptance rate of 94.6%. Of the 5.4% of railcars rejected, 100% had holes, 35.6% contained dunnage, and 33.9% had bad door seals. The system database now contains more than 1,300 individual railcars for which it maintains the current repair status.

Shipping and receiving inspections are monitoring the performance of load protective measures. There have been 871 total shipments so far with the largest single dunnage failure item being wall protection devices. Twenty-one railcars have contained damaged paper with wet, torn, and split edges being the most common types of damage reported. Complete statistics have been posted on the TAPPI website.

The trial is being conducted using software designed and managed by VoIPcare Technology in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA. VoIPcare's qMetrix for Transportation creates a standardized reporting infrastructure designed to help the industry identify the root causes of paper damage and measure the impact of process changes.

More information is available online about the trial and how to participate in it. VoIPcare qMetrix product information is also available online, or by contacting Robin Mangold, rmangold@voipcaretechnology.com, 319-383-3230. Additional information about the TAPPI SRW Committee and the mid-project results of the SRW Damage Prevention Trial Program is available on the TAPPI website.