Fibria: ONE TEAM - ONE GOAL

Something extraordinary has taken place at Fibria’s Três Lagoas pulp mill in Brazil over the last three years. Two groups of immensely skilled people from Fibria and ANDRITZ were brought together as one team, and with one goal: to design, create, and build Horizonte 2, the world’s largest pulp line, using only the very best-in-class, supersized technology.

The line started up in August 2017, and is already breaking records for a single line pulp mill. The mill at Três Lagoas is now set to produce over 3.25 million tonnes of pulp a year, making it one of the world’s largest pulp production sites.

“This was the first time that Fibria had ever engaged a sole supplier to carry out any of its projects,” says Júlio César Rodrigues da Cunha, Fibria’s Project and Engineering Director, “And we must admit there were a couple of minor worries to begin with in using just the one supplier, especially on a project of this scale. But it soon became clear there was no need for concern as ANDRITZ gave us absolute transparency on everything relating to the islands and lines they were supplying. This spirit of cooperation continued throughout the project and was particularly effective when we encountered any challenges.”

Joel Starepravo, Project Director for ANDRITZ, says, “This was the biggest pulp project in the company’s history, and I have to admit for me it was the biggest challenge I have had in my entire life. From “day zero”, we wanted this project to be the absolute benchmark, and we were amazed at the full cooperation we were given, even main board members of Fibria and ANDRITZ got involved. The motto of the project One Team, One Goal was absolutely evident from the top down and from start to finish of the project.”

A REAL TEAM SPIRIT

 “The team work was amazing during this project,” says Jean Willian de Moraes, Project and Engineering Manager, Corporate Engineering, Fibria. “And this shared goal has been a critical factor for the success of the project. At the meetings, far from being a lot of worry and stress, there was an absolute sense that we were all in this together, right from the senior management of both companies across the whole project to the people on the ground. Everybody was pulling together on this project, like a family would.”

One of the key areas the One Team, One Goal philosophy succeeded in was in the implementation of the ANDRITZ “Safety First” program, which demands strict control over all operatives and contractors at the site. The program involves intensive regular training, security briefings, and compulsory site induction training.

Da Cunha says, “Safety for us at Fibria and for ANDRITZ during the project was the number one attention point. It was made absolutely clear to everybody on site right from the start that everything must be done only in the very safest way possible. We had a number of dedicated safety people on site during the project, and the result was that we created a record benchmark in safety that was even better than the benchmarks when running a stable operation.”

A PULP MILL – SUPERSIZED

One of the major obstacles the project leaders had to overcome was the sheer size of some of the equipment involved – after all, this is the largest pulp mill with a single fiberline in the world, it has to have the equipment to go along with it.

The scope of supply for Horizonte 2 at Três Lagoas included the largest DD- Washers ever supplied and the largest digester in the world.

Starepravo says, “We had to think of the logistical challenges way in advance, especially when it came to getting equipment to the mill from the port – some 2,600 kilometers away – having to deal with some of the poor infrastructure that Brazil has in certain regions. The DD-Washers in particular were demanding to bring to the mill from the port because the sheer diameter of them. There was only one road we could use.

“We managed to get three of the DD-Washers to the mill perfectly and then there was a sudden deluge of rain and the only road was washed away!”

Again, the One Team, One Goal mission and spirit was put into place, with Fibria sending one of its own experienced road building teams to fix the road and make sure that the DD-Washer could arrive on time at the mill.

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