QUALITY
TRADITION AND INNOVATION
What makes our paper is essential
The materials used in our production process are one of the key to the reputation of our papers. We come from a long tradition of craftsmen but we also have incorporated the most modern industrial techniques.
We use 4 kinds of cellulose fibers: wood, flax, hemp and lately, bamboo.
WOOD
Wood pulp is the most common material used for rolling papers. The wood used in OCB papers come from sustainably managed forests.
FLAX
Flax has been used to make paper since Ancient Egypt, it proved to be a great source for high quality paper.
HEMP
Our hemp papers are made of hemp fibers sustainably harvested in France. Their color is mainly light beige because it undergoes no bleaching process.
BAMBOO
The new comer! The bamboo used in our Bamboo ranges is sustainably harvested.
ACACIA GUM
The glue of every OCB paper is made from acacia gum, a natural resin coming from acacia trees in Africa
Producing the pulp
The fiber bundles are broken up in a pulper: this will swell the fibers and keep them in suspension, making the pulp course, and then sending it to the machine for a series of treatments.
The paper machine for consistent quality
When the pulp reaches the machine head, it is made into a highly diluted fiber suspension containing nearly 99.5% water and only a few grams of dry matter per liter. Each production parameter is controlled by an automatic control loop, to achieve reliable results and consistent quality.
Gumming – how to achieve the perfect sticking?
The acacia gum is harvested by making notches in the trunks of acacia trees, which exude gum. The gum is then diluted and coated on to the OCB papers. Once the reels of paper have been watermarked, they are divided into 2 lengthways and the gumming machine deposits streaks of gum on each width of the future paper. The rolls are then cut up into “mini-reels”.
Interleaving
The mini-reels are mounted on a machine that looks like a large weaving loom. For example, for a block of 50 papers, the machine simultaneously unrolls 50 reels of gummed paper! The 50 strips of paper gradually come together and are placed on one top of the other in the shape of a giant fan, a sort of final junction, before being totally folded.
Packaging
This continuous flow of interleaved paper is cut to the length of the required pack and the blocks of papers are placed in unfolded covers laid out flat. Then, the cover flaps are folded over, the booklet is completed and the pack takes on its final shape. All these stages are mechanically operated.
Technology and controls
Our production process is controlled at every step thanks to our laboratory that constantly tests our raw materials and products to guarantee the best quality possible.
The temperature and hygrometry in our production area are systematically controlled to ensure that the paper we produce is kept in the best conditions possible.
When technology supports quality
Because quality is our most valuable asset, we want to guarantee the OCB consumers that they get what they look for. This has led us to the creation of Datamatrix code: a new technology that ensures the authenticity of our papers and tackles counterfeit products. This single code printed on the OCB booklets can be scanned with a smartphone, and it allows OCB users to check whether the booklets are 100% genuine.