Abstract The ambition to increase the production of paper has made paper machine runnability widely studied in recent decades. Paper machine runnability is often measured by the number of web breaks in comparison with paper machine speed. When runnability is good, a machine can be run at the desired speed with the least possible number of breaks. Web break sensitivity means the number of breaks in a day, which can also be understood as a measurement of paper machine runnability. This study presents an application for the evaluation of web break sensitivity in a paper machine. A web break sensitivity indicator was built using the basic principles of case-based reasoning with a linguistic equations approach and basic fuzzy logic. The indicator combines on-line measurement data with expert knowledge and provides a continuous indication of break sensitivity. Web break sensitivity defines the current operating situation at the paper mill and provides new information to operators. Web break sensitivity is presented as a continuous signal with information about actual web breaks depicted as an eight-hour trend. The trend shows how the situation has developed and the current value gives a prediction for the next 24 hours if the situation stays as it is now. Together with information about the most important variables, this prediction gives operators enough time to react to the changing operating situation. From the methodological point of view, a new tool for building case-based reasoning applications for other purposes was also tested and found to be suitable for diagnostic applications.

<p>This thesis covers an introduction to the present conditions for newspaper publishing, definitions and analyses of the processes of newspaper production and distribution, expected future developments with respect to products and production processes, and finally, conclusions regarding the need for global coordination of products, production and distribution.</p><p>Primarily, the conditions in the Nordic countries have been analysed. Particular attention has been drawn to Swedish morning newspapers with a circulation exceeding about 50 000 copies per publishing day.</p><p>The study has been carried out mainly through literature research, through case studies using the SDA-method, and through acquisition and analyses of production data from the case studies. In addition, interviews and questionnaires have been used.</p><p>A modern newspaper printing plant requires heavy investments. The number of newspaper printing plants is decreasing, but he number of newspaper titles printed in each plant increases. The flexibility in and utilisation of the remaining plants increases as well as the complexity and variety of the products handled.</p><p>In all case studies of newspaper production, the companies use fixed production and distribution plans, following the same timetable from day to day. Delayed press starts, deviations from the calculated production speed, and interruptions during the production immediately cause disturbances in the distribution, delay costs, and goodwill losses.</p><p>The time needed to produce a fixed number of copies varies within a wide range. Days of more complex production in the production plants meet with problems more often. The average net production speed is progressively reduced at higher page counts. Inserting operations result in an accelerated reduction. The difference is mainly caused by product related differences in cruising speed and by the occurrence of unplanned stops. The coordination of products, production and distribution is essential already today, and will be even more important in the future.</p><p>More flexible production and distribution plans would imply controlled and predictable risks. In addition, it will render increased utilisation of the resources available. A product model can be used in order to identify an associated production process model as a set of separate activities. Detailed modelling of the different activities demands detailed tracking and systematic use of the production history. A detailed activity modelling will make it possible to predict the capability of a certain activity in terms of production speed and reliability. This will facilitate coordination on a global level.</p>

This thesis covers an introduction to the present conditions for newspaper publishing, definitions and analyses of the processes of newspaper production and distribution, expected future developments with respect to products and production processes, and finally, conclusions regarding the need for global coordination of products, production and distribution. Primarily, the conditions in the Nordic countries have been analysed. Particular attention has been drawn to Swedish morning newspapers with a circulation exceeding about 50 000 copies per publishing day. The study has been carried out mainly through literature research, through case studies using the SDA-method, and through acquisition and analyses of production data from the case studies. In addition, interviews and questionnaires have been used. A modern newspaper printing plant requires heavy investments. The number of newspaper printing plants is decreasing, but he number of newspaper titles printed in each plant increases. The flexibility in and utilisation of the remaining plants increases as well as the complexity and variety of the products handled. In all case studies of newspaper production, the companies use fixed production and distribution plans, following the same timetable from day to day. Delayed press starts, deviations from the calculated production speed, and interruptions during the production immediately cause disturbances in the distribution, delay costs, and goodwill losses. The time needed to produce a fixed number of copies varies within a wide range. Days of more complex production in the production plants meet with problems more often. The average net production speed is progressively reduced at higher page counts. Inserting operations result in an accelerated reduction. The difference is mainly caused by product related differences in cruising speed and by the occurrence of unplanned stops. The coordination of products, production and distribution is essential already today, and will be even more important in the future. More flexible production and distribution plans would imply controlled and predictable risks. In addition, it will render increased utilisation of the resources available. A product model can be used in order to identify an associated production process model as a set of separate activities. Detailed modelling of the different activities demands detailed tracking and systematic use of the production history. A detailed activity modelling will make it possible to predict the capability of a certain activity in terms of production speed and reliability. This will facilitate coordination on a global level.

Food packaging plays a crucial role in protecting and storing food to keep the products fresh and reduce waste. There is a need to increase the number of paper packages in the food industry to meet the growing demand. Therefore, barrier coatings are an essential aspect of the paper industry since they have good resistance to grease and moisture, which protects the food. The development and improvement of these barrier coatings have the potential to contribute to the advancement of environmentally friendly food packaging. This work aims to examine the impact of rheological behavior and properties on the runnability and barrier performance of barrier coating formulations containing two different kaolin clays, Speswhite (K1) and Capim NP (K2), with the addition of nanoclay in varying amounts. Different formulations were tested as multilayer barrier coatings on lab- and pilot-scale in order to determine the effect of various nanoclay concentrations on runnability, water retention, and rheology properties. Various measurement techniques have been used to obtain a wide range of information on the rheological properties, including the viscosity, under varied shear rate ranges. Also studied are runnability, grease and moisture barrier performance, water retention, and high shear testing for rheology to determine flow behavior. The results show that the viscosity was higher on the lab scale than on the pilot scale due to the poor nanoclay dispersion at the pilot scale. As expected for this type of barrier coating, the KIT-test revealed that the grease barrier was highly effective. Measurements of water retention were good for the low amounts of nanoclay content. Lastly, the shear testing gave very similar results between all the different barrier coating formulas. It was determined that a low nanoclay content gave a good barrier coating performance. However, a higher nanoclay content resulted in decreased water resistance compared to a coating with a low nanoclay content. / Livsmedelsförpackningar spelar en avgörande roll för att skydda och lagra mat för att hålla produkterna fräscha och minska avfallet. Det finns ett behov av att öka antalet pappersförpackningar inom livsmedelsindustrin för att möta den växande efterfrågan. Därför är barriärbestrykningar en väsentlig del av pappersindustrin eftersom de har god motståndskraft mot fett och fukt, vilket skyddar maten. Utvecklingen och förbättringen av dessa barriärbestrykningar har potential att bidra till utvecklingen av miljövänliga livsmedelsförpackningar. Detta arbete syftar till att undersöka inverkan av reologiskt beteende och egenskaper på körbarheten och barriärprestandan hos barriärbestryknings-formuleringar som innehåller två olika kaolinleror, Speswhite (K1) och Capim NP (K2), med tillsats av nanolera i varierande mängder. Olika formuleringar testades som flerskiktsbarriärbestrykningar i laboratorie- och pilotskala för att bestämma effekten av olika nanolerakoncentrationer på körbarhet, vattenretention och reologiska egenskaper. Olika mättekniker har använts för att erhålla bred information om de reologiska egenskaperna, inklusive viskositeten under varierande skjuvhastighets-intervall. Körbarhet, fett- och fuktbarriärprestanda, vattenretention och högskjuvningstestning för reologi har studeras för att bestämma flödesbeteende. Resultaten visar att viskositeten var högre på laboratorieskalan än på pilotskalan på grund av den dåliga nanolerdispergeringen på pilotskalan. Som förväntat för denna typ av barriärbestrykning visade KIT-testet att fettbarriären var mycket effektiv. Mätningar av vattenretention var bra för de låga värdena på nanolerainnehåll. Slutligen gav skjuvprovningen mycket likartade resultat mellan alla olika barriärbestryknings-formuleringar. Det fastställdes att ett lågt nanolerainnehåll gav en bra barriärbestryknings-prestanda. En högre halt av nanolera resulterade dock i minskad vattenbeständighet jämfört med en beläggning med låg nanolerhalt.