Recycling Services Inc. (RSI) of Alexandria, LA, accomplished what few companies have dared to undertake in recent years.
They built a completely new mill from the ground up! This venture started several years
ago when owner Ken Moran had an idea to better utilize the resource stream of recycled paper his trucking
company transports. With this idea in hand, groundbreaking took place and the plan was put in motion.
A paper machine was purchased from a mill in Canada and transported to the Louisiana site. When the
machine was physically installed, the mill also installed Panther’s ICIS™ system, which is an automated
control system that improves quality, increases output and reduces waste. Construction on the mill
continued, but not without challenges along the way. Costs exceeded preliminary estimates and the mill
faced setbacks when hurricane Katrina disrupted the labor supply. Dealing with wildly fluctuating gas
prices also affected the economics of the venture. In spite of many challenges, the mill was finally
completed and production started running this summer. RSI has installed Panther’s complete production
suite of applications. In addition to the ICIS system, the mill is using TestCentral® and ProcessAnalyzer™
to provide quality test and analysis tools. Mill operations management is being handled by our MillTools®
system which supports all facets of mill operation. The final step yet to be completed is to interface Panther’s
system with Microsoft Dynamics NAV, the mill’s business management solution.
RSI is currently producing roofing paper and plans to eventually produce roofing felt. They also have the
capability of making medium grade paper.
Panther is excited to be working with everyone at RSI and wish them the best in their new venture.
Read more about Ken Moran and RSI by clicking the link below and then scrolling down to Recycling
products for reuse proves profitable, April08.
http://www.thepineywoods.com/pageto.htm
July 2008 – Caraustar’s Sweetwater Mill Goes Live with Panther Solutions
The Sweetwater mill, part of the Caraustar Corporation, recently completed a two-phase installation of
Panther’s production management solutions.
Earlier this year Sweetwater installed TestCentral® and
ProcessAnalyzer™, Panther’s lab quality applications, which improve operational efficiency, minimize
costs and reduce downtime. This completed Phase One, paving the way for implementation of Phase Two.
The second phase took place the end of June when MillTools®, Panther’s roll tracking system, was
installed. This was a significant installation which included successfully interfacing with JD Edwards
for order entry and invoicing.
The Caraustar IT group and Sweetwater’s Core Team are a pleasure to work with and helped make the
transition a smooth one for the mill. We’re happy to be working with all the folks at Sweetwater.
Panther Nails Deadline for Thunder Bay Fine Papers Installation
When given a two week deadline to install our complete roll tracking and quality systems, Panther successfully completed what our competition said could not be done.
Thunder Bay Fine Papers was on the fast track of reopening the former Cascades mill which was closed for nearly two years in Thunder Bay, Ontario, CA. COO John Hitchman explains, “The whole process started January 4th and 120 days later the mill is producing quality paper for Canadian and US markets.”
Panther provided three critical production control systems for Thunder Bay. These included the full application suite of MillTools® which tracks the entire production process from order entry, to the shop floor, to shipping and invoicing; as well as TestCentral® and ProcessAnalyzer™ our lab quality and historian systems.
Read the full article as seen in the July/August 2008 issue of PaperAge magazine.
