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The production
process
The production process in a modern factory like
ours is a fascinating event. First of all because
the raw material for our product is a natural
material: chemical pulp, made from wood. Small
wood chips are boiled together with various chemicals,
after which white pure fibre material remains.
This pulp is then cut into thick white plates
and marketed in bales. CVG buys its chemical
pulp on the global market through Inkoopcombinatie
De Eendragt. The most important players on this
market are the North American and European companies,
but pulp from South America is increasingly coming
onto the market too. It should be stressed that
CVG sets strict standards for the origin of its
pulp, both as regards quality and sustainability
of natural resources.
The human touch
This is where our production process starts,
creating an efficient route from pulp
to paper. Despite our sophisticated installations
and systems, much of papermaking still relies
on the human touch: above all craftsmanship
and a love of living
paper. An integral element
of this work is the quality control before,
during and after the production process.
Non-stop: 7 x 24 x 365
We manufacture paper in a non-stop process with
only a few interruptions per year, such as
for maintenance. So we are on the job day and
night – at weekends and on public holidays
as well. This is why our mill operators work
a five-shift system. This means that five shifts,
each of 22 people, take turns during a 24-hour
period. They operate two paper machines, PM1
and PM2, with a width of 3.60 and 4.80 metres
respectively and with a total capacity of some
215,000 tons per year.
Craftsmanship,
or…
The love of living paper
Papermaking is a multifaceted
trade. It is a craft, but also a technology.
It is an efficient production process, but it
can also be an art. Paper is essentially different
to other industrial products... This is due to
its origin, which makes paper what it is: a living
material.
This is why papermaking requires special
skills, and above all:
Continuous care and attention
Working with living materials requires continuous
care and attention to form the raw material
into the desired end-product. In contrast to
soulless materials such as steel or plastic,
paper requires continual adjustment during
all phases of the production. As a result,
papermakers are all-round specialists in the
sense of craftsmen or craftswomen.
Craftsmanship: theory, experience and feeling
You don’t become a papermaker just by undergoing
a formal training. Of course these diplomas provide
a good foundation, but it is the practical experience
which really creates a passion for papermaking.
At CVG, all new production workers undergo additional
training on the basis of recognized training methods
(VAPRO) and international standards for papermaking
(VAPA).
But a papermaker at CVG really learns most during
the actual work, and then above all from his older
and experienced colleagues. In this way knowledge,
experience and feeling are transferred in a continual
cycle.
Quality minded
Is a love of the craft measurable? Yes, by establishing
the quality of our product by means of many
certified and standardized tests: a total of
around twenty for each produced drum. This
means that our quality controllers work around
the clock – 24 hours a day, seven days
a week – to carry out their tests: before,
during and after the production
process. Of
course, speed is of vital importance in order
to keep interruptions to production to a minimum,
but quality compromises are out of the question.
Customer oriented
Yes, we love our craft, but we also realize that
paper is not an end in itself. Paper is just a
medium and the customer determines the goal. This
is why all papermakers in our production process know what
the customer intends to do with our paper. Be it
a graphical paper, papers for self-adhesive
products or airline tickets, each
application has its own set of requirements. Seeing
things from the client’s perspective and
understanding his requirements is a guiding principle
for everyone at CVG.
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