01.01.09
Location: NAKKILA, FINLAND
Sales: $107 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Petri Rolig, president and CEO of Suominen Corporation; Paul-Erik Toivo, vice president and general manager of Suominen Wiping; Mads Kiilerich, director operations of Suominen Nonwovens; Margareta Huldén, director products
Nonwovens Plants
Nakkila, Finland
ISO Status
ISO 9001; 14001 environmental certification
Processes
Hydroentangled, thermal bonded
Brand names
Fibrella, Biolace, Novelin
Reporting a slight sales decline was Finland’s Suominen Nonwovens, a maker of spunlaced and thermal bonded nonwovens. While deliveries of thermal bonded hygiene materials as well as demand for wound care products increased, sales of spunlaced nonwovens felt pressure from North American suppliers.
Despite this, the company describes the spunlace market as encouraging. “The demand for our premium products was satisfactory,” said vice president and general manager Paul-Erik Toivo. “We could benefit from our long-time focus is on innovation and quality, partly offsetting the impact for the general slowdown in the marks during the last quarter of 2008.”
Suominen Nonwovens has responded to these slowdowns by streamlining its product portfolio, launching new valued added production and producing only against customer orders. Helping more so, Mr. Toivo explained is the long-term growth trajectory present in the wipes market. “Our customers are actively exploring new solutions and concepts in many segments, accordingly we see our business developing favorably also in the future.”
The bulk of Suominen’s spunlace output targets the wipes market and the company has chosen to play on the high end of this market with innovative products. One of these is Biolace, Suominen’s 100% biodegradable spunlace material launched two years ago, which continues to do well as things like sustainability and environmental friendliness are becoming increasingly important for everyone. “As a responsible producer, our aim is to provide customers and end users with products that meet their demands while using all raw materials and other sources as efficiently as possible. We also work hard to reduce the amount of energy and water used in our production processes and we recycle our waste. Our customers share our vision for a more eco-friendly future.”
Other innovations include price competitive spunlace with reasonably lower basis weights as well as launches of new materials in Suominen’s Fibrella spunlace range based on proprietary customer projects. “Quality will be further emphasized in our business proposition,” said Mr. Toivo. “Our state-of-the-art pilot lines are highly appreciated by our customers and a core element in our joint innovation efforts.”
The other portion of Suominen’s business, thermal bonded nonwovens, falls under the Novelin brand name. These nonwovens serve markets as a surface material in a variety of hygiene products. While marketshare in general been declining in Europe for the past several years, sales have been stable in 2008 and Suominen is exploring new applications for its thermal bonded products.”
“The production process at Suominen Nonwovens is constantly developed and our cost-base is continuously streamlined. Recently-made investments to our production lines have improved our cost competitiveness further,” said Mr. Toivo. “All this, in conjunction with our strive for innovation and increased customer proximity, makes us well positioned for profitable growth.”
Sales: $107 Million
Description: Key Personnel
Petri Rolig, president and CEO of Suominen Corporation; Paul-Erik Toivo, vice president and general manager of Suominen Wiping; Mads Kiilerich, director operations of Suominen Nonwovens; Margareta Huldén, director products
Nonwovens Plants
Nakkila, Finland
ISO Status
ISO 9001; 14001 environmental certification
Processes
Hydroentangled, thermal bonded
Brand names
Fibrella, Biolace, Novelin
Reporting a slight sales decline was Finland’s Suominen Nonwovens, a maker of spunlaced and thermal bonded nonwovens. While deliveries of thermal bonded hygiene materials as well as demand for wound care products increased, sales of spunlaced nonwovens felt pressure from North American suppliers.
Despite this, the company describes the spunlace market as encouraging. “The demand for our premium products was satisfactory,” said vice president and general manager Paul-Erik Toivo. “We could benefit from our long-time focus is on innovation and quality, partly offsetting the impact for the general slowdown in the marks during the last quarter of 2008.”
Suominen Nonwovens has responded to these slowdowns by streamlining its product portfolio, launching new valued added production and producing only against customer orders. Helping more so, Mr. Toivo explained is the long-term growth trajectory present in the wipes market. “Our customers are actively exploring new solutions and concepts in many segments, accordingly we see our business developing favorably also in the future.”
The bulk of Suominen’s spunlace output targets the wipes market and the company has chosen to play on the high end of this market with innovative products. One of these is Biolace, Suominen’s 100% biodegradable spunlace material launched two years ago, which continues to do well as things like sustainability and environmental friendliness are becoming increasingly important for everyone. “As a responsible producer, our aim is to provide customers and end users with products that meet their demands while using all raw materials and other sources as efficiently as possible. We also work hard to reduce the amount of energy and water used in our production processes and we recycle our waste. Our customers share our vision for a more eco-friendly future.”
Other innovations include price competitive spunlace with reasonably lower basis weights as well as launches of new materials in Suominen’s Fibrella spunlace range based on proprietary customer projects. “Quality will be further emphasized in our business proposition,” said Mr. Toivo. “Our state-of-the-art pilot lines are highly appreciated by our customers and a core element in our joint innovation efforts.”
The other portion of Suominen’s business, thermal bonded nonwovens, falls under the Novelin brand name. These nonwovens serve markets as a surface material in a variety of hygiene products. While marketshare in general been declining in Europe for the past several years, sales have been stable in 2008 and Suominen is exploring new applications for its thermal bonded products.”
“The production process at Suominen Nonwovens is constantly developed and our cost-base is continuously streamlined. Recently-made investments to our production lines have improved our cost competitiveness further,” said Mr. Toivo. “All this, in conjunction with our strive for innovation and increased customer proximity, makes us well positioned for profitable growth.”