Tissue converters face constant and increasing pressure on all sides, from product quality to sustainability expectations, while at the same time facing the challenges of a skilled labor shortfall. For example, a recent study reported that even as unemployment rates in the U.S. nearly doubled the number of available workers, 77% of manufacturers said they expected ongoing challenges attracting and retaining workers in the years to come.1
These competing pressures add complexity to monitoring requirements on tissue paper machines, making it even more difficult to identify and make the many adjustments needed at critical points along the production line. These issues are constant in a manufacturing process that involves the inherent inconsistencies of organic raw materials.
While initiatives like the World Economic Forum’s Reskilling Revolution seek to boost education and job skills for a billion workers over the coming decade, it is clear that manufacturers must also look to technology to help close the skills gap and support productivity.2
