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PPI Award Categories (All categories subject to change and will be finalized July 2018)

Company Awards

Resilience - Managing Risk Award

Sponsored By

The last few years in the pulp and paper industry have been witness to calamitous events, both financial and natural occurrences. The global economic crisis, earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters have had a resounding impact on the industry as a whole. The asset protection and preservation is becoming more and more important for companies to build a resilient and robust risk management strategy. The industry has made major improvements in its property loss prevention record in recent years. We are looking for a company that has been truly innovative in its approach to loss prevention and has shown an ability to manage its property risk effectively.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Evidence of successful implementation of a company or location based risk management policy
  • Evidence of a successful property risk management strategy.
  • Statistics to show solid safety record over a three year period.
  • Practical examples of how the company has managed to minimize or eliminate property risk and safety issues successfully.

Information that will help the judges to decide

  1. Examples of a strategic approach to managing and reducing property risk.
  2. Examples how a property loss prevention management has helped to improve efficiency
  3. A list and description of team members involved in implementation of loss prevention or safety issues.
  4. Tell us about the difference any policy/strategy has made since implementation.

The Internet of Things & Digitalization Award

Category available for sponsorship

Big Data, Industrial Internet, Industry 4.0, call it what you want, digital information has already been used in the pulp and paper industry for some time. However, there is still a lot more that can be done with all that data that is being obtained. With this award the judges will be looking for the pulp, paper and board producers who are pushing the boundaries of data management, and most importantly using the information gleaned to maximum effect.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Evidence of data management applications in the supply chain that have made a big difference on the ground in pulp and paper production
  • Evidence showing how effective utilization of production data is adding value to the mill performance
  • Evidence on how working with advanced IoT technologies is improving the efficiency and reliability of the supply chain from sales through to production and/or maintenance
  • Evidence of a data focused strategy going forward

Information that will help the judges to decide

  • List the advances your company has made in the field of data capture and management over the last three years.
  • Give a brief description of the advanced IoT technologies applied to in your mill
  • Tell us about any financial difference managing data has made to your production efficiency
  • Tell us about any other innovations or R&D you are doing in this area, and any further results you have achieved

Tissue - Innovation Award

Sponsored By

The Tissue Innovation Award category has been created to highlight some of the incredibly imaginative work carried out by tissue producers to keep an increasingly demanding consumer happy. Of course, the key to this in the tissue market is not just price and quality, but also innovation. This award will be presented to the company that has pulled out all the stops and has produced new products that clearly stand out from the more "commoditized" products on the market. It could be a new product with extra super absorbency, a new idea for a product not seen before, or even a new style of embossing or finishing that really makes a difference. The judges will not only be looking for creativity and inventiveness, but also more importantly examples of real live work that combines those two elements into a vital product for the end-user.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Truly innovative products – evidence of why your company’s product is an innovation.
  • Evidence of products in action.
  • Consumer feedback.

Information that will help the judges to decide

  1. What is the product and what advantages does it bring?
  2. How did the innovation come about?
  3. Who were the team members involved in the creative process?
  4. Tell us about the commercial side, i.e., is it a profitable product for the company?

Individual Awards

Bringing Paper to Life – Marketing Campaign of the Year Award

Category available for sponsorship

Print on paper has a lot of advantages on electronic media, for as start you can touch, feel and smell the paper and the ink. This is a fantastic opportunity for an “attack on the senses” which means that paper producers can dream up all sorts of imaginative campaigns to appeal to the end user. The judges will be looking for that special campaign using high quality printings and writings graphic papers that really gets across the versatile use of paper to the end user.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Examples of high levels of creativity – both in the media used and the overall message of the campaign.
  • A good, clear, strong message to the end user.
  • Outstanding implementation of the campaign. 
  • Evidence of the success of the campaign.

Information that will help the judges to decide

1. Please send in an electronic copy of your advertising/promotional campaign, including a video if applicable
2. Tell us how the idea for the campaign came about and who in the company/agency was involved.
3. Give a brief description of the campaign itself and who it is specifically aimed at.
4. Give examples of some of the successes the campaign has achieved.

International CEO of the Year Award

Sponsored By

This award will be presented to an outstanding individual who has set himself or herself apart in the world of pulp and paper. The winner will be the CEO that has delivered a strong performance and various elements will be taken into account, including overall strategy, financial performance and leadership qualities.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Evidence of the company's financial surety and success.
  • Evidence of a clear global and regional strategy.
  • Evidence of sound leadership from boardroom to production floor.
  • Evidence of a continuing and sound strategy going forward.
  • Evidence of ability to implement strategy and vision.
  • Evidence of achieving profitable growth.
  • Evidence of implementing successful mergers, acquisitions and/or alliances.
  • Evidence of superior performance versus benchmark companies
  • Evidence of innovative and bold steps beyond “the usual boundaries” of paper business – setting direction for the industry in leadership and market making
  • Evidence of engaging the organization in the company’s journey for change
  • Evidence of representing the paper industry towards the public, legislation and other industries

Information that will help the judges to decide

  1. Provide name of CEO nominated.
  2. Provide list of reasons why the CEO is nominated and list any notable achievements.
  3. Provide company profit and loss figures.
  4. Please send in any quotes, extracts or comments made by industry financial analysts and experts.

Mill Manager Award

Category available for sponsorship

This award will be presented to an outstanding individual in the pulp and paper business, the often overlooked Mill Manager. The winner will be a top performer who has combined the intricate balance of running a mill in a productive, efficient and effective way, all the while taking into account stringent environmental and safety factors.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Evidence of mill efficiency.
  • Evidence of leadership qualities.
  • Evidence of account taken of the environment.
  • Evidence of an impeccable safety record.
  • Evidence of superior staff motivation.

Information that will help the judges to decide

  1. Supply production and financial performance figures for mill.
  2. List areas of achievement.
  3. Supply anecdotal evidence of good staff motivation.
  4. List areas of achievement on the environmental front.

Mill Awards

Environmental Leadership Award

Category available for sponsorship

The pulp and paper industry has come leaps and bounds on the environmental front over recent years, and is finally getting noticed by the end user as being an industry that cares for the planet. This is mainly due to the fact that a huge amount of effort has been put in by individual mills worldwide. The Environmental Leadership award is a hugely a competitive award, and the winner will be a mill that has shown groundbreaking commitment to the care of the environment, as well as letting the world know just how far it has gone. The winning company will have gone the extra mile and above the call of duty to devise a mill-wide strategy that clearly demonstrates all the important areas of action and enhancement it has made at its facilities to address environmental issues.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Evidence of the overall use of certified raw materials (i.e., FSC/PEFC).
  • Evidence of reduced emissions into the air.
  • Evidence of reduced emissions into water.
  • Evidence of reduced energy consumption
  • Evidence of the environmental credentials of the company's finished products. 
  • Evidence of environmental improvements in other areas.

Information that will help the judges to decide

  1.     List environmental investments made over the last three years.
  2.     Give a brief description of which changes/investments you think are the most important.
  3.     List any measurements or figures you have to back up the improvements that have been made.
  4.     Tell us what difference this has made to relationships with customers.

Safety Leadership Award

Sponsored By

Paper and pulp millers have long been striving for consistent management and meritorious commitment of occupational safety and long term performance. Central to the mission statement of the modern mill is a dedication to continuous improvement to safety, with serious advances made in recent years. The winner of this award will be the paper or pulp mill which has made the biggest advances and demonstrated the strongest commitment to workplace safety, becoming real leaders in their field.

What the judges are looking for?

  • A structured approach to safety management and solid safety management system
  • A high level of proven activity in preventive safety, e.g. the following leading indicators per employee:
    • Safety notices (near miss and unsafe conditions reported)
    • Identification of personal hazards and risk assessments
    • Safety walks/rounds
    • Number of safety talks (behavior based safety) and training conducted

Information that will help the judges to decide

  • Evidence of safety related development work and projects
  • Evidence of projects where the whole work force has contributed to the development work
  • Innovations concerning safety development
  • Excellent results and trend in safety performance (e.g. the following lagging indicators per person)

The Packaging Innovation Award

Category available for sponsorship

As end-users have become more aware of the environmental benefits of paper over plastic, sustainable packaging has emerged as a growth area in the industry. The winner of this award will be the team that has researched, designed, produced and marketed a product that demonstrably opens up new markets and opportunities.

One particular area of note is clearly demonstrating where paper and paperboard can take over the role of plastic.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Truly innovative, sustainable, recyclable/compostable products—evidence of why your company’s product is so innovative.
  • Introduction of barriers or coatings that are allowing new markets to be entered
  • Evidence of the product(s) in action.
  • Customer or end-user feedback.

Information that will help the judges to decide

  1. What is the product and what advantages does it bring?
  2. How did the innovation come about?
  3. Who were the team members involved in the creative process?
  4. Tell us about the commercial side, i.e., is/will it be a profitable product for the company?
  5. Evidence of a successful displacement of an existing petrochemical product replaced by a fiber based solution

Water Efficiency Award

Sponsored By

It is a known fact that environmentalists will be looking evermore closely at the way water is used over the coming years as the invaluable resource comes under increasing pressure from a burgeoning global population. And of course water has always been an important topic in the pulp and paper sector. The winner of this award will be the mill that has clearly reduced the need for raw water while at the same time demonstrating that—either by the aid of the latest technology, or by working practice—it is maximizing its usage by filtering, recirculating and reusing its current water consumption.

What the judges are looking for?

  • Clear evidence, including before and after scenarios, of reduced raw water usage.
  • Any evidence of investments or projects for the purpose of reducing water use.
  • Evidence of reuse of water by filtering and circulation.
  • Evidence of clean, clear water going back into the river systems.

Information that will help the judges to decide

  1. List any investments the mill has made over the last three years in the area of water management, encompassing raw water procurement, right through the mill including any recirculation equipment, technology and waste water treatment.
  2. Give a brief description of the challenges encountered.
  3. Give a description of what difference it has made to the mill.
  4. Provide details of the project team and levels of cooperation involved millwide.
  5. Supply figures that illustrate improvements in the use of water and emissions.