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Paper Cuts: China's Machine Makers

December 22, 2012 | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
By
Mike De Sisti

Voith employee Shi Ming operates the crane in the grinding area. The company has built a sprawling campus of assembly buildings, each the size of an airplane hangar, in Kunshan — an operation dubbed “Paper City.” Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Voith employees are seen outside the complex at Voith Paper Asia Paper City, in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Song Jun Kui operates the grinder in Voith's Paper City roll cover workshop. China has been building massive new mills with automated machines that can produce a mile of glossy publishing-grade paper a minute. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Liu Zong Zuan is seen through a piece of steel machinery as he works in Voith's lathe area of the roll cover workshop. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Qinghua Yu is one of many to perform a general quality check on the material used in a papermaking machine in the burling area of the fabrics workshop at Voith. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Song Jun Kui operates the grinder in Voith's Paper City roll cover workshop. China has been building massive new mills with automated machines that can produce a mile of glossy publishing-grade paper a minute. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Voith employee Liu Hongwu, a fitter, works on fitting a prefabricated metal piece in the in the welding area. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Li Hongfeng welds a bracket in place. Of every 12 paper machines the company builds, nine go to China, three to Europe and zero to the United States, where the last new publishing-grade mill was opened in 1990. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Mingming Liu, president of Voith Paper Asia, is seen in her office at Paper City, in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. “America is not competitive,” she said. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

The roll cover workshop is seen at Voith Paper Asia. Voith expects China to add additional capacity in the next few years that will equal the capacity of every paper mill now operating in Europe. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Voith employee Song Jun Kui operates the grinder in the roll cover workshop. The company calls itself Asia's biggest supplier of sophisticated high-end paper machines. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Voith employee Liu Zong Zuan works in the lathe area of the roll cover workshop in Kunshan, Jiangsu province. Voith is in the process of expanding to add production and workers. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Employee Jiang Zhi Gang (left) and Liu Zong Zuan work in the lathe area at Voith Paper Asia's facility in Kunshan. The company is a leading supplier in the international paper industry, providing everything from machines to fiber material used in the papermaking process. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Voith employee Liu Zong Zuan works in the lathe area of the roll cover workshop in Kunshan. Voith is in the process of expanding to add production and workers. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

The roll cover workshop is seen at Voith Paper Asia in China. Voith expects China to add additional capacity in the next few years that will equal the capacity of every paper mill now operating in Europe. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

The roll cover workshop is seen at Voith Paper Asia in China. Voith expects China to add additional capacity in the next few years that will equal the capacity of every paper mill now operating in Europe. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Voith employee Liu Hongwu, a fitter, works on fitting a prefabricated metal piece in the in the welding area. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

Li Hongfeng welds a bracket in place. Of every 12 paper machines the company builds, nine go to China, three to Europe and zero to the United States, where the last new publishing-grade mill was opened in 1990. Image by Mike De Sisti. China, 2012.

In Kunshan, two hours from Shanghai, German machine maker Voith GmbH has built a sprawling campus of assembly buildings, each the size of an airplane hangar -- an operation dubbed “Paper City” that continues to grow.