COMPETENCE IN PAPER

Newsletter

May 2025

From the board

Invitation to the General Assembly

We cordially invite you to the ZELLCHEMING General Meeting on July 2, 2025, at 8:30 a.m. at the RheinMain CongressCenter (RMCC) in Forum 1.2 in Wiesbaden.

Registration opens at 8:00 a.m. in front of the conference room. This event is open to the public, but only voting members will receive their voting cards upon entry.

The agenda is planned as follows:

1. Opening by the Chairwoman
2. Report of the Board of Directors on the 2024 association year
3. Report of the Main Committee Chairman
4. Report of the Treasurer
5. Report on the 2024 cash audit
6. Approval of the 2024 Annual Report and resolution on the 2024 Annual Financial Statements. Discharge of the Board of Directors and Management for 2024.
7. Elections
8. Motion: Marketing of ZELLCHEMING Leaflets
9. Announcement of Honors for 2025

In accordance with Section 18 of the Association's Articles of Association, motions for the General Meeting must be submitted to the Chairperson by May 30, 2025, and received by the office by that date.

The official part of the event will be followed immediately by the awards ceremony for the awardees of the memorial medals at the forum in the North Hall.

The technical and scientific content developed in recent years has been very positively received. We would like to emphasize the lecture session, "Sustainability in Focus: ZELLCHEMING Insights," which covers topics from the ZELLCHEMING technical committees.

ZELLCHEMING-Expo 2025: Two good reasons to celebrate & a specialist congress on the pulse of time

The ZELLCHEMING Forum features modern presentations, discussions, and interactive activities throughout the three-day trade fair. Admission is included with the event ticket for all visitors and exhibitors. This year's main topics are:

• Panel discussion on the topic: "Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Paper and Fiber-Based Industry: Future Opportunities and Challenges"
• Inside Modellfabrik Papier: Updates from the Real Laboratory
• "Sustainability in Focus: ZELLCHEMING Insights"
• Best practice presentations by exhibitors
• Women4Paper
• Science Flash: Introducing the Next Generation of Scientists
• The 3rd ZELLCHEMING Career Day is the networking event for young talent in the industry

You can find the current program at:

In celebration of the anniversary and as a gesture of gratitude, the association is offering all ZELLCHEMING members free admission to Expo 2025! Members received their personal voucher code, redeemable for a season ticket in our ticket store, via email in February and by mail at the beginning of May. Book your ticket today at https://pretix.eu/zellcheming/expo2025/

Networking at its best! 

The ZELLCHEMING Celebration Gala, which will take place on July 2, 2025, is the highlight of the 195th anniversary celebration, "Shaping the Future Together": 120 years of the association and 75 years of the expo.

With its culinary diversity and show acts, the gala will be the industry event of the year, embodying the motto, "Shaping the Future Together!" Join us in celebrating the association and the Expo, and experience a gala that will delight all your senses.

Tickets for the ZELLCHEMING Celebration Gala are available via the ticket store. Order your tickets for this special event as soon as possible, as they are limited!

It is worth coming to the ZELLCHEMING Expo this year more than ever. No one should miss this special anniversary event!

Call for Participation: My ZELLCHEMING Moment

We would like to thank you for the videos we have received so far and encourage all other members to participate in the “My ZELLCHEMING Moment!” campaign. Our association thrives on the commitment of its members, and this campaign illustrates that commitment!

Please send us short videos; the content can be designed freely. It can describe a personal experience, a milestone for the association, or an experience in a role such as chairing a specialist committee. It can also express a wish or expectation for the association and its members.

Videos can be between 30 seconds and 3 minutes long. Keep the format as simple as possible. For example, use the format of YouTube shorts or Instagram reels. Alternatively, use a cell phone to record a video (preferably vertically, with an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels). We are also happy to receive professional recordings. Please send your video to tobias.hoenig@hoenig-messemanagement.com. If the file size exceeds 10 MB, please use a service such as WeTransfer which is free of charge and does not require registration.

Here is a great video by Sigrid Tertinegg and her GAW Technologies colleague Christian Makari for inspiration.

We are looking forward to the recordings and are confident that the entries will enrich the event.

Last but not least: Tickets for the ZELLCHEMING Celebration Gala are now available via the ticket store. Order your tickets for this special event as soon as possible, as they are limited!

From the office

Once again, the RheinMain CongressCenter (RMCC) in Wiesbaden is expected to reach full capacity this year. Since January, bookings for exhibition space have exceeded last year's numbers. As of mid-May, 111 exhibitors had confirmed their participation. Additionally, there are still reservations and inquiries, so the potential for further bookings is high. We are also expecting an increase in visitor numbers because the association is covering the expo admission ticket for members this anniversary year, allowing them to enjoy the trade fair and congress free of charge!

Women4Paper: Mentoring Program goes to the next round

On July 2, the ZELLCHEMING Women4Paper will take the stage at 12:15 p.m.! Vera Strauch will deliver the Women4Paper Keynote 2025. At the same time, the Women4Paper Mentoring Program will begin its next round. The program encourages women to pursue careers in the paper industry and empowers young women to gain a foothold in a male-dominated sector. The first mentor-mentee pairs have already completed the program's pilot year, and we plan to launch additional pairs in the third quarter of 2025.

Small and medium-sized companies often lack their own mentoring programs, and we can address this issue. Female employees involved in ZELLCHEMING-Women4Paper give these companies visibility on our social media channels and at the annual ZELLCHEMING Expo in Wiesbaden.

Take advantage of the Women4Paper mentoring program by introducing your female employees to it and its opportunities!

From the association

We are happy to welcome new members again this month!

We welcome to the ZELLCHEMING association:

• Nicole Byrnes, Hochschule München
• Rajvi Gandhi, Hochschule München
• Jean-Duncan Haberstock, Steinbeis Papier GmbH
• Ole Hunstock, Steinbeis Papier GmbH
• Alexander Lenz, ABB AG
• Sascha Luca, Progroup AG
• Vijay Jaganath Pericherla Ramsankar, Hochschule München
• Florian Schäfer, ABB AG
• Frank Thörner, Felix Schoeller Holding GmbH & Co. KG
• Friedrich Welt, J.M. Voith SE & Co. KG

Good reasons to join ZELLCHEMING

Dr.-Ing. Eric Häntzsche, Head of department Sensors & Data, PTS – Institut für Fasern & Papier gGmbH 

• What role does the pulp, paper and fiber industry play for you/your company?

  At PTS - Institut für Fasern und Papier gGmbH, our Smart & Circular Solutions business unit partners with the paper, pulp, and fiber-based industries to develop and implement innovative fiber-based solutions. These solutions focus on recyclability, recovered paper management, stock preparation method development, and imaging measurement technology for incoming inspection and online quality monitoring of recovered paper streams. Our interdisciplinary team of experts makes us a research and development partner for innovative solutions in paper recycling and near-infrared (NIR) measurement technologies. We offer the industry comprehensive advice throughout the entire material cycle, from waste paper use to paper recycling, as part of individually configurable in-house training courses and workshops.

• What made you become a member of ZELLCHEMING?

  My fascination with new technologies that improve paper production, processing, and recycling, as well as my keen interest in interdisciplinary exchange to further develop and transfer measurement and digitization technologies for paper production, utilization, and recycling, prompted me to become a member of ZELLCHEMING.

• In what way would you like to get involved in ZELLCHEMING?
  I would like to contribute to ZELLCHEMING by participating in its technical committees, particularly the Data Management (DATA) committee, and by attending networking events such as ZELLCHEMING-Expo.

Dates

• 20 May 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Environmental Issues (ENVI)
• 1-3 July 2025
  ZELLCHEMING-Expo
• 2 July 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Microbiology (MBIO)
• 3 July 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Paperboard Technology (PBTC)
• 25 September 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Plant Engineering and Energy (ENEN
• 13 November 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Data Management (DATA)
• 19 November 2025
  Meeting Technical Committee Finishing of Paper and Paperboard (FPPB)
• 26 November 2025
  Meeting Technical Subcommittee Energy (ENEN1)

In memoriam

Antti Arjas 1940-2025

A trusted man in the industry and a role model for paper engineers
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 first 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.

A long career in the forest industry took him to various leadership positions across Finland, including Valkeakoski, Simpele, Kajaani, Myllykoski, and finally Espoo. As a research-oriented and widely networked professional, Arjas took on significant responsibilities in the development of production units and research, including the development of new paper grades containing mechanical pulp.

From the late 1970s, he was also a trusted representative and influencer in several domestic and international cooperation organizations, including Finnpap, the Finnish Paper Engineers' Association, EUCEPA, CEPI, the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, and the Paper Industry International Hall of Fame Honorary committee. Arjas was also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) and the Finnish Academy of Technical Sciences (TTA).

Arjas was first elected to the board of the Finnish Pulp and Paper Research Institute, KCL, in 1982 and later became CEO in 1993, a role from which he retired 10 years later. Arjas strongly promoted the utilization of KCL's research results in the industry and the cooperation between research and production, emphasizing the transfer of knowledge to the factories. He also promoted KCL's international networking and participation in Nordic and European research activities, including EU research programs.

Throughout his career, Antti Arjas received numerous awards both domestically and internationally, including the TAPPI Fellow recognition and Zellcheming's Walter-Brecht memorial medal. One of the organizations close to Antti's heart was the Finnish Paper Engineers' Association, PI (now the Forest Products Engineers' Association), where he was actively involved from the 1960s, including serving as chairman of the board and editor-in-chief of the leading textbook on paper manufacturing, achieving all the highest recognition awards of the association. Antti Arjas was named an honorary member of PI in 2007. He was awarded the Order of the White Rose of Finland, First Class Knight's Cross, in 1996. Arjas held the military rank of major.

Freemasonry was also an important ideological home for Antti for over 50 years. He participated in various ways in the activities of the brotherhood and charitable work, achieving the title of honorary freemason.

From the network

Review: Paper Conference 2025 in Gernsbach

On May 9, 2025, the APV Karlsruhe Paper Conference took place at the Gernsbach Paper Center. It was a day full of inspiration regarding artificial intelligence, digitalization, automation, and sustainable change in the paper industry.

Prof. Dr. Markus Wildberger guided attendees through the varied program. The Drees & Sommer team began the specialist presentations with a talk on the opportunities of AI, robotics, and the metaverse in SMEs. The speakers provided insights into their platform, dreso.ai, and demonstrated application examples, including the AI-supported optimization of heat pumps.

Ulrich Middelberg from Steinbeis Papier then discussed “Industrial Analytics” and shared his experience integrating AI projects into existing IT structures, particularly SAP. Before the lunch break, Rosario Othen and Florian Pohlmeyer (RWTH Aachen University) presented their FOREST project, which focuses on digital solutions for energy and CO₂ optimization. After lunch, Dr. Julius Flitsch from Voith provided an outlook on the "paper mill of the future." His presentation focused on the MillOne platform, which bundles all digital processes in paper production.

John Schulz (BTG) concluded the presentations by speaking about "Digitalization and AI the Right Way." He believes that a solid foundation in processes and data is essential for the successful implementation of AI in the paper industry.

The day ended in a convivial atmosphere at the subsequent barbecue on the campus of the Paper Center, with good conversations, new contacts, and a shared view of the challenges of the future.

Save the date: The next Paper Conference will take place on April 24, 2026.

Papermakers' Regulars' Table Regional Group West VPM

The VPM Regional Group West cordially invites you to the next papermaking get-together on June 6, 2025, from 6 p.m. at the Brauhaus (Annaplatz 1, 52349 Düren). Food and drinks will be available for purchase. Please register by mid-May 2025 with Janek Schiefer.

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