Georgia-Pacific is expanding the use of on-site 3D printing across its industrial facilities to cut maintenance costs, shorten lead times and enhance operational safety. Additive manufacturing is used to produce custom parts and accessories in-house, directly based on issues and improvement ideas identified on the plant floor.
At the company’s mills in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and Brewton, Alabama, engineering and maintenance teams design application-specific components that replace parts with long lead times or high replacement costs. By shifting from external sourcing to on-demand production, the mills can respond more quickly to process constraints and avoid extended downtime caused by relatively minor failures.
In Muskogee, CAD drafter Nate Yarbrough creates models using computer-aided design (CAD) software, often starting from sketches or concepts proposed by operators and mechanics. One illustrative application involves small tabs on junction boxes used with laser-guided vehicles (LGVs). Instead of replacing an entire junction box because of a broken tab, the team prints only the damaged tab, significantly reducing material costs, replacement time and production interruptions.
Beyond replacement parts, 3D printing is also used to develop fixtures and accessories such as camera mounts, drone guards and other application-specific devices. This approach turns additive manufacturing into a practical engineering tool, enabling rapid prototyping, iterative design and quick deployment of solutions tailored to each site’s operating environment.
At Brewton, 3D printing is being leveraged to improve process reliability and operator safety in the demineralized water area. Teams designed a 3D-printed holder for sampling beakers, allowing samples to be grouped together, reducing the risk of glass breakage and minimizing handling errors. According to Georgia-Pacific, this solution also improves workflow organization and makes it easier for new employees to learn and follow sampling procedures consistently.
Across both sites, Georgia-Pacific emphasizes that safety and compliance remain core design criteria. Printed parts must go through an internal validation process before being put into service, and safety-related components are often produced in distinct colors to improve visual identification in the field.
Looking ahead, the company sees additive manufacturing as a platform for longer-term innovation, particularly as metal 3D printing technologies continue to mature. Within Koch, Georgia-Pacific’s parent company, other teams are also developing additive applications, sharing models, lessons learned and best practices to accelerate adoption at scale.
For Georgia-Pacific, on-site 3D printing is demonstrating how mill teams can solve operational challenges faster by developing practical solutions directly where the equipment is installed and operated every day.
Georgia-Pacific is one of North America’s leading manufacturers of tissue, packaging, containerboard, building products and fiber-based consumer goods. The company operates more than 150 manufacturing and converting facilities and is part of Koch.
