NEWSLETTER FROM WIBAX ∙ NOVEMBER 2014
EXPANDING GEOGRAPHICALLY
WIBAX and GE Water & Process Technologies strike multi-million kronor deal Message from the MD
"We are a perfect match for each other" SEEKING: A Sales and Logistics Partner with a strong position and presence on the Scandinavian market.
Many exciting things have happened during the year, during which three milestones in particular can be written into WIBAX's history. In April, an agreement was entered into with GE, where WIBAX will become the distributor for GE Water's water and process treatment's chemicals in the Nordic region. This means that we are taking over an existing market and organisation for future growth. This is a big challenge and, at the same time, an important complement in order to become even more complete for our customers.
AVAILABLE: A global player, primarily in the area of water-purification products.
We have also invested in a tanker terminal located in Malmö Oil Harbour: a major investment for WIBAX and a necessity if we are to reach our goal. The terminal will make us more competitive in the expansive Öresund area and pave the way for greater competitiveness when targeting Europe. The intention is also to use our position as a logistics hub for the majority of our products.
“Yes, you'd have to say that our new partnership with GE Water & Process really ”fits like a glove” for both parties”says Jonas Wiklund, the MD of the WIBAX Group.
In October, we entered into our first contract for defoamers, which was the starting shot for the building of a production line. A challenge with great potential and requiring a high level of technical competence. As a result of these milestones, we have also taken a big step closer to our intermediate goal and created the prerequisites for achieving this. We are facing many challenges but I have every confidence in the company and all our colleagues. We will advance over the next year. Jonas Wiklund
Responsibility for publishing– Jonas Wiklund Production – WIBAX Graphic design – Mawix Art Printing – RC Tryck
This is roughly how a personal advertisement may have looked if GE Water & Process had put out an ad when they were looking for a partner. They realised quite quickly that Sweden's biggest player in the area, the WIBAX Group, met all their requirements.
WIBAX is taking over an existing GE market and a total of six employees. Two of these are based in Denmark, one in Finland and one in Norway, which means that WIBAX has expanded its sales team and is permanently represented in these countries. The agreement extends until 2019. A stage in the billion kronor target “I view this partnership as an important milestone in our strategy to extend our product portfolio for existing customers and, at the same time, as a stage in our ambition to increase volumes and achieve our turnover target of a billion kronor. This involves geographical expansion, new sectors and new products that are a good complement to our existing products” says Jonas Wiklund. “For GE, the opportunities for reaching and providing a service to customers will increase at the same time as we will have access to WIBAX terminals, good logistics and, of course, WIBAX's customer contacts” says Anders Tönder, previously responsible for GE Water & Process operations in Scandinavia and now Business Area Manager, WIBAX Energy AB.
From the left: Alfredo Di Blasi, Indirect CMS Europe Leader GE Power and Water, Anders Tönder, Business Area Manager WIBAX Energy AB, Jonas Wiklund, Group MD WIBAX AB , Kristoffer Överhem, Financial Manager WIBAX AB,
Cost savings for the customer GE Water & Process products focus on industrial water and process treatment, primarily with regard to corrosion, sedimentation and microbiological controls. An area that is regarded globally as very much expanding, particularly in the parts of the world where good water is a costly commodity that is in short supply. “ Our products, our equipment and our processes will help the customer to save money thanks primarily to reduced energy consumption, increased availability and the ability to extend the production time between stoppages for maintenance” says Anders Tönder.
Jonas Wiklund, Group MD WIBAX AB and Ralph Hadley, Regional Executive Europe and Africa GE Water & Process Technologies.
WIBAX continues to grow Bigger. Stronger. Wider. Increased presence in several markets.
David Wiklund, Marketing Director, WIBAX Energy AB, Marie Josefsson, Acting HR Manager WIBAX AB, Ralph Hadley, Regional Executive Europe and Africa GE Water & Process Technologies.
Convenient holistic solutions “ It feels very exciting that we can now offer cust omers in the petrochemical and paper pulp industries, mines and metal works a broader portfolio that will make it convenient for them to have a single supplier for different holistic solutions” says David Wiklund, Marketing Director at WIBAX Energy AB.
GE Water & Process is part of the American and multinational General Electric conglomerate. The company is one of the ten biggest in the USA and has approx. 300,000 employees in around 100 countries. The company was formed in 1892. One of the founders was Thomas Edison, best known as the inventor of the light bulb. Distributor Distributor GE Water & Process Technologies GE Water & Process Technologies
NEW TERMINAL IN MALMÖ
-with room for expansion “This has major advantages when either exporting to or importing from Europe and it feels good having a permanent position in the expanding Öresund area” says Jonas Wiklund, MD of WIBAX. “Since the beginning of June, we have had a very good response and are discussing new partnerships with both big and small customers. The terminal has a total area of 17,000 m2 and consists of sixty or so cisterns with a total storage capacity of 13,500 m3. There are great opportunities for increasing the total storage capacity by erecting more cisterns. There are also large office and warehouse premises in the area with lots of space for handling large volumes of smaller packaging.
The terminal is well prepared for several different means of transport, such as boat, tanker and railway. Overall, this means that we are strengthening WIBAX's total storage and warehouse capacity with the opportunity of further growth” says Magnus Sundström, MD WIBAX Logistics AB.
“The deal with GE Water & Process Technologies is a springboard for our work on achieving our tough billion kronor target” says WIBAX MD Jonas Wiklund. “Above all, it provides us with a bigger sales team, an injection of technical competence and complements our other products well. We believe a great deal in the investment in the new terminal in Malmö, which is an important port to Europe and the market in southern Sweden. The target is for the Group to have an annual turnover of 1 billion kronor within a few years, from the present annual turnover of approx. 600 million kronor. We want to continue to grow and we can also do so by offering our customers more products and services. The partnership with GE will help us do this.”
Why is it so important to grow at this rapid rate? “The bigger we become the more secure we become as a supplier to our customers. Greater volumes are also a positive thing from a financial point of view – both for customers and ourselves, as we become more able to compete. At the same time, we are always careful to work on retaining the soul of a small company” Jonas Wiklund concludes.
WIBAX Logistics is a member of Fair Transport and views this as a natural part of the business. Among other things, we work toward our drivers driving in a roadworthy and fuel-efficient manner. We have new tyres and alcohol ignition locks in our vehicles and we make sure that our drivers adhere to the driving and rest times. Taking responsibility as an employer is about adhering to legislation and requirements as well as offering good working conditions. Communication is important. By being able to receive and give feedback, commitment is generated within the company.
WIBAX's sales team has expanded As a result of WIBAX entering into a 5-year distribution agreement with GE Water & Process we are taking over an existing GE market and a total of six employees. Two of these are based in Denmark, one in Finland and one in Norway, which means that WIBAX has expanded its sales team and is permanently represented in these countries. Here you can see all WIBAX's sales staff gathered in a photo at a sales meeting at the head office in Piteå.
FAIR TRANSPORT
When it comes to climate-smart driving, we work on driver coaching to make driving more resource effective. This means a reduction in fuel consumption, reduced tyre wear, fewer repairs and maintenance, which leads to less of an impact on the environment. We also work on increasing the efficiency of our vehicles by loading up as many tonnes as possible for the kilometres we drive. This means that CO2 emissions will be lower per tonne transported and will contribute to good profitability.
Our hope is that involvement with Fair Transport will influence the transport purchaser to be more selective and careful by making the right demands of the transporter. For us, it is important that we show that we are a good alternative and that we adhere to the legislation and requirements that exist. - We want to win transport by setting a competitive price and through good quality” says Magnus Sundström MD WIBAX Logistics.
The Swedish Association of Road Transport Companies is working together with the "Fair Transport" campaign in order to break down the negative spiral in the haulage industry when it comes to unhealthy competition, undercutting prices and an excessively established market. The Swedish Association of Road Transport Companies wants to emphasise and bring attention to healthy transports and responsible haulage by means of Fair Transport. Transport companies that drive in a roadworthy manner, think climate smart and offer good working conditions. In order to be involved in Fair Transport, the members of the Swedish Association of Road Transport Companies sign up to a number of undertakings involving traffic safety, consideration for the environment and conducting their own business responsibly. Thanks to these undertakings, we make the distinction between good and bad transport clearer and make it easier for transport buyers to make the a correct and good choice.
WIBAX's production plant in Piteå One of WIBAX's objectives is to increase turnover to 1 billion kronor within a couple of years, which will require focused initiative from all WIBAX units and companies. One focus area is increasing the percentage of in-house manufactured products. Through the years, WIBAX has increased its product portfolio with several inhouse manufactured products and work is continuing on further developing the business.
- Being able to produce defoamers ourselves increases our delivery reliability and will reduce delivery times but will also provide us with greater opportunities to customise the product for the customer” says Andreas Wiklund, Production Manager at WIBAX. - We have opened the door slightly to Lean and we like what we see. For us, Lean is a way of thinking and it takes time to change trains of thought. This requires both willingness and knowledge but it is inspiring to see that, in barely a year, we have nevertheless taking several good steps in the right directions, says Caroline Häggström, the driving force in the Lean work.
We use the following manufacturing procedures; chemical reaction, mechanical processing and liquefaction. One example is the manufacturing of WIDAQ, a product used within the pulp industry to increase pulp yield and reduce the burden on the recovery cycle. This plant has increased its production capacity fourfold since operations began in 2000. In 2005, WiAL was launched, an iron and chlorine-free aluminium sulphate solution used as a coagulant in water purification and applications in paper manufacturing and other industrial processes. Great demands are made of the choice of
Production makes the operation more efficient At the beginning of 2014, we started a pilot project where we are applying the Lean approach in Production. The intention is to improve our method of working by looking at our flows and what it is that affect results in our processes. We have also initiated a method of working we call Order & Method where we adapt our work
materials in the production equipment for manufacturing WiAL. Some of our production is also subcontact work for external customers. Over the years, several production plants have been added but the terminal in Piteå has also been developed. Today we are able to receive raw products and send finished products by the railway within our area. Over the last few years, we have increased our total storage capacity by a total of around 2,000 tonnes. The percentage of in-house manufactured products is increasing More specialised products require more plants and Production is performing the project planning, construction and quality assurance for this in collaboration with WIBAX Tech and WIBAX Industrial. In the coming year, we are facing the commissioning of two new plants, including the production of defoamers.
stations by having the right tools at each station with designated places. We have assembled our stored equipment in one place, clearly marked out, and also appointed a store manager. An expression that WIBAX's founder Bo Wiklund has often used in his time is "order leads to profitability", a truth that was as relevant before as it is now.
WIBAX supplies defoamers to SCA Östrand
WIBAX now has an agreement in place for the supply of defoamers to SCA Östrand's plant in Timrå. In week 43, Östrand began to use doses of WIBAX's defoamer in its pulp wash. Stefan Isaksson, marketing manager for the defoamer product area at WIBAX says that this is WIBAX's first agreement for silicon-based defoamers for the pulp industry.
Succeeding in engaging SCA Östrand as a customer is something we have fought and strived for over the past year and it feels good to have now received an acknowledgement that SCA believes in WIBAX as a supplier of defoamers. It is, of course, also important to get a reference and give WIBAX the prerequisites for continued growth in the product area. Defoamers are a product that fits in very well with WIBAX's product portfolio of in-house manufactured performance chemicals. Christer Norberg, a production engineer on the fibre line at SCA Östrand, says that the product has proved effective in SCA Östrand's pulp wash, which is, of course, the primary thing when choosing a supplier. Although we have only recently begun using doses of WIBAX defoamer, we have seen a great potential for savings through test runs we previously carried out and during the period we have been adding doses to the product. Another important aspect for SCA Östrand is that the supplier can maintain a good service and this makes us feel secure, as WIBAX has a well-established service organisa-
tion and great experience of supplying similar performance chemicals to the pulp industry. The product that WIBAX uses has properties that eliminate the risk of silicon being carried over with the final product. This is an absolute requirement from Östrand. “SCA Östrand has had many years of working with WIBAX when it comes to other products and we feel safe with WIBAX as a supplier” Christer Norberg concludes. WIBAX's objective is to have a turnover of 1 billion kronor within a few years, with 30% coming from in-house manufactured products. Wibax's investment in defoamers is also a step towards achieving the objective with the investment in production facilities also being part of this. Our hope is that we will establish ourselves in the pulp industry in the Nordic region and can find more end users in more sectors and applications. It feels like a positive thing that WIBAX can offer a "locally produced" product. Defoamers will be produced at WIBAX's plant in Piteå.
Up until the end of 2012, the use of Antraquinone (AQ) in the pulp process continued to increase year by year thanks to its economic advantages. As a result of changes to the contents of BfR recommendation XXXVI regarding paper in contact with food, the volumes reduced drastically in order to reach their lowest level at the beginning of 2013. Today the market for AQ continues to grow.
AQ- FUNCTION: Lignin Reduction trough Fragmentaion Carbohydrate, CHO Unstable fibre
Fragmented lignin is washed away
AQ
The use of AQ continues to increase
LIGNIN
Carbohydrate, COOH Stabilized fibre
Phenolic lignin structures AHQ
Increased yield trough stabilizing of the fiber
AQ stabilises the carbohydrates' end groups and thereby prevents "peeling", i.e., the breaking down of cellulose and hemicellulose during boiling. The breakdown products are acidic and consume boiling chemicals. At the same time, AQ breaks down the lignin and makes delignination easier.
AQ provides the following advantages: Chemicals Lower EA* Reduced sulphidity
Reduced need for boiling chemicals; reduced oil requirement in lime kiln Air/environment improvements
Boiling Lower temperature Shorter boiling times
Energy savings, increased yield and improved strengths Increased production
Quality Lower temp/AA** Increased strength Increased Bleachability Reduced lightness, reduced cost, reduced AOX Raw materials Wood savings Increased yield
Reduced costs, reduced transports (environment) Reduced burden on recoverability; increased production
*EA = effective alkali, **AA=Active alkali
“We are seeing an increase in the demand to start using QA again and we are also seeing a few customers increasing the dose in order to further increase the financial benefits” says Urban Haugen, Business Manager WIBAX Tech AB.
WIBAX is the biggest supplier of AQ (WiDAQ) in the European market, serving several customers in both the Nordic region and Europe. AQ for pulp production is currently used in 7-8 countries in Europe. In Brazil, as well as in the USA and Canada, consumption of AQ has increased greatly since 2013. Paper in contact with foodstuffs, applicable rules and regulations; According to the FDA, the use of AQ in paper is approved as long as the dose is below the limit value of 0.10%, based on the wood. BfR has removed the recommendation regarding additives for pulp production, which means that, if AQ is used, EFSA regulation 396/2005 must be satisfied. The applicable limit value for AQ is 0.01mg/kg of foodstuff. This means that pulp and paper manufacturers must have controls over the migration of AQ from the paper. Migration measurements performed on a number of paper and pulp samples show that the migration is low and that the content in the foodstuff is clearly below the limit value.
AQ improves the wood yield by up to 5% In addition to the increased wood yield, AQ results in increased pulp strength and a reduction in the need for boiling chemicals and also reduces boiling temperatures. The increased yield means a reduced burden on recovery. AQ can therefore be used to either increase production or reduce the wood requirement, which means a great economic potential in both good and bad economic climates. AQ means major environmental benefits The increased yield and reduced chemical requirement means a positive impact on the environment, where transport plays a considerable part. A pulp and paper mill producing 300,000 tonnes of pulp a year will reduce wood consumption in the interval of 300,000 trees a year. This is equivalent to an environmental saving of; • 1,300 lorry transports of timber a year • 150 m3 fuel a year • 400 tonnes CO2 a year
POSTAGE PAID
WIBAX in Finland works primarily with the pulp and paper industry, the mining and metal industry and with products for water treatment and road maintenance. WIBAX OY also focuses on boiler and process chemicals that are now available in our range of products thanks to our partnership with GE Water & Process Technologies. WIBAX also works with oil refineries where process chemicals and WIBAX service are highly valued.
Changes in the chemical sector are quick, big and sometimes unexpected. What we do know is that changes will continue and WIBAX is, therefore, carefully following the world around and reacting quickly to new opportunities.
Synpunkter från våra anställda …
LOTTA ANTONSSON Administrator
WIBAX OY expands Our first storage product in Finland is Magnesium Chloride MgCl, which is stored at Hamina harbour. The first delivery of road salt by boat came in Big Bags at the beginning of April 2014. The road salt is used for dust suppression for, among other things, Finnish gravelled roads and trotting tracks. The majority of the dust suppression salt is sold in Finland as a saline solution, which is an interesting product for WIBAX. For de-icing salt, there are environmentally friendly alternatives within the formates, the market share of which we believe will grow over the coming seasons.
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“WIBAX's excellent position close to the Russian border has already been developed into deals involving chemicals produced in Russia. We are actively working towards finding new product and customer combinations where WIBAX creates additional value for customers” says Jan-Pekka Korhonen, MD at WIBAX OY. WIBAX's Finnish company with its headquarters in Kotka now has two employees; in addition to Jan-Pekka Korhonen, Petri Mäkelä now works at WIBAX OY. He took up his position as Account Manager in August 2014 and will primarily focus on water treatment products. Petri is a civil engineer in chemical engineering and has previously worked in sales of, among other things, chemicals. He also speaks Russian and is very familiar with the chemical industry between Finland and Russia.
CAROLINE HÄGGSTRÖM Quality, Safety and Environment Manager
“I have been working in WIBAX's accounts department since April 2010. It is very stimulating and varied work. We are growing all the time and this brings fresh challenges. During my time, we have gone from four to eight companies. The latest additions are our companies in Denmark and Norway, which I am responsible for in our department. Getting the opportunity to develop with new tasks is one advantage we have at WIBAX and, with capable, helpful colleagues everything is possible.”
“WIBAX is a company where there are great opportunities for motivated and committed employees to develop! I will soon have been working at WIBAX for 4 years and have just taken over as Quality, Safety and Environment Manager. A challenge that feels very exciting and inspiring! I started as a project engineer at our subsidiary, Tech, who work on the development of products and applications at our customers. I have also worked as a quality engineer with the focus on Lean work in production. If you want to be part of and contribute to a company that is continuously growing then Wibax is really the right place to be!”
COMPANY FACTS WIBAX is a high-tech specialist company that buys in, processes, sells and distributes specialised products and base chemicals for industry in Europe. We are purposefully investing in development in all areas, from purchasing and logistics to customer collaboration, technology, production and service. WIBAX continues to grow and had a turnover of just over SEK 600 million in 2013. At the moment, there are approx. 140 employees working in the Group.
Batterigatan 12 · SE-941 47 PITEÅ · Tel: +46 (0)911-250 200 · E-mail: info@wibax.se www.wibax.se