Georgia-Pacific secures the industrial future of its Muskogee tissue mill at 50

A half-century milestone for a tissue manufacturing anchor

In September 2026, Georgia-Pacific marks 50 years of continuous operations at its Muskogee mill in Oklahoma. For a facility that spans 640 acres and serves as the city's largest private employer with over 700 workers, reaching the half-century mark is a significant industrial achievement. However, in the highly competitive North American tissue market, longevity alone does not guarantee future viability. The true narrative behind this anniversary is how the company is executing a pragmatic, phased modernization strategy to keep a legacy asset relevant in an era of automated manufacturing.

Rather than opting for a massive, billion-dollar greenfield project, Georgia-Pacific has channeled a targeted $50 million investment into the Muskogee site over the past few years. This capital injection has been meticulously directed toward resolving specific operational bottlenecks and upgrading converting capabilities, ensuring the mill can efficiently supply both retail and away-from-home (AfH) markets with brands like Sparkle®.

Targeted automation and converting upgrades

The core of Muskogee's recent transformation lies in its converting and material handling processes. The installation of a new jumbo roll tissue (JBT) line has fundamentally improved the mill's throughput. In tissue manufacturing, the ability to efficiently process parent rolls into market-ready formats is often the defining factor in a plant's margin profile. Complementing this is the deployment of a new paper machine winder, a critical piece of equipment that slits and cuts the paper web into narrower rolls with higher precision and less waste.

Perhaps the most forward-looking aspect of this upgrade cycle is the integration of Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs). By deploying AGVs to handle raw materials and streamline internal logistics, Georgia-Pacific is addressing one of the most persistent challenges in legacy mills: the labor-intensive and often hazardous movement of heavy parent rolls across expansive factory floors. This shift toward automation not only drives operational efficiency but directly supports the safety and reliability metrics emphasized by Muskogee Mill Facility Leader Amy Borovich.

Strategic positioning in the 2026 tissue landscape

The North American tissue sector in 2026 remains a volume-driven business where incremental gains in machine uptime and converting speed dictate market leadership. Muskogee's dual focus on retail and commercial products requires a flexible manufacturing footprint. The recent upgrades provide exactly that, allowing the facility to pivot between different product specifications without prohibitive downtime.

Furthermore, the financial structure of this modernization highlights the importance of public-private industrial partnerships. The Muskogee City-County Port Authority's Strategic Investment Program (SIP) has played a facilitating role, demonstrating how local incentives can effectively anchor major manufacturing operations in their historical communities. Since 2015, Georgia-Pacific has leveraged these frameworks to inject over $175 million into the site, proving that legacy mills can still attract serious capital when the business case is sound.

As Georgia-Pacific celebrates this 50-year milestone, the Muskogee mill stands as a testament to the viability of continuous, targeted reinvestment. The facility is not just surviving its fifth decade; it is actively adapting its operational DNA to meet the rigorous demands of modern tissue converting. Georgia-Pacific's methodical integration of AGVs and advanced winding technology at Muskogee proves that legacy mills can successfully bridge the gap between historical scale and modern efficiency. Will the broader North American tissue industry follow this model of incremental automation, or will we see a shift toward entirely new greenfield mega-mills? Follow The Paper for daily news, market signals and key updates from the global paper, corrugated and packaging industry. — Sigue toda la actualidad del sector en www.thepaper.ai