Wood Value Chain

Manufacturing Process of Paper

Manufacturers obtain conifers from felled trees. Pulp mills process softwood into pulp. This very process can be done mechanically or semi-chemically using the kraft or sulfite process. A pulp mill separates the fibers to create a mass of individual filaments. At this stage, the pulp consists of lignin, the main component of paper, and nearly pure cellulose fibers (Dunbar, 2012). The final product of this process can be bleached or unbleached according to customer requirements and is ready for further processing into paper.

Conversion Stage

The conversion stage is where the pulp is made into paper. The pulp is sprayed onto running mesh screens by huge machines to produce a layered mat. The unfinished product undergoes several steps that remove water and make it dry. Eventually, the mat is run over heated rollers that remove any water that remained. The rollers compress the mat to form a roll of paper (Baipal, 2010). When the paper attains the required thickness, colour can be added and it can be coated using chemicals according to customer specifications.

Packaging

The last stage involves the packaging of the paperboard. The paper is cut into various sizes and packed to meet the requirements of the client. The distributors receive a packaged cereal from the packaging team.

References

Dunbar, J., 2012. Notes on the manufacture of wood pulp and wood -pulp papers, Place of publication not identified: Rarebooksclub Com.

Bajpai, P., 2010. Environmentally friendly production of pulp and paper, Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.