Surface perfection Ekamant

SURFACE

PERFECTION

Ekamant AB, based in the town of Markaryd in Sweden, produces coated abrasives for furniture manufacturers and other industrial purposes. Joseph Altham spoke to Per Thorsell, Ekamant’s CEO, to find out about the expertise that goes into the development of top quality abrasives.

Talking to Mr Thorsell, it soon becomes clear that the abrasive used in the wood industry is a much more specialised product than the sandpaper you might keep in your toolbox at home. “Our products are not really intended for consumers,” said Mr Thorsell, “and we only sell to other businesses and to our distributors.”

Ekamant’s abrasives cannot be found in a DIY store. The many different kinds of abrasives the company produces are intended to satisfy the specific requirements of wood industries, from making grand pianos to building the cabins of boats or kitchen cabinets. Indeed, the company’s products for wood industry use can be found in large manufacturing plants to small wood working shops from China to the USA.

The choice of abrasive depends upon what the user is grinding and what kind of surface they want to achieve; for example, when sanding wood the user has to consider whether it is hard or softwood. It is important to use sandpaper with the right grain size and with the right kind of grit and density. For lacquered surfaces, other kinds of qualities and know-how are required. Most commonly used for this purpose is an abrasive with an extra layer of stearate that has a cooling/lubricating effect on the workpiece, resulting in smoother grinding surfaces with less clogging and therefore a longer shelf life for the sanding belt.

Ekamant is careful in its choice of raw materials. To produce the highest quality abrasives requires high quality materials. This applies to all components, and the raw materials can generally be divided into three main groups. First, the back material normally consists of paper or fabric in different weights or qualities depending on the product being manufactured. The second raw material is the binder, the most common of which are urea or phenolic resins with various additives to achieve the right properties. Lastly, the abrasive grain is the working part of the abrasive material, the most widely used of which are aluminium oxide, silicon carbide and some special alternatives such as zirconia. Aluminium oxide is the most common variety and is available in several versions depending on the purpose.

Experience

Ekamant was founded in 1928 and employs around 430 people. Three years ago, Ekamant began to sell abrasive products for metals, car bodywork and for composite materials such as fibreglass. However, abrasives for wood still account for around 90 per cent of the company’s turnover. “Ekamant’s origins are in wood, and the wood industry is still our bread and butter.” The long experience of the company and of its individual workers is a valuable asset. “We have people working here who have been with us for many years, so there is a lot of internal know-how on the production line. We are very particular, and everything has to be 100 per cent correct.”

Ekamant produces abrasives that are designed to be used by the wood industry in the form of wide and narrow belts or discs. At its main factory in Småland, the company makes the abrasives in jumbo reels, before sending the reels on to conversion plants placed in the different local markets. This summer, Ekamant has brought out a new segmented, abrasive belt, the EKA 101 YY, designed for use on wood particle board and suitable for sanding chipboard and MDF, for example. “The panel board sanding is a highly demanding operation and the components forming the product have been carefully chosen for their high performance.”

Markets

Exporting belts directly from its factory in Småland would be expensive, so Ekamant has subsidiaries in various European countries to do the job of converting the reels. Småland is also where the retail giant, IKEA, first began, and Ekamant has been supplying IKEA’s furniture subsidiary, Swedwood, for a number of years.

“We are a major supplier to Swedwood/ IKEA. But we sell to small-scale businesses too, such as companies that produce handmade kitchen cabinets.” Globally, Ekamant

has subsidiaries in Indonesia, China (Beijing as well as Schenzen), Poland, Estonia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and South Africa. Outside these areas we have a distribution network in over 50 countries, many of whom we have been working with for many years. Indonesia is for example a big market for us. Today we are the absolute market leader here.”

Know-how

The success of Ekamant around the world is proof that you can make a global impact without the aid of a fancy head office in a

capital city. “Ninety per cent of our sales come from exports,” said Mr Thorsell. “We owe a lot to our strong local distribution networks and to everything they have done to build up the trust of our customers. Delivering a high level of service is at the heart of all our plans. All our sales people are technical specialists with extensive knowledge of wood processes. They can offer advice on how to run the sanding machines and can make the right adjustments to them.”

Ekamant has developed an innovative product in response to the current European fashion for hardwood floors. CLEARCUT is a high-performance abrasive with an aluminium oxide grain coating. It is designed for sanding floors made of hardwood species like oak, cherry, walnut, beech, birch etc. As parquet floors become increasingly popular throughout Europe, Ekamant has developed the CLEARCUT to meet the increased demand for more sophisticated surface treatments for hardwood flooring. The company’s focus has been to develop a product with paper backing with good pressure and heat durability when used for tough sanding applications.

Mr Thorsell believes that eastern Europe is a market in which Ekamant could develop further. He has ambitions to enter the Russian market, where the Swedwood brand, amongst others, is already present. However, in his mind what is most vital for Ekamant’s growth prospects over the long term is to preserve its reputation for high quality and service. n