TISSUE MAKER SUPPORT WORLD PULP&PAPER 20 findings reached during the program, which touch on several fascinating areas across the value chain on tissue paper production. Firstly, he emphasises that there is a specific role for high-quality NBSK (Nordic bleached softwood kraft) in the production of toilet tissue. “The kind of softwood pulp used has an important effect downstream,” he tells us. “You can get away with using different kinds of furnishes in the tissue mills. You can use all kinds of fibres – that’s not a problem when making the base paper, but the real challenge is at the converting stage. In fact, you start to see critical “You can use all kinds of fibres – that’s not a problem when making the base paper, but the real challenge is at the converting stage”. in China, the tissue industry has been booming, and they have been building a lot of capacity. Even though we already knew quite a lot about tissue production, we wanted to enhance our ability to talk with tissue producers about their processes and help them in a deeper way.” The company aimed to increase their competences on the pilot scale while simultaneously increasing their network of expert colleagues. By working together with chemical and machinery suppliers, Metsä Fibre gained a great deal of valuable feedback and improved their abilities from those two additional perspectives. “In the past,” continues Niemi, “when we have been running trials we have been working at the paper machine itself. In this competence program, we also included the converting operations.” This added a new dimension to the learnings which resulted: “Tissue making is not only making the tissue paper on the paper machine itself,” he emphasises. “The converting operations are where you really make the final end product itself, be that facial tissue, toilet tissue, or kitchen roll.” NEW FACTS EMERGE Niemi is keen to share the most useful Figure 2. The introduction of Metsä Fibre’s bioproduct mill at Äänekoski is a major advantage in supporting tissue producers.