My wife got a new computer screen the other day. For assembly of the stand and so forth, the new one is designed with thumbscrews and so forth--essentially a "no tools" design.

I have been using personal computers since December of 1979. Over the years, there has been a steady march of progress in terms of the skills and tools the user needs to take a computer and ancillary items out of the box and make them into a functioning unit. It is simpler and takes far fewer tools than ever today to achieve this task.

To pick on the refiner manufacturers as an example for our purposes, let me ask this question. Comparatively speaking, how much has changed, since 1979, in installing and maintaining a new refiner? I'll dare say nothing. This is a competitive opportunity for a forward-thinking manufacturer.

This is more urgent than ever and a true Light Green Machine opportunity, not only in refiners but in many areas. There is a shortage of maintenance people. There is an even greater shortage of skilled maintenance people. This shortage begs answers from the machinery suppliers.

What if we redesigned the refiner, to continue our example, so that unskilled personnel with no tools could change the plates? What if the plates were designed so they last twice as long as now? I suspect, for the manufacturer that presented this piece of equipment, the industry would beat a path to their door.

This can happen in many, many areas of pulp and paper machinery design. Take out the tools, take out the skills and reduce the people required to maintain the unit operations you sell. If the computer manufacturers can do it, so can you.