Pulp, paper and pioneering people

Research and development opens up new opportunities for pulp and paper customers to achieve value.

My role is leading the development of sensor products and hardware that can effectively measure aspects of the production process, specifically, measuring the moisture level of paper which can have a big impact on quality. I call this making the invisible, visible.

It’s often said there’s an art and science to papermaking. The science of what I do is in understanding the physics of what is occurring in the paper fibers and how to apply the technology to measure and control that. The art is in knowing how best to express what’s being measured in a way that the customer can then easily use it to make an impact on production performance.

You can’t manage what you can’t measure – and that’s what our solutions enable our customers to do, reliably and repeatedly. When you’re able to reveal the invisible properties of paper through numbers and metrics, suddenly you have information in front of you that customers can act upon – using that data to improve efficiencies, optimize processes and meet specification.

It’s not just in the engineering. At ABB, we design products for the real world – for practical deployment in working mills, to be installed simply and used intuitively by people all over the globe. Our team will go on site and take engineers through the product, how to use, service and maintain it. That way, the customer has a robust solution that they can rely on every day.

You can’t have impactful innovation without listening to customers, and that’s a big part of what we do – understanding their requirements and developing close relationships so we can resolve their specific challenges. It’s all about cultivating a network of pulp and paper expertise and being continually aware of changing needs and what’s on the horizon.

Becoming more sustainable is a priority for many mills, and that involves efficient operations in every sense – using less resources, reducing variation, maximizing performance. That’s what our measurement sensors empower and drive a huge return on investment.

ABB has been part of the pulp and paper industry for over a century, and a huge amount of knowledge has been built up over the years. Myself and the R&D team are continuing that work, standing on the shoulders of giants, synthesizing that knowledge into solutions with value.

It’s what we’re here to do – to be the best source of insights to enable customers to do their best work.