A NEW AVENUE FOR TECHNICAL COLLABORATION
As Technical Customer Service Manager, Victoria Eklund’s mission is to improve the whole sawn timber value chain. The goal of technical customer service is to collaborate proactively with Metsä Fibre’s sawn timber customers on technical matters and help them to develop their business operations. “My job is to act as the link between customers and our production and sales operations. When we understand the customer’s business inside out, we can provide them with much better service. We can also identify areas for improvement more easily because we have greater insight into their value chains and processes,” Eklund says. A large part of Eklund’s job involves personal visits to customer sites to introduce the company’s technical customer service, gather customer feedback on sawn timber deliveries, and discuss how products and their properties could be developed further to better serve customers’ needs. Technical customer service was first offered to sawn timber customers in 2022 to provide a direct technical feedback channel for customers, and the service has been well received. “When customers have someone they can discuss technical matters with directly, we can resolve issues more quickly. Customers are more willing to approach us not only when they have issues but also when they see opportunities for development, since we’re speaking the same technical language.” Metsä Fibre’s pulp business has improved the energy and resource efficiency of its own processes and those of its customers through technical customer service. With TPA, this approach is being extended to sawn timber products, too. “The data we collect on the quality of end products opens up many new opportunities for collaboration. We want to use TPA as a platform to deepen our relationships with customers and add value to their development projects,” Eklund says. •
“The model is developing all the time. TPA helps us to further strengthen customer relationships, deepen our understanding of each other’s processes, and make better, data-driven decisions.”
connection points and ways to work together for mutual benefit,” Viljakainen explains.
Successful results from collaborative projects
Comprehensive overview by combining data sources
Technical cooperation has been of great interest to customers and the implemented joint projects have achieved good results. “Having TPA as a concrete offering also makes it much easier for us to introduce the idea of data- based collaboration to customers because we can demonstrate what it involves and the potential benefits,” Viljakainen says. • “With the ability to combine our data with the customer’s production data, we can find new connection points and ways to work together for mutual benefit.”
TPA projects utilise data collected during the sorting stage at sawmills using camera vision technology combined with kiln drying data. The parameters measured include moisture content, thickness, width, shape and cracks. In addition to technical quality data, sorting quality data based on factors such as knots, growth rings and resin pockets is also used. “We can track product quality at the production- batch level, so if a customer provides feedback about the performance of a batch in their process, we can look back at our data and investigate the product quality characteristics. Uniformity and consistent quality are critical for our customers because they translate into more efficient production and less waste, which helps them control costs and enhance their competitiveness,” Eklund says. The ability to combine data sources helps the project participants to form a more comprehensive overview of the situation. “With the ability to combine our data with the customer’s production data, we can find new
Kaija Viljakainen
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FIBRE
FIBRE
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