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Better Together: 2026 TAPPICon Live! - Episode 2
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We're excited to bring listeners this second of two special episodes recorded at TAPPICon 2026, April 26-29 in Columbus, OH.
We had a great turnout for TAPPICon 2026 and the new program format made it easy for people to engage, learn, and grow. TAPPICon’s multi-track program is planned and executed by real working papermakers, and 2026 brought Mill Monday, Technical Tuesday, and Workshop Wednesday to the forefront.
As TAPPI's official event podcast, Better Together is happy to bring you the opportunity to experience a taste of what makes TAPPICon special. We've assembled three interviews recorded with attendees at the event. Our guests for this episode are:
Wayne Reinhart Jr., technical solutions manager at SPM:
"Bring me your issues and we're going to help you find a solution. And it could be anything from changing your process to certain types of equipment to help you monitor that equipment."
John Watkins, product sales manager for Andritz Inc.:
"There is a tremendous opportunity to invest in automation and digitalization solutions because if we don't, the BRIC countries are doing it and we are going to fall behind. We have to adapt."
Kurt Mehlberg, quality solutions manager, Domtar:
"Continuously reducing risk, continuously challenging what we're doing, (using) a fresh sets of eyes or new tools like AI, that all makes us better. We've got to be able to listen and leverage that knowledge."
YOU can get in on the conversation! Mark your calendars for April 24 – 28, 2027, and join us in Indianapolis, IN, for TAPPICon 2027. We hope this podcast captured some of the excitement of TAPPICon but to really get it, you need to be there.
Thanks to our amazing guests for sharing their knowledge and stories. Be sure to check out our first TAPPICon 2026 episode as well, where we meet three more of our TAPPICon attendees.
Introduction
SPEAKER_01Welcome to Better Together, Tappy's live event podcast. Each new episode includes short interviews with the movers, the shakers, and the industry innovators who come to Tappy Conferences to network and knowledge share. I'm Jan Bodilari, editor of Paper 360 magazine, and I'll be your host as we try to capture and share some of the excitement found at in-person events. Welcome to our second Better Together episode recorded recently at Capicon 2026 in Columbus, Ohio. Today we will be speaking with Wayne Reinhart Jr. from SPM, John Watkins of Andritz, and Kurt Melberg from Domtar. I can't wait to have you meet them all. So let's get started.
Wayne Reinhart Jr., SPM
SPEAKER_01Well, Wayne, thank you for coming on to Better Together. You are about to present at Tapicon. I'm speaking with Wayne Reinhart Jr., he's a technical solutions manager with SPM. Tell me what you do.
SPEAKER_03Well, Jan, thanks for having me talk with you. I um I'm a technical solutions manager. But think of me as somewhere between an applications engineer, a little bit of sales guy, and a wealth of knowledge at your disposal. So um with our presentation today at Tapicon, we're gonna talk about uh chip process improvements and why it's important. And so I want to begin with a little fun analogy that I tell everyone about is well, who hasn't had grandma's mashed potatoes?
SPEAKER_01That's one of my faves.
SPEAKER_03Thanksgiving. Um Thanksgiving in America would not be the same without grandma's mashed potatoes. And what do we know about grandma's mashed potatoes? That, well, they're consistent, they're creamy, the texture, the everything is just right. Well, what did we learn from that? Process control and making grandma's mashed potatoes is essential. So if we talk about the pulp and paper industry, I'd rather keep talking about potatoes.
SPEAKER_01No, I'm kidding.
SPEAKER_03No, I know. But unfortunately, grandma is not here at Tappy Consider.
SPEAKER_01No, grandma's not here.
SPEAKER_03You know, so if if if you were to take that same concept and talk about making pulp, if I was to take a large wood chip, say the size of my fist versus standard chips that are maybe, you know, a little larger than my thumbnail or what have you, and try to process that through, at some point in time I'm gonna cause damage to either the product or the equipment, which could equal downtime, equipment damage, loss of product yield, lower profit margins, uh potentially a safety issue.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So from a very simplistic idea of monitoring the chipping process in the very beginning, we begin the process off on the right foot. And if we did it right, maybe grandma will make us some mashed potatoes.
SPEAKER_01I love that analogy, Wayne. It's really it kind of gets straight to home, right? And you're right, if we start off on the wrong foot, if we start off with a material that's not consistent, it just leads to problems further down the line.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, without going into all the crazy phrases like, you know, O E E and M T M I T R and M T B and you know, all these other phrases or acronyms that mean something, it's bring it down, make it simple. Let's get consistent, let's be uniform, and let's have an easier day in operations.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So I'm sure every MIL wants that.
SPEAKER_03I'm sure I hope so. But again, you know, that this process optimization is very easy to apply. It's a couple sensors, it's a simple measuring instrument, and it has side benefits. It also tells you not only is your process in place, but it also tells you the general condition of your rest of your equipment it's associated with. Are my bearings on my motor in a good shape? How about the bearings on the shaft for the uh chipper? These are all side benefits you get potentially from this process. So it's a win-win for everybody.
SPEAKER_01Right. Yeah, I agree. Well, uh we're really happy to have you presenting and sharing that knowledge here at Tapicon 26. That's what it's all about, really, is sharing knowledge. How's your Tapicon experience been?
SPEAKER_03Um, as it's this is my first speaking at a Tapicon event, it went very well. Yeah. Um, people were receptive, kind, you know, well thought out questions. You could tell that the crowd is engaged in a specific topic. And Tapicon is very heavily uh structured around the pulp and paper industry. So the questions definitely reflected that mindset. Uh I enjoyed the exhibit, uh meeting the different people in place. So far, it's been a great experience. I look forward to doing it again.
SPEAKER_01Oh, well, that's exactly the news we want to hear. Um, you do you work closely with customers in the industry?
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. Um at SPM we work in the pulp and paper industry not only in America but around the world.
SPEAKER_01Really?
SPEAKER_03Our parent company, SPM, is uh out of Sweden. And in the presentation, we gave several case studies from two facilities that are in Sweden that they work hand in hand with in developing this technology so that it can be applied everywhere. Uh, we're in the process now of implementing some tests with this process at various facilities in the United States with um hopes of doing some testing in Canada, possibly Mexico. Uh you know, those are within my reach of course.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Well, that's really interesting. So not only do you provide um the equipment and the monitoring, is that that's correct? So, but you also develop new products just for you customers.
SPEAKER_03Products and processes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Um, just again, related to the chipping industry, there's a whole nother process improvement that SPM has developed, and it's it's for the shakers. You know, in the pulp and paper industry, as you're making your chips, they go to a shaker, and the shaker helps sort out the chips into the right size as well. Is your shaker working correctly? It's a very unique machine if you've ever worked on one. We have a process improvement just for that. So we monitor the amplitudes, the frequencies, the time intervals to determine is it working at its peak optimal position or the best efficiency or not? We do the same thing. We have a pump optimization process. Okay. And we found that most people believe that I can just take a pump, turn it on, and it's running perfectly. That is so far from the truth.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03Peak efficiency is rarely, rarely at 100% and or with zero modifications. And in our pump optimization process, we have, we do the same concept as with the chipper industry. We monitor the pump, we run it through RPM ranges, and we find where we have the least amount of cavitation or heat buildup and monitor for flow characteristics and say, this is your optimal operating spot. So utilizing basic uh condition-based monitoring techniques, vibration analysis, for example, or the patented SPM process from SPM, shock pulse method is what that stands for.
SPEAKER_01Okay, thank you.
SPEAKER_03Um, I kind of saw that with your eyes there. Uh, but we're able to measure that shock wave going through the structure as well as vibration, and that allows us to create that image that the customers can relate to on a dashboard and go, oh, blade number three on my wood chipper must have damage. Look at my orbital plot and look at my graph that represents the energy requirements for blade three.
SPEAKER_01Cool.
SPEAKER_03So it's a very simplistic, very user-driven concept.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03But we do it for pumps, we do it for shakers, we do it for wood chippers, and we also have a process for ball mills. Okay. So we can measure things like tow-in and help find the again peak efficiency point where your process is both uh crushing correctly, mixing correctly, and giving you the yield you're looking for.
SPEAKER_01Right, right. Well, you seem like a person who who really enjoys bringing that knowledge to customers. Would you think of yourself as a problem solver?
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. As a technical solutions manager, that's what we're here for.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Bring me your issues and we're gonna help you find a solution.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And it it could be anything from changing your process to certain types of equipment to help you monitor that equipment.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, right. What's been your favorite like customer reaction? Is there something that sort of stands out in your mind?
SPEAKER_03The look on their face.
SPEAKER_01The look on their face. I hear that from other technical guys. It's just that look on the face of we got it.
SPEAKER_03Yes. And they start off with, well, we hear you, we understand what you say, but everyone has said that. Right. You know, or or we've read this, where when you come out and you prove it, and they're like, I I honestly didn't believe you. I'm amazed. It's like, well, I normally don't want to waste your time, and I absolutely don't want to waste mine, but I understand the sentiment because well, one time I was there myself. So uh, but no, it's the facial expressions. It's like when people look at you and go, that's real. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01You say you were once there yourself. How'd you get into this industry?
SPEAKER_03Uh it was an evolution. Really? Um, many moons ago, I started life in the skilled trades.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03As a pipe fitter. And I realized that, boy, there's a lot to learn. Like, why does this work? And I thought to myself, and of course I talked to my grandfather, bless his souls, now with us, but he said, you know who figures that out? An engineer understands that. And I went, hmm. Well, maybe I'll go to school and get an engineering degree at the same time. So that's what I did. I started off, I've had my apprenticeship, and then I'm going to school to get my mechanical engineering degree, and I start putting these pieces together. And I'm going, okay, I I got this, I have this, but why do I have these variables? Right. And then one of my professors says, Well, you know, we can qualify all this information with an accelerometer. And I went, Well, how do you do that? Of course, he looks at me and he goes, I'm going to show you. And sure enough, we go, and I'm like, I need that in my life.
SPEAKER_01And then you became the one who said, This is real.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. I was sold. And at that point in time, I took all of the above, put it together, and have studied vibration, ultrasound, infrared, uh, motor circuit analysis, uh, motion amplification. I I've even gone on to become an instructor for certified reliability programs. So in years gone past, I taught for Mobius Institute, and now I teach for the SPM Academy, nice, which is an ISO certified training course, and the the reach is amazing. Um, we just had classes going on in England two weeks ago, and uh we have a series of classes going on in Mexico here real soon. Uh, I am scheduled to teach a class here in the United States, I want to say in July or August.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_03I can't remember my calendar. It's I'm calendar dysfunctional.
SPEAKER_01You're on Tappy time now. Tappy Con time is a little different.
SPEAKER_03That's right. It's the only thing that matters is meeting all you guys and getting to know the crews and the people out here. Um, like I said, and as far as you know, Terry here, who was the coordinator for my speaking event. Okay, what a wonderful guy to work with.
SPEAKER_04Okay.
SPEAKER_03You know, he made the whole idea of getting my presentation in place and the whole process of moving forward. Absolutely a gem.
SPEAKER_01Well, Wayne, we are so excited to have you sharing your knowledge here at TapyCon. We are excited to know you'll come back, and I'm really happy you made time for Better Together.
SPEAKER_03Thank you, Jen.
John Watkins, Andritz
SPEAKER_01Well, now on Better Together, I'm with John Watkins. He's from Andritz. Uh, we're here at Tapicon, and he's excited about his experience so far, and he's excited about some things that Andritz is doing for our industry. John, welcome.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for having me, Jan. Excited to be here, and just it's been such a blast at Tapicon this year.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, what's been your favorite thing?
SPEAKER_00Well, you know, I I just enjoy these because you get to see a lot of folks you've worked with in your past career. You get to meet new people. I mean, there's always connections to be made, really, everywhere you walk, everywhere you turn around, there's somebody new to talk to and learn about what they're doing. But I've been really impressed with some of the uh Tappy presentation sessions. Great. There's been some, you know, younger talent that has been doing some of the presentations this year, and the work they're doing is just incredible, and it is awesome to see uh young kids getting into the industry and becoming so passionate so quickly.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, that's our secret weapon right now, I think. Getting young folks in the industry, and it's Tappy's secret weapon to sort of give them these leadership opportunities, right? Give them this home space that they can come back to no matter where they end up going in the industry.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that's what's so cool about it. I mean, these these kids, you can tell, they give a really passionate and well-spoken presentation and then come outside the conference room, and people that have been in the industry for 20, 30 years are asking them questions about their research. It's so cool.
SPEAKER_01Yes, we we have to get that knowledge transfer, right?
SPEAKER_00We do, we do. Oh, so much. Someone just brought me coffee. Thank you so much. You gotta be hydrated.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's what it is. That's why I drink coffee at TabbyCon to stay hydrated. Um, so yeah, I completely agree. I completely agree. We've got our poster session right outside the exhibit hall. We've got um our young professionals in charge of the hot topics breakfast. That's been going well. Um, so tell me what Andritz has been doing for the industry. Because you yourself are a pretty young professional.
SPEAKER_00I am.
SPEAKER_01Um, and I'd like to know what you're excited about at Andritz.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, uh Andritz is just such a fascinating company. There's so many aspects of the pulp and paper industry that we are in. But, you know, I'm part of our automation and digitalization group, and uh I feel extremely excited about the emerging technologies and opportunities for automation within our industry. And it it was interesting. I was sitting in the opening presentation on Monday here at TappyCon, uh listening to um, you know, the data from around the world, and it was really eye-opening to see how quickly and how rapidly some of the BRIC countries are investing and expanding their paper industry. And so I feel that you know here in the US and North America, there is a tremendous opportunity to invest in automation and digitalization solutions because if we don't, the BRIC countries are doing it and we are going to fall behind. We have to adapt and we have to invest in these new emerging automation technologies. And frankly, I'm really excited to be part of Andritz's automation group. It's um you know really invigorating to be part of a new technology and just have so many opportunities here in North America, and um, we can make a real difference. I mean, we have solutions such as automated process controls, operator training simulators, uh, asset management programs. I mean, these can all help MILS become more efficient and use less resources. We sell a lot of smart products, which would be robotics and mechatronics and analyzers. And you know, this is just another tool to further increase automation, reduce cost, help make a better quality product, and make our processes more efficient and frankly use less energy and be more environmentally friendly.
SPEAKER_01I mean, we don't, as you said, I I I don't think we have any choice.
SPEAKER_00We don't. It's either adapt or we die. And we've seen that this summer, this past summer. There's been a number of paper mills that have closed down here in the US. And um you hate to see that, you know? Absolutely. I feel like we have an incredible resource here in North America, and that is our wood basket. And we cannot let these mills fail because they make some of the best quality paper in the world. So we have to adapt, we have to invest, and we have to we have to move forward with these new technologies because other countries are doing so.
SPEAKER_01Well, we talk about this global shift, and it's really been profound, and it's happened so quickly. And then another, I think, another thing that sets Nap North America apart from other paper-producing countries in the world, packaging producing countries in the world, is A, the age of our installed base, and B the cost of capital expenditures. Um, but I think automation is one of those things that you can add to uh you can upgrade your automation without doing an entire greenfield project project.
SPEAKER_00Exactly.
SPEAKER_01You can upgrade your automation without replacing your entire machine.
SPEAKER_00So um and Andritz has solutions for really every process throughout the pulp, board, tissue side. I mean, we have a solution for everyone really, and it often does not require investing in expensive new assets. You know, we can retrofit some of our existing pieces of equipment like Kmir digesters, refiners, screening systems with automated process controls, and it is a low upfront investment that can make a real difference in the long run.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and I mean you mentioned Kimir, like Androids has been in the industry for a long time, and you've acquired other brands along the way. So I think really what paper makers or yeah, what paper makers and packaging makers need to do is assess their equipment, decide where their biggest opportunities are, and then find out. They may have um you know OEMs that they don't know are OEMs, right?
SPEAKER_00You're absolutely right. And Andritz can help with that assessment as well. We we actually um do this at no cost. If you guys, if you are a mill and you're interested in exploring opportunities for automation in your mill, you can get in touch with Andritz and we do site surveys and data collection to help identify areas where we think some automation might provide real value.
SPEAKER_01But that's really cool. I mean, I you know, we've talked a little so far about the need for automation and the need for kind of getting on that bandwagon for smart capabilities. And we've also talked about young people in our industry. Where do you see the nexus of that?
SPEAKER_00Well, that's uh that's a really interesting question. I've talked to a number of students this week exactly about that. I think there's a real excitement and a real buzz for some of the newer chemical engineering, uh, even mechanical engineering or pulp and paper engineering students around automation. I know some of the schools are working on workshops and programs to get kids more understanding early on of process controls and how they work, and really trying to learn how to use AI tools effectively and actually do real data analytics with AI tools, something I never would have even crossed my brain 15 years ago when I was in college. So the kids are excited though, and we're excited to bring them out into industry where they can make a difference.
SPEAKER_01Okay, this is something else. Um, so I I co-host another podcast for Tappy with Mark Rushdon, our um editor of Tissue 360. Mark and I spoke to some young professionals here uh at TappyCon um about what they're excited about, about um making those decisions. Um and we asked them, you know, would you have even been attracted to the industry of 30 or 40 years ago? And then we asked them, what do you see for the industry 30 or 40 years from now? It has changed so much in the past two or three decades. I don't know, like I my prediction is that, and I know it will come true, is that in 30 years we will be doing things we aren't conceiving of now.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. Uh there's no doubt about that. I I I feel exactly the same way. And a lot of it will be around automation, a lot of it will be around new ways to use wood and wood fibers or alternative fibers to wood. Um microfibrillated cellulose is another really interesting solution to replace plastics with. And it's just really incredible to see not only students but companies and just everyone being behind these technologies and trying to move them forward and make them better so that they can become real, low cost, and give us better quality and more environmentally friendly packaging solutions.
SPEAKER_01Oh my gosh, I love that. I think that's a great ending note because what I just heard you say is that it is the job of people in our industry to make impossibilities real.
SPEAKER_00It's pretty incredible, but I believe in us. We we are incredibly ingenuitive and we can continue to make paper better and more exciting and just provide a better world where paper surrounds us and we can. Throw it away, you can recycle it, and we don't have to worry about the overall impact to our environment as much as we do some of our current packaging solutions.
SPEAKER_01I completely agree. Chan, thank you so much for being on Better Together. It's really been a pleasure to speak with you.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. Enjoyed it. Looking forward to doing it again next year.
Kurt Mehlberg, Domtar
SPEAKER_01Well, thanks for coming to Podcast Table, Kurt. I'm with Kurt Malberg from DomTar, and he's not only here as a seasoned Tappy member, but he is here as a presenter.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, thank you for the opportunity here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So tell me a little about um the safety panel that you were moderating as part of our Mill Monday.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, absolutely. We had a a great uh group we put together uh on behalf of the PIMA Safety Committee that I'm chair of, and we had one panel in particular, um, a contractor safety panel with three different perspectives uh discussing safety management better practices and and some of the opportunities that are out there. So we had uh Dan Goimerak from Myron Construction, Dustin Lemere from Smurf at West Rock, and Sarah Lohner from Salinas. So three very different but healthy uh perspectives to to provide some information for the attendees.
SPEAKER_01Uh yeah. Well, I think contractor safety is a really interesting um part of safety because you know, when you're doing a shutdown, you're open to so many new faces in the mill, new processes, new equipment. Do you think there's a risk there um regarding safety when you do a shutdown and have contractors come in?
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. And and actually the panel did a good job of of quantifying the you know a shutdown. It could be um, you know, one individual working on transferring a tote by themselves, right? You know, they're the they're a contractor in the mill, a supplier in the mill, but you could also have you know 800, 900, or a thousand contractors coming in and doing all sorts of work, you know. Um so yeah, there are a lot of different perspectives there. But at the end of the day, um, you know, the systems that we use and um the learnings that we can can learn from whether it's one or or a hundred individuals, those systems are very, very similar.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's interesting. Well what kind of comments were your contractor panelists making?
SPEAKER_04You know, it's it's so important to to really vet all the contractors, and and we certainly have um, you know, perhaps less experience in some cases, um, you know, with with turnover across the industry and and not just the paper industry, pulp and paper industry for sure, but you know, the importance of of hands-on safety training and and having uh a really good uh system set up where you have a a designated representative from the facility working with the contractor to to set them up safety first.
SPEAKER_01Well, this might be a gotcha question, and I certainly don't mean it to be, but I am interested when it comes to safety, and you're having contractors in your mill, who's got the responsibility there? Is it uh the mill's responsibility to to behave safely? Is it the contractor's responsibility?
SPEAKER_04Honestly, both, right? I mean, uh it's on it's on the mill at the end of the day to set up their their contractors, their team for success, right? Because they they know their systems, they know their facility better than better than anybody. But on the flip side, it's also on the contractor to you know stop if they're uncomfortable, um, ask questions, and if they're not a hundred percent confident, take that time out and uh work with their representative that they're that they're uh working with with the company. Yeah. Make sure that it's done safely first and foremost.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. What do you think it's a two-way street? Yeah, it is a two-way street. And now you're with DomTAR and and what do you do for DomTAR?
SPEAKER_04Actually, quality, uh proactive quality improvement across the organization.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And and how does DomTar approach safety from within your organization?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, it's it's it's it's foundational, it's basic, and you know, and uh honestly it sounds like a cliche, but it's the truth. You know, if if we do safety well, everything else comes with it. So we we start with safety and uh we have to, and um you know, we still hurt too many people, honestly, in this industry, and and uh, but anything we can do to proactively reduce risk, similar to quality, you know, similar to the work that we do in reliability and operations, it all goes hand in hand.
SPEAKER_01So it's I completely agree. If you're working for a company and you know that they want you to be safe, it feels like a form of caring.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. And and you know, we work hard every day to build that that culture of care.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, a culture of caring. I like that.
SPEAKER_04It's one of our values, yes.
SPEAKER_01So, okay, so we had our contractor panel, and you had a couple other really interesting aspects to the session you you organized.
SPEAKER_04Yes, and both were AI-based.
SPEAKER_01Um my gosh, a big topic here at Capicon.
SPEAKER_04Yes, yes. So uh one was uh we had uh Theory Blank in from Conformit talking about how AI can be used to um I'll say improve time efficiency for our safety teams, for our leadership teams, um, in leveraging data to the fullest extent. And then also, um, you know, honestly, with a lot of turnover in the industry, uh, we can use those AI type systems to um improve the depth of our investigations and and even do them more timely. So uh some really healthy perspectives there that were new for the folks in the room.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's cool.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and then um maybe in a little bit different light, we had Brian Mock from Event Capture Systems working jointly with Eric Wright from International Paper. Uh they've done a lot of work using uh I'll say smart AI camera systems to um you know really protect employees that are in a line of fire, and these cameras are you know, we can set up the base, but they are smart, they learn over time, and we help develop that uh intelligence to protect employees that may be in the quote unquote red zone.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So it's pretty impressive.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, impressive technology, and I think you know, we're just scratching the surface and and look forward to leveraging those tools more as we go forward to again proactively reduce risk the best we can.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and proactively is is one of the key words there, I think. You know, when we think of AI, we think of you know just robots doing repetitive tasks, right? Um, but I love that idea that it can be applied to safety and safe decisions.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, absolutely. And and again, you know, it's it it was I think it was eye-opening for a lot of us in the room to hear the capabilities and you know it's quickly expanding. And uh, you know, it's I think uh it's another tool for us to have on our holster, um, you know, in that caring mode, if you will, to get our employees home the way they came into work.
SPEAKER_01Uh you know, we've talked a lot here at Tapicon about just changes, right? Just this whole idea of whether the industry is changing fast enough, where these changes might bring us, um big big and little, you know, scale changes um to everything we do. And let me ask you, how long have you been involved with the paper industry, Kurt?
SPEAKER_04Over 30 years.
SPEAKER_01So you've seen a lot of changes, right? Yes. And and how do you feel that safety profile has changed for the industry?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I actually mentioned it at at Cooch Pit on Saturday and again yesterday, but you know, you look if you look back at what we did even 10 or 20 years ago, um honestly I'd probably lose my job if I did some of that. That was accepted then, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_04But let's be honest, look ahead 10 years from now, we're gonna look back at today and say the same thing. So continuous improvement, continuously reducing risk, continue challenging what we're doing, and you know, and when we have fresh sets of eyes or new tools like AI, um, you know, that makes us better. So we've got to be able to listen and leverage that, that knowledge and those fresh perspectives to challenge us to make us safer every day.
SPEAKER_01I mean, do you think there will come a point where we have a mill that is completely safe?
SPEAKER_04You know, I I'm I'm not we we talk about you know certainly reducing risk. I don't know if we can ever stop every incident from happening, but we can certainly make the impact of that so minimal that it's a tiny little scratch and not something significant. Right. So yes, that is our goal. That is our goal to get everybody home so they can do what they love to do. Yeah. Right? That's why we come to work.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I I I agree. I agree. And I think it's I think it's an area that has made a big difference for our younger professionals, particularly. I you know, there's you said you might get fired for doing things today that you probably were made to do 30 years ago. You couldn't say no.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Even if you thought it was unsafe.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely, yeah, and that's that's part of the culture change across the industry, right? Is is we promote and we expect people to stop.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_04If they're not sure or they're uncomfortable. Um, take that time out, step back when we feel that pressure, or you know, we we train our employees on on those uh you know those triggers that we should step back and take another look, regroup, and put a safe plan together to get it done. No matter how long it takes, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think that's I mean that's the only way that you we can be safe is by giving people that that flexibility and that you know allowability to make those decisions and to stop work if they find it unsafe.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely, absolutely. So yeah, it was a it was a pleasure leading the group and uh you know we've got uh a lot of great uh perspectives and volunteers and um yeah, you know, honestly with the the Pima Safety Committee, we've got a large group and it's growing and it's a very active group. Uh get together regularly and we've you know joint work with uh with PPSA, we do a joint webinar there on a particular subject that um is a hot topic or you know a prior a priority for the industry based on survey data. So we're trying to use data again to to focus our our committee efforts and working with PPSA. We work with Tappy Safe. Uh we utilize certainly Tappy Con and you know to gather all that information and ultimately produce a technical information paper.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I was gonna say you guys did a tip. Yeah. Um tell me a little about about that tip that you did for Tappy.
SPEAKER_04Sure. So we we've got one that's published. It was actually the first uh safety-based tip that was done in Tappy was uh uh improving safety training, a hands-on approach, so a great collaborative effort there, and actually just submitted our second uh on pre-task risk assessments, identifying hazards, analyzing risks, and uh setting ourselves up for success before we do work.
SPEAKER_01Right. Well, I know with that hands-on approach, that's not something that a bunch of guys just sat around a table and thought, you know what might be good? I mean, you have the data to back it up.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely, and that data is built in there, and yeah, it's clear that when we when we train our folks and do that with a hands-on approach, if you will, it's much more effective and the results speak for themselves.
SPEAKER_01That's amazing. Well, safety is super important. If you could tell, here's my last question, and it's a toughie, but if you could tell Mills, you know, one thing that you really wanted them to know about safety, what would that be?
SPEAKER_04I think you just have an honest conversation from heart, and um, you know, at the end of the day, safety first. Safety is absolutely first. You know, we're not belittling what we do, but uh, you know, we're making pulp, we're making paper, we're cutting rolls, uh converting product. But at the end of the day, we have to do that safely. So um take the time to prepare. And uh, you know, if you have a question, you stop and and you ask for help and figure out.
SPEAKER_01If you have a question, call Kurt Melborg. Your phone would be off the hook. But thank you for talking to me. You're welcome. You know, safety is a terrific topic, and I appreciate your knowledge.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. Appreciate the opportunity. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01I hope you've heard some safety advice that you can use at your mill or facility, and also enjoyed hearing about automation and process control from this episode's terrific guests. Be sure to check out our other TappyCon 2026 episode too.
SPEAKER_02Hi, I'm Lawton Roberts, president and CEO of Tappy, the pulp paper packaging, tissue, and converting industry's trusted resource for the publications, training standards, and networking that are so vital to our industry's growth. Tappy conferences are an excellent way to build both your knowledge and those lifelong relationships that are so critical to your career. When you come to our live events, please stop me and introduce yourself. I would love to hear your story. In the meantime, check out Tappy.org for more. Thank you for listening.