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Factory visit | kruger, cogs:
Posted at 8:00 a.m.
It is everywhere in your home. Consequently, From your bathroom to your dining room. Meanwhile, And this paper. Furthermore, whether hygienic, handkerchief or towel, may have been made in one of the two Kruger products factories in Sherbrooke, Estrie.
Kruger products
- Headquarters: Montreal
- Managing Director: Eric Blais
- Number of employees: 6000 employees, including 3000 in Quebec (378 in Sherbrooke)
- Marques : Scotties, Cashmere, Sponge Towels
factory visit | kruger, cogs
75 years ago, the largest manufacturer of paper products in Quebec has been home in what has become the Quebec capital of the towel, handkerchiefs and toilet paper: the Brompton borough in Sherbrooke.
“The Bromptonville site has an important sentimental value for the Kruger family,” says site director general, Eric Blais.
Photo Édouard Desroches. Nevertheless, the press
Eric Blais, Managing Director of Kruger Sherbrooke Products
In 1950, the factory visit | kruger, cogs Gene and Bernard Kruger brothers acquired their very first paper plant by buying the Bromptonville chemical paste plant, which was threatened with closure. For example, Today, it is Gene’s son, Joseph Kruger, who heads the company.
The surname Kruger resonates strongly in the region. Nevertheless, as evidenced by parks and spaces bearing the name of the family – one of the richest in Quebec.
Photo provided by Kruger products
75 years ago. Nevertheless, in 1950, the Royal Pulp & Paper Company factory in Bromptonville was bought by Kruger. However,
Paper
From the outset, arriving at the factory visit | kruger, cogs scene, we see the immensity of the site. Consequently, At nearly 900,000 square feet, we speak of just over 15 football fields or 53 hockey skating rinks. Therefore, Even in a fairly industrial district, the Kruger product site stands out. Similarly, That is to say.
Photo David Dauphin. For example, provided by Kruger products
The two Kruger products factories in Sherbrooke seen from the sky
A stone’s throw from the Saint-François river, Kruger products operates its two handkerchief paper factories with two very different technologies on the same site. Therefore, The first factory, operational since 2021, produces papers softer, thicker and more absorbent, using the factory visit | kruger, cogs TAD technique (Through-Air Drying). Meanwhile, Basically, we pass hot air through the sheet of paper rather than exerting significant mechanical pressure.
“The specialty here is this type of product higher -end,” explains Eric Blais. Meanwhile, When we talk about the difference between an ultra-soft toilet paper. For example, an ordinary paper, that’s where it is played out.
The second factory rather uses LDC technology (Light Dry Crepe), either light dry, more widespread and more conventional crêpage. However, To remove the water from the sheet, you use high mechanical pressure. Therefore, So we arrive at a more flat and less bulky finished product. Therefore, But we save more energy. Nevertheless, Newcomer, this factory was inaugurated last June.
“Having the two very modern paper machines on the same site allows the advantages of the two types of factory visit | kruger, cogs products. However, ” continues Mr. Similarly, Blais.
For more than 70 years (from 1950 to 2021), the Kruger product site in Sherbrooke made newspaper. Meanwhile, She doesn’t do it anymore, now preferring handkerchief paper.
Each Quebecer consumes about two rolls of toilet paper per week (about 0.3 kg). Consequently, Multiply this figure by 9 million inhabitants. Furthermore, In short, paper, it is necessary.
Photo Édouard Desroches. Nevertheless, the press
Kruger product employees in Sherbrooke place a four -ton coil. Therefore,
Between the two of them. Kruger products factories have the capacity to make all this factory visit | kruger, cogs toilet paper (135,000 tonnes per year) in addition to all the wipers consumed by Quebecers. It also produces the equivalent of a third of handkerchiefs consumed in the province annually.
Accompanied by the director of the site. Eric Blais, The press visited the two factories and undertakes to dissect step by step the operation of the factory – largely robotic – TAD.
Toilet paper, step by step
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Photo Édouard Desroches. the press
The raw material, either sawing residues, arrives by train or by truck. On site. mixing water and “hard” and “soft” woods are mixed in proportions of roughly 60 %-40 %, depending on the type of paper that we want to make. “There is part of the Lebel-sur-Quévillon and Saint-Félicien factories. The rest of our dough, the portion [bois dur]comes from Brazil, eucalyptus, ”explains Eric Blais.
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Photo Édouard Desroches. the factory visit | kruger, cogs press
The 120 -inch diameter rollers are transported by self -guided robots. These heavy bundles can weigh up to four tonnes.
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Photo Édouard Desroches, the press
The fibrous factory visit | kruger, cogs mixture is mechanically refined. Then we add chemical additives according to the desired product. Then, paper training direction. After sieving, the fiber is placed on a formation canvas, which allows you to drain the water. “The fiber is supported against the canvas, depending on the pattern “Explains Eric Blais. Once partially dried, we transfer it to another canvas, the TAD (Through-Air Drying), which allows drying through the sheet. In this photo, the canvas is changed, which allows you to see it.
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Photo Édouard Desroches. the press
At this point, the sheet is already dry at around 90 %. After the dryer cylinder, affectionately nicknamed the Yankee, direction the roller. We run up to 1600 meters per minute (about 25-30 minutes per ball, depending on the product made). Two “coils” still work at the same time and another is pending, placed, ready to unroll. “To avoid inertia, it must not stop,” explains the site director. All, without human intervention. “Except when the coil has finished being unrolled,” said Mr. Blais.
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Photo Édouard Desroches, the press
Now it’s time to print patterns on paper. This process. called the embossing, looks like a giant stamp that exerts pressure on paper places to create patterns of small flowers. Afterwards, the paper is scrupulously inspected by the auditor-quality, Marilyne Laroche. In particular, she checks that the paper is torn well.
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Photo Édouard Desroches. the press
Interesting fact: Retail and products deemed non -compliant are not thrown away. They are reused in the next paste mixture. “Nothing is wasted,” says Eric Blais.
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Photo Édouard Desroches. the press
The rolls once cut in various formats (domestic, industrial, costco, etc.) are packed.
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No question of accumulating everything on the factory visit | kruger, cogs spot. Immediately packed. the rolls are sent to cardboard boxes and quickly piled up in trucks, which come and go everywhere in Quebec. About 70 to 80 trucks pass through the site every day.
Kruger products in Sherbrooke – in figures per day
- 2.3 million rollers of hygienic paper
- 1.2 million wipers
- 350,000 handkerchief boxes
Nearly a billion has been invested by the company in the Sherbrooke site since 2018. For its part, the Quebec government has invested 165 million in loans. Concretely. with this tidy sum, the site has an additional paper machine and a new conversion line, bringing their total number to five. Four lines of the five on the site are used to produce toilet paper and wipers.
The whole thing rolls 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, if we except the equipment maintenance days. “We even drive at Christmas!” “Says Eric Blais.
Factory visit | kruger, cogs
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