Spraying Systems Co. announces paper manufacturing collaboration with University of Wisconsin

STEVENS POINT, Wis. – Spraying Systems Co. is proud to announce our collaboration with the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point Paper Science and Chemical Engineering program! Through this partnership, Spray has equipped UWSP's pilot paper machine with state-of-the-art spraying technology, enhancing the educational experience for students and advancing the future of the paper industry. Donated paper manufacturing equipment includes showers featuring HP cleaning nozzles, fan cleaning and lubrication nozzles, trimming nozzles, air atomizing coating guns and nozzles, and an automatic tank cleaning device. This equipment provides UWSP with cutting-edge tools to enhance the Pilot Paper machine's performance, addressing fabric cleaning, precise trim cuts, automated tank cleaning, and precise coatings application post-drying. A special thank you to UWSP for choosing Spraying Systems Co. as a partner in advancing education and industry practices. We're committed to contributing to the development of future leaders in the paper industry.

Bernard Pyzdrowski, a Spraying Systems Co. specialist with eight years of experience in the pulp and paper sector, explained the company's motivation for these university partnerships. "Universities with pilot paper machine programs play a vital role in preparing students for the real world," Pyzdrowski said. "By providing them with modern spraying technology, we can ensure they graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in the industry. At the same time, we’re providing equipment that fosters better partnerships with universities and manufacturers in the industry, giving them better testing grounds for new product development & innovation"

The partnership benefits both Spray and UWSP. Spraying Systems Co. has the opportunity to showcase its industry-leading technology to future paper industry professionals. UWSP students gain valuable experience with modern equipment, preparing them for successful careers.

Spraying Systems Co. is committed to supporting the paper industry by investing in education and innovation. The company's collaboration with UWSP is a prime example of this commitment.

Listen below as local spray expert Bernard Pyzdrowski discusses how Spraying Systems Co. supports paper manufacturing programs across the country.

Full Transcript:

Chris Santucci
Hello, this is Chris Santucci with Spring Systems Co, and I'm here today with our local spray specialist, Bernard Pyzdrowski. How are you doing today, Bernard? 

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
Doing good, Chris. How about you? 

Chris Santucci
Pretty good. Now we go back a bit, but for those at home, how long have you been with Spray? 

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
I've been with spray about eight years now, so I started it in 2016 and just been continuously working in the pulp and paper sector of the heavy industry team.

Chris Santucci
Wow. Eight years. That's really something. I bet you've been in a whole lot of mills and seen a whole lot of things. 

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
I've been in quite a few. Yes, and whenever you go into a mill, you never really know what you're going to expect to find there. Everybody does something different. 

Chris Santucci
Now, now I understand you have some big news for us. Tell me more about that. 

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
Yeah, so we've kind of started this program where we have begun partnering with some paper universities, let's call them, or universities that focus on delivering students and preparing them for real world scenarios for the paper industry and the universities that we've partnered with, such as North Carolina State University. We've also most recently partnered with the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point, and we've chosen these universities because they have a pilot, a miniature pilot paper machine on site that they're able to use to help educate the students on the paper making process. And with these kinds of small mini machines, where they have the equipment that we see on the big giant ones in the industry. So like the showers, the nozzles, you know, the different reels, rolls, fabrics, hatbox, everything that a big machine would have is just made into a little bit smaller package. So where we've been able to come in and help with them, as you know, a lot of these machines are pretty old by this point. So we're coming in and we're upgrading some of the equipment to be more modern with the new shower technology, some of the upgraded types of nozzles we've been able to produce and even because these are full like mini scale pilot plants, let's call them, they even have like some of these large mixing tanks and stock chests and stuff like that. So we've even been able to show students some of our automated tank cleaning technology as well so it's not such a manual process. And because they're learning about all the different aspects of the industry, it's not like a standard machine where they're going to be running one single product for a long time. So that's where, you know, this tank cleaning machine will come up and can come in to use where they can just kind of set it and forget it when they're changing grades and changing out materials because they have to make sure everything is clean and sanitary before they do that.

Chris Santucci
Wow. So when we go into these facilities, we're really able to give them the full experience of every step of the process. 

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
Yeah. So they really go from start to finish. They bring in these pilot plants. The universities will bring in raw materials. They're grinding them up. They're making the pulp, they're putting it into the stock chests. Like I said, they have the all the necessary equipment to pump it to the paper machine where they lay down the raw pulp under the machine. We have have the showers to help maintain the conveyors and fabrics that transport that across the machine as well as, you know, the dry, the press sections, the drying sections and then even some of them will have like a coating machine as well, where we've provided, you know, some of our advanced air atomizing nozzles like the VX-70, for instance, for applying different coatings that they know they might be using to just teach the students. But they also have paid customers like big name paper companies that will come in because they don't want to try their special product, their new special product on a giant machine, because that would be very costly for them. So they can rent out these little machines. And, you know, they see our technology on a machine and they know that Spraying Systems now has the ability to help them make what they want to make as well.

Chris Santucci
...And you're also giving the students that hands-on experience. 

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
Absolutely. All of that cutting edge equipment. Yeah. We have found in the industry that when the students move from university, graduate from university and go into the field, a lot of them are given these kind of — not small projects, but, you know, like the smaller projects that the mill might have or like not dealing with the nozzles and, you know, standard education is not going to teach them about this stuff. So when universities have these facilities with the pilot plants and the equipment in there, students will get to see this equipment and they'll become more familiar with it before they get into the field. And so they can kind of hit the ground running. 

Chris Santucci
Wow. That's remarkable. And so this most recent project, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point. So how did all that come about?

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
Well, we have worked with them in the past in the sense that Stevens Point offers a kind of mini paper program for industry people similar to  how North Carolina State does. But basically, anybody can register for this program to come in. It's typically probably for, you know, paper mill employees that might be newer or something like that or anybody who really wants to kind of get an interest and they learn about the process and then they go on a machine and then they make the paper from start to finish. And so we've had a few Spraying Systems employees attend this training with them as well. And we thought, we have this technology and we'd love to share it and bring it to the students and help them out and help the university out to keep their machine maintained and up-to-date without having to have them spend money to do that. Because, you know, universities, they don't always have a lot of money for this kind of stuff. So when we're able to help, that benefits everybody.

Chris Santucci
Now, we've been in business for over 80 years and we've got great experts like you who have been doing this stuff for decades supporting those local mills. So how important is it to really share our knowledge and expertise with that next generation of paper manufacturers?

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
I think it's very important because new generations will bring new ideas. And, you know, we can partner with the new generation as well, because sometimes, an industry can get kind of stuck in a rut where nothing is new for a while and everybody's trying to make something new. But if we're able to partner with these universities and the students and some of these paper manufacturers as well even - all to help develop the next best thing. Then we can be right there at the at the doorstep to help them out with the technology, be able to work with them to provide it. And we can really cooperatively help advance the next biggest thing in the industry. 

Chris Santucci
So thinking about some of the things that we've talked about with these universities, what are some of the challenges in adopting a pilot paper manufacturing program that you've seen that we're able to help with? 

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
Really, it's cost. A lot of this equipment, while it's small, it's still really expensive. And, you know, the universities, they basically take what people will give them. They don't have... Generally speaking, the amount that we donate, probably, is per machine probably close to like $20,000. And, you know, this is just spray nozzles, a couple very small spray headers, some air atomizing equipment, like I said previously, tank cleaners, you know, $20,000 for a university is, it's a lot of money. Like I said, they don't have the budget. And then when we're able to go in there, do the stuff, set up the equipment and have them use it, it benefits them. But also there is more benefit with partnering with the universities because they'll have things like industry days where they'll invite suppliers of the industry, you know, like paper manufacturers and stuff like that to come in and speak directly to the students. And this is usually done through an organization like TAPPI for the paper industry will help organize these things with their student chapter. But basically, we are we're able to go in there, we're able to sit down with the students. We can do a presentation describing the different technologies that we use throughout the paper making process. And you know why it's important? Because without, you know... while a spray nozzle is very small and minuscule in a lot of people's eyes, it really does help. You know, without it, the paper machine would not be running. It would not be able to produce the paper, especially on the large scale and everything like that, because they wouldn't be able to maintain the necessary environment. Yeah, it's really education for the students and then you know, just being able to provide what we can to help them.

Chris Santucci
...And our industry-standard products are really able to help with that.

Bernard Pyzdrowski 
Yeah. Yeah. I mean there's all... it's all... it's a big puzzle and you know we're a small piece of it, but without the small piece, the puzzle it's not finished and you can't do anything with it. 

Chris Santucci
Well, that's all the time we have for today. Thanks Bernard so much for taking the time to sit down with us and talk about this great new opportunity. If you'd like to learn more about our initiatives at UW Stevens Point and other universities like it around the country, or more about the expertise & spraying solutions and products we offer paper manufacturers visit us at www.spray.com.