Production Technical Seminar

The Production-Technical (P-T) Seminar is RPTA's annual premier educational program for members. The Seminar focuses on issues that affect the ability of the recycled paperboard manufacturers to meet the growing demands of the marketplace, including fiber supply and reliability, energy efficiency, production efficiency, maintenance and reliability, and emerging issues.

Information members learn through the P-T Seminars will help companies make the highest quality recycled paperboard while reducing costs and environmental impacts.

RPTA's Production Technical Seminar is held annually at TAPPICon - TAPPI's annual paper convention - and is open to both RPTA members and non-members who attend TAPPICon.

2024 Production-Technical Seminar
Held on April 29 and 30, at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. Use the links below to access the Power Point presentations.

Session 1: Safer Operations
Narrow Roll Safety Guidelines - Banning, Greif
Microsoft-Based Safety Training - Soucy & Saberian, Kruger

Session 2: Process Monitoring
Getting Started with Process Monitoring Process Center-lining - Journeaux, Envoy Development
Online Furnish Quality Measurement - VanPembrook, Valmet
Troubleshooting Stock Preparation Systems - Fetterly, Kadant

Session 3: Multiply (Cylinder) Machine Operations (a mini-course)
Multi-Ply Cylinder Machine Operations - Bennett, Peck & Young, Multipli Machinery Inc (with speaker notes)

Session 4: New Recyclable Packaging Developments
Advances in Coated Recycled Board Compostability - Bradley, Ten Springs & Welsch, Trinseo
Trends in Circularity - Pasad, Kemira
Molded Fiber Packaging _ Market Outlook and Product Trends - Gonzalaz, AFRY Management Consulting

2023 Production-Technical Seminar
Held April 24 and 25 at the Cobb Galleria Center in Atlanta, co-located with TAPPICon 2023.

Use the links below to access the Session Recordings and Power Point presentations.

Session 1 - Safer Operations Recording
Job Risk Reduction – PRO Card Program- Jennifer Jackson
Safer Operations with Automated Threading - David Liem and Daryll Benn
Plus a panel discussion on Keeping Employees Safe in Times of High Employee Turnover

Session 2 - Fiber Recovery Optimization Recording
Aphron Technology for Fiber Recovery - Knollenberg
Fiber Recovery Optimization Using Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) - Wolkow
Fiber Savings Through System and Screening Optimization - Fetterly

Session 3 - Process Data Best Practices Recording
Paper machine wet-end vision technology - Papertech-IBS - Hilden and Wratschko
Process Data Best Practices - Donald Stanley
Time-Series Data Best Practices - Gavigan

Session 4 - Wet End Operations Recording
Fundamentals of Wet End Chemistry - Larry Anker
Managing and Optimizing the Vacuum-Dewatering System for Papermakers - Doug Sweet
Multivariant Solutions for Wet End Process Control Issues – Elliott Bell

 

2022 Production-Technical Seminar
May 2nd & 3rd at the Charlotte Convention Center, co-located with TAPPICon 2022. Use the links below to access the 13 Power Point presentations.

Session 1: Contaminant Removal
Identification and Characterization of Organic Contaminants - Jason Wang
Performance and Effectiveness of Contemporary Cleaning Systems - Steven Johnson
Mechanical, Operational and Chemical Strategies for Managing Stickies - Garnet Bremner

Session 2: Refining
Refining Strategy Development for Recycled Based Paper Mills - Arvind Singhai
How to Fibrillate Recycled Fibers to Achieve up to 25% Additional Strength - David Zerr
The Future of Refining - Pat Dixon

Session 3: Paper Machine Drying
Optimizing Paper Machine Dryer Sections - Robin Thon
Voith Cleanline Extract 4D - EJ Labranche
Drying Best Practices_Optimization - Christian Coffman

Extra presentation:
25 Cost Reduction Projects to Improve Your Mills Profitability - David Zerr

Session 4: Safety: Threading & Guarding
To the Point without a Pinch Safety Guarding Presentation - Chris Allen
Threading Safety and Efficiency - Rob Parkinson
Advances in Tail Threading Safety in 2022 - Jim Werner

 

Links to past Seminar Programs are below:


LATEST NEWS

Industry Benchmarking Survey
Sampling and sample preparation are complete for the 2025 Profile Study. Samples from 51 paper machines, collected during the first quarter, were blind-coded before shipping to test labs. Report will be issued in early September. All past Survey reports can be accessed at this member-only page.

2025 Winter Webinar
On January 22nd we held a webinar on Recovered Fiber Grades & Quality, presented by Shawn State, President of Pratt Recycling at Pratt Industries, and Pat McEnroe, Product Group Director at Kadant Black Clawson. The recording and Power Point slides from the webinar are available at this RPTA members only site, along with materials from other past RPTA educational events.

UPCOMING EVENTS

2025 Production-Technical Seminar
TAPPICon 2025 will be held May 4 – 7, 2025, at the Minneapolis Convention Center.

This year, RPTA’s Production-Technical Seminar will be integrated into TAPPICon.

RPTA members at mills that make 100% (or very high percentage) recycled containerboard, paperboard, or pulp (and their corporate support staff) will register through RPTA for a special, low registration fee of $800.

Included in the $800 fee are TAPPICon and four RPTA exclusive events for our members:

  1. End Chemistry Mini-Course – May 5, 7:00 to 9:00 am
  2. Member Lunch – May 5, 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
  3. Member Roundtable Breakfast- May 6, 7:45 to 8:45 am
  4. Member Networking Room – May 5 and 6, all day

RPTA Operating Board Officers will be chairing three TAPPICon sessions, with RPTA-recruited speakers, on topics of interest to our members:

  1. Safety Walk/Safety Talk
  2. Achieving the Right Amount of Strength
  3. Waste Reduction and Alternative Fuels

Register here for TAPPICon 2025 & RPTA Special Events by April 14, 2025. Nonmembers, and members not associated with recycled mills, should register through TAPPICon.

Keep abreast of TAPPICon Program details and travel information at TAPPICon 2025.