Nordic market leader Ostnor

NORDIC MARKET LEADER

Ostnor, created from the merger of four companies in 2007, develops and manufactures taps and accessories. Having previously focused on two strong brands, this year the company added a third brand to its portfolio, as Industry Europe reports.

Ostnor is the Nordic region’s leading mixer company, headquartered in Mora, Sweden. Its roots go back to 1927 – and some components of the company go back much further – but Ostnor as it exists today started a new chapter in 2007, when four companies were merged into one. The challenge then was to create a cohesive company with long-term and improved profitability, and a key developmental step was formulating and introducing collective fundamental values across the new group.

Today, Ostnor has a very strong position in its home market of Sweden, where it makes 75 per cent of its sales. The Nordic countries outside Sweden are also strong markets, with 17 per cent of sales going to Norway, Denmark and Finland. Its turnover for 2013 amounted to SEK 824 million.

Well-established brands

Ostnor develops and manufactures a wide range of taps and accessories, with the consistent theme of operations being leading-edge technology, high quality, attractive design and eco-friendliness. Marketing is through the strong, well-established product brands FM Mattsson and Mora Armatur – the strength of these brands is one of the group’s most valuable assets. Outside the Nordic region, the FM Mattsson and Mora Armatur brands primarily occupy niches in

specific market segments. Ostnor is active in Germany, Russia, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Australia and Iceland.

Mora Armatur is one of the leading brands for product development and marketing of sanitary fittings (kitchen and bathroom taps) in the Nordics. In the heating, ventilation and sanitation sector it is recognised as an innovator that offers products that are elegant and of the highest quality.

Ostnor’s oldest roots are through FM Mattsson, Sweden’s most well-established tap manufacturer. Founded in 1865 by Frost Matts Mattsson, the company initially made parts of traditional Mora clocks, nit combs, small bells, brooches and pastry wheels. Mattsson manufactured his first barrel taps and boiler room taps in 1876.

FM Mattsson, which supplies hundreds of thousands of mixers every year, was the first to introduce ceramic seals, non-freeze garden taps and two world-unique solutions – soft closing single lever mixers and thermostatic mixing valves.

“For most people, a mixer is just an attractive interior design feature that supplies water and enhances the interior of a kitchen or bathroom,” says the company. “For us who have been working with mixers for over 100 years, it means so much more. We value aesthetic qualities both on the inside and the outside. Among other things, that means developing technical solutions that help to save water and energy, thereby improving the environment. To us, aesthetic value means always taking the whole picture into account.

New beginnings

This year (2014) has seen an important third addition to the Ostnor brand portfolio. In April the company acquired Damixa, Denmark’s leading producer of kitchen, bath and shower fixtures. This has allowed Ostnor to strengthen its position in the Nordic market by gathering three of the strongest Nordic brands under the same roof. Following this move, the company is now the market leader in Sweden, Denmark and Iceland, and number two in Norway and Finland.

Damixa was already well-established in the Nordic region with sales amounting to some SEK 250 million and more than 100 employees. The range has a high technical content and is clearly associated with Danish design.

Claes Seldeby, Ostnor’s president and CEO, said of the move: “The acquisition of Damixa fits well into our strategy of creating profitable growth with the help of clearly

positioned trademarks, market breadth and competitive ranges. With this acquisition we will strengthen our market share in the Nordic region and broaden our product range with a third brand.”

Sustainable design

Sustainability is important to Ostnor. For example, the company has worked in partnership with the Umeå Institute of Design, reflecting the important focus on energy rationalisation and water savings as expressed in its Ecosafe products. This partnership has developed some shared-brand product platforms in recent years.

A good example is the FM Mattsson 9000E II basin mixer, which is extremely energy-efficient and has a classic design that suits many different bathroom interiors. It complies with the highest level (A) in the new Swedish energy classification system.

The E in 9000E stands for Ecosafe, the Ostnor concept based on environmental awareness at all stages. This includes minimising environmental impact in the factory, choosing optimal materials and providing energy-smart functions that make the end products eco-friendly and recyclable. For example, the Eco Flow function on the aerator means that the tap works exactly as usual but air is mixed into the jet. This limits the water flow, making the mixer very energyefficient. Cold Start is another energy-saving function. When the lever is in the neutral position, it delivers cold water instead of a mixture of cold and hot. n