Contents Chronicle - The Paper Province

Paper ProvinceAnnual Report 2015

NOWIN FULL COLOUR

A BIG Investment12 million for climate-smart innovationspa

ge 0

6

MEMBER SUCCESSESInvestments, acquisitions, and morepage

16

SMART specialisation?Region Värmland is investing smarter

page 12

SEK 3 billion more than the national averageMember companies are doing better than the county and the country

page 04

WORLD-UNIQUE coatingUMV Coating Systems are close now

page 26

40pageswith the latest

in forest bio-economy

NOW WE ARE INVESTING IN

PACKAGINGJoining forces with

Packaging Arena

page 30

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2

PAPER PROVINCE 2015 PAPER PROVINCE 2015

PAGE

3

Contents Chronicle

05 12 30

2806

SEK 12 MILLION FOR CLIMATE-SMART INNOVATIONSThe forest will be utilised in new smart ways, with the help of innovation.

BEAUTIFUL TONESGöran Samuelsson entertained

DISTINGUISHED GUESTA Minister dropped in

SMART STRATEGYSpecialisation is the model

WELCOME HOME The cluster was reinforced

043 BILLION MORE Cluster companies generate SEK 3 billion more than the national average.

05 MINISTER ON VISIT Sven-Erik Bucht made a study visit to Paper Province.

06 A MAJOR INVESTMENT Twelve million will produce more climate-smart innovations.

08 TECHNICAL COLLEGE Paper Province engages in certified vocational training.

10 THE ALGAE cultivation project finished with an international seminar in Karlstad.

12 SMART SPECIALISATION Region Värmland has the map for future research investments

14 BIOECONOMY’S CRADLE Lignocity in Bäckhammar is a test bed for research into lignin.

15 PIONEERING ABSORBENT made by Cellcomb in Säffle.

16 MEMBER SUCCESSES Many members have been successful during the year.

18 THIS YEAR’S trade fairs It’s a miracle that we manage to work between all the events.

20 19 NEW MEMBERS Thanks to our merging with Packaging Arena.

24 POPULAR STUDENT trips Our member companies are interesting.

25 A GOOD example Paper Province attracts international interest.

26 UNIQUE BARRIER UMV Coating Systems tests their coating concept on large scale

28 PAPERMAKERS NIGHT Record number enjoyed inspiring speakers and culture.

30 PACKAGING ARENA RETURNED HOME Now we’ll be stronger at packaging.

31 THE ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY MEETING News in tech, legislation and research.

32 OUR STAFF Several new employees.

34 INFOGRAPHICS The association’s activities illustrated with graphs and graphics.

36 PROFIT & BALANCE Figures, figures, figures. Here you can find all the accounts.

An eventful year with lots of success

FREDRIK TURZIKRetiring chairman

Once again an eventful and successful year has passed by for Paper Province. During the past year the organisation has continued to develop

and reap success after success. The idea is to continue towards our objective of creating the prospects for future employment and growth by supporting the development of climate-smart innovations in the region.

During the past year Paper Province was granted a three-year structural fund project for Climate-smart Innovation. The budget for this project is just over SEK 12 million, and this is a good testimonial for Paper Province. It shows the competence and knowledge that exists in the cluster create the confidence to take our work with bioeconomy even further.

The fact that Region Värmland has also decided a forest-based bioeconomy will be one the region’s smart areas of specialisation is also

very gratifying. It demonstrates that support for the forest industry is considered to be one of the most important resources for trade and industry in Värmland, and which there is a willingness to further develop. The value of this decision is also important from a European perspective, in that henceforth this could be a requirement to apply for funds for projects for the further development towards a forest-based bioeconomy.

The merger with The Packaging Arena (TPA) took place in 2015. For Paper Province to have full insight into the entire product chain, from raw materials to end product, and with all the intermediate processes, it’s important to be able to offer all our member companies support in our development towards a sustainable society.

The association has grown stronger in the past year in terms of its members. A total of 19 companies joined, so that we now have over

100 member companies. The more we are, the stronger we are, and this also gives us better opportunities to confront the future.

To sum up we can say that during the past year Paper Province has continued its relentless efforts to become a leading player in forest-based

bioeconomy. I want to thank our member companies, the staff at Paper Province, our partners and board members, who have given me the opportunity as chairman for the last two years to take part and help develop the activities of the cluster.

From 2007 to 2012 Paper Province’s member companies generated SEK 3 billion more earnings than the average for the country.

CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT The cluster companies are in other words doing better than average Swedish companies. Nevertheless to make sure the difference is not because of an upswing in the industry the survey also compared Paper Province’s member companies with companies in the same industry, but in a different region that was not organised in a cluster. The comparative group proved to have total earnings of SEK 875 million, less than the average for the country and SEK 3.89 billion less than Paper Province’s members.

“If I was running a company in the paper industry I would definitely get established in Värmland, because it’s going significantly better for Paper Province companies that for the comparative group,” says Håkan Wolgast at the survey company Bisnode. “The survey is an acknowledgment that the cooperation between the cluster companies and other regional players works well and generates business. We are world-leaders in pulp and paper thanks to our member companies

continuously developing their business activities and building

up a high level of competence,” asserts Maria Hollander, CEO of Paper Province.

BASED ON VALUE ADDED Håkan Wolgast has worked with similar surveys since 2009 and sees no reason to question the result. “The comparative group does come from a different county that has a somewhat different business structure, but we still feel confident with the comparison because the companies are in the same industry.”

The survey basically involves Bisnode collecting the annual reports from the cluster’s limited companies and calculating the value added. The industrial codes of the cluster companies are then identified and companies with the same codes in another region are picked out as a comparative group, whereby the same

calculation of the value added is made. The reason why we make a comparison with companies in another region is that we want to compare companies in the same industry that are not organised in a cluster, and you will hardly find any of these in Värmland – most of them are already part of Paper Province.

“THE CLUSTER GENERATES AN AWFUL LOT FOR VÄRMLAND” The Regional Councillor, Tomas Riste, told Nya Wermlands-Tidningen that ”the cluster generates an awful lot for Värmland, much more than what we put in – in terms of public funds”, and that “we must emphasise much more clearly, even here on our home ground, how successful we actually are and how well the cluster works”.

Sven-Erik Bucht is supervising work with the national forest programme. The objective of the programme is to prepare a long-term forest strategy that promotes the development of a bioeconomy and utilises the full potential of the forest. The minister came to Karlstad in December to hear our viewpoints on how the programme should be drawn up.

Maria Hollander, CEO of Paper Province, gave an overall presentation of the cluster, our successes, challenges and opportunities. The main focus was on the business activities, and

how they have changed, and the work carried out since the Vinnväxt project in 2013. Bucht heard how Paper Province supports innovations, about the importance of research in the development, about cooperation and the opportunities in networking, and which effects is has produced. Hollander also talked about the member companies, their importance in the county and for the country, and about the motivation to develop to become a forerunner in bioeconomy.

PRIORITISE BIOECONOMY Representatives from Valmet, BillerudKorsnäs, Region Värmland and Drinor were also in place, and all of

them in one way or another emphasised the importance of forest bioeconomy and the potential for the county. “Through the cooperation we have with Paper Province, Värmland can become a major demonstrator for bioeconomy. We hope that the government points to bioeconomy as a prioritised area” said Thomas Riste, chairman of the regional board, during his presentation to Bucht.

Maria Hollander emphasised the importance of financing in order to be able to continue to develop. “We have the competence, the networks and innovations, what we need is capital, and above risk capital.”

Bucht left the meeting more than satisfied. “I must say there’s a real mustering of strength here. You combine traditional business with innovative business. It’s impressive,” he said.

We combine traditional

business with innovative business. Impressive.

Värmland can become a large-

scale demonstrator for bioeconomy.

On the 2nd of December the Minister for Rural Affairs, Sven-Erik Bucht, visited Paper Province to gather viewpoints on how the national forest programme should be structured.

SEK 3 billion morePaper Province members had better profitabilities than both the county and the country according to a survey carried out by Bisnode at the request of Region Värmland, and presented in February. Check out

the film

A minister pays a visit

Anna Löfmarck and Håkan Wolgast from Bisnode conducted the survey.

-1.500.000

-1.000.000

-500000

National average 0

500000

1.000.000

1.500.000

2.000.000

2.500.000

3.000.000

3.500.000

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4


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5

12 MILLION FOR CLIMATE-SMART INNOVATIONS

Paper Province was granted partial financing in June for the project Climate-smart Innovation. SEK 6.2 million comes from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth’s latest structural fund announcement. The

total turnover in the project is SEK 12.4 million, spread over three years and starting from October.

Paper Province’s new project Climate-smart Innovation started in October and will run for three years. The overall objective is to secure a sustainable

and long-term regional platform for innovation and development within forest-based value chains, as a prerequisite for the growth and innovative vitality of the companies. The project will help to improve efficiency and profitability

and increase innovation in the base industry, while focusing development on sustainable and climate-smart solutions.

“The very fact that the project has been approved further reinforces our opportunities to promote the development of companies in the region. We will

be focusing on diversity, creativity and innovation, increasing student cooperation, climate-smart business development and internationalisation. These are all important

factors for the business activities in the region to remain world-class,” says Maria Hollander, CEO of Paper Province.

The Structural fund partnership for northern Central Sweden decides which projects are approved, with representatives from the counties, municipalities, trade associations and labour market. “The task that follows along with the funds is very explicit, to reinforce business activities, and create employment and growth. The project presents smart

solutions that will diversify business activities in the region and strengthen entrepreneurship in all the different localities,” says Per Persson from the

regional office of the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth in northern Central Sweden.

A VERY

BIGINVESTMENTPAGE

6


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7

Teknikcollege VärmlandA certification of quality for vocational training Six meeting places

Nordic Paper Säffle, Nordic Paper Åmotfors, Wipab, Rottneros Bruk, BillerudKorsnäs Gruvön and Rexcell.

We began arranging cluster lunches in 2014 together with several member companies out at their production plants. Attendance was good and because we had very

positive feedback from the arrangements we have continued with this concept. During 2015 we have also invited local businesses to give cluster members the opportunity to establish new contacts, while leaving the door open for companies that have still not become members in Paper Province.

Six member companies opened their doors to invite people to mingle and wander round their business, while Paper Province stood for the lunch. There has been a great deal of interest, and several companies are queuing up to arrange future lunches. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you would also like to take part with an arrangement at your plant.

A total of 344 persons took the opportunity to get an insight into the exciting production plants and hear the site managers talk about their respective activities.

Supplying competence is an important part of the work at Paper Province. There must be competent persons who can be employed by our member companies, so that they can continue to be successful. This is why we are involved with Teknikcollege Värmland, which is a certificate of quality for vocational training. During the year Paper Province has also employed Jeanette Löfberg, who is process manager for Teknikcollege Värmland.

Ten criteriaTen quality criteria, formulated by the industrial parties at national level behind the concept, must be met for a training course to be certified. Companies can influence the content of the training and students then receive training

firmly based on competence that is actually required in the real world.

Every local Teknikcollege has a control group with representatives from the local member companies, school principles, teachers and a coordinator. Each Teknikcollege also has a programme councillor.

1100 students.During the year 42 supervisors from the local Teknik colleges have been trained and 29 activities focusing on the nine-year compulsory schools have been implemented to market the training courses that have been offered. About 1500 have participated. Marketing to attract more students has been prioritised during

the year. Another focal area has been to implement an inventory of competence. Paper Province presented a survey to show what local

requirements for specific professions were in different localities in Värmland, and what we can expect in the next few years.

VOCATIONAL STRUCTUREAn analysis of the development of employment in the vocations that exist in the manufacturing industry in Värmland was implemented during the year. The analysis was made by Kontigo at the request of Region Värmland, with the help of data from SCB for 2001 to 2013.

The results show that the proportion of persons employed in the manufacturing industry was 14.4 per cent in Värmland, compared to 11.7 per cent in the rest of the country (2013). One in four industrial employees work in the manufacturing of computers, electronic products and machines. This is followed by paper manufacturing (17.1%), manufacturing of metal products (16.9%) and steel, and the production of metal (13.1%). These industries have comparative advantages in Värmland, which means that they are important specialisations for the county. The vocations with the most numbers in 2015 were machine operators (2100), process operators, wood and paper manufacturing (1287), and process operators, steel and metalwork (600).

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9

CLUSTERLUNCHES344 persons network with industrial colleagues and got an insight into different activities

ALGAE CULTIVATION CLOSURE

– with international interest

SUCCESSFUL RESEARCHAlgae seminar with participants from Scandinavia, participation in international documentary, radio programme and several articles This is part of what the pilot plant for algae cultivation in Bäckhammar generated during 2015.

For th

ree ye

ars co

mpanie

s have

resear

ched t

he be

st meth

ods o

f

cultivati

ng diff

erent

specie

s of m

icroalg

ae

at the

Bäckha

mmar mill.

The o

bjecti

ve was

sustai

nable

prod

uction

of alg

ae bio

pulp w

ith

the he

lp of u

nutilise

d reso

urces

from th

e mill a

nd

to ext

ract o

il to a

nalys

e its u

sability

. The p

roject

was

conclu

ded in

Decembe

r. Pap

er Pro

vince

held,

togeth

er

with its

partn

ers, a

semina

r. 44 pe

rsons

from Sw

eden

,

Norway

Denmark

, Finla

nd an

d Germ

any p

articip

ated.

The 1

6 lect

urers i

nclud

ed th

e Tech

nical R

esearc

h Insti

tute o

f

Swed

en, w

ho ha

d led t

he re

search

, and o

ther a

lgae c

ultivat

ors an

d

resear

chers i

n this

field.

“The p

resent

ation

s cove

red a

wide ra

nge of

applic

ation

s, from

the

innova

tor who

tests

by tri

al and

error

, to th

e rese

arche

r who

analy

ses

differe

nt pro

perties

of alg

ae to

find t

he op

timal. Th

ere ar

e also

differe

nt rea

sons

why the

y are

cultivat

ed. Th

is can

vary

from pu

rifying

water, o

btainin

g fod

der,

produ

cing a

food

supp

lement

, or pr

oduci

ng a g

ood lu

brican

t. Ano

ther b

ig

differe

nce is

the am

ount

of alg

ae bio

pulp t

hat is

prod

uced, f

rom a

few kil

os

to 10,000 to

nnes

per y

ear,” s

ays M

agnus

Persso

n, Inn

ovation

advis

or at

Pape

r Prov

ince.

The a

lgae c

ultivati

on ha

s attrac

ted att

ention

in sev

eral m

edia d

uring

the ye

ar. Th

e harv

esting

was film

ed, fo

r exam

ple, by

Sebra

Film

AB. This f

eature

is inc

luded

in an

intern

ation

al docu

mentary

series

, The G

reen P

lanet,

which f

ocuses

on bio

econo

my.

The c

ultivati

on of

algae

at Bäck

hammar

is pres

ented

as a

good e

xample

of wha

t we d

o in Sw

eden

for fo

ssil-fr

ee

and s

ustain

able d

evelop

ment..

“Scan

dinavi

a is m

odel e

xample

for th

e rest

of

the worl

d. So

what w

e do a

nd ho

w we can

continu

e to le

ad ar

e impo

rtant

issue

s tha

t

we take

up,” e

xplain

ed Ben

gt Jon

son,

from Se

bra Fi

lm AB.

ALGA

E FILM

Sebra Film produced a

feature for their next

documentary in the

series “The Green Planet”.

Filmmaker Bengt Jonson

wants to show the algae

cultivation in Bäckhammar

as a good example of what

we can do in Sweden to

develop fossil-free.

CHILDRE

N’S P

OOL

The ex

perim

ents

have

been

cond

ucted

in no

rmal

child

ren’s

pools,

where

algae

has b

een

grafted

in. F

lue ga

ses f

rom

the Bäc

kham

mar mill

bubb

le do

wn via

tubes

to the a

lgae.

how TOcultivate algae

successfully

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10


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11

strategy for smart specialisationMAP AND COMPASS FOR REGIONAL RESEARCH INVESTMENTS

All over the world politicians and public officials are struggling to promote innovations and sustainable development in their regions. The EU’s recipe for regional innovational development is called “Smart Specialisation” and involves every region carving out its most promising niches and investing resources to develop them as far as possible to compete on a global scale. “It’s about smart ways of organising and developing regional resources to create values for users and society,” says Anders Olsson from Region Värmland.

The EU can demand that

a region must have a smart specialisation strategy in order to apply for funds for special appeals.

VÄRMLAND’S SIX SMART SPECIALISATIONS

l Value creating servicesl Forest-based bioeconomyl Digitalisation of welfare servicesl Advanced manufacturing of complex systemsl Natural, cultural, and locally

based digitalised experiencesl System solutions with solar cells

Anders Olsson is a strategist at the unit for regional growth in Region Värmland.

Anders Olsson spent one year working on the formulation of a smart specialisation strategy for Värmland, and in 2015 he was ready. 60 persons from the business world, the cluster, the University of Karlstad and Region Värmland participated in this work, which began with an analysis of the region’s business activities and resulted in a 50-page strategy document

STAND OUT MOREThe document explains that

the strategy is a tool to help Värmland focus on achieving its objectives, and that with the help of this strategy we can attract more attention in Brussels.“With this kind of strategy we are back on the EU map. The EU can, for example, demand that a region must have a smart specialisation strategy in order to apply for funds in special calls. And to apply for funding from structural funds for research and innovation the application has to be based on the region’s own strategy

for smart specialisation,” says Anders Olsson.

SIX SMART SPECIALISATIONSVärmland’s strategy for smart specialisation extends to 2020 and embraces six specialisations.

“By analysing the world around us and with the help of workshops we have tried to identify specialisations where there are social challenges. There must be markets with the potential for growth, strong trade and industry and outstanding research. Plus an existing entrepreneurship around a specialisation in the form of individuals or clusters that can take the lead,” assets Anders Olsson.

MAP AND COMPASSThe strategy can serve as a map and compass for how regional research and innovation funds are to be invested in the future. The most important thing will be, together with the University of Karlstad, to reinforce research in the different

specialisations. An “Academy for smart specialisations” will be established with a turnover of SEK 15-200 million over five years. The region is investing SEK 50 million, geared up by the University of Karlstad and external projects with Vinnova, the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, and others.

GENDER INTEGRATION IMPORTANTAn important ingredient in Värmland’s strategy is gender integration. Calculations have shown, for example, that mixed gender groups had twice as much chance of exceeding the expectations of management than groups of men only. The probability of innovation is almost twice as high in companies with balanced gender distributions, and companies with women in management have higher profitabilities. Because there is a strong segregation in the labour market in Värmland there will be significant benefits from increased gender integration. One of the targets of the strategy is therefore to improve the equality of business opportunities for men and women in Värmland.“This is where we stand out in Europe,” says Anders Olsson.

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13

– The cradle of bioeconomyLignocity is an open test bed where companies can develop and scale up technology that refines lignin to new climate-friendly fuels, chemicals and materials. The plant is in Bäckhammar and the project was started in December 2015.

Lignin is the second most common biological material in the world. As a raw material it could function as a green alternative to fossil oil, because lignin can be refined to fuel, plastics, carbon fibre and hundreds of other substances and materials. But development is needed before lignin can be used for modern manufacturing of materials. And this needs plants for research, demonstration and the upscaling of technology, and this is precisely what Lignocity is.

The only one in the worldThe purpose of the plant is to create a centre were ideas are brought together and opportunities for commercial development are identified and supported. Lignin from the production of sulphate pulp, but also from other sources such as the production of ethanol and sugar, can be processed in the plant, which is also the only one in the world that can produce lignin in sufficiently large scale quanties.

Other process flows“With Lignocity we can link together business models, technical developments and infrastructure for research, development and innovation. In the long run we also see opportunities to extract other components from the black liquor and use other process flows,” says Per Tomani, project manager for Lignocity and responsible for Innventia’s focal area Lignin & Carbon Fibres.“It’s extremely valuable for the businesses in the region

to have access to these types of open test environments so that we can continue the development of a forest-based bioeconomy,” says Maria Hollander, CEO of Paper Province.

The project is being run by Innventia, Nordic Paper and Paper Province, with sup-port from the Kristinehamn municipality, Vinnova and 18 companies.

A meeting was arranged in October to focus on pine oil as a means of reinforcing Sweden’s innovative and cutting-edge position in this field. There

were 24 representatives from the entire value chain.

“It was extremely rewarding to meet and discuss issues such as an increase in the production of pine oil, refinement and business models round green aviation biofuel, so that the price of pine oil can reach levels that really reflect its high

environmental properties. It was very unique to find representatives from the entire value chain. It’s a good example of how we ought to work to get ahead better with different projects,” said Erik Dahlén from Paper Province.

Pine oil meeting – entire value chain rallied round

The new machine will be making “food pads” with sealed edges – an absorbent placed in food trays under meat, chicken, fish, berries and other food that secretes liquid. The purpose of the absorbent is to keep food fresher for longer by absorbing and encapsulating the liquid. The size can be adapted to suit small trays of consumer sizes, or large supplier trays.

SEALED EDGESThe unique thing about Cellcomb’s absorbent is that the edges are sealed, which means it can encapsulate the liquid for longer. It also eliminates the risk of chemicals or fibres in the absorbent core from leaking, which can happen with open edges. These properties

significantly improve food safety for consumers. The company also makes a food pad where the absorption material consists of 100 per cent cellulose, which improves food safety even more.

ACTIVE ABSORBENTThe product the company believes in most is an “active absorbent”. It can prolong the keeping qualities of some foods by over 50 per cent and at the same time dramatically reduce transport costs and the consumption of packaging materials.

“The difference in relation to a normal absorbent is that it contains active ingredients. The liquid absorbed from the food reacts with our active

ingredients and secretes gas in the packaging gradually. This means we can keep the concentration of the gas constant, which prolongs the keeping qualities of the food,” says Daniel Carlsson, Business area manager at Cellcomb.

PRODUCT-SPECIFIC RECIPIESTo ensure that every different type of food lasts as long as possible Cellcomb has developed product-specific recipes for absorbents for chicken, meat and different types of fish.

“This means that chicken will keep 60-75 per cent longer, while fish and raw meat will keep about 30 per cent longer. Consumers can keep their food for longer in the fridge, global wastage will be reduced,” said Daniel Carlsson.

REDUCED TRANSPORT COSTSA normal food pack is filled

with a gas intended to keep the food fresh for longer. A tray with fresh meat is therefore normally several times larger than the actual piece of meat it contains, which means that food carriers are carrying around a lot of gas.

“But because Cellcomb’s active food pad secretes the preserving gas continuously the trays can be shrunk in size. In some cases down to 50 per cent less, which results in fewer transports and less exhaust fumes,” said Daniel Carlsson.

Paper Province helped Cellcomb to apply for project funds from Vinnova and put together a project group that included professor Lars Järnström from the University of Karlstad, Marit Kvalvåg Pettersen, a researcher at Nofima, and Sweden’s leading female innovator, Solgun Drevik.

Paper Province’s member company Cellcomb in Säffle installed a completely new production line during the year. It will be used to manufacture products that target the food packaging market. For some types of food Cellcomb promises to double their keeping time and dramatically reduce transport costs.

Cellcomb’s new machine makes a pioneering food absorbent

LignocityCheck out

the film

Check out the film

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14


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15

VALMET ADVANTAGE NTT In two years Velmet sold seven soft tissue machines for a total value of SEK 1.5 billion.

Triton Valsteknik also invested heavily during the year. The first sod was cut in September when the construction of a new production shop started. It means an investment of SEK 20 million, nine new job opportunities and a twofold increase in space.

08 Triton Karlstads Energi took a big leap when they inaugurated Heden Phase 3. The new chip-fired combined power and heating plant means that district heating in Karlstad has gone from being completely reliant on fossil oil for the last 30 years to become completely unreliant. With today’s volume of district heating it means a reduction in emissions of 260,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide – every year.

09 Karlstads Energi

In November, for example, we announced that Rejlers acquired Orbion Consulting Sverige and thereby doubled their business activities in telecom. In five years Rejlers has increased its employees from 30 to 150 in Karlstad.

CS Produktion also invested SEK 9 million in a CNC lathe, of which there is only one on the Swedish market. It gives the company new production opportunities and reinforces the company’s position on the market.

04 Rejlers

Lumine LED has also been very successful. In the past year it has received orders from big companies like Löfbergs Arena, Uddeholm AB, Stora Enso, BillerudKorsnäs and Saab in Linköping. In the spring it received another big order where the customers was expected to save SEK 1.2 million per as a result of the installation of new LED fittings.

06 Lumine LED

Rexcell Tissue & Airlaid AB announced in June that they are investing about SEK 110 million in the upgrading of their two soft tissue machines in Skåpafors. The investment will increase the tissue capacity by about 15 per cent per year.

It was a historical year for Rottneros. The group achieved it best possible results ever. With its two mills, turnover increased by 16 per cent, production by eight, and operating profit more than doubled from SEK 118 million in 2014 to 263 million.

Projektengagemang also continued to expand through the acquisition of Subsea Sweden AB, a Swedish technological consulting company that operates in the international arena.

01 Rexcell

MemberSuccesses

Environmental improvements were made at Nordic Paper through the rebuilding of its storage solution for finished paper before it is exported. This reduced transportation routes on the roads by a total of 810,000 kilometres per year. This means a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions of 120,000 kilos per year.

Valmet continued its success with its soft tissue machine. In two years it has sold seven machines for a total value of SEK 1.5 billion.

“It’s the biggest innovation success in Värmland for a long time,” said Anders Björn at Valmet.

The NTT machines have been very successful internationally because of their low consumption of energy, water and fibre, their high production capacity and because you can quickly switch from the production of smooth to structured paper. The team of engineers at Valmet’s development centre at Lamberget in Karlstad lay behind this successful innovation.

10 Nordic Paper

Good

new

s

As a cl

uster

we a

re ve

ry ple

ased t

he su

ccesse

s of o

ur

membe

r compa

nies.

Here ar

e some o

f the

even

ts we

have

draw

n atten

tion to du

ring t

he pa

st ye

ar.

Wipab and Allkall also completed a major transaction during the year. Lego in China bought a third industrial washing machine from them at a cost of between SEK 5-6 million.

07 Wipab and Allkal

02 Rottneros

03 Projektengagemang05 CS Produktion

11 Valmet

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16


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17

This further reinforces our opportunities to promote the development of companies in the region.

Lots of trade fairs

“It’s a miracle that we find time to work as well.”

Paper Province arranged several events and meetings during the year. Papermakers Night, cluster lunches and study trips, to name a few. In addition we also engaged in various different ways, as sponsors and participants, in several other trade fairs and events: Hotspot, Industriveckan, Scanpak, Nordic Rheology conference, SweFlex, Almedalen, SPCI & Friends, 100° and others.

Scanpack was held at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre in Göteborg on the 22-23 of October. It is the largest in Europe of its type, and gathered close to 500 exhibitors. During the fair Paper Province, together with Business Sweden, arranged a half-day seminar for a delegation of 15 Japanese businessmen and businesswomen who were hunting for packaging innovations.

As a main sponsor for the University of Karlstad’s labour market fair, Hotspot, we took part and exhibited in February. Students had the opportunity to meet 92 companies and organisations at this year’s Hotspot. Our members Duni/Rexcell, Nordic paper, Valmet, ÅF, BillerudKorsnäs, Rejlers, Cowi, Semcon, Etteplan and Sweco were among the participating companies.

We were also one of the main sponsors at the Nordic Rheology conference, a joint meeting place for engineers, physicists, chemists and biologists who work with rheology in the industrial and academic world. The conference was held at the University of Karlstad on the 19th and 20th of August. Some 60 participants came from several different companies.

During the industrial week at Arbetsförmedlingen we were in place and talked about the cluster and our member companies And when SweFlex was arranged for the 20th time we were in place again at Brobygrafiska in Sunne, 23-24 September. The trade fair attracted some 80 representatives from the packaging industry and the printing industry from Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, France, England and Japan.

“It was very good. Terrific lectures that were interesting and covered a wide range of topics. I think there was something there for everybody,” said Sandra Eriksson, at Paper Province.

At Almedalen, under the header “Research in cooperation for competitive industry”, Paper Province was pointed out as a good example of cooperation that leads to tangible advantages. Our CEO, Maria Hollander, was in place.

Paper Province also participated in the exhibition Design BOOM at Karlstad CCC during the summer. And in May we took part in SPCI & Friends at Gröna Lund, along with our members Nordic Paper, ABB, Andritz, BillerudKorsnäs, Pöyry, Valmet, SSG and several others.

When 100° was arranged for the first time it attracted a thousand visitors. Paper Province exhibited and Maria Hollander answered questions from Helena Wiktelius before an audience. It was an eventful year with lots of networking.PAGE

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19

New member companiesPaper Province passed the 100 mark with its members in 2015.“When the number of members increases we widen our opportunities as an organisation. The more we are, the greater the dynamics and force that’s created in the cluster. It reinforces our legitimacy in relation to players at a

national and international,” says Maria Hollander, CEO of Paper Province.Our members increased by a total of 19 during the year. Eleven were previously with Packaging Arena and chose to join Paper Province when the associations joined forces.

Barrcoat

[email protected]+46 (0)70-617 76 64

Barrcoat works with an innovative method for the replacement of non-renewable, oil-based plastic film in consumer packaging. Their product CaiLar® is a robust and cost-efficient barrier coating for paper and paperboard, adapted for both new fibres and return fibres.

Aspervall Instrument

[email protected]+46 (0)533-122 82

Aspervall works with the process and control industry. The company is on the march and during the year was aiming for a 250 per cent increase in its turnover from 2009.

Klätterteknik AB

www.klatterteknik.se [email protected]

+46 (0)72-555 96 68

Klätterteknik carries out work on ropes at high and difficult places to access. They have four main business areas: real estate, construction and infrastructure, the power and process industry, and wind power. Work at heights on ropes can mean big savings in time and money.

BioBag International

[email protected]+46 (0)705-23 53 83

BBI is a world-leader in the development, manufacturing and marketing of certified compostable and biodegradable products. With a strong focus on the environment they are very proud of their broad and eco-friendly product range, which is the largest and most comprehensive on the market.

Flexo Partner

[email protected]

+46 (0)565-147 00

FlexoPartner supplies the packaging industry with repro, photo-engraving, and laser engraving of the highest quality. Its customers include printers, advertising agencies and packaging companies.

YOUR PROFESSIONAL PARTNERS IN PACKAGING PREPRESS

Lignoboost Demo AB

[email protected]

+46 (0)550-290 42

LignoBoost is a demonstration plant for research and development projects, products and processes linked to the renewable raw material lignin. LignoBoost in Bäckhammar was inaugurated in 2007 and is run by Innventia’s subsidiary LignoBoost Demo AB

Miller Graphics

[email protected]

+46 (0)10 33 63 600

With over 80 years of experience, Miller Graphics is one of Europe’s most important prepress compa-nies today. Miller Graphics in Sunne employs close to 60 persons with prepress services for printing methods like flexography, photogravure, offset and digital printing.

Löfbergs Lila

[email protected]+46 (0)54-14 01 15

Löfbergs Lila is a family business established in 1906 by the brothers Anders, John and Josef. In the beginning the coffee was sold over the counter locally, now it can be found on kitchen shelves, in cafés and restaurants all over Sweden, and in many other countries too.

Lietpack Sweden


Polymeric packaging material is Lietpak’s speciality. A lot of the pack-aging found in stores today already consists of material from Lietpak. The company is a subsidiary of UAB Lietpak in Lithuania and a major pro-ducer of packaging material, primarily for the food industry in Europe.

Nobeli Business Support

[email protected]+46 (0)586-82 500

Nobeli employs patent engineers with knowledge and experience from the paper industry. They contribute to the cluster with competence in industrial and intellectual property rights issues, for example the handling of innovations/inventions, and patenting issues, and assist with IP competence.

[email protected]+46 (0)10-410 44 50

Roofac conducts work at heights on ropes. They go where others find it difficult to reach. It’s mainly about inspections, installations and maintenance. Their customers are mainly found in real estate, industry and construction.

[email protected]+46 (0)70-515 43 75

Sveaskog owns 14 per cent of the Swedish forest, and is thereby Sweden’s largest forest owner. They have 37 offices allocated to three market areas; North, Central and South. It was the Karlskoga office with close to 20 employees that became a member in the cluster during the year.

Säffle Verkstadsbolag

[email protected]+46 (0)533-69 14 80

Säffle Verkstadsbolag stands for process cutting, sheet metal and welding, as well as external maintenance and construction. With customers is the paper and pulp industry they have decided to invest even more in the industry.

Wermcon

[email protected]+46 (0)70-850 96 36

WermKon is a company based in Karlstad and consisting of consultants in the environment, industry and energy. The consultants work all over Sweden and have extensive experience of project management, project control, land, materials, the working environment, risk analysis and finance etc.

Brobygrafiska

[email protected] +46 (0)73-2701940

Brobygrafiska is a place where business and education meet in graphic design and technology, packaging and digital media. The school offers vocational high school training courses and commissioned training.

Pressman

[email protected]+46 (0)76-108 05 10

Technical consultant Carl Håkansson, Pressmann, offers advisory services for the paper industry. This could concern conceptual studies, process optimation, quality and operations development, and guarantees.

Ord & Bild Reklambyrå


Ord & Bild is a full-service agency with a passion for creating communication that makes a difference. It offers analysis, brand work, strategies for PR and social media, production in digital, print and film, design of packaging and other concepts.

Sweflex

[email protected]+46 (0)76-889 96 46

A Swedish flexography association, open for companies, schools, institutions and persons with links to the packaging industry in Sweden. Sweflex, which is based in Sunne, has close to 90 members.

The Swedish Association of Road Transport Companies

[email protected]+46 (0)70-380 31 85

The Swedish Association of Road Transport Companies in Värmland has 230 member companies. The industrial organisation works for a sound and profitable development of the haulage industry. The organisation has a total of 7,000 members belonging to twelve regions.

[email protected]

+46 (0)565-169 00

Mondi is an international packaging and paper group, with companies in the entire value chain – from forest management to the production of pulp, paper and composite plastics, to the development of innovative packaging solutions for consumers and industry.

Mondi Packaging Sunne

Salomonsson Consulting AB Bröderna Hedbergs Mekaniska Packaging Arena

Companies that have left the association:

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21

Energy meeting with lively discussions

On the 12th May Paper Province arranged an energy

meeting with the focus on improving energy efficiency

and utilising hot wastewater.

Lars Nilsson and Karin Granström from the University of Karlstad

talked about current research projects. Per Sommarin, from

Swerea SWECAST, talked about the Swedish network ENIG, and

Håkan Sandin from SLU provided information on the network

Swedish Surplus Energy Collaboration (SSE-C).

In conclusion Anders Kiessling, also from SLU, talked about

work in progress around UrbanFood. After the lectures the day

ended with several hours of discussions.

“As the arranger I’m very pleased with the number of

participants and the scope of the participation, from small

one-man consultants to large mills, a good mix of academic,

institutional, corporate and public players. But what pleased

me most was the behaviour of the participants with exuberant

and lively discussions, and all the new contacts that were made

during the meeting. I’m very much looking forward to what this

can lead to,” said Magnus Persson at Paper Province.

Hello there, David JoelssonWho has come half way in his research into how companies in the paper industry create knowledge on their customers. Paper Province is involved and financing your research, which will span four years.

The Minister for Enterprise and Innovation visited the cluster On the 11th of March the Minister for Enterprise and Innovation, Mikael Damberg visited Valmet, where Paper Province, Cellcomb, Region Värmland, and several other politicians had gathered to meet him.

“We appreciated the visit made by the minister. We saw it as a chance to show what is happening in the forest industry in the region and to highlight issues that are important for us,” said Maria Hollander. During the meeting she talked to Damberg about the cluster’s emphasis on bioeconomy and Paper Province’s position and vision of the future. “It was a good meeting,” confirmed Maria Hollander.

What is it about service design that attracts you?

“Design begins and ends with how someone experiences something. And you can design and change this experience regardless of whether it’s about physical products, services or business. More and more are starting to realise this, because the number of companies engaged in service design is increasing.

What have you been doing in 2015?

“I’ve made some progress on two scientific articles. The climax last year was that I presented an interview study during a conference in Shanghai. In the study I’d been asking several companies in the paper industry and their customers about how they collect information on their customers and how they interpret it.

What have you found out so far?

“I think I’ve found a gap in the research. Traditional marketing consists of quite

a lot of one-way communication. You gather information on the customer to find out how you can best reach out to the customer. We’ve known for a long time that in industrial marketing between companies, so-called business-to-business, you focus more on relations-building interaction and two-way communication. But how this interaction works and what it is that enables you to learn things about the customer is not quite clear. There has been much too little research in this area.

What remains to be done?

“I’m going to finish the first two articles, and then there’s probably going to be another two or three articles. After that I’m going to finish off, and present my thesis.

David Joelsson is 34 years old and employed by the Technical Research Insti-tute of Sweden in Karlstad. He has a master in business from the University of Gothenburg and a degree from the University of Karlstad in innovation and design.

Somas borrowed a professor Paper Province’s member companies have the opportunity to “borrow” a professor for one day. Perhaps you want help to solve a problem, verify a measurement, or do laboratory experiments.

Somas Instrument in Säffle made use of this opportunity during the year.

They were visited by professor Leo de Vin who gave a lecture on Six Sigma, a computer powered production method that aims to achieve higher production quality by eliminating deviations. The method has, for example, been used successfully by Motorola and SKF.

“The method is especially useful for those manufacturing high-tech products and if you have problems with wrong deliveries, because the method helps you create explicit instructions and minimise the human factor,” explained de Vin.

He is convinced that many companies would benefit from Six Sigma.

Somas wanted to thoroughly investigate whether the method can help them to further improve their production quality. For this reason the company also sent one of their development engineers, Peter Morchetto, on a

six-month training course in Six Sigma.

55 persons learned to maintain world-class

Mikael Fahlén and Linda Take have both belonged to the

extreme elite in their respective sports – football and

orienteering. During the autumn they gave courses on

“Maintaining world-class” on three occasions. They shared the

keys to success used in sport and showed how companies can

benefit from the focus and patience an athlete needs to achieve

success.

Mikael Fahlén also talked about how potential and performance

do not always reflect each other. Potential is what you could

achieve, but performance is what you actually do.

“Leadership is to increase performance so that it matches the

potential,” he asserted.

The snag is that performance can be measured, but potential

can’t. It’s means talking about how you approach the concepts

and becoming aware of where you are and where you want to

go.

The automation network produced insights into GIS and PiiAAutomation network meetings

where held on the 17th of February

and 22nd of September. Some 20

participants came from different

organisations attended in February.

One of the day’s speakers was

Anders OE Johansson, programme

manager at Process Industrial IT and

Automation. He talked about PiiA

and calls. Stefan Andersson, Midroc

Automation in Karlstad, presented

the concept for Remote Mining. The

participants also listened to Robin

Norrman, ProcessIT in Umeå, talk

about how ProcessIT works with

innovations in the process industry

that focus on automation.

In September the focus was on GIS

– geographic information system,

business streamlining and remote

support. Speakers from Valmet, the

University of Karlstad, Future Position

X and Paper Province gave exciting

lectures on the different fields.

Training in gender knowledge

On the 3rd and 17th of November a training course was held at the Innovation Park in Gender Knowledge. The Gender Council, a grouping of representatives from trade and industry, the Swedish Forest Agency, the County Administrative Board, Region Värmland and Paper Province, was responsible for the arrangements. The task of the council is to make gender and diversity issues an integral part of Paper Province’s activities. Participants included Paper Province personnel, university employees linked to the Vinnväxt Initiative and the Gender Council. Marianne Nilsson, Region Värmland, led the training. She took up many useful and good examples from real life, and engaged the group to reflect over different situations.

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The reputation of Paper Province spreads beyond the borders of Sweden. During the year the cluster

attracted attention as a good example at a cluster conference in Copenhagen, a bioeconomy forum in Latvia and in an international documentary on bioeconomy.

“It’s nice that Paper Province has a name in Europe and that they want to learn of our

experiences” said Maria Hollander, when on the 15th of October she participated in the Nordic-Baltic forum “Opening and clustering bioeconomy sectors” in Latvia.

She was invited to talk about the cluster and how we are working to build a regional forest bioeconomy. The purpose of the forum was to objectify what bioeconomy is and to build bridges between companies, scientists and the public and private sectors. The audience included officials, entrepreneurs, experts, researchers and students from all over Europe.

“It’s important for Paper Province to be a player that plays a role in the European arena. Participating in such activities is a way of sharing knowledge and gathering new that can benefit from ourselves,” said Maria Hollander.

In September Paper Province participated in yet another international event to act as a good example. The European cluster

conference in Copenhagen brought together more than 150 industrial clusters from some 30 countries for two days. Magnus Persson, project manager at Paper Province, participated in order to inform about the ABEIS project, (Accelerating Bioeconomy Innovation for SME) which Paper Province operates along with Norwegian Tretorget, Finnish JAMK and Danish INBIOM. The goal of the project is to strengthen small and medium-sized enterprises through cross-border cluster cooperation.

Paper Province will also be included in the international documentary "The Great Transition", which deals with how we go from fossil fuels to fossil-free. Maria Hollander was interviewed about how knowledge is conveyed via Paper Province and how the cluster works with bioeconomy.

“Scandinavia is a model example for the rest of the world. So what we do and how we can continue to lead are important issues that we take up,” said Bengt Jonson, from Sebra Film AB.

PAPER PROVINCE A GOOD EXAMPLE INTERNATIONALLY Paper Province’s reputation reaches out a good way.

Scandinavia is model example for the rest of the world. So what we do and how we can continue to lead are important issues that we take up

What’s been best is building bridges between students and companies. It feels like the companies that take part really want to talk to us. It’s a bit of a carrot when you’re swotting

Every year Paper Province arranges two field trips for engineering students to some of our member companies. One trip from Chalmers and one from the University of Karlstad.

In 2015 a total of 73 prospective engineers followed along and met nine of our members.

“It’s been very good, I’ve got a better insight into what the companies do and that I can use the education I have had,” said John Jungevad, who is studying chemical engineering in the fourth year.

In March we took 36 students from Chalmers to Rexcell and BillerudKorsnäs Gruvön. They were allowed to listen to several company presentations and to have a look around. During the day there were also representatives from Stora Enso Skoghall, Somas, Sweco and Prevas.

In October it was time for the engineering students from the University of Karlstad. 37 students followed along to Stora Enso Skoghall, BillerudKorsnäs Gruvön and

Valmet, where representatives from Somas, Cowi and BTG were also in place.

Like before the study trips finished off at Nöjesfabriken in Karlstad. They were invited to a buffet, inspirational lectures and to mingle. The mingle was appreciated both by the students and the companies, who had the opportunity to create valuable contacts for the future. The KAU and Chalmers trips have generated several degree projects, summer jobs and job opportunities for students who have taken part.

“It’s been very useful. You find out what happens in reality,” said Vanja Bartosz, who is studying innovation technology and design.

She would definitely recommend other engineering students to go along on the trip.

“It’s especially good for those who are not from Värmland and don’t know what there is here,” said Emelie Rosenberg.

“What’s been best is building bridges between students and companies. It feels like the companies that take part really want to talk to us. It’s a bit of a carrot when you’re swotting,” said Serwah Ibrahim.

BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN STUDENTS AND COMPANIES

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25

A solution that will bring new product opportunities, save energy

during the drying process, and 15-30 per cent of coating material.

Customers from Europe and North America are queuing up

to test the concept in UMV’s pilot machine.

In June Paper Province’s member company UMV Coating Systems in Säffle started a new project to further develop its concept for coating fossil-free barriers. The idea is to enable the coating of 2-3 layers in one pass. The project was granted partial financing of SEK 2,287,000 from Vinnova.

“This is a confirmation that customers and Vinnova think we are on the right track. Our conceptual idea is based on the requirements customers presented to us during pilot runs and in developmental discussion,” says Ronnie Andersson, CEO of UMV.

The paper and paperboard industry is

screaming for sustainable packaging solutions. That’s why UMV Coating Systems in Säffle is focusing on precisely this development work. The company has previously developed INVOCoater, which can apply coating media with extremely short dwell times before the dosing. The allows the coating to stay on the surface, where the barrier has the greatest effect. With the help of UMV’s patented coating element INVOTip

the barrier is made as thin as one thousandth of a millimeter, which is a prerequisite for rapid drying. The combination of INVOCoater and INVOTip is one of the cornerstones in the concept that will now be fully tested. A solution that will generate new product opportunities, energy savings during the drying process, and at the same time reduce the need for coating material by 15-30 per cent.

NEW EXCITING PROJECTThanks to Vinnova’s partial financing of almost SEK 2.3 million the prerequisites are in place to drive the development of this unique process design further. If the company is successful in applying two-three layers in one pass, this will demonstrate that the concept will hold on an industrial scale.

“By enabling the coating of

2-3 layers in one pass the

possibility of developing a

functional product is significant

enhanced. This is because it will be

possible to select a soft and pliant

layer with very good barrier properties,

in combination with protective layers that

secure the barrier and improve the processability

in the continuation of the refinement process,” explains

project manager Per Emilsson. Another main objective of the

project is take a closer look at the interaction between different

layers in the manufacturing process and the way it influences

the properties of the end product.

Customers from Europe and North America are queuing up to test the concept at UMV’s pilot plant. If the company successfully achieves its

target it would potentially be able to solve several of the challenges in the industry related to sustainable packaging solutions, but with the retention of barrier properties.

TOUGH COMPETITIONUMV was one of 706 companies that applied for funding via Vinnova’s call for Innovation projects in companies. The pot contained a total of SEK 80 million, so the competition was very tough.

Vinnova’s motivation for the allocation was ”The application complies with the criteria well and addresses the need for a process that enables manufacturing of packing with less environment impact, in combination with retained or improved functionality.”

The packaging industry is screaming for sustainable packaging solutions.

That exactly why UMV Coating Systems is investing in it.

UMV further develops the world-unique coating concept

This is caption text for this image

Will the barrier hold? Per Emilsson scrutinises

The barrier has been carefully tested

“We’re on the right track,” says Ronnie Andersson, CEO at UMV

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Papermakers Night is an opportunity to network with colleagues from industry, accompanied with interesting lectures and good food.

Inspiration, entertainment and trends

Paper Province sends out

invitations to Papermakers

Night in the spring and autumn.

A tradition that gathers people

from the industry to mingle, listen

to lectures and eat good food.

This year the event attracted 172

persons.

Most of them came to the autumn

theme, Gamification. Gamification

is about how to engage and

motivate with the help of

knowledge how games influence

people. According to Stefan

Holgersson from Create Institute

it’s possible to gam

ify everything. Game designer

Joakim Ekelund showed a game

that had been developed to learn

S

“Everything that can be target controlled can be gamified.”

Stefan Holgersson

“To meet the 2-degree target we can live in the same way as we do now for 30 years. Then we all have to go down to zero emissions over one night.”

Mikael Karlsson

Is there enough land? depends! Packmoppe enthusiast

The main speaker at this spring’s Papermakers Night was Mikael Karlsson, former chairman of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation. The banner was “Is there enough land?”

The answer was that “...it depends”.

“If we continue to consume meat at the same rate there will not be enough land. It might then be profitable to run the plough over the golf course, or the asphalt parking outside the local shopping centre, and make arable land out of the whole lot.”

“There is a lot of false science that tries to convince us that global warming is not as dangerous as we thought. When the truth is that in actual fact if we don’t do anything now it’s going to get really bad. To meet the 2-degree target we can only emit a maximum of 1000 billion tonnes of carbone dioxide. This would mean that we could continue to live in the same way as we do now for 30 years. And then we all have to go down to zero emissions over one night,” said Karlsson.

Värmland’s cultural wealth was amply replenished the day Göran Samuelsson switched the hammer for the microphone. During the afternoon he carefully crept into the consciousness of the guest with ballads and wisdom. Above Kristin Mikaelsen talked about how

the industry had got people to move.

Stora Enso’s house band Paperdolls entertained with their beautiful song during the welcoming drink

diabetic children how to handle

their illness, and which today is used

by every diabetic clinician in the

country.

During the evening we were invited

to music from the ROST band.

PMN was arranged in the spring in

conjunction with the Environmental

& Energy Meeting for the Forest

Industry. Peter Landmark talked

about the Fly Green Fund, which

is to equalise price differences

between fossil aviation fuel and

aviation biofuel. Kristin Mikaelsson

gave an insight into how the forest

and paper industry has encourage

people to move over the Swedish-

Norwegian border.PAGE

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For those who want

to keep up with

developments in the

industry’s environmental and energy

issues we arrange at reasonably regular

intervals Environment & Energy meetings

for the forest industry. This year’s edition

took place for two days in conjunction with

Papermakers Night.

A total of eight lectures were given. Several

of them were about BAT conclusions, Olof

Åkesson from the Environmental Protection

Agency talked about which BAT conclusions

applied to paper and pulp production

and Magnus Nydahl from SSAB shared

his experience of the implementation of

the BAT directives that apply to the steel

industry.

Eva-Lena Strömberg, from BillerudKorsnäs,

talked about which energy investments had

been made at the BillerudKorsnäs mill in

Skärblacka in the last few years, and two

research projects were presented – one

on energy-efficient sewage cleaning, and

the other on how recovery works in forest

industry recipients.

“It’s extremely positive for our member companies, because we link more competence and contacts to the cluster. Packaging Arena’s knowledge about packaging is valuable for our investment in a regional forest-based bioeconomy. It’s also additional proof that we are very good here in Värmland at creating cooperation and synergies,” says Maria Hollander, CEO of Paper Province.

The discussions on a merger were initiated earlier on in the year. The objective is to build a stronger platform together.

Paper Province was one of the initiators for Packaging Arena when the association was founded almost exactly ten years ago. They will now be one association again. Exactly how the merger will take place and how activities will change remains to be seen.

“Both associations have complementary competences, heart-felt issues and networks,” conformed Sandra Eriksson, the former CEO of Packaging Arena. It’s a fine opportunity to link the entire value chain together, from early research and important areas of technology, to customer and user perspectives, regional bioeconomy,” says Sandra Eriksson, who now works at SP, the Technical Research Institute of Sweden.

PACKAGING ARENA FACTS

Packaging Arena has been an arena for packaging and innovation. The organisation has worked to develop the packaging industry and to help companies develop their packaging. They have worked as a bridge between the technical, the creative and the commercial, and with the needs of users and the market in focus they have helped their partners and customers to become stronger and more competitive. Primarily by offering projects, services, and a wide network to create new knowledge, innovations and business.

STRONGER THAN EVERMany of Paper Province’s member companies work with the development and manufacturing of packaging and the cluster has now been reinforced by several other packaging companies. Some manufacture paperboard, some coatings, while others design and construct entire packaging solutions. Some are also brand owners, that buy packagings for their products.

Packaging Arena merges with Paper ProvincePackaging Arena’s members had their say during the association’s annual general meeting on the 23rd of June. They voted “Yes” to the association merging with Paper Province. Good news for both associations as they can now link together the entire value chain round packaging.

FOR THE FOREST INDUSTRY

Environment

News in

Technology, legislation

and research.

For two intensive days 44 persons interested in

the environment & energy met to listen to eight

lectures, to network, and to be inspired.

The meeting place for everyone in the industry working with environmental & energy issues.

& energy meeting

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TurnoverTwo persons were employed

during the year, and two moved on to other jobs. Two consultants have

received far-reaching assignments in the organisation to work with innovation.

D

E

I

B

A

G

The team that did the job

A. Magnus PerssonInnovation advisor

C. Robert RundbergetCommunicator

B. Elisabeth SöderlundAdministrator

D. Lisa BrevikEconomist

E. Malin HildénCommunicator

F. Erika Eriksson Project manager

K. Sandra ErikssonProject manager

I. Maria HollanderCEO

H. Patrik KämpeInnovation advisor

M. Jeanette Löfberg Innovation advisor

G. Camilla PerssonEconomist

N. The boardFrom back left: Bo Edvardsson University of Karlstad, Peter Olsson

Stora Enso Skoghall, Lars Rosén Nordic Paper, Erik Kornfelt

Valmet. From front left: Uno Olsson Cowi, Eva Pettersson ÅF, Anna Wilhelmsson Cowi, Christer Gustavsson Pöyry.

Not shownFredrik Turzik BillerudKorsnäs,

Anders Brolin Stora Enso Research, Helen Högberg Kostym,

Ulf Johansson Karlstad municipality, Jan Eriksson, Valmet

F

C

K

M

H

N

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14SEK Million turnover

Member companies need dierent kinds ofengineers. Most sought after is electricalengineers.

Recruitment need 2015-2017= 10

TOTAL 2015

40.000

VISITS

30.000

20.000

10.000

3,25

2,73

0,54

1,55

1,51

2,22

= Minutes per visit = Pages per visit

15.536 unique visitors72.739 page views

PRODUcTION

Activity

Member count

Web traffic

Public relations

2015 In numbers

31meeting places

537attendees

(289 unique)

13Innovation

cases 144 Companyvisits

29talks

Results

237Published

articles about us

1851views on our Vimeo channel

0

50

100

150

200

NEW

S A

RTI

CLE

S

177

BR

EVU

TSK

ICK

76

PR

ESS

REL

EAS

ES

35

FILM

S

8

20

40

60

80

100

120

2012 2013 2014 2015

105

8595

88

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35

Income statement 01-01-2015 01-01-2014 Amounts in SEK Note – 31-12-2015 – 31-12-2014

Net sales 2 820 640 2 289 222Other operating income 1 10 370 639 7 968 547Total operating income 13 191 279 10 257 769

Operating expensesOther external expenses -7 036 844 -5 337 869Employee benefit expenses 2 -5 877 812 -4 541 383Depreciation of tangible and fixed assets -26 991 -4 933Total operating expenses -12 941 647 -9 884 185Operating profit 307 244 373 584

Financial itemsProfit from participations in group companies 5 000 64 000Interest income and similar profit items 716 595Interest expense and similar profit items -22 858 -269Profit after financial items 232 490 437 910

AppropriationsChange in tax allocation reserves -79 000 -106 000Total appropriations -79 000 -106 000Profit before tax 153 490 331 910

TaxesTax on net profit for the year -52 822 -70 038Net profit for the year 100 668 261 872

Balance sheetAmounts in SEK Note 31-12-2015 31-12-2014

ASSETS

Fixed assets

Tangible fixed assetsEquipment, tools, fixtures and fittings 3 107 964 19 733 Total tangible fixed assets 107 964 19 733

Financial fixed assetsParticipations in group companies 4 – –Total financial assets – –Total fixed assets 107 964 19 733

PROFIT & BALANCE

Amounts in SEK Note 31-12-2015 31-12-2014

CURRENT ASSETS

Current receivablesAccounts receivable - trade 173 281 126 170Other receivables 400 254 638 512Prepaid expenses and accrued income 1 593 706 1 523 934Total current receivables 2 167 241 2 288 616

Total cash and bank balances 1 951 827 410 245Total current assets 4 119 067 2 698 861Total assets 4 227 031 2 718 594

EQUITY AND LIABILITIES

Equity 5 Restricted equity Member’s contributions 20 400 8 500Statutory reserve 27 235 13 535Total restricted equity 47 635 22 035

Non-restricted equityAccumulated profit or loss 377 965 129 192Net profit for the year 100 668 261 872Total unrestricted equity 478 633 391 064Total equity 526 268 413 099

UNTAXED RESERVESTax allocation reserves 250 400 171 400Total untaxed reserves 250 400 171 400

CURRENT LIABILITIESOverdraft facility 6, 7 – –Accounts payable - trade 817 243 525 190Tax liabilities 40 113 20 401Other liabilities 208 989 159 951Accrued expenses and deferred income 2 384 018 1 428 553Total current liabilities 3 450 363 2 134 095Total equity and liabilities 4 227 031 2 718 594

Pledged assets and contingent liabilitiesPLEDGED ASSETSPledges and equivalent collateral to secure own liability and commitmentsChattel mortgages 1 500 000 1 500 000Total pledged assets 1 500 000 1 500 000

Contingent liabilities None None

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Amounts in SEK unless otherwise stated.

NOTE 1. ACCOUNTING POLICIESThe Annual Report has been prepared in accordance with the Annual Accounts Act and the general guidelines of the Swedish Accounting Standards Board (BFNAR 2009:1, Annual reports in small economic associations, K2 rules).Depreciation method for fixed assetsDepreciation according to plan is based on the original cost of acquisition and the estimated useful life.The following depreciation periods are applied: Tangible fixed assets such as equipment, tools, fixtures and fittings: 5 years.

01-01-2015 12-04-2014 -31-12-2015 31-12-2014

NOTE 2. EMPLOYEE AND BENEFIT EXPENSESAverage number of employees 10 8Of which men 40% 38%

Salaries, other remunerations and payroll overheadSalaries and other remunerations 3 995 323 3 149 091Payroll overhead 1 911 464 1 480 977(of which pension expenses) (517 387) (394 778)

NOTE 3. EQUIPMENT, TOOLS, FIXTURES AND FITTINGS

Accumulated costs of acquisitionOpening balance 126 511 126 511New acquisitions 115 222 –Closing balance 241 732 126 511

Accumulated depreciationOpening balance -106 778 -101 845Depreciation of costs of acquisition for the year -26 991 -4 993Closing balance -133 769 -106 778

Carrying amount at end of year 107 964 19 733

01-01-2015 01-01-2014 -31-12-2015 31-12-2014

NOTE 4. PARTICIPATIONS IN GROUP COMPANIES

Accumulated costs of acquisitionOpening balance – 200 000Disposal – -200 000Closing balance – –

Accumulated write-downsOpening balance – -100 000Disposal – 100 000Closing balance – –Carrying amount at end of year – –

01-01-2015 01-01-2014 -31-12-2015 31-12-2014

NOTE 6. OVERDRAFT FACILITYGranted credit limit 1 500 000 1 500 000Unused part -1 500 000 -1 500 000Used credit amount – –Guarantees are reported in note 7 ‘Pledged assets for liabilities to credit institutions’.

NOTE 7. PLEDGED ASSETS FOR LIABILITIES TO CREDIT INSTITUTIONSChattel mortgages 1 500 000 1 500 000

NOTE 5. EQUITY Opening balance 01-01-2015 8 500 13 535 391 064Transfer to statutory reserve -600 600 –Paid deposits 12 500 –Allocation as per AGM– Statutory reserve provision 13 100 -13 100Net profit for the year 100 000Closing balance 31-12-2015 20 400 27 235 478 633

NOTES

Member’s contributions

Statutory reserve

Accumulated profitor loss incl.

net profit for the year

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Paper Province is a world-leading cluster in forest-based bioeconomy in Värmland, Dalsland and Närke. The cluster organisation is owned and run by some one hundred member companies. Through cooperation we

develop and improve the competitiveness of member companies and the entire region.

Paper Province, Sommargatan 101A, 656 37 Karlstad, +46 54 24 04 60, www.paperprovince.com

PAPER PROVINCE IS CO-FINANCED BY:

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Contents Chronicle - The Paper Province