More than pulp: expertise that makes a difference

“Close collaboration with our customers is very important to us. It gives us crucial feedback and the opportunity to continuously improve. When we develop new products, it often starts with a customer approaching us with a challenge, a new product specification or a specific problem,” says Daniel Solberg, Senior Research Engineer at SCA.

Often, the work is about creating the right conditions for SCA’s products to perform optimally in the customer’s process.

“Every problem provides ideas for improvements and sometimes even for a new product. And usually, it’s not a question of us solving the problem. We solve it together with the customer,” Daniel continues.

SCA has a team of senior research engineers who can support customers on site when production or process issues arise. For more complex challenges, SCA’s broad R&D expertise and analytical capabilities are also available.

Small adjustments can make a big difference

But many issues can be solved much more simply, sometimes through a Teams meeting. It could, for example, be a case of BCTMP pulp being refined too heavily, or a pH issue affecting the chemistry of the process.

“The customer often has a “standard recipe”, but sometimes the process needs to be adapted to our pulp to perform optimally. And getting it right really pays off. In tissue, for example, raw materials often account for more than half of the total cost. By optimizing something like refining, there can be a lot to gain,” says Paul Wallstabe, Product Specialist at SCA, who regularly visits customers.

In today’s challenging business environment, many customers also operate with lean organizations. In these situations, access to external expertise and an experienced sounding board can be particularly valuable. And our expertise goes beyond pulp. Sometimes, the best solution may be found elsewhere in the process or equipment.

Another important strength is SCA’s long experience in papermaking, including its heritage in tissue production (today Essity) and the former paper production at Ortviken. This means that the specialists working closely with customers bring extensive hands-on experience from paper production.

Knowledge goes both ways

Every year, SCA carries out around 50 projects where it supports customers in different ways. SCA also provides training, both digitally and on site, ranging from basic training in fibre types, fibre chemistry, processing and refining to more advanced knowledge exchange with customers’ own engineers.

At the same time, knowledge flows both ways. Customers’ experience helps SCA develop and, where needed, tailor its solutions. The opportunities are particularly significant within BCTMP, where production offers a high degree of flexibility.

SCA also has access to a range of fibre raw materials, both softwood and hardwood, not least the versatile birch. Combined with the capabilities of our state-of-the-art production facility, this opens up a wide range of possibilities for developing and tailoring solutions to different customer needs.

“We see great opportunities for BCTMP, not least within moulding. We have a raw material that is less expensive than kraft pulp and also eucalyptus, but provides better strength. So, if you use our lower-cost raw material in the right way, you can achieve a very good moulding result. And as an independent pulp producer, we can really help our customers find the right solution,” Paul concludes.