Mondi reinvents digital papers and focuses on premium applications and sustainability
The historic Austrian paper mill Mondi Neusiedler is the heart of research, development and production of innovative and green uncoated papers for graphic arts professionals.
If the invention of paper (as we conceive it today) is commonly attributed to the Chinese dignitary Ts’ai Lun (105 A.D.), much less certain is the invention (if we can define it as such) of paper for digital printing. What we know is that the Austrian paper mill Neusiedler AG was producing paper for dry toner machines in 1967 and that the first color laser photocopy paper, the legendary Color Copy, came out of the same plant in 1989. In the same year, Efi Arazi founded EFI, and only two years later it would launch the first Fiery server, definitively transforming photocopiers into digital printing machines.
Neusiedler has continued its path as an independent paper mill, establishing itself as Europe’s largest quality office paper manufacturer. Since 2000, the group, centered around the Hausmening and Kematen paper mills, has been fully integrated into Mondi Group, a giant with 26,000 employees and almost 7.3 billion euros in sales (2019). However, Mondi Neusiedler remained a sort of “company within the company,” retaining a strategic role in producing uncoated paper and developing specific products for digital printing, both in the graphic arts and in the office. That is why we visited the two main production sites of Mondi Neusiedler and the group’s headquarters in Vienna. Here we met some of the professionals who make Mondi’s papers, including Color Copy and Pergraphica, the cornerstones of our industry.
Two centuries of valuable papers
The history of Mondi Neusiedler began in 1793, when Ignaz Theodor von Pachner obtained permission from Emperor Franz II to build a paper mill in Klein-Neusiedl, with the aim of establishing domestic production of high-quality paper, thus reducing imports from abroad. The paper mill started production in 1796.
In 1874, after almost a century of uninterrupted growth, the company moved to Kematen, along the Ybbs River, about 180 km west of Klein-Neusiedl (whose name it retains). At the same time, in Hausmening, a few kilometers downstream along the river, entrepreneurs Anton Pokorny and Josef Hibl converted a mill into a wood-grinding plant in 1868, and, the following year, built their paper mill, called “Theresienthaler Papierfabrik.” Finally, in 1870, they bought the Kematen paper mill and formed an industrial group producing pulp and fine papers.
“I believe that the history and local expertise of each of our mills is the foundation of Mondi Group’s success.”
— Mariam Schubert, Communication and Hygiene Manager, Mondi Neusiedler
In the following century, the site changed ownership several times and was continuously expanded until, in 2000, Mondi (which was already a shareholder) took over 100% of the shares.
The two production units, which employ a total of 650 people, are still today the nerve center of Mondi’s high-quality uncoated paper production.
In the heart of Kematen and Theresienthal
Mariam Schubert, Communication & Hygiene Manager at Mondi Neusiedler, accompanied us on a visit to the two sites.
“There is a special bond between the paper mill and our territory, so much so that many colleagues, talking about their work, say: ‘I work at the Theresienthal paper mill,’ without even mentioning Mondi,” explains Schubert. “It sounds strange, but it’s not. I believe that the history and local expertise of each of our mills is the basis of Mondi Group’s success.”
Our visit began at the production unit in Kematen, which produces 48,000 tons of pulp (partly used locally, partly for export) and some of the most specialized paper products every year. Here the PM3 and PM4 paper machines, 2,160 and 2,670 mm wide respectively, produce mainly colored papers for printing, packaging and shopping bags, and labels. Among the key products is Pergraphica, which is produced in Kematen and Theresienthal in all its color variants, including black and a dozen new specialty colors, light and dark, launched in 2019.
The site is also equipped with a modern wastewater treatment plant, which has helped to restore the fish ecosystem of the Ybbs River.
Located close to the village of Hausmening, the Theresienthal paper mill is the productive heart of the group. PM5 and PM6 paper machines, which can reach maximum speeds of 700 and 1,200 m/min respectively, are installed here.
One of Mondi Group’s leading global research and development centers is also based in Hausmening, where a team of chemical and paper engineers perform raw material analysis and design new products.
Mondi Neusiedler produces 330,000 tons of uncoated paper each year, mostly in Theresienthal. Among the products are the main brands of the group, including Color Copy, DNS, Nautilus, Bio Top 3, NEUJET, and Pergraphica.
To support such a production volume, Mondi also sources pulp from external suppliers, which arrives at the plant on special trains. The paper mill has its own railway station and owns one of the few steam locomotives still in service in Austria, called “Walter”.
At the outlet of the paper machine, the reels are stored in an automated warehouse reserved for semi-finished products. From there, they are picked up by robots and sent to the converting departments.
“Offset still has a lot to say, but it is digital printing that drives our innovation processes.”
— Bernhard Cantzler, Head of Marketing and Innovation di Mondi UFP
Manufacturing of paper in reels is done on automated lines, which carry out the rewinding, sectioning, packaging, and transporting to the warehouse for shipment. Manufacturing in sheets and reams, on the other hand, is carried out on converting lines consisting of an unwinding machine, cutter, ream packing unit, labeler, inspection system, accumulator, and boxing unit.
Since 2017, with the inauguration of a new cutting line, Mondi Neusiedler has increased its sheet-cutting capacity to 100,000 tons/year. The line can handle formats between 320x320 and 1,400x1,600 mm, as well as longer “banner” formats, with weights from 50 to 400 g/m². At the end of the line, the sheets can be packaged in reams in boxes, on pallets, or in single packs.
“In recent years, demand for A4 paper has been steadily decreasing, while paper sizes larger than A3 are growing, as are reels of paper,” explains Schubert. “The growth is driven by the demands of printers and publishers, who need high-performance papers for their most valuable projects.”
To meet its energy needs, the paper mill is equipped with a cogeneration plant that produces steam for paper machines and another that produces steam for turbines. The excess energy is used to power the nearby city hospital.
The group has obtained relevant certifications on the environmental (ISO 14001), quality (ISO 9001), occupational health and safety (ISO 45001), and food safety (DIN 15593) fronts.
Between commodities and premium products
It is estimated that printing volumes and related paper consumption never returned to previous levels after the 2008–2009 crisis. This has mainly affected so-called commodities, such as coated offset and office papers. With a focus on uncoated and specialty papers, Mondi has limited the damage and continues to invest in research and development.
In 2010, the company defined a product development road map aimed at governing the market commoditization process, leading to the creation, in 2017, of the procurement platform mymondi.mondigroup.com, dedicated to paper distributors. At the same time, Mondi has started a closer dialogue with the entire supply chain of printed communication.
To do this effectively, the paper mill formed a global team, led by Bernhard Cantzler, Head of Marketing & Innovation for the Uncoated Fine Paper division.
“Like other sectors, the paper and printing industry lives on commodities and premium products,” says Cantzler. “In the graphic arts, the big players and online printers ride the first wave. Smaller, vertical printers aim to increase their margins through printing processes, finishing techniques, and more distinctive papers.
In the last three years, Cantzler and his national project developers have started a close dialogue with the clients most sensitive to paper’s key role in graphic projects and those optical and tactile features that can make a printed product unforgettable.
“We could not rely only on paper distributors, who remain irreplaceable logistics partners. We wanted to make a more significant impact on the supply chain,” says Cantzler. “So we started a stronger interaction with brand owners, advertising agencies, designers, and printers.”
Making paper in the digital age
Neusiedler invested in specific products for digital printing when the field was little more than an embryo. Mondi Group has relaunched this commitment, expanding the Color Copy range and producing papers such as DNS, NEUJET and Pergraphica. The coexistence of analog and digital printing and finishing is now a priority for all Mondi’s activities and products, both sheet-fed and reeled. To do this, the company uses a design thinking process.
“In digital, today, the Holy Grail seems to be the development of sheet-fed inkjet machines capable of printing well on both uncoated and coated papers. We have seen various approaches, with UV-curable and water-based inks, pigmented and dye-based inks, with and without primer,” explains Cantzler. “Given the same paper, we know that it is difficult to always get the best result with all types of inks. That’s why we focus on the interaction between the paper and the ink, and we work closely with equipment manufacturers.”
In particular, Mondi’s inkjet R&D activities focus on the interaction between the paper fiber and the water contained in the ink, and on defining the optimum properties of the paper to receive the colorants. This vast field of research has led the paper mill to network its own laboratories with manufacturers’ R&D centers and a number of universities.
Thanks to that approach, not only has Mondi created new products and improved the performance of existing ones, but it has also laid the foundations for entering new markets. A case in point is the launch of Color Copy jet, a special version developed for optimum results in sheet-fed inkjet printing without the use of any primer. It also extended Pergraphica’s range of colors and weights to support packaging professionals.
“Offset still has a lot to say, but it is digital printing that drives our innovation processes,” says Cantzler. “Marketing strategists develop data-based communication projects. And printing will remain competitive if it can adapt to a defined audience, or to individuals.”
A paper-focused customer journey between physical and digital touchpoints
Mondi Group has commissioned a team of professionals, led by Markus Widmer, Team Leader Customer Experience of the paper group since 2017, to implement a new customer journey experience, a process based on the interaction between the brand and Mondi’s products and its end users. The goal is to engage in an active relationship with not only paper distributors — a few hundred companies across Europe — but also designers, printers and publishers, a global community of tens of thousands of professionals.
“To be convincing, you need to reach the right people, through the right channel, with the right content. This is an already complex challenge with brands and consumer products, which is even more critical in B2B,” says Widmer. “As brand owners of our brands, we feel a responsibility to show and explain products, inspire, provide the know-how to the widest possible audience.”
To identify, reach and segment that audience, Mondi has created mymondi.net, a portal in four languages (German, English, French, Italian, and, soon, Russian) designed to share ideas and case studies of creative projects made with its own creative papers. This is complemented by Instagram channels dedicated to Pergraphica, social media activities, podcasts, webinars and a host of other content designed to inspire creatives, brand owners and printers.
“To think that people who love paper and printing shouldn’t use digital platforms is anachronistic.”
— Markus Widmer, Digital Marketing Manager of Mondi Group
“To connect with such a large audience, we used all possible contact points, and we created new ones where they were missing,” explains Widmer. “If we launch a new paper, we have to tell the people who might use it, or who might recommend it. From the small graphic designer, who has never bought paper in his life, to the commercial printer.”
Mondi has invested in the combination of digital and physical experiences, including experiential events, workshops, fairs. At mymondi.net, creatives and printers can also request catalogs and printed samples.
“We must stop considering print and digital channels as enemies. There are people who love books, but use Instagram to inspire themselves, and post pictures of wonderful, excellently printed volumes,” Widmer concludes. “To think that people who love paper and printing shouldn’t use digital platforms is anachronistic.”
The effectiveness of this multichannel strategy is shown by the numbers. One year after the launch of mymondi.net and their Instagram channels, interactions have tripled, and, in 2019, Mondi reached about 1.2 million individual users.
Cleaner papers and processes to stop global warming
In 2018, after almost forty years of a commercial career in the paper industry, the last ten at one of Europe’s recycling giants, Torsten Froh started a consulting project with Mondi. In November 2019, he was appointed Product Sustainability Manager of the Uncoated Fine Paper division. His goal is to promote the value of sustainability and deliver it to the market.
“Producing and using sustainable papers is not virtuosity, but an urgency to slow down global warming,” says Froh. “Greenland loses 238 million tons of ice every year, seven times more than in 1990. Further acceleration would have disastrous consequences worldwide.”
Each year, Mondi publishes its sustainability report, which for 2019 indicates that its paper mills are 100% energy self-sufficient (102%) and use 72% FSC- or PEFC-certified wood in paper production. The remaining 28% is “FSC controlled”, i.e., adhering to FSC guidelines.
With regard to the supply of pulp, Mondi produces about 25% of the pulp required for its own needs, using its own FSC- and PEFC-certified forests in Slovakia and South Africa.
The group’s papers are accompanied by FSC, PEFC, EU Ecolabel, Nordic Ecolabel, Austrian Ecolabel and Blue Angel certifications. The latter covers the raw materials and process chemistry used for recycled papers.
These initiatives and data are in line with Mondi’s commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance, including concrete targets to reduce CO₂ emissions by 15% by 2030 compared to 2014 levels.
“Producing and using sustainable papers is not virtuosity, but an urgency to slow down global warming.”
— Thorsten Froh, Product Sustainability Manager of Mondi UFP
In addition to a meticulous control of raw materials and processes, Mondi is committed to neutralizing CO₂ levels related to its activities. For some years now, Color Copy, their best-selling uncoated paper, has been carbon neutral.
“The CO₂ footprint of a paper is calculated by adding up the emissions from cutting and debarking, pulp production, paper production, packaging, pallets, and, of course, transport,” explains Froh. “On average, between 400 and 600 kg of CO₂ must be offset for every ton of paper, largely resulting from pulp production and transportation.”
Each year, Mondi compensates about 20,000 tons of CO₂ by supporting the compensation project of Pesqueiro Energia, a small Brazilian producer of hydroelectric power, controlled by agricultural cooperatives in the area.
To distinguish products that meet the most stringent sustainability criteria, Mondi created the “Green Range” brand in 2006. Under this umbrella are packaging papers and cartons with FSC or PEFC certification, and TCF (Total Chlorine Free) recycled papers made with 100% recycled fiber.
Close to the market, attentive to the paper life cycle
Combining growth, product innovation and sustainability is the main challenge for Mondi in the coming years, a challenge that the paper group faces with a solid financial position, which saw an operating profit of 1.22 billion euros in 2019, up 2% on the previous year.
On the environmental front, Mondi has begun a process of quantifying the potential financial impact of climate change on its business, conducting an analysis of not just the risks but also the opportunities arising from the adoption of mitigation and countermeasures. These include the energy efficiency of production facilities, the recycling of process waste as a marketable raw material, and the reuse of water, resulting in reduced costs for supply and treatment. These, and many other commitments, are contained in the 140-page Mondi Sustainable Development Report and are being implemented at all of the group’s paper mills, starting with the Mondi Neusiedler production sites.
