Consulting in 2009?

I am starting my working again after a several days' flu by reading "The Paper Index Times". Updating the current situation in P&P is easiest by this way.

The columns by Jim Thompson, writing "Nip Impressions" (see http://news.paperindex.com/category/Blogs_Columns) are always very interesting. I would like to refer a chapter of his last issue here:

You may think it is self-serving (read: old Jim does not want the competition) to tell you to avoid consulting, but my real reason for saying this is consulting, unless you have some very special well known skills, is a daunting business to enter and be successful. I tell people coming to me seeking advice on this subject the following: If you like to write, and can do so quickly and expertly, and you like to be on job interviews, come on in, the water's fine. General consulting consists of two activities: writing and interviewing for your next assignment. It is hard work. On the other hand, if you have a particular exquisite skill and are well known, you can be a success. I once knew a gentleman capable of making any old winder run, no matter how decrepit. He was in high demand, so high of demand he decided to double his rates to see if he could reduce his workload. All he did was double his income. If he had thought, there was a hint of his "problem" staring him in the face: when the mill I worked at needed him, corporate would send their private jet to fetch him, no matter where he was, and bring him to our mill. This is a reputation you can retire on.

This is something which I have wondered over a period of several years.

Consulting, performed by individual specialists or small, private institutions would be very favorable for big companies today. As discussed several times in my blog before (and is worth to repeat) is the challenge of big P&P companies to have benefit by buying rapid services from independent sector of R&D.

All the sad news about closing R&D centres give an impression of fatal view ito future: nothing can be developed anymore. Research is all in vain. But this is not the truth.

There are always ideas growing on among researchers, no matter economical situation is alarming. And it is easy to understand: researchers have adopted a positive view also in problem situations during their studies and career. Just thinking about trouble shooting of machines which would not run: you will continue your task until you find some solution. This IP is something which should be valuated and used today, no matter your "Profit 200X did not have any significant success.

If you are working for P&P, you have to be optimistic. Otherwise you do not survive.

SUCCESSFUL, COOPERATIVE NEW YEAR 2009!

There are only a couple of hours left in 2008. I am sitting in the middle of a snow storm in Central Finland, suffering of a flu which I have got as a souvenir from my Latvian visit (Riga is a beautiful city but as cold as Finland during Christmas time).

Looking back to 2008: what has happened on the area of paper industry microbiology?

It seems that certain depression has been obvious in R&D of paper industry - and especially in D. Activities of chemical suppliers will be asked by paper makers to fulfill trouble shooting tasks. Smaller private labs have also been active to assist to solve microbiological problems like H2S production by SRB's, spoilage of raw materials and biofilm formation. 

Novel methods - like PCR and PMEU - are on the threshold of applications. 

I have only one wish for 2009 regarding paper industry microbiology:

I wish that all partners of the joint activities, intended in securing paper process runnability, will have time and interest to build up cooperation. All elements for this are already available:

* experienced personnel of paper mills

* biocide suppliers, having response to help in mb problems

* novel, rapid analytical tools for P&P microbiology

* private, active research institutes

I therefore wish every one 

SUCCESSFUL, COOPERATIVE NEW YEAR 2009!

and promise to myself to be more active as a blog writer for Paper Industry Microbiology!

How much do we understand?

As a microbiologist, IM knows that he can never understand microbial activities comprehensively. This is also known by all his fellows in the field of microbiology. 

How to predict the future steps of a microbial population? What are those factors which are important just on this very moment? Do we actually know them?

As an example: Ca2+ is needed for certain bacteria to produce spores. We still cannot, however, predict the sites of sporulation inside the paper machines because other essential triggers for sporulation may not be known by us.

This does not mean that we must rise our hands and thrust only on the old manners (like machine washings and boil-outs, set in annual calendars on the walls of control rooms). IM does not mean that tradition isn't important - in opposite! - but he would still like to have an optimistic view into the future of rapid microbiological process control. Novel ideas like Quality Control tool "HACCP", microbial activity estimations with "ON LINE ATP" and "PMEU" seem to be more and more well-known in P&P industry today.

Specialists and experts of technical issues begin also to understand the basic fact that it is basically impossible to understand all activities of microbial populations totally because the very complicated interactions of living and non-living components of the systems (which is definitely one of the facts in life which we must tolerate). But our "best guesses" can - and must - be derived from our basic knowledge of microbial metabolism, microbial ecology etc. When this expertise will be connected to laboratory and field experiments and experiences of paper process microbiology, the progress in the development towards better microbiological control of paper machine is secured.

- These ideas of paper industry microbiology seem to be very similar with those which must be understood and accepted in global economy today. No one really know what will happen to the infrastructure of the very complicated network of modern capitalism! Just to have ther very best tools for forecasts and planning!  

Better housekeeping for paper machines.

There has been definitely some improvement in the microbiological control of paper machines since late 1970's (when IM started his work for it). As a very short review, two issues have been highlighted because their positive effect on the hygiene and driveability of machines: application of oxidative agents as biocides and biofilm research. Rapid killing of microbes in strategic sites of processes with compounds like peracetic acid, chlorine dioxide and ozone have given very promising results when the overall load of microbes inside machines shall be dropped. Better understanding of the features of biofilms - essential changes of bacterial metabolism when they attach on surfaces from flowing water and start to release more and more living cells and spores back to the process  - also help to focus attention on them.

Poor interests to invest in better analytical control of microbial activities, in opposite, is surprising, however. Why do the mills not benefit the obvious progress of such control methods like ON LINE luminometry, rapid PMEU incubations etc.? Is it a question of lacking knowledge, lacking interest or the status of old-fashioned analytical methods, not suited to rapid QC/HACCP of paper and board processes? Is microbiology regarded as the unknown living creature on the surface of "Solaris" in the novel of S.Lem (the most excellent film by Andrei Tarkovsky recommended!)

IM has been relatively frustrated for this situation but tries to think optimistic: some small-scale simulations are already running today, and more and more people with technical background have been interested to know about tools to estimate and forecast microbiological events inside their machines. Happy to hear that they understand that with costs of only a couple machine rolls they could have improved microbiological control which can lead to remarkable spare of money when preventing unexpected machine stops or claims of poor product quality by customers.  

The new beginning of P&P industry in Africa?

IM follows frequently the bright blog written by Jim Thompson (http://www.nipimpressions.com/).

His last post discusses about the dark future of Finnish P&P. In opposite, he gives an optimistic forecast: the promising region for the manufacture of pulp and paper could be Africa! After reading his points of view - short but comprehensive - I must agree. Everything could begin once more on this huge continent if only social and political confusions can be won there.

Sitting and thinking - what else? What about a new way to construct paper and board machines? To take into account not only technical issues, but also all chances to have machines which were easier to control and keep clean/safe than these old ones, we are still driving?

There are a lot of relatively simple solutions which can improve the hygiene of raw materials as well as keep wet end area, white water circulation, pulp towers and broke systems cleaner. These ideas were discussed during the professional career of IM and very many wise men (and women) agreed. It has been the question of reconstruction costs which has prevented the realisation of the progress in paper machine development towards cleaner production and processes.

But: what about starting everything once more? To build up machines with clever ON LINE process control and alarm systems? Machines which were easier to clean during production? Machines which even have self-cleaning constructions?

Ozzy Osbourne sings: " I'm a Dreamer" - but what we are lacking just now are the dreams, aren't we?  

Where are the novel ideas?

Where are the novel ideas?

This is actually not my question tonigth. Just to start.. 

There are a lot of them! But are they received?

I will understand it very clearly. My wife is working for young people as a "grand  lady" in Jyväskylä "School Nursery", Central Finland, today (in English: what to do with over 700 youngsters?).

She also has got novel ideas.

But what is the "Black Hole" where all our activities - yours and ours - will be drown?

Novel ideas will promote paper industry to be more economical. 

Where are yours and mine?

On the Threshold of a Dream: Application of rapid mb methods in paper industry

It seems that certain interest in novel, both rapid OFF LINE and automatized ON LINE  methods for the control of paper machine microbiology has arisen at least in Finland. The benefits of fast activities against spoilage of raw materials, biofilm and slime problems in processes as well as immediate corrections of biocide problems is understood in many mills.

What has prevent the progress of microbiological control in the mills until now?

First of all: lack of knowledge (ref. the picture above, drawn by my son in his early years). Bacteria, moulds and yeasts are something frightening for the majority of paper mill personnel. This opinion is false: learning basic facts of microbial ecology, environmental ecology and biotechnology helps to understand the activities of microbes. This kind of knowledge is served every year on trainig courses, intended in to present microbiology to laymen of paper industry.

Another claim: " We shall wash our machines several times per year - we then clean both chemical and microbiological problems away". False again: microbiological problems very often hide inside the process and lead frequently to acute problems which force to stop the production and clean the machine - and in worsest cases, lead to severe faults of products. 

We do not think that visiting our doctor a couple of times per year covers us against infectious diseases all the year, do we? Absolutely not - why then we thrust that infrequent boil-outs could prevent our machines against their "diseases"?

"Where we can catch information of novel control methods? We are not microbiologists?"

A good supply of paper industry microbiology is available nowadays, not only in scientific journals (J.Appl.Environ.Microbiology and J.IndMicrobiol.Biotech.  may be the best sources of P&P microbiology today),  but also on courses, blogs (like this and www.biotechtouch.blogspot.com) and elsewhere in Internet.

Focusing certain activity to be familiar with P&P microbiology isn't too hard task for those persons who are responsible for the technical and quality issues of paper and board production. It is definitely worth to do and to reserve time for it.

Back to the title of this post: great british rock group "The Moody Blues" published and album with the same title years ago. Progressive rock with jazz features (near to the heart of IM) then grew to a respective form of music all over the world on 1960's-1970's. I hope that we are now similarly stepping into a new era of control methods for paper industry microbiology today.