Stock Preparation Plant of the Recycling Facility - Essay Example

Operation management exam What production problems would you anticipate from using waste papers:- in the stock preparation plant - in the paper making process The stock preparation plant of the recycling facility collects the stock of waste papers and processes the same for the next activity. In this process the waste paper is treated on a machine that separates the paper fibres that can be used for further production of papers. The raw materials that are used in the stock preparation plant are recycled papers. The papers that are recycled consist of waste papers that are collected from different sources. The waste papers may be collected from the scrap of a paper production company or a paper that is used and thrown by a consumer. The paper that is collected from the scrap of paper production units are known as mill broke and the one that has been thrown out by the consumers are known as consumer waste. In this process the fibre is recycled for further production activity. "Fibre recycling is a specialized process in which office wastepaper is used to produce clean, recycled pulp that can be used to make recycled content paper and paperboards." (The Fibre Recycling Process. Paper Recycling, 2000). A Company might face several problems in the stock preparation plant. The papers that come for recycling are from different grades. The paper may be of news print, the one that is used in the offices, magazine papers that are very shiny, papers with plastic coating on it, and other papers that are coloured highly. In order to make these papers viable for recycling several grading and other process are to be carried on it. The grading process in the Stock preparation is a tedious job as there may be a lot of papers from different grades. Several treatments are to be given in order remove the waste materials in the waste papers. Therefore, the stock preparation process consumes more time. This tedious work in the grading process is one of the problems in the stock preparation plant. The next process after the recycling of the paper is the paper making process. The paper making process involves a lot of steps after grading. These processes are screening, clearing, ink removal, bleaching and paper making. In the screening step the papers are taken to a tank that contains water and chemicals. The paper is cut down into smaller pieces so that it mixes properly in the water. The resultant pulp is then cleaned through spinning. This cleaning process throws out the waste materials in the pulp. The ink removal process or de-inking is done in order to remove the colours in the pulp. Next the bleaching process is done in order to make the paper brighter. The resultant pulp is then treated in another machine that makes sheets of papers. The following diagram shows the process involved in the recycling of waste papers. (The Fibre Recycling Process, paper recycling, 2000). One of the problems likely to occur in the paper recycling process is at the de-inking step. The waste papers that are treated may be from different grades. Certain papers are highly colourful. More chemicals are to be used for removing the ink of such papers. This involves high cost. "Papers that are waxed, pasted, or gummed-or papers that are coated with plastic or aluminum foil-are usually not recycled because the process is too expensive." (Recycled paper, recycling paper and glass, 2006). If the cleaning process is not done properly the paper that is produced will contain several waste particles that can be clearly seen. Another major problem is that the paper that is produced after recycling differs very much in quality from that of the virgin paper. If any short fall happens in any of the step the quality of the paper that is produced will be affected by it. In what ways would you expect the recycled products to differ from their conventional counterparts What steps could you take in the production process to minimize these differences The paper that is recycled differs greatly from its conventional counterparts that are the virgin paper. Virgin paper is that paper that is made by using the cotton or tree pulp. The term means that the paper that is produced for the first time that does not contain any element of a recycled paper. The virgin paper is of high quality and is also very good in appearance. The recycled paper contains only the elements of waste papers. No new tree pulp is used for the production of such papers. Since this type of paper contains a lot of waste element the quality of the paper is lower. The primary factor on which the both the papers can be recycled is the quality. Another major difference between both of the papers is the brightness. The virgin papers are brighter than recycled papers. Writing in a recycled paper is always a bad experience as there is more chance for the ink to spread. But one factor that makes the recycled paper acceptable is the cheaper price. The recycled papers will be available at a very less cost than the virgin paper. The appearance of the virgin paper is better than recycled papers. Sometimes waste particles and fibres can be seen on the recycled paper. The virgin paper in contrast is very clear in appearance. Though this is the case the chemical application on recycled paper can make it equally brighter to the virgin paper. The quality of the waste paper is depended on the waste papers that are used for recycling. "The papermaking process itself is pretty much the same whether one uses virgin materials, recycled materials, or a mixture of the two. The difference is in the preparation of the stuff. Recycled material requires careful sorting." (The process of recycling paper). The differences between the two are mainly due to the differences in the production process and the raw materials used. The raw materials used for making virgin paper are wood pulp and certain chemicals. In order to minimize the differences between the virgin and recycled papers the recycled papers are to be made of high quality. The quality of the recycled papers can be assured only when the quality of the waste papers used for recycling and the production process is assured. The waste papers that are taken for recycling process differ in grades. Some papers may be hard, some may be plastic coated and others that are more colourful. The paper must be properly graded before taking it for the recycling process. Avoiding the use of glued papers and the papers with plastic and aluminium coatings will help to improve the quality of the pulp. Careful sorting is the first step to be done to improve the quality of the recycled paper. The colour of recycled paper can be improved by decolouring the pulp. Decolouring is the process that involves treating the pulp with chemicals that bleaches the pulp. The recycled paper appears dull when the colours are not removed properly. The ink removal process must be given high importance as this process will make the final product attractive. The pulp must be bleached with hydrogen peroxide, oxygen, chlorine dioxide and other chemicals that are used for the purpose. The pulp must be dried to the specified limit and must be beaten properly. A pulp when beaten without being dried to the proper limit will lead to poor quality paper. Given that a paper machine is likely to make several products, each at different grammages (that is weight per unit area), would you regard paper making as a continuous or batch process What difficulties would you anticipate in the scheduling and production processes, and what is the effect on stock preparation likely to be The paper making can be regarded as a batch process instead of a continuous process. The paper machine might have the capacity to produce papers with different thickness, length and breadth. The machines can produce papers of different weight area when they are adjusted in such a manner that it is capable for it to bring out papers with the required features. But the adjustment of the machine cannot be changed while it is in the running mode. If the machine completes the production of paper with required specification it can be stopped and the setting can be changed to make paper with a different specification. The process can be regarded as continuous only when the machine produces different types of papers without altering the running process. But here the papers can be produced only in batches. Once the paper with less thickness is produced the setting is changed and papers with different specifications are made in another batch. Therefore, the process can be regarded as a batch process rather than a continuous process. The production process of recycled paper is the actual development process in the paper recycling. The scheduling process refers to the timing that has to be allotted for each step in recycling. Scheduling process is relevant because all the process cannot be done at a stretch. The pulp has to be dried to a certain limit before it is being taken for beating. If the beating is done before drying the pulp properly the paper will lack the quality element. There are many problems that are likely to occur in the production process. One of the problems is that sometimes the waste particles are not removed properly during the cleaning process. If such problem occurs the waste particles can be seen on the paper after they are beaten. This will lead to negative effects for the paper in terms of its marketability. Another problem that is supposed to occur is in the de-inking process. The chemicals used in the de-inking process may not be sometimes sufficient for removing the entire colour. So if fewer amounts of chemicals are used for de-inking process the paper will look dull. The stock preparation is the preliminary step in the recycling process. In the stock preparation step the waste papers are collected from different sources. The different sources from which papers can be collected are from the houses, offices, paper mills and from any other business organizations. The stock preparation can be said as effective only when the stock collected for recycling are of superior quality. The stock collection process follows the stock grading process. What key production issues would you anticipate which are associated with the speed at which the paper runs through a paper machine (bearing in mind that the paper is very wet at the beginning of the process) The process that is involved in the production of the paper is seen in the beginning. The steps are screening, clearing, ink removal, bleaching and paper making. The core process that is involved is the pressing of the pulp to remove water. The paper is formed through a process of beating. The pulp that is sent through for beating after treating with different chemicals is called stuff. "In most papermaking operations, the stuff passes through a machine called a beater, which is essentially a very heavy roller that presses the fibres in the stuff together and squeezes out the water." (The process of recycling paper). In this process the stuff is passed through the beater. The beater contains heavy rollers that will squeeze the stuff in order to remove the water content in it. The stuff that is beaten in this way is then directed to a machine that makes the paper into bales. If the paper is wet and it runs a high speed through the machine there are chances for the paper might get damaged. The paper has to be properly dried after the pressing process in order to make it feasible for the next process. The key production issue associated with this is the quality of the product. The quality of the paper will be lower is such type of production practices are involved. In order to limit the happening of this of error in the production process the pressing should be done properly on the pulp or stuff. If the stuff is properly pressed the water content in the stuff is removed there is less chance for such errors. If the paper is not wet at the beginning running at a high speed won't create any damage for the paper. Works Cited The Fiber Recycling Process. Paper Recycling. Recover Incorporated. 1 Jan. 2000. 1 Dec. 2007 . The Fibre Recycling Process. Paper Recycling. Recover Incorporated. 1 Jan. 2000. 1 Dec. 2007 . Recycled Paper. Recycling Paper and Glass. (2006, September). 1 Dec. 2007 . The Process of Recycling Paper. 1 Dec. 2007 . Read More