Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

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The Mazery Period (1989–1996) the last as General Manager of Enstra, before he was transferred to Head Office� Tjaart van der Walt, an experienced operations man in Sappi, assisted Colin, while Wayne Weston was transferred to the team to ensure Saiccor’s requirements were retained� Although the relationship between Colin Kerr and Celpap became strained, Celpap did produce a report supporting our proposal� Then Eugene van As asked why we had not considered expanding the capacity of the magnesium plant� Canadian consultants NLK were engaged, who a short while later merged with Celpap to form NLK- Celpap, an unhappy union that soon ended in separation, leaving both partners close to collapse� NLK started to look at the magnesium expansion but were diverted to looking at thermo-mechanical pulping for Saiccor� NLK had not produced a final report before the company started running out of capacity and had to abandon the project� Canadian consultants HA Simons were then engaged, with Keith Richardson and Kevin Cox leading their teams� By this time (mid-1991) the expansion proposal had changed to 1 600 t/d for the total mill, with the new machine and bleach plant at 800 t/d� This was based on a suggestion from André Vlok that the machine be made 800 t/d, which he said would cost very little more than a 700t/d machine� André, who was then in his mid-50s, was technically the most knowledgeable man at Sappi, where he had been in various senior positions for 27 years� Until his retirement at the end of 1998 he was a great supporter of Saiccor, having joined the Board in June 1991� Discussions with Gotaverken (the boiler supplier), confirmed that the recovery boiler could only be expanded by 30 per cent, equivalent to 150 t/d of magnesium pulp� Thus, the final proposal became a mill expansion of 400 t/d (150 t/d magnesium and 250 t/d calcium pulp to a nominal 1 600 t/d)� This included a new 800 t/d bleach plant and pulp machine, the introduction of oxygen bleaching for all three bleach plants; for the magnesium plant an additional washer, evaporator and bigger pumps, motors and pipes, while the flock plant was to be shut down� After much discussion and debate Simons produced the final feasibility study on 3 June 1992, for R953 million (R2,76 = $1)� The proposal had four main goals: to increase output, to improve quality, to reduce Saiccor’s environmental impact and to broaden the product range� The proposal was approved in late November 1992� Thys de Waard and I were charged with setting up the project, which Thys named the ‘Mkomazi Project’ after the river� Thys, a mechanical engineer in his early 50s, had many years experience in the industry, having worked for Premier Paper (with Bill Hastie, Saiccor’s first Works Manager, and Ugo Testa), before joining Sappi� He was technically very sound, a tough negotiator, and would not tolerate fools� 153 André Vlok Thys de Waard Andrea Rossi
The First Fifty Years Tragically, he died on 9 September 1997� Thys and I went to Vancouver in February 1993 to finalise technical details for the equipment with potential suppliers and Simons, who by this stage had formed a joint venture with Swedish consultants AF-IPK� Tender documents were also prepared� Simons-AF-IPK were selected as Project Managers and had an owners’ team working with them� The owners’ team was headed by Andrea Rossi, a 39-year-old electrical engineer from Thys de Waard’s department, who had been deeply involved with projects� Andrea was a sound engineer and a capable manager� Eddie Watson was the owners’ team Project Manager for the bleach plant� Eddie first came to Saiccor in the early 1980s during his vacations from the University of Natal� He joined Saiccor on 1 February 1990 after completing his military service and Chemical Engineering degrees (including a thesis on viscosity control from Saiccor digesters)� He was promoted to Plant Manager of the Mkomazi plant on 1 July 1993, and Projects Manager of Saiccor on 1 July 1996� Unfortunately Eddie left Saiccor at the end of December 1997 to start his own business� He was a very capable engineer and manager� George Marshall was the owners’ team Project Manager for the pulp machine� George was born in Benoni on 25 January 1962 but grew up in Port Elizabeth� After graduating as a chemical engineer from Stellenbosch, he worked on the mines before joining Saiccor on 2 January 1990� George was promoted to Production Manager of the pulp machines on 1 November 1990 and Senior Production Manager on 1 March 1994� He was appointed Plant Manager of Pulp Finishing on 1 July 1996 and General Manager of LignoTech South Africa on 1 September 2000� He is both technically very competent and a good manager� Also part of the owners’ team were Mike Howlett, Garth James, Silvio Ceriani and Andrew Hall (a young chemical engineer), and from Head Office on a part time basis Dick Sorenson, Tjaart van der Walt and Eric Rainey� At the beginning of 1993 an experienced Project Manager from consultants Ekona was appointed overall Project Director� However he proved unsuitable and by May 1993, Brian Beard was appointed Project Director� Thys de Waard and I had met Brian, a Vice President of Simons, in Vancouver, where he had made a favourable impression� He was seconded to Saiccor for the project� Despite being very much an ‘eight to five’ man, Brian did all that was required to hold the project together� A flying enthusiast, he managed in his spare time from the project to have an out of commission Harvard refurbished, taking it back to Canada as a new plane� The Simons’ project team of some 40 people arrived in the second quarter of 1993� The team was supplemented by local technicians 154 Eddie Watson George Marshall Brian Beard
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Saiccor The First Fifty Years Sincl
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Foreword In the typical Sinclair St
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Contents References vi Acknowledgem
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Acknowledgements During the course
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The Cantacuzene Period (1952-1965)
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The Yeomans’ Period (1966-1967) T
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The Yeomans’ Period (1966-1967) D
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The Wharton Period (1968-1970) The
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The Wharton Period (1968-1970) No 5
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The Wharton Period (1968-1970) outp
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The Wharton Period (1968-1970) The
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) The
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) with
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) majo
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) Prod
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) In t
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) As a
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) Ther
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) Any
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) Reti
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) nego
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) hesi
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The Tainton Period (1971-1983) four
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The Dell Period (1983-1985) The Del
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Saiccor - The First 50 Years 5.8 MB - Sappi

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