Smurfit Kappa Solves Quality, Runnability Problems with SkyLine Doctor Blades

Smurfit Kappa, Townsend Hook, U.K., has used Voith's SkyLine doctor blades to help solve quality and runnability problems when producing fluting and testliner grades on its PM 8. The problems were related to increased reeler breaks due to starch accumulation in the after dryer section.

Due to the runnability issues, and too many joins at the reeler, the spools piled up, and sometimes the PM had unplanned downtime, up to 10 hours per month, because there were no more spools available.

"Since installing Voith SkyLine doctor blades we have seen a measurable step change in performance. In the past four months, we have eliminated the backlogs of jumbo reels before the winder that caused unplanned stops of the paper machine. This clearly saves us hard cash and has improved our operating performance. This solution has also improved the paper quality as there are less joins in the reels leaving the mill. This reduction in waste has improved customer satisfaction," stated Peter Kitto, mill production manager at Townsend Hook.

TAPPI
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