In the December 13, 2006 edition of "Ahead of the Curve," TAPPI Fellow David R. Roisum comments: "…the paper industry has so many things it can't well control, such as labor rates, pollution regulations, energy costs and so on." This statement encouraged me to share my experiences regarding both components of energy costs-and what mills can do to improve efficient energy use.

Energy cost is driven by "price" and "use." While it's true that plants have little control concerning the price of energy, they do, in fact, have significant control regarding how they use energy. The principles to optimize energy use are the same principles mills use to improve safety, quality, and production. Experience at the Industrial Efficiency Alliance demonstrates that applying these principles to energy management also results in gains in safety and productivity.

The pulp and paper business is often said to compete on the basis of three fundamental operating factors: fiber, folks and fuel. I believe that energy management (fuel) is, in fact, the single performance variable over which the pulp and paper industry has the greatest amount of control. The industry's ability to control energy costs lies in the recognition that cost is a factor of both usage and price, and in a willingness to manage plant and manufacturing system performance with a keen eye toward energy efficiency, increased productivity and streamlined processes.

In the pulp and paper industry, electricity cost alone can account for 10 to 30 percent of a manufacturing facility's variable operating costs. The overall regional impact can be even greater in a region such as the Northwest, where nearly one-third of the industrial energy consumption is used primarily for the manufacture of pulp and paper products.

A CORE VALUE
At the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, we recommend mills adopt a program of Continuous Energy Improvement. In the simplest of terms, Continuous Energy Improvement means that mills manage energy as a core business value. In this case, energy is considered in every business decision in the same way that safety is a part of every activity, every day.

To be effective, Continuous Energy Improvement should be designed specifically to meet the unique needs of each facility, but include essentially the same core components:

• Awareness of the importance of energy at all levels of the organization
• Assessment of both energy management practices and system technology to determine areas ripe for improvement
• Establishing energy champions to keep energy issues in front of all staff and provide resources to address opportunities
• Strategic deployment of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to ensure that systems savings are sustained and optimized

Partnerships with local utilities and other energy organizations can bring creative solutions and additional resources for improvement.

Not only does Continuous Energy Improvement identify cost effective ways that pulp and paper companies can implement energy efficiency best practices, but improving energy efficiency will actually boost productivity by increasing equipment reliability and reducing maintenance costs. Often non-energy benefits, such as improved reliability, prove to be more valuable to a mill than the energy savings alone.

Continuous Energy Improvement does not replace our industry's emphasis on capital-driven solutions, but it does create an environment where behavior change and project management can achieve more sustainable savings. Mills applying the principles of continuous improvement often realize energy savings of 5 to 20 percent without major capital expenditures. In addition to measured savings, Continuous Energy Improvement has the added benefit of team building through an organization. The notion of a shared vision, effective use of KPIs to monitor progress, access to and use of training, and creating partnerships with utilities to find incentives all help to develop positive relationships within a mill.

And, with Continuous Energy Improvement, energy cost management is no longer the province of the project engineer, but is now directly in the hands of plant floor personnel and management, even when capital resources are limited.

In the Northwest, the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, in partnership with the region's utilities, works to provide custom-designed resources and tools to ensure a mill's energy management practices are effective and sustainable and that operating systems become more efficient and, by extension, more reliable.

AN ENERGY CASE STUDY
A large container facility experienced unexpected downtime whenever operators "blew down" the corrugators with open lances. System compressed air pressure dropped so low that problems were encountered with several manufacturing steps. The first solution - to shut all production down on a scheduled basis to clean up - was not a very good option. The second solution - to put in more compressor capacity - was also problematic (and expensive). However, the third solution - which came from examining how the compressed air was actually used - proved to be exactly right for efficiency.

Rather than continue use of the open pipe lance, the plant's energy champion investigated the use of more efficient wands. These wands used far less air and allowed clean-up to be done when needed without interrupting any production. The final solution resulted in more than a five percent increase in productivity.

This is a great Continuous Energy Improvement story because the person (champion) who determined the third solution did so because he attended a compressed air system fundamentals class and learned to look at both the supply and demand side of system performance. Continuous Energy Improvement helped this champion go beyond the easy option of adding more capacity to solve the problem.

In short, energy really does deserve our attention, especially in an increasingly competitive global marketplace. Think about it: where else in this new world of competing price pressures and growing performance expectations can a company experience as much as 20 percent cost savings while at the same time enhancing its manufacturing systems, developing greater operator expertise, improving maintenance practices, and achieving system accountability? And where else can a company combine forces with its local utility to access technical resources and services that improve operations even further?

A more profitable, more competitive mill can become reality through Continuous Energy Improvement.

About the author:
Mike Roberts, director of pulp and paper for the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, has more than 40 years experience in the pulp and paper industry. He has held significant positions in operations, engineering, research, and environmental management. Prior to joining the Industrial Efficiency Alliance, he led the U.S. engineering operations of a major consulting company, providing strategic consulting, process optimization, and detail design services on behalf of clients. He was also responsible for mill operations in the market pulp business and was director of environmental affairs and staff engineering for a major pulp and paper manufacturer. Roberts can be contacted through the Industrial Efficiency Alliance at www.industrialefficiencyalliance.org.