The partnership between Metsä Fibre and Andritz has been essential for process development, say Metsä Fibre's Ismo Nousiainen (left) and Andritz's Anssi Nevalainen.
Metsä Group is converting the production process at Joutseno pulp mill to polysulfide cooking with a EUR 15 million investment. The technology has never been applied on such a large scale before. Andritz is a partner in the project.
What was the motive for the renovation of the Joutseno pulp mill, Metsä Fibre's Production Director Ismo Nousiainen (IN)?
IN: The main reason for changing Joutseno's production process to polysulfide cooking has been product development. Our goal is to continuously improve our products so that they meet our customers' requirements even better.
With polysulfide pulp, we can offer customers softwood pulp that can be processed more energy-efficiently and improves process runnability. From our perspective, it is also about resource efficiency: more product is obtained with less raw material. The change will increase the mill's production capacity by about ten percent.
In what way is the Joutseno project special for Andritz, says Anssi Nevalainen, Chief Operating Officer (AN)?
AN: The process of making polysulfide is well-known, but the knowledge in implementing the cooking application in particular creates a challenge. We have previously delivered similar plants to countries such as Canada and Japan, and we can utilize the experience gained here. We see that we have been able to offer Metsä Fibre a suitable solution that facilitates the circulation of liquor and improves the quality of the pulp. In terms of size, this is almost three times the size of the next largest similar plant.
Can we talk about partnership in connection with the Joutseno project?
IN: This is not exactly a traditional equipment supplier-user relationship. We have also intensified cooperation in process development. Metsä Fibre has a culture of continuous improvement, and continuous improvement cannot be done alone. This kind of partnership is really important. We need a good equipment manufacturer with expertise in new technical solutions. We need to have the best expertise available.
AN: Projects often encounter challenges that are best solved through good cooperation between the process user and the equipment supplier. For example, they may be related to materials with which one party has more experience. This is a fruitful collaboration that goes beyond the traditional buyer-seller approach.
What is required of you and your partners during the project?
IN: It is important that the agreement is clear and understandable. But in such projects, not everything can be written into the agreement without gaps. The partnership is precisely what is measured in managing them. There must be a clear shared desire to resolve the issues that arise.
This involves trusting that things will be handled perfectly until the end. Because the role of a supplier is not just to sell a device, but also to sell the device's performance. The device manufacturer must commit to what the customer is looking for so that we can move forward together towards the goal.
We also have a process development collaboration with Andritz. They know our processes well and therefore also know the technical requirements of the equipment.
AN: It is true that the starting point for success is a shared vision of what the project is about. If the basics, such as the technical specification, schedule, documentation and quality plan, are in order and communication is good, then projects usually succeed.
The project is scheduled for completion this summer. As the deadline approaches, the pressures are mounting, but will they manifest themselves somehow?
IN: They don't appear, the pressures don't become a problem. But it requires that not only do we have a good plan for carrying out the construction project, we also have to have a good plan for carrying out the commissioning and resourcing.
AN: What is essential is that when we are approaching the critical moment, we have the solution mechanisms and the will to resolve things as quickly and effortlessly as possible. There will certainly be something that we have not been able to predict in advance, but together we can solve it.
Text: Sami Laakso
Photo: Jari Härkönen
The full article can be read in the print issue of Paperi ja Puu magazine, 2/2013.
