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PacWest explores our competitive advantages

Western Canada’s annual gathering of the pulp and paper industry is returning to Whistler, B.C., this year, on June 10-13. As has been the case in recent years, the 2015 edition of the PacWest conference is characterized by a strong…

Western Canada’s annual gathering of the pulp and paper industry is returning to Whistler, B.C., this year, on June 10-13. As has been the case in recent years, the 2015 edition of the PacWest conference is characterized by a strong technical program.

The main conference forum on Thursday morning, picking up on the event’s theme, “Leveraging our Competitive Advantages”, will feature a number of experienced and knowledgeable industry executives. Scheduled to speak are:

• Brett Robinson, CEO, Canfor Pulp
• Mike Putzke, general manager, Alberta Newsprint
• Robert Dufresne, vice-president, Resolute Forest Products
• Balazs Tolnai, general manager, technology, Kruger Inc.
• Catherine Cobden, executive vice-president, Forest Products Association of Canada
• Carol Lapointe, mill manager, Domtar Kamloops

Thursday afternoon and Friday are set aside for technical sessions and a trade fair. The technical sessions will cover kraft pulping, sustainability, energy, environment, process control, pulp and paper making, project management and TMP technology. Also on the schedule this year are presentations by UBC students, following up on their successful session at last year’s conference.

PacWest will also host roundtable discussions for mill managers and pulp machine superintendants. The roundtables are by invitation only; see www.pacwestcon.net for more details on participating.

PacWest is organized by the Pacific and Western branches of PAPTAC and IBMP, a group of suppliers to the pulp and paper industry.