Coldwater Adds 80-Plus Years of Wet-End Experience to Technical Support Team

With its recent acquisition of RPM Technologies, Coldwater Group, Atlanta, Ga., USA, has added three highly respected wet-end experts to its Technical Support Team. Karl Lemme (top right photo) joins Coldwater’s Engineering Group focused on wet-end product design and manufacturing. Lemme has been an engineer in the paper industry for more than 28 years and holds a BSME in mechanical engineering.

Lemme has been involved with all aspects of the design, manufacturing, and installation of wet-end drainage equipment. He has held positions as design engineer, project engineer, plant engineer, and until Coldwater’s acquisition, served as engineering manager for RPM Technologies. Lemmel and his wife will be relocating from Massachusetts to Atlanta and, in doing so, he will be trading in his snow skis for golf clubs.

Jim White (below left photo) joins Coldwater as forming systems specialist, and began his paper industry career in 1989 as a drainage equipment design engineer. During the last 28 years, he has held positions as an applications engineer, senior projects manager, corporate sales account manager, regional sales manager, sales manager, and product line manager.

White’s responsibilities with Coldwater will be to work closely with its North American sales force to deliver solutions to the wet end of its customer’s paper machines that result in performance improvements and cost savings. He will be based out of Belchertown, Mass., and enjoys camping, hunting, fishing, and just about anything outdoors.

Jeff Foster (bottom right photo) also joins Coldwater as a forming systems specialist, and began his paper industry career in 1989 after serving as a machinist in the U.S. Navy for eight years. He started with IBS of America manufacturing ceramic drainage elements and equipment, and during his 10 years with IBS he worked as a field service engineer, eventually becoming the field service manager for North and South America.

In 1999, Foster joined Coors/Wilbanks (CoorsTek) where he served as the sales and service engineer for the eastern U.S. and Europe. When CoorsTek merged with Johnson Foils in 2003, Foster operated as its Mid-Atlantic sales and Service Representative. In 2013, he joined RPM Technologies and continued in the role of sales and service representative for the mid-Atlantic region. Foster’s responsibilities will include working closely with the North American sales team to deliver wet end solutions to Coldwater’s customers’ paper machines that result in performance improvements and cost savings. Foster and his wife Jacqueline reside in Chesapeake, Va.

Doug Wall, VP of Coldwater Sales & Marketing, said that "our recent acquisition of RPM not only gives us one of the most innovative and value-driven drainage product offerings in the industry but it adds three wet end experts to our team with a wealth of knowledge. We are very excited about the experience, ideas, and solutions Karl, Jim and Jeff will bring to our customers’ wet-end operations."

Coldwater is a global leader and innovator in paper machine consumables and engineered products that optimize paper machine performance and reliability. Coldwater product lines include dryer and felt passivation, machine clothing cleaning systems, suction roll sealing components, doctor blades, Lantier doctoring equipment, Wilbanks ceramics, premium UHMW drainage elements, Acu-Tech forming systems, edge control systems, headbox parts and services, and combinations of the above in complete consumables optimization management programs. As well as at its headquarters in Atlanta, Coldwater also has manufacturing facilities in Appleton, Wis., and Karlstad, Sweden, and sales offices in Spain and Thailand.