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Showcasing Incada’s intangible and tangible benefits

The Incada family of Folding Box Board offers customers value that goes beyond the physical qualities of the paperboard itself. This essence of the product has been captured in a unique new sales toolkit which showcases Incada’s inspiring story. Produced at Holmen Board and Paper’s Workington Mill in the UK, Incada is used primarily for pharmaceutical, cosmetics and food applications.

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XSYS wins FPPA Prepress Excellence Award for the second year

XSYS, global supplier of flexo prepress solutions, has won the 2025 FPPA Excellence Award for the nyloflex® eco series printing plates, taking home the coveted trophy for a second year. Founded to promote high standards in the flexo prepress industry, the FPPA recognizes and celebrates outstanding achievements in innovation, sustainability, and overall excellence with this annual award. Entries are evaluated on several judging criteria including demonstrating “efforts to reduce waste, energy consumption, and environmental impact, as well as the implementation of eco-friendly materials and processes.”

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In memoriam: Antti Arjas (1940 - 2025)

Doctor of Technology, Professor Antti Arjas passed away on Saturday, March 8, 2025, in Espoo due to a rapidly progressing illness.

Arjas was born on December 16, 1940, in Helsinki to the engineer family of Olavi and Kaja Arjas. He graduated from Tampere High School in 1959 and began his studies at Helsinki University of Technology. Arjas was the ?rst in Finland to earn a doctorate in paper technology under the legendary Professor Niilo Ryti in 1970. Antti Arjas married Anneli Höckert in 1962, and they got three daughters. After Anneli's death in 2006, Antti found a new partner, Marketta, with whom he shared a happy marriage for 18 years.

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Solenis to apply temporary surcharge in the United States in response to tariff-driven cost increases

Solenis LLC, a global provider of water and hygiene solutions, announced today it will temporarily apply a minimum 5% surcharge on all products and services sold in the United States, effective May 1, 2025. This action is a direct response to rising costs tied to global trade policy changes, including a 145% tariff on China-sourced goods and new global baseline tariffs at or above 10%.

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A new era begins at TappiCon 2025

The German company emtec Electronic GmbH is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and is starting a new era in the North American pulp and paper industry together with the new company emtec Electronic North America LLC at TappiCon 2025 in Minneapolis, USA. This collaboration was initiated with the aim of focusing on innovation, close and direct customer contact as well as flexible, fast and customer-friendly decisions.

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SCA to increase kraftliner prices by € 60 per tonne

SCA increases the prices on brown and white kraftliner in Europe by € 60 per tonne. The new price is valid from May 1, 2025. “The market demand for Kraftliner remains solid with a good balance in the supply chain. The continued cost pressure is evident and must be managed in order to safeguard stable supply of Kraftliner,” says Mikael Frölander, Vice President Marketing and Sales at SCA Containerboard.

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Voith is modernizing PM 3 at Smurfit Westrock Navarra to improve MG paper quality

Voith has received the order to modernize the PM 3 paper machine at Smurfit Westrock Navarra, S.A., in Sangüesa, Spain. Enrique Sanz, Industrial Manager at Smurfit Westrock Navarra, emphasizes: “Working with Voith on this project is another important milestone in our continuous improvement of production capabilities. We are confident in Voith's expertise as a leading full-line supplier and believe that the rebuild will deliver the desired production benefits to enable our continued strategic growth and delivery for our customers.”

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BW Flexible Systems unveils upgraded Hayssen R300 with OpView™ HMI

BW Flexible Systems has announced enhancements to its Hayssen R300 flow wrapper, which originally launched one year ago at Pack Expo East. Now, the solution will come standard with BW Packaging's award-winning OpView™ human-machine interface (HMI), offering significant improvements to user training and operation, as well as providing baked goods producers with the flexibility necessary to adapt their equipment with their ever-evolving production needs.

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Gundlach Packaging joins European Rotogravure Association (ERA)

The European Rotogravure Association (ERA) is pleased to announce that Gundlach Packaging Group has joined as a new member. With more than 170 years of excellence in the packaging industry, Gundlach brings deep-rooted expertise and innovation to the ERA community. Headquartered in Oerlinghausen, Germany, Gundlach Packaging is a premium provider of high-quality packaging solutions, specializing in rotogravure, flexographic and Offset printing. With two state-of-the-art production facilities and a team of over 400 employees, the company delivers custom-designed flexible packaging for renowned clients in the food, non-food and tobacco industries in- and outside Europe.

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Additive manufacturing industry optimistic despite challenges

“Our member companies continue to demonstrate remarkable stability and adaptability in a changing market environment,” explains Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDMA Additive Manufacturing Working Group. The working group's spring 2025 survey shows that the additive manufacturing industry remains optimistic despite some challenges. The survey was conducted until March 28, i.e. before the US tariffs were introduced. One result is that more companies reported positive sales than in the previous fall survey. Nevertheless, 34 percent of companies reported declining sales for the last 12 months. In the past 6 months, however, the negative turnover of member companies was only 20 percent. “We are therefore seeing a slight trend towards more positive business,” explains Dr. Heering.

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SCA signs service contracts with Andritz for pulp mill in Sweden

International technology group Andritz has been awarded significant service contracts by SCA, Europe’s largest private forest owner, to further improve the performance of the Östrand pulp mill in northern Sweden. The contracts include the replacement of an economizer in the recovery boiler and the implementation of the Synergy Services concept for the white liquor plant and pulp drying processes. These improvements will increase availability and efficiency, thus helping to deliver the mill’s primary objective of increasing pulp production.

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Efficiency significantly increased on the PM3 winder from Progroup Sandersdorf

IBS Papertech, a member of the IBS Paper Performance Group, has achieved another milestone with its iSTOP+™ technology. The camera-based process for increasing the efficiency of winders has been successfully in operation since 2023 on PM3 at Progroup AG in Sandersdorf-Brehna (Germany), one of the world's most modern and efficient paper mills. The winder with double unwinding is under great production pressure. With the iSTOP+, a contactless and low-maintenance solution is now available to fully meet the challenges.

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