This week Allnorth, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, and FPInnovations, Pointe-Claire, Que., Canada, announced a strategic partnership of two of the industry's leading players that will bring a new level of innovation and added value to pulp and paper clients throughout North America.

The new partnership, announced at the TAPPI PEERS New Technology Showcase, will allow a larger number of pulp and paper organizations to benefit from an integrated solution toward energy management. FPInnovations, working with CanmetENERGY of Natural Resources Canada, has developed a unique approach to identifying opportunities to minimize energy use, as well as increasing revenue from power sales. Combining Allnorth's engineering expertise with FPInnovations' process insight adds a new dimension and capability that ensures these benefits are delivered to mills.  

"Allnorth has always been a leader in how we work with our clients to evaluate their mill operations and implement projects that bring the best value, improving their bottom line," said Jay Miele, Allnorth Americas VP of operations. "At Allnorth, we are experts at collaborating with our clients to identify the right solutions, and now with this partnership we have the support of FPInnovations' world-class research and development to deliver an integrated solution for energy efficiency and process optimization to mills across North America."

Pierre Lapointe, president and CEO of FPInnovations, explained that "FPInnovations and CanmetENERGY have successfully teamed up to deliver our proven approach to more than 13 of our member company mills. Our partnership with Allnorth gets those powerful solutions into even more peoples' hands, which is good news for our industry and the environment." 

Allnorth is a leading engineering and technical services firm with offices in Atlanta, Ga., USA, as well as across Canada. They recently completed a major project for a Northwest paper company revolutionizing its manufacturing processes and technologies, through upgrades to their pulping and bleaching processes. This large-scale project made the mill one of the most economically viable, energy efficient and environmentally sustainable mills in North America. 

The two organizations together will now offer a full suite of technical and engineering services in the area of energy management, including strategic planning, dynamic plant process modeling, process integration, and capital cost estimating. The collaboration between the two organizations will bring new technology and engineering solutions to both of their members and clients.

"By offering a fully integrated approach, we offer our customers better value, better service and more innovation," said Miele. "This is exactly the type of approach that can help make their mills more competitive."

Allnorth serves hundreds of domestic and global clients in the pulp and paper, mining, oil & gas, and infrastructure sectors. Founded in 1995, Allnorth is growing rapidly with 13 offices and more than 450 team members. Allnorth's success is based on the organization's core principles of client service, integrity, empowering team members, and quality management practices. More information about Allnorth's pulp and paper solutions is available online. 

FPInnovations is a not-for-profit world leader that specializes in the creation of scientific solutions in support of the Canadian forest sector's global competitiveness and responds to the priority needs of its industry members and government partners. It is ideally positioned to perform research, innovate, and deliver state-of-the-art solutions for every area of the sector's value chain, from forest operations to consumer and industrial products. FPInnovations employs more than 430 people. Its R&D laboratories are located in Québec City, Montréal, and Vancouver in Canada, and it has technology transfer offices across Canada and in Atlanta, Ga. More information about FPInnovations is available online.