ISR’s mill‑roller breakthrough: a local engineering success story with global potential

Partly cleaned roller

ISR has recently completed a major cleaning project at a Newcastle mill, tackling four 7.5‑ton rollers during a planned shutdown.

These rollers—critical for moving paper through the mill and transferring heat into a specialist production process. Over time these rollers had accumulated baked‑on oil and lubricant. Once contamination builds, heat transfer efficiency drops, energy use rises, and product quality can suffer. Clean rollers aren’t a luxury; they’re essential to keeping a mill running at peak performance and efficiency.

A new approach for an old problem

During the shutdown, ISR set out to develop a method that would minimise disruption, reduce risk, and cut lifecycle maintenance costs. Traditional cleaning often requires removing the rollers—an operation involving heavy lifts at height, significant downtime, and the risk of damaging precision components.

ISR has now engineered an insitu cleaning process, combining laser technology with a tailored chemical pretreatment to boost performance under limited power conditions. This hybrid method removes contamination in the first pass, allows polishing to confirm surface integrity, and even enables gear‑tooth cleaning for inspection without dismantling the roller assembly.

What this means for mills and engineering teams

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Reduced Time — cleaning completed faster, with minimal shutdown impact

Lower Lifecycle Cost — rollers stay in place, reducing wear from repeated lifting

Minimal Waste — laser‑based removal keeps waste streams to an absolute minimum

Lower Energy Use — efficient heat‑transfer restoration without high‑power cleaning systems

Improved Safety — eliminates the risks associated with moving 7.5‑ton rollers at height.

Known costs – maintenance costs are known

A clear path forward

By integrating new technology into a legacy maintenance process, ISR has delivered measurable improvements in efficiency, safety, and cost. The success at Newcastle has now opened the door for ISR to travel to the mill’s sister plant in Europe to replicate the same work.

For mills, engineering teams, and maintenance managers across the Northeast and beyond, this development signals a shift toward cleaner, safer, and more energy‑efficient roller maintenance.