UPM Pulp, the world’s leading multifibre pulp producer, and international technology group ANDRITZ have entered into a strategic multi-year cooperation agreement aimed at helping tissue manufacturers develop and optimize next-generation tissue products and production processes. The partnership brings together UPM\u2019s extensive expertise in pulp and fibre technology with ANDRITZ\u2019s advanced process engineering capabilities to create new opportunities for innovation across the tissue value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Combining Fibre Expertise with Process Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n At the heart of the collaboration is access to ANDRITZ\u2019s state-of-the-art PrimeLineTIAC (Tissue Innovation and Application Center) in Graz, Austria. The pilot-scale facility enables tissue producers to test, validate and refine new fibre concepts and manufacturing processes in a controlled industrial environment before implementing them on commercial production lines. This approach helps reduce development risks, lower trial costs and accelerate the commercialization of innovative tissue products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The partnership is designed to provide tissue manufacturers with tailored solutions that improve product performance while enhancing production efficiency and raw material utilization. By combining fibre development and process optimization within a shared innovation platform, the two companies aim to shorten development cycles and help customers respond more quickly to evolving market demands.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Supporting Faster Product Development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the agreement, UPM\u2019s eucalyptus hardwood pulp, UPM Euca, will become the standard pulp used in customer and internal trials conducted at the PrimeLineTIAC facility. Tissue producers participating in the program will have the opportunity to work directly with technical specialists from both UPM and ANDRITZ to develop customized solutions for their specific production environments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The innovation centre supports multiple tissue manufacturing technologies, including dry-crepe, textured and Through-Air-Drying (TAD) processes, allowing manufacturers to explore a broad range of product characteristics and performance attributes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Industry Collaboration Driving Innovation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The agreement builds on an already successful relationship between the two companies, which have previously collaborated on tissue development trials and other sustainability-focused initiatives. Earlier projects demonstrated the value of combining UPM\u2019s fibre knowledge with ANDRITZ\u2019s process expertise to improve tissue quality, efficiency and innovation outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Industry experts view pilot-scale development facilities as increasingly important as tissue manufacturers seek to balance product quality, sustainability and operational efficiency. The ability to test new concepts without disrupting commercial production lines offers significant advantages in an industry where downtime and failed trials can be costly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Advancing Sustainability and Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The collaboration reflects broader industry trends toward sustainable tissue production, resource optimization and innovation-driven growth. With consumers demanding higher-performance tissue products while regulators and manufacturers focus on reducing environmental impacts, partnerships that integrate raw material expertise with advanced manufacturing technologies are becoming increasingly valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By leveraging UPM\u2019s renewable fibre solutions and ANDRITZ\u2019s cutting-edge tissue technologies, the partnership is expected to help tissue producers create products that deliver improved softness, strength, absorbency and sustainability while optimizing production efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking Ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The strategic alliance positions both companies at the forefront of tissue innovation and provides manufacturers with a powerful platform for developing future-ready products. As the tissue industry continues to evolve, the collaboration between UPM and ANDRITZ is expected to play a key role in accelerating technological advancement and bringing innovative tissue solutions to market faster than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source:UPM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UPM and ANDRITZ have joined forces to advance tissue innovation, offering manufacturers new opportunities to develop high-performance, sustainable tissue products through combined fibre and process expertise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2,257,289],"tags":[441,442,443,359,82,354,408,89],"class_list":["post-1694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-featured-news","category-where-wood-industry-innovation-meets-design","category-technology","tag-andritz","tag-fibre","tag-hardwood-pulp","tag-pulp-and-paper","tag-sustainability","tag-upm","tag-wood-industry","tag-woodworking"],"acf":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm.jpeg",800,561,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm-150x150.jpeg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm-300x210.jpeg",300,210,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm-768x539.jpeg",640,449,true],"large":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm.jpeg",640,449,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm.jpeg",800,561,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm.jpeg",800,561,false],"covernews-featured":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm.jpeg",800,561,false],"covernews-medium":["https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/upm-540x340.jpeg",540,340,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"PDNews Desk","author_link":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/?author=1"},"category_info":"Blog<\/a> Featured News<\/a> Special News and Interview<\/a> Technology<\/a>","tag_info":"Technology","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1694"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1698,"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1694\/revisions\/1698"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/panelanddesign.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}