| 11 Whakatane District Council The refurbished building now boasts an ‘Our Space’ environment where staff work in neighbourhoods rather than assigned desks T T to page 12 Mill upgrade creates additional capacity REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Whakatane Mill T T Richard Loader Following a major and successful end-toend upgrade of existing machinery and plant at Whakatane Mill, production of folding box board (FBB) was resumed at commercial volumes in October this year. “This has been a very exciting upgrade,” says Mill CEO Ron Hooper. “It is good for New Zealand, good for the industry, good for Whakatane and, importantly, it is good for the environment. It has been a successful upgrade and we are delighted to have the additional capacity. We are looking forward to serving the local and international packaging industry more than we have been able to up till now.” The upgrade project is about two years in the making in terms of planning, engineering studies, procurement and delivery and installation of the capital equipment. The mill was closed for production during the months of July and August while the work was carried out. Whakatane Mill has been part of Whakatane’s landscape since 1939, and now employs a team of 186 staff. It is the largest commercial employer in Whakatane and a significant contributor to the local economy. The mill produces folding box board, the board the consumer sees in the form of food packaging such as cereal boxes or beverage boxes. The current machinery was installed in 2004, and had not been upgraded for 19 years. Ron says the upgrade was driven by a need to create additional capacity, and the upgrade will deliver an extra 35% capacity, which equates to an additional 50,000 tonnes of output per annum. Additional project drivers were to make the mill more efficient, more competitive in global markets and improve the mill’s environmental footprint, explains Ron. “What we’ve done is make an end-to-end upgrade, which includes the groundwood plant where pulp is created from local radiata pine,” he says. of. The project also had a very strong focus on community investment, and there were twelve local companies involved with $4.2m going directly to the local trades. “Where we couldn’t get specialist trades locally, there was still a community benefit through accommodation nights.” PROVIDING HIGH QUALITY STEEL REINFORCING ACROSS THE BAY OF PLENTY Phone: (027) 449 7744 Email: unlimitedsrc@outlook.co.nz Get in touch with us and let us know your specific project needs! We offer: Precision Machining | Welding & Fabrication Portable Line Boring | Fitting & Maintenance info@rossengineering.co.nz | www.rossengineering.co.nz P 07 308 4374 E daveypainters@xtra.co.nz W www.daveypainters.co.nz A 6 Gateway West Whakatane painting spray painting texturing wallpapering waterproofing systems roofing restoration chemical cleaning tanking systems www.aquaheat.nz Aquaheat New Zealand takes pride in its pivotal role in the construction of the state-of-the-art Whakatane Council Building. Our team spearheaded the HVAC/Mechanical, Plumbing, and Drainage works with unparalleled expertise, collaborating seamlessly for the head contractor, Alaska.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=