October 17, 2005
Next: All aboard | Ford Reiche, president, Safe Handling Inc., Auburn
By Sean Donahue
Ford Reiche helped start Safe Handling Inc. 15 years ago based on a simple premise: Maine's paper mills had a logistics problem. Unlike other remote areas, the state used a transportation system that relied almost entirely on trucking.
In response, the Auburn company reinvigorated the use of railroads in Maine, first helping paper mills, and then other Maine industries, receive bulk shipments of raw materials through more cost- and energy-efficient railroad cars. Last year, Reiche, age 51, expanded Safe Handling by creating an on-site manufacturing facility that can mix various liquid compounds for Maine customers that otherwise would be shipped into the state pre-mixed ˆ thus requiring more truck trailers or rail cars to get them here. By mixing compounds such as the paper-whitening agent titanium dioxide here in Maine, Safe Handling is reducing the number of truck miles needed to ship those products into the state by 1.7 million annually.
Those accomplishments are themselves worthy of attention. But now the state has turned to Safe Handling to help gauge the potential for a new industry in Maine. State officials and the University of Maine would like to create an integrated forest products biorefinery ˆ a facility that turns waste or low-value forest products such as used pulp and sawdust into fuels, energy sources and high-value chemicals ˆ and they've asked Safe Handling to be their private-sector partner.
Reiche agreed to join the project because he saw an opportunity to unlock new value in Maine's natural resource-based industries. The key, he says, is again to look at the Maine economy through the prism of logistics. "The big forests of the world ˆ except for the one we're in ˆ are remote from population," says Reiche. "[We have wood] fiber near people. With the cost of transportation going up, that is a very important dynamic."
Researchers at the UMaine Pulp & Paper Process Development Center are hoping a biorefinery can turn Maine's wood fiber resources ˆ including paper mill sludge, non-recyclable paper and waste woodchips ˆ into products such as ethanol, methanol and levulinic acid, which is used in solvents and plastics. But good research alone can't develop a viable commercial enterprise. What's also needed is what Safe Handling can provide: industry connections to both suppliers and customers for a potential biorefinery, and the manufacturing, materials handling and transportation expertise to run such a facility. Safe Handling's position within those areas is so strong that the Maine Technology Institute recently commented in a summary of the proposed project, "If anyone can make this happen, this company can."
Through this partnership, Reiche and Safe Handling are showing the role the Maine business community must play if the state is to further capitalize on its research and development efforts and commercialize new technologies. "Because mill managers know us, because they know that we wouldn't get into it if we didn't believe in it to a degree, they are willing to get into the dialogue we need to understand what their needs are, what their [potential biorefinery] feed stocks are," says Reiche. "There's a great deal to be said for dealing with people you already know."
Safe Handling and UMaine are now four months into an 18-month, $500,000 feasibility study designed to test biorefinery technologies and determine which potential products make the most sense for Maine's forest products industry. And even though he's optimistic about the project, Reiche is typically businesslike about its potential impact. He cautions that Maine may never see a full-scale biorefinery producing a host of energy, fuels and chemicals. Instead, he says, the project may uncover one or two smaller processes and products that offer incremental growth for the state's natural resource-based industries.
Reiche also isn't betting Safe Handling's future on the project ˆ in fact, the company recently purchased 150 acres of land in Auburn to expand its transportation operations. But the project is a continuation of the kind of entrepreneurial thinking that's helped Safe Handling grow for the past 15 years. "Whenever you're on familiar turf, in business or otherwise, you're constantly sifting or sorting everything around you," says Reiche. "Because we have a lot of connections in this industry, we get the opportunity to process many different ideas. If you're using the needle and a haystack metaphor, we've got a big haystack."
In response, the Auburn company reinvigorated the use of railroads in Maine, first helping paper mills, and then other Maine industries, receive bulk shipments of raw materials through more cost- and energy-efficient railroad cars. Last year, Reiche, age 51, expanded Safe Handling by creating an on-site manufacturing facility that can mix various liquid compounds for Maine customers that otherwise would be shipped into the state pre-mixed ˆ thus requiring more truck trailers or rail cars to get them here. By mixing compounds such as the paper-whitening agent titanium dioxide here in Maine, Safe Handling is reducing the number of truck miles needed to ship those products into the state by 1.7 million annually.
Those accomplishments are themselves worthy of attention. But now the state has turned to Safe Handling to help gauge the potential for a new industry in Maine. State officials and the University of Maine would like to create an integrated forest products biorefinery ˆ a facility that turns waste or low-value forest products such as used pulp and sawdust into fuels, energy sources and high-value chemicals ˆ and they've asked Safe Handling to be their private-sector partner.
Reiche agreed to join the project because he saw an opportunity to unlock new value in Maine's natural resource-based industries. The key, he says, is again to look at the Maine economy through the prism of logistics. "The big forests of the world ˆ except for the one we're in ˆ are remote from population," says Reiche. "[We have wood] fiber near people. With the cost of transportation going up, that is a very important dynamic."
Researchers at the UMaine Pulp & Paper Process Development Center are hoping a biorefinery can turn Maine's wood fiber resources ˆ including paper mill sludge, non-recyclable paper and waste woodchips ˆ into products such as ethanol, methanol and levulinic acid, which is used in solvents and plastics. But good research alone can't develop a viable commercial enterprise. What's also needed is what Safe Handling can provide: industry connections to both suppliers and customers for a potential biorefinery, and the manufacturing, materials handling and transportation expertise to run such a facility. Safe Handling's position within those areas is so strong that the Maine Technology Institute recently commented in a summary of the proposed project, "If anyone can make this happen, this company can."
Through this partnership, Reiche and Safe Handling are showing the role the Maine business community must play if the state is to further capitalize on its research and development efforts and commercialize new technologies. "Because mill managers know us, because they know that we wouldn't get into it if we didn't believe in it to a degree, they are willing to get into the dialogue we need to understand what their needs are, what their [potential biorefinery] feed stocks are," says Reiche. "There's a great deal to be said for dealing with people you already know."
Safe Handling and UMaine are now four months into an 18-month, $500,000 feasibility study designed to test biorefinery technologies and determine which potential products make the most sense for Maine's forest products industry. And even though he's optimistic about the project, Reiche is typically businesslike about its potential impact. He cautions that Maine may never see a full-scale biorefinery producing a host of energy, fuels and chemicals. Instead, he says, the project may uncover one or two smaller processes and products that offer incremental growth for the state's natural resource-based industries.
Reiche also isn't betting Safe Handling's future on the project ˆ in fact, the company recently purchased 150 acres of land in Auburn to expand its transportation operations. But the project is a continuation of the kind of entrepreneurial thinking that's helped Safe Handling grow for the past 15 years. "Whenever you're on familiar turf, in business or otherwise, you're constantly sifting or sorting everything around you," says Reiche. "Because we have a lot of connections in this industry, we get the opportunity to process many different ideas. If you're using the needle and a haystack metaphor, we've got a big haystack."
Most Recent
Most Recent
Comments