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Big things in small packagesCellynne Corp., North America’s largest independent tissue converter, looks for big opportunities inthe private label market with startup of its compact tissue machine in Haines City, Fla.

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By MONICA SHAW, Editor

Tucked away among orange grovesin central Florida sits a new, state-of-the-art tissue machine owned byCellynne Corp., a newcomer to tis-

suemaking that is set on carving a niche inthe North American market. By expandingfrom major converter to a producer of qualitytissue, Cellynne has set its future sights onthe promise of a growing private label retailmarket (see sidebar, p. 40).

“Private label is a market segment that’sgrowing tremendously here in the States, andit has great potential,” says Cellynne vicepresident Marc Allegre, one of the company’sfounders. “In retail, private label onlyaccounts for 15% of the market here, but it’sover 50% of the market in Europe. We see avery good potential for us as a smaller com-pany to get a market share in that segment.”

Currently, about 75% of Cellynne’s busi-ness is away from home (AFH) tissue andtowel products and 25% retail. With the newtissue machine, the company hopes to tran-sition to a 50% AFH/50% retail mix.

Cellynne has planned a regional strategythat takes advantage of its proximity togrowing markets in the Southeast andSouthwest (see sidebar, p. 41). Key to theSoutheastern strategy is the new tissuemachine in Haines City, Fla., a compact,competitively priced design by Metsoknown as an Advantage DCT 100. Intendedfor entry-level tissue producers such asCellynne, the machine has been runningvery well since its startup this past April.

“As a converter, we were very carefulabout entering the retail market because wecouldn’t control the consistency and quality

of paper,” says Allegre. “The new machine’scompact, standardized design has allowed usto do so at an acceptable price.”

Within nine months of breaking groundat the Haines City site, the new tissuemachine was running smoothly. Accordingto Allegre, the machine has run grades rang-ing from 9-lb basis weight toilet tissue to 26-lb towel at 70-100 tpd, providing even moreoptimism for the future.

“We’re still converting more here than wecan produce, and this machine is only thefirst step toward a second one,” Allegre says.

High�end modular machine

While Cellynne approached all major tissuemachine manufacturers, Allegre says the hopewas to buy a Metso machine, although thefear was that the price would be prohibitive.“They are an extremely competent machinemanufacturer,” he explains, “and we knewthey could provide the support here thatmany smaller European suppliers could not.”

Fortunately, Metso had launched itsAdvantage DCT 100 dry crepe tissuemachine, described by the supplier as a low-cost concept that is “not over-engineered”but built for steady performance at higherlevels of speed and output of up to 130 tpd.The machine’s compact footprint was alsoperfect for the Cellynne application.

“Because of the standardized manufac-turing process for the DCT 100, Metso wasable to be much more competitive in the bid-ding process,” Allegre notes. “They came tothe price we had in mind for one of theirmachines, and we are happy to have madethat decision.”

Jeff Hammonds, paper mill manager atCellynne, points to other design advantagesthat fit the Haines City location in centralFlorida.

“The design uses very little fresh waterand has little discharge to the sewer,” hedescribes. “Big stock prep equipment wasn’trequired. It is basically a high-end modular

Situated on 40 acres in Haines City, Fla., Cellynne has room for further expansion.

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design that can be set in place and startedwithout a great deal of engineering.”

Cellynne’s DCT 100 tissue machine fea-tures the following:• Width: 102-in. trim • Max speed: 6,600 fpm• Length: 108 ft• Height: 34 ft• Capacity: 35,000 tpy• SymFlo TIS headbox• Crescent former• Yankee dryer: 18-ft dia.

The tissue machine orderincluded stock preparation equip-ment, including a bale pulper,refining, a deflaker, and screens,as well as broke handling equip-ment. A Metso AutomationDCS/QCS system was also part ofthe package, for which the suppli-er provided process programming.

Accelerated construction

Cellynne opted for a turnkey pro-ject contract due to limited in-houseresources for managing such a largeendeavor. This approach also allowed more time for Cellynne to recruit an operat-ing team.

After taking bids from four engineeringcompanies, Spirit Construction of Green Bay,Wis., was awarded the contract in 2005, withBranch Banking & Trust (BB&T) providingproject financing. That August, Spirit brokeground on the 20,000-ft2 machine buildingwith a full-size basement – a feature thatmight be unexpected in some parts ofFlorida, although the Haines City location isat one of the state’s highest points.

Hammonds visited Sweden for pre-inspection of the tissue machine inNovember 2005. The machine arrived inJanuary 2006, delivered at ports in Savannah,Ga., Jacksonville, Fla., and Manatee, Fla. Themachine was assembled prior to completion

of the building. Construction, says Cellynnegeneral manager Kurt Schulze, “was veryseamless, very easy.”

On April 30, the tissue machine was opera-tional, which was right on schedule.Hammonds credits Metso’s on-site help and

Spirit’s startup specialists with completing theproject within the nine-month timeframe.

Smooth operations so far

As stated, Cellynne’s new tissue machine hasrun grades ranging from 9-lb tissue to 28-lb

towels. Speeds have been ashigh as 5,500 fpm and areexpected to go higher as thelearning curve progresses, top-ping out at 6,500 fpm – even forheavier weight towel.

“With a smaller machine likethis, you don’t often see suchspeed at heavy weights,”Hammond notes. “This is possi-ble by the installation of the 18-foot diameter Yankee dryer anda Metso high temperature hotair cap.”

Several characteristics of thetissue machine make it easy tooperate and maintain. The fol-lowing sections describe theseand other operational features.

Stock preparation: Bleached hardwood(HW) and bleached softwood (SW) pulp arefed separately to the swing pulper, whichsends the pulp to one of two stock lines:hardwood or softwood. The softwood pulpline features refining and screening only,while the hardwood line has screening anddeflaking, since broke is sent back throughthe line.

The stock lines feed the machine chest,which functions as a blend chest. TheHW/SW mix depends on which grade the tis-sue machine is running – tissue or towel.

Water supply and treatment: Cellynnehas benefited from re-activation of an on-sitewell for its process water, although it canpurchase municipal water from Haines Cityas backup. Effluent, however, is a particularissue for Cellynne.

“We don’t have an option here with thecity to discharge a lot of water, so we had to

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The founders of Cellynne Corp. are company president PatriceMinguez (left) and vice president Marc Allegre.

Paper mill manager Jeff Hammonds (left)says the DCT 100 is “basically a high-endmodular design that can be set in place and started without a great deal of engineering.”

design the machine to use and discharge verylittle of it, which the DCT 100 supported,”Hammonds describes. “We have a veryclosed water loop, and the machine is adapt-ing to it very nicely. To date, we are averagingless than 50-gpm discharge to the city sewer,a remarkable number, but with expectationsto lower it even further.”

About 96% of the tissue machine’s show-ers use super-clarified water, while two high-pressure showers run off fresh water, accord-ing to Hammonds. Fresh water is broughtinto the loop for cooling of the machine’shydraulic units, and that water is recycled

into a tank, which is then used by showers onthe machine.

“We have the capability to close theincoming loop and recirculate that wateruntil it heats up. Then, we bring fresh waterin to cool it down,” Hammonds describes.

Energy supply: A new Thermogenics20,000 lb/hour, 250-psi gas-fired package

boiler heats the Yankee dryer and conden-sate system. Additional energy is suppliedby Progress Energy, which provides a dedi-cated substation to send 69,000 volts to thetissue machine.

Yankee dryer: The 18-ft-dia. Yankeedryer has a maximum operating pressure of116 psi, and both the wet end and the dry

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going retailCurrent customers, future opportunities

Prior to installation of the new tissue machine, 25% of Cellyne Corp.’sconverted tissue was for retail applications – a percentage it wants togrow. Cellynne has supplied private labels for the Dollar Stores, aswell as convenience stores, including 7-11. The new tissue machineshould open more doors for Cellynne in the private label world, butwhat about a broader retail reach?

On the AFH side, Cellynne has provided the majority of tissue andtowels for Wal-Mart’s in-store use since 2000, supporting the retailguru’s expansion in the West and Southeast with its Nevada andFlorida converting operations. Wal-Mart’s purchasing group haspressed Cellynne to make a presentation for providing tissue and tow-els to Wal-Mart for retail sales, but executive vice president MarcAllegre says the timing must be right.

“For now, we are being very cautious about making an offer to a largecompany like Wal-Mart on the retail side,” Allegre describes. “We mustmake sure that we have the capacity and don’t burn ourselves out.”

The retail strategy, for the time being at least, is to pursue privatelabel market segments that demand a higher quality tissue and towel,as supported by Cellynne’s new tissue machine. This strategy hingeson a regional approach supported by the company’s converting oper-ations, especially in the Southwest, where population is on the rise,and the Southeast.

“Many large tissue manufacturers are shipping their product fromthe Northeast and Midwest and there is less competition here in theSoutheast,” Allegre describes. “We also have a very good freight rateback to Georgia that’s very attractive for customers.”

Unique features of the Yankee dryer include a CARB bearing (left) that allows for axial expansion of the Yankee journal at high tempera-tures and an air cap wash down system (right).

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market strategyTissue and the winds of change

It seems that Cellynne Corp. has charted its course by the winds ofchange in both a literal and figurative sense. In 1988, president andfounder Patrice Minguez picked up on the need for center pull towel-ing and jumbo roll tissue (JRT) in the U.S. market and formed Cellynneto import those finished products from Europe.

Joined as an owner by executive vice president Marc Allegre soonafterward, the company purchased its first piece of converting equip-ment in 1991, locating it in Miami.

Then, in August 1992, Hurricane Andrew struck near Miami, and“south Florida was in turmoil,” says Allegre. Cellynne began lookingfor a place to relocate and expand, and central Florida looked promis-ing with its large Orlando airport, less expensive real estate, and easyshipment to the entire Southeast.

The new 45,000-ft2 space in Orlando would come in handy. In theearly 1990s, very few U.S. tissue companies were producing JRT andcenter pull toweling, although interest was growing. Cellyne offeredthe ability for these companies to try out the market.

“The first converting machines for jumbo products were not fullyautomated and very labor intensive, so the big companies were reluctantto make it themselves and began contracting with us,” says Allegre.

Cellynne converted jumbo rolls for most major players. In 1995, abusiness opportunity with James River led Cellynne to open a convert-ing facility in Green Bay,Wis., which it still operates. A converting facil-ity near Las Vegas, Nev., was opened in 1996, but continuing change

in the industry would require Cellyne to further alter its course.“When the mergers and the acquisitions began, our client base

started to shrink, so we decided to incorporate another companycalled Stefco Industries in 1996, which is the company that does ourmarketing,” Allegre explains. “With Stefco, we started producing andmarketing our own branded product.”

For several more years, Cellynne’s strategy focused on convertingfor contract products and for Stefco. However, the larger players soonbegan buying jumbo roll converting machines, which had becomemore automated and faster, thereby reducing their dependence onCellynne for converting. By 2002, Cellynne wanted to move more intoretail products, but space at the Orlando facility was limited.

“For retail products, we need more automated machinery, roll wrap-pers, case packers, and robots, so we purchased 20 acres in Haines Citythat had been a mobile home manufacturing site,” Allegre describes.

Cellynne now owns 40 acres of land at the Haines City site, whichhas 260,000 ft2 of manufacturing space for converting and tissuemaking. With around 140 employees, the facility has nine convertinglines: small roll bath, small roll bath/towel, facial, napkin, multifold,and four for JRT.

Overall, Cellynne employs about 200 and converts about 60,000tpy of tissue and towels. Today, only 5% of its converting work is bycontract, with 95% dedicated to products it markets through StefcoIndustries, including the Heavenly Soft AFH brand.

Cellynne’s Heavenly Soft AFH branded products

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end sections of the dryer hood are capableof nearly 1,000° F. The Yankee has severalfeatures that offer an operational advan-tage, including a CARB bearing on the tend-ing side that allows for axial expansion ofthe Yankee journal during periods of hightemperature stress.

The Yankee dryer’s condensate removalsystem features soda straws offset in bothdirections to remove condensate from thebottom of the grooves, which causes lessthermal stress than with straws all going thesame direction, as in many designs. This fea-ture is especially important when runningheavier weight towel grades.

In addition, the Yankee’s air cap is sup-plied with a wash down system for safer andcleaner operations. For corrosion resistancein the wet end hood section, the first 30° or 6 ft is made of Corten, acid proof steel.

Other features: With the DCT 100 tissuemachine design, the gearbox and vacuumconnection are all on the back side of themachine, which is atypical of tissuemachines and offers distinct advantages.

“If, as is usual, the vacuum connectionis on the front side, you have to undo it andthread the felt through when you changeit,” Hammonds explains. “With the gearboxand vacuum connection all in one unit onthe back, you never have to loosen thatconnection. Combined with designed open-ings in the catwalk system, a wire or feltchange is possible in less than an hour.”

Staffing the crew: Cellynne’s tissuemachine runs with a four-person crew:machine tender, backtender, roll handler,and stock prep operator. All operators werecompletely new to the paper industry, savefor one from Cellynne’s converting opera-tions. There is a four-person maintenancegroup, one person in shipping and receiving,and five managerial positions for a total of 26additional employees at Cellynne supportingthe new machine.

According to Schulze, Hammonds

assembled a “top-notch” team of paperindustry veterans to train the new crews,often having combined experience totalingover 100 years. The team included produc-tion manager Pierre Lebeau and machinesuperintendent Ron Cason. Metso alsobrought in excellent trainers for the startup as well as key suppliers, says Schulze. This made possible the on-time startup and saleable paper fromday one.

Focused on the future

Once at full speed, the new tissue machinewill secure about 55% of Cellynne’s needs forpaper, so the company will continue pur-chasing products to convert. This will mostlikely come in the form of tissue to get ahigher yield on the machine on towel, saysAllegre. While the converting equipment willrun a 50% tissue and 50% towel, the tissuemachine will manufacture approximately65% towel and 35% tissue.

The tissue machine is running bleachedHW kraft and bleached SW kraft pulps fornow, but Cellynne has spoken with variousBrazilian eucalyptus pulp suppliers in antici-pation of possibly making a more premiumretail tissue.

Within two years, says Allegre, Cellynnewill look to construct “a sister building” atthe Haines City site to house a second papermachine. “Everything is already planned toput a second machine parallel to the newone and to add additional stock prepara-tion,” he describes.

Future plans also include addition of adeinking plant behind the tissue machines,although Cellynne has not decided which willcome first - a new machine or the deinkplant. In addition, the company plans a railspur to run between the mill and a railwaynear the property. P&P

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Speeds have been as high as 5,500 fpm and are expected to go higher as the learningcurve progresses, topping out at 6,500 fpm – even for heavier weight towel.