Displaying items by tag: Walki

The new production unit in Walki’s Valkeakoski plant has made the first deliveries to customers. So far the production line has met expectations.

The new production line comes with the latest technology when it comes to quality measurement and process control systems, ensuring high and consistent quality.

walki_rebuild
This has been a textbook example on how to conduct a complex project, every single employee has helped out in one way or another.© Walki Group Oy

"The technology in the production line enables us to meticulously control the quality of the runs. Every single data parameter from every run is stored, which enables us to go back and track changes”, says Kari Salminen, Executive Vice President, Construction.
    
The demand for multilayer laminates is increasing as the European construction industry is preparing itself to meet the so called 202020 targets, that among other things aim at a 20% improvement in energy efficiency. Efficient housing insulation is the key in keeping heating costs down.

The highly flexible production line also caters to several different product segments in addition to the construction industry, such as flexpack and medical products.
“The extrusion possibilities are also vast”, says Kari Salminen.

The new production line will increase capacity and Walki will be able to faster respond to customers’ needs. Customers can also expect shorter lead times.

As safety is the starting point in everything Walki does, special attention has also been given to working environment safety. As a whole, Salminen is extremely pleased with how the new production line came into being.

“This has been a textbook example on how to conduct a complex project, every single employee has helped out in one way or another”, says Salminen.

Walki in brief

Walki Group is a leading producer of technical laminates and protective packaging materials, specializing in the production of fibre based, intelligent, multilaminate products for markets ranging from energy saving construction facings and construction membranes to barrier packaging applications. The Group has plants in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the UK, Russia and China with a workforce of about 900 people. Annual net sales for the Group are over 300 million Euros.

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Wednesday, 16 December 2015 09:25

Walki and Mondi to terminate the acquisition agreement

walkilogoIn May 2015, we announced that Mondi Group had approached Walki Group, in order to acquire two of Walki’s extrusion coatings sites: Pietarsaari in Finland and Wroclaw in Poland. The deal was subject to competition clearance. The commission raised concerns about the impact on the competition environment, and a considerable time was spent on discussing ways to alleviate these.

However, a workable solution suitable for all parties was not found and therefore Mondi has decided to withdraw the application from the Commission and terminate the acquisition agreement.

The Industrial Packaging business, including the Pietarsaari and Wroclaw sites, will remain an integral part of Walki’s strategy. Walki is committed to develop all of its sites in Finland, Poland, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, Russia and China.

For more information, please contact:
Leif Frilund, President and CEO, tel. +358 (0)403543330

Walki in brief
Walki Group is a leading producer of technical laminates and protective packaging materials, specializing in the production of fiber based, intelligent, multi- layer laminate products for markets as diverse as energy saving construction facings to barrier packaging applications. Walki Group is present in eleven countries with operations in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, the UK and China with a workforce of about 900 people. Annual net sales of the Group are more than 300 million Euros.

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walkilogoWalki Group, the leading producer of protective packaging materials and technical laminates, announces today that it has entered an agreement with Mondi Group to sell its Pietarsaari plant in Finland and the Wroclaw plant in Poland. These two facilities constitute the major part of Walki’s Industrial Packaging business, producing primarily packaging material for the paper industry as well as for the corrugated board industry. Excluded from the deal are the RFID-antenna production line (4E) and the pilot plant assets located in the Pietarsaari plant. The planned acquisition is subject to competition clearance.

“The proposed transaction enables Walki to focus all its resource on the growing markets of energy saving laminates and membranes for building purposes, as well as on selected segments of the consumer packaging market. This step is fully in line with our strategy to leverage on our strong R&D capabilities in developing new multi-layer laminate solutions for our customers”, says Leif Frilund, President and CEO of Walki Group.

In 2014, the aggregated sales of the Pietarsaari and Wroclaw plant were 113 MEUR and they employed together about 245 people.

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Walki Group, the leading producer of protective packaging materials and technical laminates, announces today that it will expand its production network in Europe by opening a new state of the art manufacturing plant in Wroclaw, Poland. The new plant, which is to commence its production during the third quarter of 2013, will be Walki’s third production site in Poland.

Initially, the plant will focus on serving the customer segments, Forest industry and Consumer packaging. The investment corresponds to a commitment of close to 10 MEUR. In the start-up phase, the plant will employ about 50 people.

“With this investment, Walki is showing its strong commitment to its fast growing customer base in Central and Eastern Europe by providing more efficient and sustainable supply chain solutions and better customer service capabilities. Being close to our customers has always been paramount to Walki and with this green field facility we will now be able to offer shorter lead times and on a longer term a wider product offering”, says Leif Frilund, President and CEO.

“By setting up this world class manufacturing unit, we are creating a platform to expand our operations as we continue to grow. Further, we will have more opportunities to optimize our European production activities and to get access to new raw-material sources” says Timo Finnström, Executive Vice President – Operations.

The site is strategically located in Wroclaw in the south west of Poland with excellent highway access and proximity to major markets.

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Insulation properties and the energy efficiency of many thermal insulation materials, such as polyurethane or mineral wool, can be considerably enhanced with the use of Walki facings. Helped by a significant investment in new production technology, Walki Group can offer an even wider palette of premium-quality insulation and construction facing materials to building material and insulation manufacturers – while at the same time produce less waste during production.


Walki RU_caption_2Walki Group, a leading supplier of technical barrier laminates and protective materials, has its eye set on the fast-growing insulation and construction facing materials market. With the Group’s latest investment in new manufacturing technology, the company can offer its facing materials to an even wider market, while at the same time further enhance the quality of its products.

-With rising energy prices and more focus on sustainable use of resources, better insulation plays a key role in moving towards increased sustainability. This also creates higher demand for facing materials, which can improve the insulation properties of our customers’ products significantly, notes Business Line Manager Kari Salminen. 

Quality improvement through new technology 

High-quality facings are an integral component of building materials and insulation products. In addition to enhancing thermal performance, highly engineered facing material can also act as a vapour barrier, and help to reduce the risk of corrosion and mould growth in the materials.

In mid-August 2012, Walki’s production line in Valkeakoski, Finland, has been re-engineered to run more efficiently. It also has the capability to utilise a much wider range of raw materials now, in order to meet the challenges of new and emerging demands of customers and markets. 

- Walki has always strived to be a leading facing materials supplier on the market and this we seek to achieve by listening closely to our customers. What Walki has learned from this exchange of views is that there is a growing need on the market for even more stable and better performing facings, says Salminen.

- Helped by the investment Walki is prepared to meet the needs of its customers even quicker than before. The latest in-line facility improvements will allow us to produce facings which are modern and stable and avoiding holes or pitting of lacquers, or uneven surfaces that can lead to corrosion.

Helping businesses to create a better brand image 

Building material and insulation manufacturers can support and expand their brand by having facings with their brand logos and product names printed directly on the facing material of their final products.

Walki is an environmentally responsible company therefore it uses only water-based inks for printing. 

- Our new in-line printing technology is a clear asset for many of our customers, who want to increase their brand image in a cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable way, says Walki’s Plant Director Timo Saahko.

Walki’s production line also features a web tension control system, which delivers higher production efficiencies in addition to improved and more stable quality. 

- It also means the company generates a lot less waste during the manufacturing process.

Future growth especially in radiant barrier products

Pierrick Girard from Walki’s sales office in France has been actively working with French providers to identify new end uses for Walki’s products. This he believes will open doors for Walki to the fast-growing radiant barrier foil insulation industry as well as other sectors. 

-After the investment, we have received very good feedback on the first trials with our customers on the quality of our materials. Customers have noted, for instance, that the tension of the reels and thickness control is excellent. 

The high-level stable profile of the rolls is appreciated and welcomed and will contribute substantially to improved runnability on our customers’ machines, adds Girard. /ins

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Walki RU_caption_2Walki Group, a leading producer of technical laminates and protective packaging materials, has opened a new sales office in Moscow, Russia, in a bid to gain stronger foothold in fast-growing Russian and CIS markets.

The new office, which offers customers the whole range of Walki’s products, opened its doors officially in November.

- Opening a local sales office in Russia was a decisive step for us in building an even closer partnership with our key customers in Russia and other CIS countries. It also shows our long-term commitment towards growth in the region, says Walki Group’s Chief Executive Officer Leif Frilund.

Local presence creates advantages

Walki’s high-quality products and solution-focused attitude and service are the company’s competitive edge in Russia and other CIS countries, and the Groups’ local presence offers an excellent platform for bringing new products to the market.

- Opening of a new sales office in Russia was a natural step for us especially as the Group already opened a new manufacturing facility in the town of Svetogorsk, last May, says Sales and Marketing Manager Artur Hytti, who is responsible for Russia and CIS countries. 

- We see strong growth in the region especially for our packaging materials and insulation facings. In addition to now having a local sales force in Russia, it’s very important for us to be able to also utilise our production unit and warehouse in Svetogorsk to generate added value to our customers. 

- A local sales office also makes it much easier for our customers to deal with us because they can now avoid all the hassles related to import duties and other taxes and fees required to import our goods into the region, Walki’s CEO Leif Frilund notes. /ins

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Finding ways to save money and the environment is important for polyurethane manufacturers. Using Walki®Peel Foam or Walki®Cover Foam protection materials helps producers of PUR foam blocks to cut down on costly chemical consumption, while at the same time reduce waste in manufacturing.

Walki Group, a leading global supplier of carrier material for the foaming industry, has spent many years developing its well-established paper-based Walki-Foam products. 

PUR 1Peelable Walki®Peel Foam and conventional Walki®Cover Foam materials are used to cover all of the inner walls of the foaming line on which the polyurethane is injected and where it expands. This brings various benefits to manufacturers, including stable production quality and good chemical hold out, which ultimately leads to cost savings and higher profits.

Less chemicals; lower production costs

With chemicals expenses accounting for as much as 97% of production costs in polyurethane manufacturing, there is no room for wastage in the foaming process. Using Walki-Foam products is estimated to reduce raw material costs by some three per cent.

- The high and even quality of our Walki-Foam materials also helps to ensure trouble free foam production, makes it easier to keep foaming lines clean, and runs easily on a PUR-line compared with standard polyethylene films and conventional processing paper, says Kari Salminen, Business Line Manager at Walki’s Technical Products -division.

- Moreover, we offer reasonably short lead times, of two to three weeks, for most of our process liner materials.

Multiple uses and benefits

PUR 2Walki’s peelable protection material can be used as a top, side, and bottom layer in the PUR-foaming process, while Walki®Cover Foam is a universal carrier in the foaming process.

- Both products combine high-quality and recyclable kraft paper with very thin polymer layer that is specially developed for the foam industry to ease up the foam production process and protect the ready PUR block against excessive moisture, dirt, and harmful effects of UV-light, says Salminen.

The paper layer is peeled off when the foam block comes off the line for curing. Meanwhile, the PE layer stays in place around the block forming a protective barrier around the final product.

- The PE layer also prevents the paper from flex cracking during production, ensuring less machine stops and cleaning procedures and avoiding longer set-up times.

Recyclable material creates less waste/Transforming manufacturing waste into profit 

An additional advantage from using Walki’s foam carrier materials is the recyclability of the kraft paper.

- Standard polyethylene films used by some manufacturers are very thick adding to the environmental burden. Our paper-based products help to create significantly less waste in manufacturing. The kraft paper can be recycled, or even sold forward for an additional profit, Salminen says. /ins  

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Walki Group is in the forefront of innovation and committed to being so also in the future. As one of the few companies in the field of intelligent packaging materials, Walki will showcase its cutting-edge technologies at the Moscow International Forum for Innovative Development “Open Innovations” scheduled to take place from 31st October to 3rd November.

get imgThe Open Innovations Forum is organized by leading Russian development institutes and Moscow Government under the support of the Government of the Russian Federation. It will bring together an estimated total of 6,000 representatives from business, government, and sciences, to share their experiences, create prosperous networks, and analyze fundamental global trends. Overall, about 50 events will take place in the framework of the Forum – including plenary sessions, panel and round-table discussions. 

Combining old and new technology 

At the event, Walki will introduce the award-winning Walki 4E technology. This involves a dry process of laser patterning paper and aluminium laminate and drastically reduces the total cost of passive radio frequency identification (RFID) tagging. Such technology is environmentally friendly, as there are no chemicals used during the manufacturing process, and the process residue (metallic aluminium) is 100% recyclable. 

- Participation gives us the opportunity to demonstrate how we have been able to create a totally new business out our traditional one by combining old technologies with new innovative ones, such as laser technology. Walki is proud to present at the event as Finnish company says Sami Liponkoski, Business Line Manager at Walki’s 4E Technology division.

get img_1Endless possibilities for the new technology

Using the Walki 4E technology, Walki Group has developed the Walki Pantenna, which is the first UHF RFID antenna that offers extensive possibilities for converting. It can be made of paper or even fabric and printed directly on a label or a hang tag. 

Liponkoski, who will hold a keynote speech and participate in a roundtable discussion related to RFID technology at the event, says that apart from RFID tag antennas, Walki’s newest innovation can benefit a wide number of other applications such as flexible batteries, photovoltaics, and mobile handset antennas. It also allows for high volumes delivering extremely efficiently and economically.

Innovation creates success

- Being innovative is extremely important for us – it is a matter of being successful. We are a global leader in producing sustainable packaging materials and in order to maintain that position we need to be innovative and always ahead of our competitors.

- At the event, we can show that we are still in the very frontline of packaging solution companies, and we have the honour to talk there about our newest innovations and how they can benefit the global packaging industry. /ins   

 

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The Walki 4E technology can bring a significant and welcome change to the RFID market

Walki-Group-Award-LogoBased on its recent research on the passive radio frequency identification (RFID) antenna production market, Frost & Sullivan presents Walki Group with the 2012 European Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation for developing a unique manufacturing technology that lowers material costs and speeds up manufacturing process in an environment friendly manner. The Walki 4E technology involves a dry process of laser patterning paper and aluminium laminate, which drastically reduces the cost factor involved in RFID manufacturing.

The conventional method deployed by competitors produces RFID antennas through wet etching using wet chemicals. However, Walki Group’s pioneering technology is characterized by computer to antenna manufacturing and laser cutting of the antenna. The company uses paper – considered to be one of the best candidates for organic substrates for RFID/sensing applications – as a substrate for its RFID antenna tags. After the laser cuts out patterns from the laminate made of aluminum and paper substrate, the aluminum residue is recycled.

The Walki 4E technology is ten times faster than the benchmark set by its competitors in manufacturing. The digital process also allows each antenna to be different, resulting in very short response time and a considerably higher development cycle. Further, the laser to antenna manufacturing creates accurate geometries. Having good dimensional stability increases repeatability, resulting in increased process yield and production speed.

The computer to antenna production enables small, extremely accurate pattern attainable with laser technology. Walki has a very tight integration with the IC supply chain enabling them to develop small integrated chips (ICs). Having smaller components can help in integrating with even compact devices and gives more flexibility on the design options. The highest frequency obtainable with Walki’s antennas is 5.8 GHz, which in effect covers the whole range from low frequency (LF), high frequency (HF), ultra high frequency (UHF), and microwave.

“Walki Group’s competitors lack the technology advantage to produce RFID tags at such a low cost and high volume platform,” notes Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Saju John Mathew. ”The company’s unique technology, coupled with its global production and distribution network address every need in mainstream RFID applications with major price reductions.”

RFID can have a huge impact in near field communication (NFC) and barcodes, which put together, can be a highly lucrative market. Walki 4E technology can greatly facilitate penetration of NFC antennas into the market on a large scale, primarily because of the low cost. The unique dry process technique enables combining fiber, polymer, plastics, and creating the substrate of the client’s choice with up to nine different polymers. This variety of options – not available with Walki Group’s competitors – can enable other exploratory applications, where the polymers best fitting the need can be chosen.”

Apart from RFID tag antennas, this technology can greatly benefit other applications such as photovoltaics, flexible batteries, flexible circuit boards, heat elements, and mobile handset antennas. Using Walki 4E technology, Walki Group has developed the Walki Pantenna, which is the first UHF RFID antenna that offers extensive possibilities for converting. It can be made of paper or even fabric and printed directly on a label or a hang tag. This easy conversion allows for high volumes delivering extremely efficient and economical production to the end users in applications such as labels, hang tags, and single trip tickets.

Walki 4E technology is an environment friendly process, as there are no chemicals used during its manufacture, and the process residue (metallic aluminum) is directly recyclable. The overall dry, low cost manufacturing process can encourage deploying the technology in markets previously unexplored.

“The low-cost parameter being manifold with Walki Group’s technology is definitely a boost to end users, especially in single trip ticketing, tags for library books, ready size labelling and apparel item level tracking,” says Mathew. “The Walki Group is able to rapidly provide any number of customised tag antennae, online quality control, and a high level of interactivity that ensures customer satisfaction.”

The potential for RFID in existing and emerging applications and replacement for barcodes is quite high; the market potential can be enhanced with wide scale adoption that is enabled by Walki’s customer-centric technology. The company, which employs over 1000 people, already has a combined annual net sale exceeding $398 million with production facilities in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, UK, Russia and China, which enables it to easily penetrate major geographies around the world.

Based on all these factors, Frost & Sullivan is pleased to present Walki Group with the 2012 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Award. Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to a company that has demonstrated uniqueness in developing a technology, which significantly impacts both the functionality and the customer value of new products and applications. The award lauds the relevance of the innovation to the industry.

Frost & Sullivan’s Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research in order to identify best practices in the industry.

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Walki Group, a leading producer of technical laminates and protective packaging materials, will invest in a new multi-colour flexographic printing machine in Poland to further enhance the printing quality of its ream wrap products offered to Central and Eastern European markets.

Walki printing big

The investment includes a new 10-colour flexo printing machine that will be utilised in the production of ream wrap used mainly for the wrapping of A4 and A3 copy paper reams.

The new machine, estimated to be in full production during the fourth quarter of 2013, will be located at Walki’s Jatne plant, situated 40 kilometres South-East from Warsaw. The supplier of the printing machine will be Comexi Group of Spain.

-The printing machine’s possibility to use 10 colours gives our customers more possibilities in terms of design and special effects. Accuracy of the machine’s printing result is excellent and the machine will also be using environmentally friendly water-based inks, notes Marko Siltala, VP of Walki’s Operations & Business Line Ream Wrapping, Paper Packaging division.

Preparing for growth in Eastern Europe and Russia

- Paper is still the best media to read longer documents and texts and the consumption of copy paper is expected to grow in Eastern Europe and Russia in the near future. Walki wants to strengthen its position as the leading supplier of ream wrapping material in Europe and the new investment is aimed to serve our customers in Central and East Europe even better than today supporting their needs for attractive packaging, Siltala says.

Due to the anticipated growth for paper products in Eastern Europe and Russia, Walki also opened a new plant in May in Russia, Siltala adds.

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