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Europe has spent years discussing how to secure its critical raw materials supply chain. Now, the focus is increasingly shifting from strategy to execution. With the Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) supporting strategic projects across Europe, new investments in lithium, nickel and other critical minerals are progressing. In discussions with mining and battery materials projects, one observation comes up repeatedly: significant attention is naturally given to process design and major equipment selection, while flow control equipment such as valves and valve automation systems can receive less attention during the early project stages. However, flow control equipment, including valves and valve automation systems, often operates under demanding conditions throughout mineral processing and metals refining. Decisions made during the design phase can therefore have a significant impact on plant reliability, maintainability and lifecycle costs. In my view, lifecycle performance should be part of the discussion much earlier. As projects move from studies toward execution, it is not only the major process equipment that matters. Long-term plant performance is also shaped by countless component-level decisions made during the engineering phase. As Europe moves from critical raw materials strategies to project execution, bringing lifecycle thinking into early engineering decisions will be increasingly important. This also applies to flow control equipment, where early decisions can have a lasting impact on plant performance. How early do you believe lifecycle performance should be considered when selecting equipment for new battery metals projects? #BatteryMetals #CriticalRawMaterials #ValmetFlowControl

Most tissue converting lines still have output left on the table. Reaching your best shift consistently depends on how close each line runs to its real potential, hour after hour. Valmet performance solutions read every line in real time, surface the losses that quietly erode OEE, and turn them into recovered production. Connected analytics, the Tissue Performance Center and Expert Online support keep your lines closer to peak across every shift. Some plants have reached up to +45% log production after working on performance this way. Inside The Automation Advantage guide, the performance section shows where these gains hide and how leading converters capture them. Get the guide.

Automation in tissue converting follows a clear progression, and seeing the full path makes every next investment easier to justify. The Automation Advantage guide lays out four stages: standardising the most demanding manual steps stabilising reliability across shifts, optimising line performance toward higher OEE, improving the cost per tonne you produce. Each stage builds on the one before, with the technologies and the proof that make it real. Whether you are early in the journey or refining mature lines, the model shows what comes next and what it delivers. Get the guide and follow the path.

Skilled operators are becoming the scarcest resource on the tissue converting production floor. Recruiting takes longer, bringing a new hire to full autonomy can take months, and every retirement removes know-how that is hard to replace. Automation changes what the line asks of your people. Functions like automated web starting, blade changes, reel handling and trolley movement are built into the machine, so production keeps a steady pace even when your most experienced operator is off shift. The operator role grows into process supervision, with more lines covered by the same headcount. Valmet's brand-new guide shows how converters are turning the labour shortage into an operational advantage. Get The Automation Advantage ebook.

The tissue converting operation of the next decade will look very different from today's. Automation is moving from isolated upgrades to a connected way of running the whole operation, where lines adapt in real time, expert support arrives without waiting for a site visit, and performance is measured and improved continuously. The leaders who shape that direction now will set the pace their competitors follow. The Automation Advantage guide lays out where the industry is heading toward 2036 and the steps that take an organisation from today's setup to a future-ready one. Get the guide and start planning the next decade.

Every tissue converting operation sits somewhere on the automation curve, and knowing exactly where you stand is the starting point for any real improvement. The Automation Advantage guide maps four clear stages, from standardising the most manual steps to optimising full line performance and controlling cost per tonne. Reading through them, you can place your own lines on the model, recognise the stage you have already reached, and see the gains waiting at the next one. It gives the teams running large converting operations a shared language to plan the next move with confidence. Get the guide and find your position.