I seem to understand - or rather to intuit - the presence of a red thread that joins the crisis that part of the Western world has been grappling with for a few years now, with the discovery of the Higgs boson, also called the "God particle".

Today, innovation and creativity represent the two levers companies must focus on in looking to the future and trying to rise above the current negative economic scenario. Flexibility and the ability to adapt to changing market conditions are qualities that allow a company to survive the "natural selection of the species".

In today's hyper-competitive markets, tissue companies, too, daily face the need to establish a competitive advantage by communicating in complete and articulated fashion with their interlocutors in order to transmit their competencies and the advantages of their machines in a credible and engrossing way.

...when comic strip and fantasy characters come to life, playing in the streets of an ancient Tuscan city.

Carta Fabril is born in December 1990, when José Carlos Coutinho, its current President, purchased the company situated in Tribobó/RJ, and which, at the time, was idle. In January 1991 the new company was already operational!

We are in Turkey. In Istanbul. The natural bridge between Europe and Asia. A lively city in continual evolution that counts 14,000,000 inhabitants. A city that never stops. Writer and journalist Gunduz Vassaf writes this about it: "I am a labyrinth of layers that can be deciphered only without a compass." This is Istanbul.

Although growth in the wider Chinese economy has cooled somewhat in 2012, the outlook for the tissue and hygiene industry continues to look promising, as a greater number of Chinese consumers move into the market and also up the value chain.

Given the general downturn in consumer markets, thinking that companies invest in their own organization in order to improve performance in the realm of occupational health and safety and environmental protection rather than to ensure respect of the laws concerning balance sheets, etc., seems utopian.

And like a tsunami it went round the planet starting with the Northern Hemisphere.

"When unreality assumes a shape the semblance still is false. When vacuity assumes form and place, it remains vacuity still." Dream of the Red Chamber1.

Journalist Sarah Nassauer's recent Wall Street Journal article What is often in shredded cheese besides cheese? Provided yet another closer look at the common and popular food additive: cellulose.

The concept of hygiene has evolved based on the idea that people had about their bodies. The practice of personal cleanliness has changed with transformations in the religious scenario, social relationships, ideologies and medical knowledge which in the different historical periods have marked the development of civilization.

DRAWING with your MIND

Today, an Italian company celebrating its 50th anniversary is certainly something to boast about for our industrial scenario. Perini Journal met with Recard, a 100% Lucca born-and-bred company, supplier of quality technology for paper production systems.

Starch is a natural polymer widely used in papermaking. In wet end, it plays an important role in sheet formation, drainage and physical characteristics and has a positive impact on runnability. Innovation is at the heart of ROQUETTE's preoccupation with the needs of papermakers.

In January 2012 the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) published the 2050 Forest Fibre Industry (FFI) Roadmap to a low-carbon bio-economy.

C&S Tissue has come a long way in a decade, and has adapted its production skillfully to meet the demands and challenges of China.

The etymology of the word "green" ("verde" in Italian) derives from the popular Latin word "vìrdem", which in turn derives from "viridis" meaning "vivo" - "alive", "vivacious". Wide-ranging meanings, different attitudes and a thousand applications.

The solar power business is presently going through a period of dynamic change. To learn more about what is happening on the market for this rapidly growing renewable energy source, we recently spoke with Jyrki Leppanen, Market Director of Solar Inverters at ABB, the global giant in power and automation technologies.

It's called Millas Shop and it's the new on-line shop dedicated to Carta Camomilla, Kamillenpapier in Germany.

Kleenex® has always proposed new ways to conceive tissue paper products. By mixing creativity, taste, design and convenience, here are the new Kleenex® hand towels, a new product range designed for the home.

In the field of paper, producers have for some time now been focusing their business on the product's environmental sustainability - an increasingly insistent demand by consumers.

Dynamism, flexibility and tradition combined with modernity - the new Corporate Design expresses the shared values of the Körber Process Solutions companies.

Morbistenza is a game; a creative, ironic and original instrument that is revolutionizing the concept of toilet paper. A linguistic experiment with a clear payoff that changes the way to communicate the toilet roll: the focus shifts from one of length/duration to one of resistance ("resistenza" in Italian) and softness ("morbidezza").

The Living Seminar: an innovative didactic approach to those looking for the perfect match between enterprise and culture. A winning format. The symbiosis between management and art begins by changing point of view and... connecting the dots!

On the industrial front, the focus is on the community, in every sense!

Every five years the city Kassel, in Germany, hosts the most important world event in the field of visual arts: Documenta, an exhibition born in 1955 that in its past edition attracted over 750,000 visitors. The thirteenth edition, held from 9th June to 16th September, presented the works of 193 artists coming from the entire world.

Bright colors, paint brushes, paper, cardboard, Styrofoam, wood, different recycled materials and lots of imagination!