Nalco Water and ANDRITZ partner to accelerate innovation in tissue manufacturing
Nalco Water, an Ecolab company, has announced a strategic three-year collaboration with international technology group ANDRITZ to drive innovation and speed up product development in the tissue and towel sector. The partnership will take place at the PrimeLineTIAC Tissue Innovation and Application Center (TIAC) in Graz, Austria, one of the industry’s most advanced hubs for tissue technology.
As consumer expectations continue to rise, the tissue and towel industry is under growing pressure to deliver products that combine softness, strength, and sustainability. At the same time, manufacturers are seeking ways to optimize production, reduce resource consumption, and meet long-term environmental goals. Innovation has become the key enabler in balancing performance with efficiency.
Through this collaboration, Nalco Water will serve as a strategic partner for ANDRITZ at its state-of-the-art pilot tissue machine at TIAC. This will allow Nalco Water to test and validate its advanced chemical solutions, along with digital and automation technologies, in a controlled, industrial-scale environment. With increased access to the pilot machine, the company aims to shorten innovation cycles and bring new tissue solutions to market more quickly.
“This partnership with ANDRITZ allows us to bring our solutions to life in a real-world setting, accelerating development timelines and enabling our customers to trial programs before implementation on their own machines,” said Ravi Raghavapudi, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Global Nalco Water Paper. “It is a significant milestone for Nalco Water and our tissue customers.”
The TIAC facility offers a complete and highly flexible tissue production line, supporting conventional, textured, and structured (TAD) tissue formats. Equipped with advanced automation and monitoring systems, it provides an ideal platform for testing next-generation technologies. The collaboration also opens the door to joint development projects with leading global tissue producers and gives Nalco Water access to TIAC’s digital innovation platform, Metris, to further enhance process optimization.
By combining Nalco Water’s expertise in water management, chemistry, and digital solutions with ANDRITZ’s cutting-edge tissue technology, the partnership is set to support smarter, more sustainable tissue manufacturing helping producers meet today’s demands while preparing for the future.
