Innovative Technology Training Strategy for the Pulp, Paper and Chemical Process Industries, 2016 Pulping, Engineering, Environmental, Recycling, Sustainability (PEERS) Conference Proceedings 

As the workforce ages, more industries are facing a grim reality that knowledge is being lost at an alarming rate. When incumbent workers retire, their knowledge has not been passed on to new hires.  To address this, an innovative two-year community college program was developed to train incoming pulp and paper mill workers, so they will be able to quickly gain knowledge on the equipment and technology encountered in an industrial process environment. Using eight pilot plant facilities equipped with industrial-scale equipment, students focus on industrial safety, certification and demonstration of inside and outside operator responsibilities, and quality systems, and they learn how to troubleshoot basic equipment/process control systems.  The students develop understanding of not only how things happen in the processes but also why they happen.  An industrial alliance supporting these students includes area pulp, paper, and chemical plants that yearly review the curriculum for relevance and provide internships for hands-on experience in actual mill environments. Program graduates obtain an associate of applied science degree, which is today’s minimum standard globally. Because new workers come into the mills with these fundamental skills, this allows for quicker knowledge transfer from incumbent workers before they retire, keeping high-quality production at the forefront of the process.   

TAPPI conference proceedings and presentations, technical papers, and publication articles provide technical and management data and solutions on topics covering the Pulp, Paper, Tissue, Corrugated Packaging, Flexible Packaging, Nanotechnology and Converting Industries.

Simply select the quantity, add to your cart and your conference paper, presentation or article will be available for immediate download.