Profession paper machine operator

Paper machine operators tend a machine that takes in pulp slurry, spread it out over a screen, and drains out the water. The drained slurry is then pressed and dried to produce paper.

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Personality Type

  • Realistic / Conventional

Knowledge

  • Quality standards

    The national and international requirements, specifications and guidelines to ensure that products, services and processes are of good quality and fit for purpose.

  • Types of pulp

    Kinds of pulp are distinguished based on their fibre type and the specific chemical processes through which they were created.

  • Types of paper

    The different criteria used to determine differences in paper types such as coarseness and thickness, and the different fabrication methods and wood types from which the types of paper stem.

Skills

  • Set up the controller of a machine

    Set up and give commands to a machine by dispatching the appropriate data and input into the (computer) controller corresponding with the desired processed product.

  • Work safely with machines

    Check and safely operate machines and equipment required for your work according to manuals and instructions.

  • Apply paper coating

    Operate coaters and size presses, which apply pigments, starches, and chemicals to the surface of the paper in order to improve some of its characteristics, such as resistance and printing quality.

  • Supply machine

    Ensure the machine is fed the necessary and adequate materials and control the placement or automatic feed and retrieval of work pieces in the machines or machine tools on the production line.

  • Monitor automated machines

    Continuously check up on the automated machine's set-up and execution or make regular control rounds. If necessary, record and interpret data on the operating conditions of installations and equipment in order to identify abnormalities.

  • Operate paper press

    Operate the paper shoe press, which forces the paper web between a soft rotating roller, squeezing out water that is absorbed and carried away by wet felts.

  • Troubleshoot

    Identify operating problems, decide what to do about it and report accordingly.

  • Check paper quality

    Monitor every aspect of the paper quality, such as its thickness, opacity and smoothness according to specifications and for further treatment and finishing processes.

  • Conform to health and safety regulations

    Carry out all work in accordance with relevant environmental and health and safety legislation, risk assessment requirements and company policies. Take the necessary health and safety precautions during work including posture the body well, safely operate tools and machinery, and wear the right clothes and protection for the climate.

  • Operate paper drying cylinders

    Set up and monitor the heated rollers that move the paper sheet forwards while drying it.

  • Concentrate pulp slurry

    Measure the weight and concentration of the pulp slurry for further processing and storage by using disk filters and calculating slurry density with specific formulas.

  • Wear appropriate protective gear

    Wear relevant and necessary protective gear, such as protective goggles or other eye protection, hard hats, safety gloves.

  • Monitor pulp quality

    Avoid lesser quality and lower grades of recycled paper and pulp by keeping an eye open for stickies, plastics, colour, unbleached fibres, brightness, and dirt.

  • Operate headbox

    Set up the part of the paper machine injecting the pulp solution between two rotating wires into the gap former, which drains the excess water and turns the pulp into a continuous web of paper.

  • Monitor paper reel

    Overview the jumbo paper reel, which winds the paper at the right tension onto a core.

Optional knowledge and skills

types of wood consult technical resources perform machine maintenance dispose of non-hazardous waste prepare production reports record production data for quality control dispose of hazardous waste types of bleach adjust properties of cut monitor conveyor belt keep records of work progress monitor gauge tend bleacher report defective manufacturing materials clean equipment carry out waste water treatment

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