01.01.02
Location: Nakkila, Finland
Sales: $76 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Kari Parviainen, president and chief executive officer; Harri Myllylä, senior vice president, marketing, sales and business development; Esa Palttala, vice president, production and materials management; Margareta Huldén, vice president, product and process development; Arto Kiiskinen, vice president, chief financial officer, finance.
Plant
Nakkila, Finland
ISO Status
ISO 9001, 14001 environmental certification
Processes
Hydroentangled, thermal bonded
Brand Names
Novelin, Fibrella
Major Markets
Wipes, hygiene, medical (wound care)
The year 2001 was characterized by slightly lower sales brought on by a dip in capacity for Suominen Nonwovens (formerly J.W. Suominen Oy), Nakkila, Finland. The company’s sales came in at $76 million compared to $80 million in 2000.
The capacity decrease was brought on by the closure of the company’s older thermal bonding line, but Suominen is currently upgrading its existing thermal bonding and spunlacing lines. “We have been modernizing our spunlace lines and this will boost our capacity in this segment, which is our core business,” explained managing director Kari Parviainen.
The additional spunlaced capacity will mainly target the wipes market, which Mr. Parviainen described as the most important segment for Suominen. Other key markets for the company’s spunlaced business include medical and hygiene applications. Currently about 80% of the company’s output is spunlaced, an area that Suominen helped pioneer 15 years ago. The remaining 20% is in the thermal bonded area, where the main focus of the business is backsheets for hygiene items. Suominen also offers a coextrusion coating option through one of its thermal bonding lines to produce textile-like backsheets for hygiene applications.
The modernization and improvement project was the result of careful observance of the European nonwovens industry, where an oversupply situation and increased competition are key issues, according to Mr. Parviainen. “We have really upgraded and modernized our spunlaced capacity to maintain our leadership position in Europe. We chose not to invest in a new line but to instead improve what we currently have to be competitive,” he explained.
In 2001, the company’s spunlaced business was down slightly because some of its machines were shut down for a portion of the year to be modernized and this temporarily led to lower outputs. Now that the modernization project is complete, Suominen expects its spunlaced sales to take off on the heels of a growing wipes market, both in Europe and North America. “Supply has increased, as has competition,” Mr. Parviainen explained. “But, this modernization has led to increased quality, improved runnability and increased capacity, which should help us move forward.”
Future growth will also be heralded by innovation. Suominen’s research and development team has been concentrating on providing more functionality to spunlaced materials used for wipes. The result is a layered product that contains polypropylene and features excellent liquid release and absorbing properties, according to Mr. Parviainen.
By geography, the majority of Suominen’s sales are currently conducted in Europe but North America and the Far East are also important to the company, which currently operates one plant in Nakkila, Finland.
In terms of raw materials, Mr. Parviainen said that prices were generally stable during the first half of 2001, but prices for oil-based materials such as polypropylene and polyester fell during the second half. Suominen continues to manufacture its own polypropylene in-house and, with the addition of a new production line in 2001, is able to produce all of its polypropylene internally. “This allows us the advantage of tailoring the fiber properties to the needs of our end use products,” Mr. Parviainen explained.
Looking ahead, Suominen will continue to concentrate on increasing sales and improving its profitability. Much of this success is expected to come with the strength of the wipes market in Europe and North America.
“The main area we are focusing on is spunlaced because we are strong in that area,” Mr. Parviainen said. “We are putting more effort there, and that should improve the quantity and the quality. The future will be challenging, but we are ready for it.”
Sales: $76 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Kari Parviainen, president and chief executive officer; Harri Myllylä, senior vice president, marketing, sales and business development; Esa Palttala, vice president, production and materials management; Margareta Huldén, vice president, product and process development; Arto Kiiskinen, vice president, chief financial officer, finance.
Plant
Nakkila, Finland
ISO Status
ISO 9001, 14001 environmental certification
Processes
Hydroentangled, thermal bonded
Brand Names
Novelin, Fibrella
Major Markets
Wipes, hygiene, medical (wound care)
The year 2001 was characterized by slightly lower sales brought on by a dip in capacity for Suominen Nonwovens (formerly J.W. Suominen Oy), Nakkila, Finland. The company’s sales came in at $76 million compared to $80 million in 2000.
The capacity decrease was brought on by the closure of the company’s older thermal bonding line, but Suominen is currently upgrading its existing thermal bonding and spunlacing lines. “We have been modernizing our spunlace lines and this will boost our capacity in this segment, which is our core business,” explained managing director Kari Parviainen.
The additional spunlaced capacity will mainly target the wipes market, which Mr. Parviainen described as the most important segment for Suominen. Other key markets for the company’s spunlaced business include medical and hygiene applications. Currently about 80% of the company’s output is spunlaced, an area that Suominen helped pioneer 15 years ago. The remaining 20% is in the thermal bonded area, where the main focus of the business is backsheets for hygiene items. Suominen also offers a coextrusion coating option through one of its thermal bonding lines to produce textile-like backsheets for hygiene applications.
The modernization and improvement project was the result of careful observance of the European nonwovens industry, where an oversupply situation and increased competition are key issues, according to Mr. Parviainen. “We have really upgraded and modernized our spunlaced capacity to maintain our leadership position in Europe. We chose not to invest in a new line but to instead improve what we currently have to be competitive,” he explained.
In 2001, the company’s spunlaced business was down slightly because some of its machines were shut down for a portion of the year to be modernized and this temporarily led to lower outputs. Now that the modernization project is complete, Suominen expects its spunlaced sales to take off on the heels of a growing wipes market, both in Europe and North America. “Supply has increased, as has competition,” Mr. Parviainen explained. “But, this modernization has led to increased quality, improved runnability and increased capacity, which should help us move forward.”
Future growth will also be heralded by innovation. Suominen’s research and development team has been concentrating on providing more functionality to spunlaced materials used for wipes. The result is a layered product that contains polypropylene and features excellent liquid release and absorbing properties, according to Mr. Parviainen.
By geography, the majority of Suominen’s sales are currently conducted in Europe but North America and the Far East are also important to the company, which currently operates one plant in Nakkila, Finland.
In terms of raw materials, Mr. Parviainen said that prices were generally stable during the first half of 2001, but prices for oil-based materials such as polypropylene and polyester fell during the second half. Suominen continues to manufacture its own polypropylene in-house and, with the addition of a new production line in 2001, is able to produce all of its polypropylene internally. “This allows us the advantage of tailoring the fiber properties to the needs of our end use products,” Mr. Parviainen explained.
Looking ahead, Suominen will continue to concentrate on increasing sales and improving its profitability. Much of this success is expected to come with the strength of the wipes market in Europe and North America.
“The main area we are focusing on is spunlaced because we are strong in that area,” Mr. Parviainen said. “We are putting more effort there, and that should improve the quantity and the quality. The future will be challenging, but we are ready for it.”