Paper, Print & Packaging
A paper machine is steam and power heavy, but energy sits as one monthly bill nobody can split by machine, grade or shift, so the energy leak hides inside cost per tonne, the single biggest swing on a mill's margin. Makeready waste, spoilage, overruns, reprints, colour-rejection credits, premium freight and broke are never added up, so the owner has never seen the consolidated cost-of-poor-quality, which in print is usually several margin points hiding inside the biggest accounts.
Who has it
The energy-cost-per-tonne side belongs to paper and board mills, where steam and power dominate margin; printers are far less energy-driven. The consolidated cost-of-poor-quality side applies across all segments and is usually the most persuasive single number an owner sees.
What we build
Capture energy by machine and grade (from sub-meters or DCS / PLC data where available, or apportioned from run hours and tonnage), and surface cost per tonne by machine, grade and shift, feeding it into true margin per grade. Tie makeready waste, spoilage, overruns, reprints, colour-rejection credits, premium freight and broke into one figure by job and customer, automatically, from the ledgers and captures already built.
What is automated, where AI helps, who signs off
The reliable spine
The metering and apportionment arithmetic carries the value: energy is split to machine, grade and shift to give a true cost per tonne, and makeready waste, spoilage, overruns, reprints, colour-rejection credits, premium freight and broke are summed into one cost-of-poor-quality figure by job and customer from the ledgers already built.
Where AI helps
AI is confined to reading the source records (energy bills, reject and credit notes, freight invoices) and matching each cost to the right machine, grade, job or account so the figure is complete; it assembles the number, it never changes a rate or a schedule.
Who signs off
A named person signs off any action taken on the cost-of-poor-quality figure, such as re-pricing an account or changing a grade plan.
What changes day to day
The high-energy grades and shifts become visible and can be planned around, and the owner sees the full cost-of-poor-quality leak by account for the first time, with several margin points hiding inside the biggest accounts now quantified and recoverable.
Illustrative outcome
Energy cost per tonne on the worst grade is reduced, and the cost of poor quality on the largest accounts is quantified so several margin points become recoverable. Illustrative; final numbers come from your own data.
Illustrative; final numbers come from your own data.
Path to the build
Book a free 60-minute call, then a free Blueprint on the firm's own records. Deep-dive and build, followed by run and govern so the workflow keeps paying back.
Related builds
A free 60-minute call. No cost, no obligation, just a clear read on what is worth building.