With the pulp and paper industry in Canada going through restructuring, some of the mills and companies are still feeling the economic results of the past few years. Smaller staffs mean more duties for everyone. Even the recent upswing in positive…
With the pulp and paper industry in Canada going through restructuring, some of the mills and companies are still feeling the economic results of the past few years. Smaller staffs mean more duties for everyone. Even the recent upswing in positive information about the slowly-recovering economy and the resulting revitalization has not had a chance to make much of an impact yet. But the truth is that the industry still realizes the value of competing effectively through the upgrading of both installations and the knowledge of its employees.
As one of the PAPTAC councillors and the mill manager of the Port Angeles NPI USA mill, Harold Norlund is quoted on page 15 of this issue as saying “I believe PAPTAC, its committees and branches offer an extremely effective time-condensed learning opportunity.”
It is for this last subject that the importance of PaperWeek cannot be stressed enough. In 2005, the premier pulp and paper event will be held during the week of February 7-10 in Montreal, QC. The Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC) organizes the event in two separate parts: the Annual Meeting and EXFOR. The latter (co-ordinated with the help of ActivExpo) is the exhibition with hundreds of exhibitors ready to explain and demonstrate the latest products and methods they have to support the industry.
The PAPTAC Annual Meeting includes the technical program which is valuable for the up-to-date information presented through approximately 40 sessions and just under 200 presentations and posters. This year they cover subjects such as papermaking, maintenance, safety, environment, newsprint, recycling, pulping, process control, printing & graphic arts, non-wood fibres and power, among other topics.
Much of the technical exchanges and discussions take place during the sessions in formal presentations but, at the same time, informative discussions and exchanges are ongoing in the more informal atmosphere around the exhibition. It is an excellent opportunity to network with key people from the industry who are there, including company management and mill managers and the employees who work with both the products and machinery. As Peter Tyne, NorskeCanada, and chairman of PAPTAC, says, “Often specific mill operating problems are solved right on site.”
Last year around 10,000 people took advantage of the combination of practical and theoretical knowledge to bring back many solutions and suggestions for their companies and mills to adopt.
Each year, this largest annual pulp and paper event in the world offers myriad possibilities for a wide range of interests within the field. Both the Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and the Pulp and Paper Products Council will be holding their annual meetings as well as Open Forums in Montreal at the same time.
Avrim Lazar, president and CEO of FPAC, says, “The annual meeting of PAPTAC and the EXFOR exhibition provided important forums through which the industry remains competitive by learning of emerging technological advances and business issues.”
Four of PPPC’s product associations will be holding general meetings the same week in Montreal as well. PaperWeek, says Kevin McElhatton, president and CEO of PPPC, brings together members from across North America and from affiliates around the world, making it “one of the largest and most important global gatherings of senior executives in the paper industry”.
Other activities scheduled include the Mill Managers’ Forum (by invitation only) and the Student Open House Forum, as well as the popular Night in the Pressroom, open to all.
Due to the reorganization of the exhibition floor and the rooms on the 5th floor, Pulp & Paper Canada will have two new locations. There will be a booth on the exhibition floor at 2400 and the press room at 515B where magazines will be available. The 2005 Canadian Pulp, Paper and Board Mill Map and the 2005 Annual Directory will also be available for purchase at the booth.
Look for us there!
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