The Vilppula sawmill turns out 535,000 square metres of spruce sawn timber every year.
“We have been entrusted with this wood to use it wisely.”
Jaakko Vierola
Jaakko Vierola , Vilppula sawmill Mill Manager at Metsä Fibre, is the expert we need to see next. Vierola knows all about ensuring the quality of timber – and how to choose the appropriate raw material for specific products. “The technical quality of the timber is the single most important factor from the customer’s perspective. There- fore, we practice extensive monitoring to ensure consistent quality.” SAWMILL FEEDS THE SPIKE Located in Central Finland, the Vilppula sawmill turns out 535,000 square metres of spruce sawn timber every year. The various ‘Reboot the Garden’ projects in the UK and else- where in Europe are certainly making an impact at Vilppula. “We can see that people really are building decks right now,” Vierola laughs. Vierola also believes that wood, as a sustainable material, will continue to prosper throughout the 2020s and beyond. But, in the meantime, Vierola feels that he is the caretaker of something precious – and not just in economic terms. “We have been entrusted with this wood to use it wisely. The added value we as a sawmill can deliver depends on us doing things right.” MEET THE TREES! But before timber arrives at Vilppula, of course, it has to be harvested. We are entering the domain of Metsä Forest:
the sister company of Metsä Fibre in charge of the felling operations and the transport of the timber to the sawmill. Director Yrjö Perälä from Metsä Forest points out that the Finnish green gold is mostly in private hands: 2/3 of the Finnish forests are owned by the citizens and only 1/3 by the state, companies and other public organisations. “This means responsible owners who take care of their forests,” Perälä says. When those owners have decided to sell a part of their forest to Metsä Forest, the forest machine operators, typ- ically entrepreneurs, step in and cut down the trees. The sawmills of Metsä Fibre are built in the woodlands of Southern Finland. The distance from forest to sawmill is short. “It is important to take the timber to sawmill while it is freshly cut to maintain good quality,” Perälä says. GET TO THE SOURCE Yrjö Perälä has seen digitalisation shape the boots on the ground mindset of the forest industry. Today, the data about the origins of wood flows from the forest to the sawmill. As a consequence, we know exactly where the raw material for all those Brit decks comes from. “Today, transparency and traceability are at the very core of the journey of the Nordic wood,” Perälä says. “When you add to that a thoroughly sustainable value system, you have the whole story.” •
Chris O’Boyle Director of Trading for Every Day Repair and Maintenance at the UK do-it-yourself chain Homebase. O’Boyle believes that the British DIY sector is now experiencing a true renaissance.
Steve Bourne Head of Retail Sales at Metsä Wood UK. He has been with Metsä for 18 years without ever having seen a DIY boom like the present one.
Jaakko Vierola Manages the Vilppula sawmill at Metsä Fibre. Being a guardian and caretaker of Finnish wood is a great responsibility, he says.
Yrjö Perälä Director responsible for timber acquisition at Metsä Forest. In his view, transparency, traceability and sustainable values form the foundation for the industry today.
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