Ready for the second half

July 15, 2023

Ready for the second half--July 2023

Some companies still require small capital projects to be completed within the calendar year.

Every year seems the same to me any more. January starts a bit slow, but by this time of year, it is just whizzing by.

If your company requires you to complete small cap projects within the year, you have less than 170 days left to accomplish this.

Everything should be ordered and by this time next month, you should be expediting if you are not already. Engineering should have been done a couple of months ago. Are contractors mobilizing?

Then there is training, commissioning and startup.

Outages required for startup? Should already be planned.

These items are all key on even the smallest of projects.

Overarching all these matters is a focus on safety, especially if you are now rushing to catch up.

It is mid-July. If you have done your homework, you can almost coast until the end of the year. If you have not, you are going to be working some weekends soon or brushing up your resume next January.

Times a'wastin.

What is your opinion? Drop me a line at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. I would like to hear from you.

And by the way, I come to mills and talk to various departments about many subjects. To arrange my custom visit to your mill, just email me at jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com or call me at 678-206-6010.

Young Engineering Manager of the Year, call for nominations

We are looking for an individual who has done an extraordinary project, one that almost defies belief. Its extraordinary features can be schedule, technology, cost or all three. There is an age limit on the manager eligible for this award: they must be under 35 years old when they completed the project.

We have often gotten nominees that go something like this, "I nominate Joe because he has done a great job of running our engineering department for the last fifteen years." Quite frankly, we are not interested in such nominees.

However, if you know someone who has led a very exceptional project in the recent past (the last two or three years) and meets our age requirement, we want to know about it. We want to honor them and hold them up as an example for Engineering Managers in every pulp and paper mill around the world.

Just send your nomination, with as much details as you can provide, to jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com. We will seriously consider it.

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