Over The Wire

Travels with Larry

EagleBurgmann's SEAL TEAM Gets a Seal of Approval for its Community Projects

Whoever said "service is everything" probably had a company like EagleBurgmann in mind. The company has successfully marketed seal technology around the globe for the past 126 years. Its mechanical seals are designed for extremely demanding applications in pumps, compressors and agitators in a range of industries.

EagleBurgmann has also bucked the trend this past fiscal year by increasing overall sales by double digits! Think this is great? Well there's more. With a global workforce of more than 4,900 employees, they've managed to keep their team dedicated to service and leadership in their communities through their SEAL TEAM Initiative that supports local outreach programs.

The SEAL TEAM stands for:
Service Encouragement Action Leadership
Together EagleBurgmann Achieves More

During a recent visit to their Houston, Texas, facility, Larry N. Montague, President and CEO of TAPPI and Eric Fletty, Vice President of Operations had the opportunity to meet with a few of the men and women who drive the SEAL TEAM. Their work includes blood drives, charity, ink cartridge recycling program, stuffed animal drive, EBI Kid Sports sponsorships, Dragon Boat races (picture), and food drives, as well as social activities for the organization.

"It's important that everyone has the opportunity to reach out and contribute into the communities in which we live and work – the SEAL TEAM is our conduit into these efforts and we're happy that our employees bring their energy and drive to these programs," noted Marcus Pillion, President of EagleBurgmann USA." We are always proud to highlight the work our members, like EagleBurgmann, are doing to make a difference in their communities, their companies and our industry. Keep up the good work!

This is the POWER of TAPPI MEMBERS serving their community. If you'd like TAPPI to feature your company's community service projects or outreach initiatives, please send an email to memberspotlight@tappi.org.

TAPPI News

Papermaker's Program at PaperCon – Abstract Deadline Nov 15

TAPPI invites you to present at North America's largest pulp and paper event, May 1-4 in Covington, Kentucky (Greater Cincinnati). Abstracts are being accepted through November 15 for the Papermakers program. This year the program features a track on Operational Excellence -- with special emphasis on short presentations highlighting recent mill success stories. Papers on stock prep, forming and process control are also welcome. It's simple to upload an abstract, find out more by reading the Papermaker's Call for Papers. http://www.papercon.org/papermakers.asp

PaperCon also features a Tissue Forum this year and abstracts are welcome!

With a focus on "Lean and Green" and spotlighting new ways to decrease cost, use less fiber and reduce their carbon footprint, PaperCon 2011 is the best opportunity to be recognized and to raise the visibility of your organization. Learn more about PaperCon 2011. http://www.papercon.org/

TAPPI Offers Social Media Tools to Members on the Go

Staying in touch with business colleagues continues to evolve at dizzying speeds. To provide members of the TAPPI community with a way to communicate on the go, TAPPI has created a foundation of social media tools to help you.

You can keep in touch with TAPPI news and events electronically with the TAPPI LinkedIn page. It's open to all TAPPI members. All you need to do is sign in to your LinkedIn account and search for the TAPPI Member Group. Members have started a number of useful discussions on the page, and currently there are about 450 members in the group.. Why don't you join in? Visit www.LinkedIn.com and find out what all the buzz is about!

TAPPI has a Facebook group called "Peace, Love, and Paper." It's new so you can be among the first people to "like" the page or join the group and enter a post on the Peace, Love and Paper wall. Participants in this group are committed to revolutionizing the paper industry. Visit www.facebook.com. Search for Peace, Love, and Paper then click "join group". You'll then be part of the "in" crowd.

You can also get the latest TAPPI news via Twitter. Sign up to follow TAPPI's Twitter account at www.twitter.com/TAPPITWEETS.

He Hits Bulls-eye with Career in Corrugated

This November, get to know TAPPI member Richard "Dick" Target as he stars in the Member Spotlight . Dick is currently owner of On Target Consultants which serves the paper and converting industries and also develops new technology for box plants around the world.

He has written several technical articles for Board Converting News and Corrugated Today, along with several Technical Manuals for TAPPI's Lean Manufacturing Course. He has served as a volunteer on multiple Production and Printing Committees and also serves as an instructor, as well as attends, numerous TAPPI classes, courses and conferences throughout the year.

Spotlight participants are recommended by fellow members and staff. If you would like to nominate a member (or even yourself!) just send their name (or names) to MemberSpotlight@tappi.org. We will forward a Spotlight Questionnaire to fill out and return.

We look forward to seeing you in the Spotlight!

University of Minnesota ROCKS!

On October 19, 2010, TAPPI's David Bell met with the faculty and students of the University of Minnesota Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering (BBE) program. The BBE department just celebrated its 100th year last year in 2009!

"Shri Ramaswamy is the head of the department and gave me an excellent tour of their vast research facilities," Bell said. "In addition to their traditional pulp and paper research they are working on biofuels, biocomposites and biopolymers. I was also impressed with the through-air-drying experimental facility that they have built."

They have a unique curriculum that includes three main specializations: Bioproducts Engineering (formerly called Paper Science and Engineering), Environmental and Ecological Engineering, and Bioprocessing and Food Engineering. In addition they have a non-engineering program called Bioproducts Marketing and Management. This track provides both a technical background in bio-based products and combines it with traditional business school courses. Bioproducts or bio-based products are the materials, chemicals and energy derived from renewable resources such as wood; this includes both conventional bio-based products (i.e., pulp and paper) and emerging bio-based products (i.e., biofuels, biopolymers, bioenergy, etc.)

"We would like to encourage pulp and paper and allied industry members to contact us if you have opportunities for our fast growing student body or need more information," Dr. Ramaswamy said. "Also, we would like you to consider contributing to our scholarships. Please visit the website for information."

Contact Info:
Shri Ramaswamy
Professor and Head, Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota
Ph: 612-624-8797

2011 Student Summit to Focus on Tomorrow's Paper Industry

The 2011 Student Summit will take place January 15-17 in Kingsport, Tenn. It will draw students from around the country to focus on "New Directions" and promising developments in the pulp and paper industry.

Attending students can meet with experienced industry professionals, interview for jobs, participate in a fun engineering competition and get to know fellow students. The event will include a range of valuable experiences including:

a mill tour of Domtar
a presentation on Biofuels
a Mill Manager Roundtable and
focused sessions on a variety of important topics.

Learn more about the 2011 Student Summit.

TAPPI Forms Technologically Advanced Workforce (TAW) Advisory Board

The Technologically Advanced Workforce initiative (TAW) was created to help improve profitability related to human performance in the pulp, paper and allied industries. TAPPI began governing the TAW in 2009 at the request of the Agenda 2020 Chief Technology Officers Committee. This new advisory board has been formed to address general guidelines for the purpose, mission and strategic direction of the TAW initiative and NPT2.

Members of the newly created TAW Executive Advisory Board represent leadership from industry, union and government sectors. The Board held its first meeting in late September and industry representatives attending included: John Donahue, SAPPI Fine Paper N.A.; Lyle Fellows, Verso Paper; Curtis Sears, MWV; Ellsworth Townsend, Packaging Corp. of America; and Cindy Reinhart, Metso. Andrea Harper, Georgia Department of Labor, represented government and Keith Romig, United Steelworkers, was the union representative. T.J. Murphy represented National Network for Pulp and Paper Technology Training (NPT2) and TAPPI staff members were Larry N. Montague, Mary Beth Cornell and David Bell.

"A Jaakko Pöyry study on the pulp and paper industry has shown that at least 30 percent of the variability in profitability can be explained by performance of people in the workforce," Murphy said. "The TAW's mission is to be a catalyst for collaborations among industry, government, associations, workers, educators, trainers, community and technical college systems, and economic development organizations. These collaborations will be nurtured to attract and develop a technically superior workforce to operate, maintain and manage the new and advanced technologies essential to a globally competitive U.S. forest products industry. It has been forecasted that if successful, TAW could increase industry's profitability by 25 percent, as measured by return on capital employed (ROCE)."

TAW is one of the key focus areas of Agenda 2020 and was first envisioned at the Technology Summit in May 2001.

The NPT2 was established in 2004 as a national network of community colleges that produces technicians specifically skilled in the pulp, paper and allied industries. The objective of this initiative is to provide training and education to ensure that the technologies chosen to create the forest products industry of the future are continued.

One of the goals of the TAW is to attract new employees to the industry. The National Association of Manufacturers reports that America will face a shortage of 13 million skilled industrial workers by 2020.
With this in mind, TAPPI and its partners have also developed a website: www.careersinpaper.org. This website hosts a speaker's kit that includes a video, brochure and PowerPoint presentation that people can present at their local schools. The video "5 Reasons to be a Paper Engineer" can also be seen on YouTube.

Co-chairs of the TAW Advisory Board are Larry N. Montague, TAPPI's President and CEO and T. J. Murphy, Director of NPT2. For more information about the TAW please contact David Bell.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it is possible." – Rich DeVos