OpEx Opening Session Sets Path, Tone for Day-Long Workshop

The opening session at this year's OpEx Workshop at PaperCon in Atlanta, GA., USA, on April 30, features three special presentations that set the stage for the day's program exploring the latest thinking and developments in pulp and paper maintenance and reliability operations. Keynote speaker John Yolton with SKF, a highly respected paper industry reliability expert, will explore "The Continuing Journey to Asset Reliability Improvement." As Yolton notes, "with the NAM pulp and paper market contracting, only the most reliable equipment can provide a competitive advantage. Data demonstrates that there is clearly a return on investment for those ‘best' within the pool of competitors."

What do the "best" do to achieve this extra measure of competitiveness? Yolton's presentation will identify and discuss the primary issues associated with the Top 3%, e.g., the "best" and the "rest." "It might surprise you to find that ‘soft' issues play an important and vital role in the transformation and journey from the ‘rest' to the ‘best,'" Yolton says. His presentation includes a case study analysis at Daishowa-Marubeni International's 500,000 metric tpy chemical pulp mill in Canada.

The opening session also includes presentations by Bill Wick of American Industrial Metrology on "A Holistic Approach to Paper Machine Alignment" and Dave Cutnaw of SKF on "Maintenance and Asset Reliability Strategies—Developing a Foundation for Success."

More information about PaperCon 2013 and the OpEx Maintenance and Reliability Workshop, including registration procedures, is available online. Also available online is the 2013 OpEx Workshop program.

TAPPI
http://www.tappi.org/