Was kostet ein Punkt Weisse : kann der Papiermacher dem weltweiten Weisstrend noch wirtschaftlich folgen ?

The degree of whiteness of commercial paper and board grades is primarily a technical function of the final product. Now as before it remains a vital marketing tool, too. The whiteness of our graphic products, however, is also a critical cost factor in paper manufacture. In the international market place an ongoing trend towards high white graphic products has been confirmed amongst the experts in the industry. Bayers' recent analyses on commercial papers have revealed significant differences in the technical 'build-up' of whiteness in various samples (in Z-direction). The findings suggest, not unexpectedly though, major differences in the structure of the manufacturing cost. These differences become especially obvious on most recently marketed high white papers. This paper discusses an economic approach to high white products with optimised recipes. A very costly affair for the Papermaker is also the fact that 'Whiteness' of the final product remains being measured by TAPPI/ISO (R457)-Standards. Comparisons have repeatedly confirmed, however, that consumers rather choose by visual judgement which is closely being matched by assessing common tri-stimulus values. The correlation between a visual assessment and e. g. CIE Standards is astonishing. The differences in manufacturing cost for similar levels of whiteness are astonishing, too. The initial question on the economic feasibility of high white paper manufacture in the international market place must in principle be answered positively. In many cases, however much room has been identified by this exercise to further optimize the manufacturing cost for high white papers.