Timing

October 15, 2025

The timing is now

By Jim Thompson

If ever there was a time for capital projects, it is now.

Demand for paper is soft.

Some suppliers are seeing a slowdowin in sales, too.

If your company has the financial resources, now is the time to do capital projects.

43 years ago, I saw conditions such as these, in fact, much worse.

It just so happened, we had a major rebuild scheduled and we started procuring equipment in the fall of 1982, Literally, all the major suppliers were starving to death and they were just looking for work to pay their overhead.

We did a rebuild for 1/3 to 1/2 of what it would cost just a couple of years later.

It is time for you to carefully examine your conditions and see if you can pull up any projects anticipated a few years down the road.

Consderable savings may be possible.

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.

Join Our Mailing List

Please write when we tickle your brain cells! Email jim.thompson@ipulpmedia.com