Email Jim at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com
The last phase in our capital project is ramp up. We already covered this for tissue last week.
Ramp up is never over. Don't put an end date on it.
Well-run machines experience a capacity increase of about 2% per year in perpetuity.
How can this be?
There are so many complex variables that opportunities abound everywhere and forever.
Better wires and felts (or screens, if you prefer).
Better planning for maintenance/washup days.
Better roll life.
Focused attention on lubrication and alignment.
The one place where you can do little is speed. Pushing the design speed limit is about as far as you can go.
But fight everything that causes down time. This is why root cause analysis training exists.
Work on crew morale and reward crews (not just with pizza, use $) when they exceed past performance. Notice I did not say "goals."
But never, ever think you are going to improve performance with "breakdown maintenance." Managers who promote "breakdown maintenance" are not planning on staying long, for even they know that in a well-run mill, the expectorant will hit the fan about two years after you initiate a "breakdown maintenance" philosophy. I have written about this for years. I despise managers who adopt a "breakdown maintenance" philosophy to artificially boost the profit line. They are the worst of the worst in our business.
So, this month I have provided five columns which, if you follow them, I am certain you can pull off a capital project of any size. Year around, we have the Capital Arguments newsletter which comes out on the 15th of each month. If you are not getting it, let me know in an email, and I will get you signed up for it.
Be safe and we will talk next week.
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