Georgia-Pacific Engages MJW to Convert Warehouse on Accelerated Schedule

Georgia-Pacific (GP) recently engaged MJW as one of their Preferred Partners to install a new, state-of-the-art converting line, inside of one of the storage buildings at their Palatka plant called the “Blue Warehouse.” A typical converting line takes the massive tissue rolls which come off the paper machine and cuts them down into small tissue rolls for individual use. The new converting line was designed with unique capabilities previously unavailable at the Palatka mill. A standard schedule duration for a project of this size is two years. In order to meet the needs of their customers, GP required that the project be executed in just nine months.

GP brought the MJW team in early during the project planning phase to collaborate on schedule, design, and project vision development. The project was delivered on a fast-track basis where construction and design activities occurred simultaneously. MJW played an active role in managing the project with GP and the Foth design team. MJW’s on-site field leadership team utilized lean construction methods to rigorously plan, schedule and execute the work. They also embraced GP’s Challenge Culture to engage the craft workers to help discover creative solutions to problems wherever they emerged.

The result was a project delivered on time, under budget, and with no recordable injuries.

MJW self-performed installation of over 130 tons of structural steel, 450 cubic yards of concrete with 40 tons of rebar, 4,500 linear feet of process piping, four overhead cranes, all converting equipment as well as roughly 1,500 linear feet of conveyor and packaging equipment. MJW contracted partners Ferber Sheet Metal Works to install all the process and building cooling ductwork, Taylor’s Industrial Coatings to apply 78,000 square feet of foam insulation to the roof and 78,000 square feet of coating to the floor, and Incorp Industries who abated 66,000 square feet of lead paint from the floor and erected all scaffold necessary for construction. MJW’s Fire Protection team also replaced 9,000 linear feet of fire sprinkler pipe with new, code compliant automatic sprinkler system. All of these activities occurred within an eight-month duration.

Additional challenges included 24/7 forklift traffic from GP Palatka operations delivering vital supplies through the Blue Warehouse space to nearby production lines which could not be interrupted, as well as limited space for staging equipment and construction materials.

In February, GP successfully completed the turnover test and commissioned the new line. GP brought in a film production crew to capture the project story for an upcoming film intended to spotlight the success of the project.