Mobile Technology Show to Visit 28 Pulp and Paper Mills

The 2000 Mobile Technology Show Tour conducted by TransTours Exhibits, Inc. of Lake Forest, IL, will visit 42 process manufacturing facilities including 28 pulp and paper mills and 14 other sites in food, meat-poultry, pharmaceutical, chemical, power generation, mining, and steel. Separate tours will be conducted in the spring, summer, and fall.

Beginning on an April 25 target date, several climate controlled tractor-trailers and motor coaches operating as onsite product showcases and conference centers will travel through the south central U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Illinois. The spring run will conclude in late May. Midwestern plant sites will be visited starting June 19 for several weeks. The exhibition season will conclude with an east/northeast/southwest tour beginning Sept. 18 and finishing in mid-October.

The mobile exhibition will go directly to mills, plants, and engineering/research/administration facilities on the spring, summer, and fall tours, parking on-site for several hours during which personnel will tour the exhibits and/or attend a series of special maintenance seminars being co-sponsored by the Assn. For International Maintenance and Reliability (AFIRM).

The maintenance "outreach" seminars are new to the tours this year, as are special exhibition sections that will feature Pulp and Paper Online (PPOL) storefront/e-commerce sponsors. These new sections will include a live PPOL kiosk where visitors can explore the latest product-service technologies available to the global pulp and paper industry.

The 2000 exhibition is designed in response to previous plant site surveys that requested expanded product and technology displays, an interactive computer network for product specifications with detailed applications, and audio-visual technical conference areas with seating for technical paper presentations. The hands-on exhibitions are designed to interact with maintenance, engineering, laboratory, training, quality control, production, and other key support personnel at each facility visited.

Mobile tours are able to park on-site at pulp and paper mills, with visits typically lasting two to three hours. Shown here are units 101, 102, and 103 (see unit descriptions below).

The showrooms are parked onsite in an area convenient to plant personnel. Typically, a mill show lasts two to three hours, allowing plant personnel the necessary time to gather new information without the loss of production time and travel costs associated with off site trade shows. During that period, production personnel in all areas of the mill from the woodyard through finishing and shipping, as well as management and support staff in purchasing, administrative, environmental, and engineering, have an opportunity to examine the displays and talk with technology experts at each booth. Specifically, the pulp and paper industry show includes exhibits in the following areas:

• Maintenance/lubrication
• Water treatment and management
• Process automation/instrumentation
• Paper machine systems and components
• Equipment modernization/rebuilding
• Drive systems
• Fluid clarification and control
• Power and recovery
• Sealing products
• Environmental control.

Mill visitors to the show will see hands-on demonstrations of some of the industry's latest equipment and technologies, and discuss problems and applications specific to the processes at their mills. Detailed literature and specifications information is available from all exhibitors

The tours allow visitors to not only examine the paper industry's latest equipment and technologies, but also discuss specific mill needs and problems with technology experts staffing the booths. This photo shows the inside of unit 102 (see description below).

Before attending the mobile technology exhibition or any of the onsite seminars, mill attendees will be asked to complete brief registration forms. These will be used for forwarding information related to products and services discussed during these events. Specially designed forms will be given each attendee, providing easy, specific check-off to automatically have questions answered and to quickly receive information after the show leaves a site. Of course, the online kiosks allow instant information retrieval and real-time electronic dialog with participating supplier companies while the show is at a mill or plant site.

Mill visitors complete detailed attendee forms before going through the mobile technology shows (photo shows outside of unit 102 on-site at a pulp and paper mill).

Special exhibition section
The new exhibition section for PPOL sponsors will be in "ceiling to floor" spaces in the converted tractor-trailer showrooms and/or the seminar coaches. Graphic panel displays in these sections can be augmented with real product displays mounted in the display areas. Visitors can examine these product demonstrations up-close and request more information via the special communications/information request forms or live via the PPOL kiosk computer station.

The live computer station will allow mill attendees to ask questions, seek more information, and even make online purchases directly through participating companies' storefronts and e-commerce centers. While online, mill personnel can also check out the latest industry news and explore the many other unique features provided through Pulp and Paper Online's industry-leading Internet Website.

Exhibition spaces in these new sections for 2000 are being offered at a special discount price for PPOL storefront and e-commerce participants. For more information, contact TransTours Exhibits at the address, phone number, and/or email address shown at the end of this article.

Outreach maintenance seminars
Plant sites requesting the AFIRM outreach seminars can select up to four 30-min. technical presentations from topics offered by participating companies. "Capital Reliability and Asset Maintenance in the New Millennium" is the theme for this year's maintenance seminar series. The programs are designed to interact with maintenance, engineering, manufacturing, production, laboratory, training, safety, quality control, and other key personnel at each plant and mill site.

Conducted in a Transtours mobile technology center (MTC) coach outfitted with built-in audio and visual presentation systems, each seminar can accommodate 10-15 mill maintenance specialists. The technical papers by experts in various areas of plant maintenance will focus on practical, applied solutions to specific mill problems. Each participant will allow approximately 10 minutes for questions and answers. Depending on the final tour schedule, one to three and in some cases as many as four seminar sessions will be conducted at the various plant and mill sites.

Mills will select seminar topics in advance from a list of some 50 presentation titles including advanced predictive and preventive maintenance techniques, results oriented maintenance, vibration analysis, alignment technologies, E&I troubleshooting, electrical motor and drive repair, lubrication systems, protective coatings, wear particle analysis, using infrared analysis equipment, valve maintenance and repair, protective coatings, training, scheduling, planning, and the latest CMMS systems and applications.

Tour facilities
TransTours Exhibits operates a fleet of four self-contained, climate-controlled mobile units, each equipped with modular display shells. Mills typically ask for the maximum number of product exhibits that can be delivered to their site with two or three mobile units. The 101 and 102 units are tractor-trailer showrooms.

The 32-ft 101unit was designed for viewing exhibits from the exterior and is not climate controlled. This unit, with roll-up doors, a custom platform, a 50-KW power generator, and pneumatic display capabilities, is used with large and difficult-to-mount equipment. It is also well suited for onsite product demonstrations to large groups under an attached awning with optional enclosed panels.

The 102 unit is a 48-ft walk-through showroom (front and exit doors) with 14 exhibit shell frames. It has full climate control, a 50-KW power generator, and pneumatic display support capabilities.

The 103 and 104 units are 40-ft. motor coaches. The 103 MTC unit has seven modular exhibit shells, full climate control, front and rear doors, self-storing stairs, and two 15-KW power generators, and pneumatic display capabilities. The 104 MTC has similar features as the 103 unit, but also contains two audio-visual areas with seating for technology seminar/display capabilities.

Interior view of unit 103, showing modular shells and seminar seating area.

Post-tour surveys from last year showed that mills would like to see more process equipment and chemistry technology on future shows, specifically paper machine clothing, paper machine components, and wet end chemistry. More emphasis on process controls was also suggested. These areas will be expanded for the shows this year and next.

The 104 unit has seven modular display units and seating capacity for technology seminars.

Updated information on the tours, including itinerary changes and modifications, can be found on the TransTours Internet site at http://www.transtoursexhibits.com, which also contains detailed information on mobile unit layout possibilities and various exhibit costs. Companies interested in exhibiting with the product showcase can email TransTours at sales@transtoursexhibits.com. Mill and plant sites interested in having the product showcase visit them can email TransTours at host@transtoursexhibits.com

Interior of unit 104 showing a typical modular display.

For more information on current and future paper industry tours, contact TransTours Exhibits Inc., 13885 West Polo Trail Dr., Lake Forest, IL 60045. Tel: 847-549-6180. Fax: 847-549-6185.

By Ken Patrick