The UK's favourite print show - MacMate

PROFILE
necessary. Black paper production takes place before a major
strip down of the machine for maintenance. This method of
production requires substantial on-site storage but it is the most
efficient in terms of avoiding waste.
PM6 is the largest machine on site. It produces a trim width
which is 4.5 metres wide and runs at 1,200m/minute, adding up
to 170,000 tonnes of paper a year. While this covers any number
of grades, all are made using Neusiedler’s patented Triotec
technology, where two outer coatings sandwich a central layer
calculated to provide the paper with its strength. The inner layer
can contain recycled as well as virgin fibres, while the outer
layers are made from virgin pulp to ensure the quality and
brightness of the surface layers that will be printed on. Each layer
can have a different composition, requiring three head boxes to
apply the mix to the former section.
PM5 IS A 4.4 METRE WIDE machine running at 700m/minute
while PM3 and PM4 are smaller and produce grades that are in
less demand: PM4 concentrates on 80gsm paper while PM3 is
devoted to boards of 160gsm and above. This machine is also
used as the test bed for new grades and styles of paper that are
produced by the mill and its sister mills in the Mondi group.
Continual research and development is a crucial task.
The variety of papers being produced means that Neusiedler
is very different from a newsprint mill or one making LWC where
the efficiencies derive from consistent continuous production of
a limited range of paper grades. Neusiedler is more like a
commercial printer where changing grades is like changing jobs.
It will produce up to 50 different types of 80gsm A4 sheets for
example.
CONSEQUENTLY MAKEREADY IS CRUCIAL to efficiency. The
vast machines can be stopped, reconfigured and started again
several times in a day. Staff develop the skills and experience to
30 May 2011 www.printbusinessmagazine.co.uk
do this which in turn develops a greater understanding of the
intricacies of the paper making process and when new grades are
being introduced. The most significant addition this year has
been DNS high speed inkjet, a reeled paper developed for highspeed
inkjet presses, whether running pigment or dye inks.
MONDI WORKED CLOSELY WITH PRESS manufacturers on the
requirements for the paper, coming up with a surface treatment
for the DNS high-speed inkjet paper so that the ink is absorbed
into the paper in a controlled manner, to avoid dot gain and color
bleed and to prevent absorption too far into the paper deadening
the image and creating show-through.
The mill is equally involved in developing papers which
match the specifications for other new digital print engines, as
well as Color Copy and DNS Indigo for the HP press.
Just which papers are produced when (apart from knowing
that coloured papers will be produced in the period before the
machine is stopped for maintenance) depends on order volumes
coming in from the sales network which stretches across Europe.
The IT system will provide an expected delivery date to the
customer, calling off the reels from the warehouse to be cut to
the specified size and quantity while managing stock and orders
to schedule the next production run. Mondi claims at least 98%
accuracy on fulfilling customer orders in this way.
CUSTOMERS ARE TYPICALLY paper merchants for the mill
branded papers or retail brands or for OEMs like Xerox. Papers
are designed to suit the requirements of different print engines,
what is needed for Xerox will be different to that needed by HP
Indigo for example.
Regardless of the different papers, all are produced to the
same sustainability measures. The environment is part of the
culture for the mill and its neighbourhood. And especially for
those of its neighbours who swim in the river Ybbs each summer.
Two Sides: promoting the sustainability of the paper industry
The visit to the Neusiedler mill was part
of the Two Sides campaign to raise
awareness that paper production is
sustainable and has minimal
environmental impact. The winner of
the weekend in Austria was Matthew
Webster of Virgin Travel, who was
making a first visit to a paper mill as a
result and came away impressed with
the scale of production and how
seriously Mondi took its responsibilities.
The pipeline to heat a local hospital
was a winner in this regard.
The Two Sides campaign itself has
expanded to encompass Print Power to
promote the use of paper as a
communications medium aimed at
corporates and agencies.
Headway is being made says Martyn
Eustace (picctured), but there is still
plenty to do. “In a survey conducted in April 2010, 71% of
media buyers said that they believed Print Media was leading to
deforestation. This is surprising but in line with previous
surveys. Two Sides will be revisiting this research later this year
and hopes to see some changing
attitudes,” he says. But there have
been successes. Utilities companies no
longer blithely claim that electronic
billing is good for the environment.
“The myths about paper have been
built up over time and won’t be
dispelled overnight,” he adds.
There will be many battles in a long
campaign, Two Sides trying to avoid
being dragged into direct comparisons
in terms of life cycle analysis and carbon
footprint measurements with electronic
media. “All communications channels
have a footprint,” he adds. “Being based
on a renewable and recyclable material,
print and paper may be the sustainable
way to communicate.”
To date the campaign has
concentrated on companies and on B2B
message. In the next year this will be expanded to include an
element appealing directly to end consumers, while continuing
to pounce on examples of greenwash where the environment is
used to justify a switch to email.