Creping blade suppliers should be able to provide tissue makers with a number of essential services and products. When seeking an appropriate creping blade supplier, consider the following questions:

1. Does the supplier have extensive field presence in all regions important for your business? When a tissue machine requires regular maintenance, troubleshooting, or shuts down and needs immediate attention, the convenience of a knowledgeable supplier nearby is valuable.
2. Does the supplier have certified technicians on staff? The Yankee is the most important part of the tissue machine, and the doctors are critical components. Improperly maintained or placed doctors can lead to chatter marks and Yankee damage. Hands on mechanical service of Yankee doctors by a certified technician provides reassurance the job is getting done correctly.
3. Is onsite blade wear, angle analysis, and process monitoring available? Regular reports using an accurate measurement device is key to ensuring that doctors are installed correctly. Make sure blade wear and angle analysis are included with this reporting. Also, real time process monitoring can better diagnosis vibration issues.
4. Does the supplier have application experts to troubleshot issues not directly related to doctors? When a machine goes down and your Yankee doctor technician doesn’t have a team of process and applications experts to review the issue from all angles, it could lead to more downtime.
5. Can the chosen supplier be a partner in the entire process? A blade supplier simply provides blades when an order is placed. A partner will aid in installation, monitor progress, and troubleshoot when necessary. It’s important that your supplier take full ownership of the creping process from the doctoring equipment to the blades.

Kadant recently launched the new Yankee Safe™ program consisting of product and services developed to not only ensure that tissue machine is creping properly, but also to protect the Yankee throughout its life cycle. One new product line included in the Yankee Safe program is CeraEdge™ creping blades. CeraEdge creping blades have a unique ceramic tip resulting in a higher quality and more efficient production process. Another significant advantage is that CeraEdge creping blades are manufactured in the U.S. and Europe to provide quick delivery and keep inventory levels down at the mill site.

An additional new product integral to the Yankee Safe program is the Conformatic AL™ blade holder. The Conformatic AL blade holder is the next generation in the Conformatic family of products. Significant upgrades to the holder’s adjustability was achieved with a proprietary adjustment mechanism allowing for precise control of the holder profile without the need for edge fingers.

The Yankee Safe program also includes blade wear and angle analysis with the new Blade View™ measurement device that digitally analyzes blade wear and angle. Kadant Regional Area Managers are trained to provide this service. Real time process monitoring is available using the new Smart Watch™ monitoring system.  The system can determine when Yankee assets are at risk and helps diagnose the cause of the issues so that they can be addressed and eliminated.