Stora Enso: Finnish Quality Award for LaminatingPapers Oy.

Business Editors

STOCKHOLM, Sweden--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 2000

Stora Enso's subsidiary Laminating Papers Oy was the winner of the Finnish quality award competition for the year 2000 in the industry category.

The President of Finland, Tarja Halonen, presented the award in Finlandia Hall on Thursday 9 November.

The judges noted in their adjudication that Laminating Papers has a process-oriented management clearly committed to the company's mission, vision and critical success factors. Their values take into account the interests of all the company's various stakeholder groups, and the company strives to communicate these values so they are taken heart. It has effective means of defining what is needed to meet customers' requirements so that the whole organization understands these needs and excellent customer satisfaction is ensured. The company has been continuously improving and developing its operations over many years, and the achievements can be seen in many core areas.

Laminating Papers is one of the world's leading manufacturers of absorbent kraft papers and phenolic resin impregnated papers. A few large companies dominate manufacture of these niche products worldwide. Laminating Papers (R) is clearly the market leader in Europe with its Absorbex paper, and its (R) [pilcrow (paragraph sign)] Imprex films have gained a sizeable share of the world market for phenolic resin surface films for wood-based panels.

Absorbex paper is used as core material in laminates, such as decorative high-pressure laminates in floors and kitchen furnishings, and technical laminates for the electronics industry. Imprex films are used for overlaying plywood and other wood-based panels to increase their durability. Typical uses of film-faced plywood are concrete formwork and surfaces in freight vehicles.

Laminating Papers has a pulp mill, a paper machine and an impregnating plant in Kotka. It also has a paper machine in Imatra and a subsidiary in Malaysia that manufactures surface films. Laminating Papers' operations are concentrated in Kotka, where it is part of an industrial complex that also includes Stora Enso Timber's sawmill and Stora Enso Magazine Paper's printing paper mill. The units of the industrial complex have shared services, and the chips and sawdust from the sawmill are used as raw material for paper production.

All the Laminating Papers personnel are dedicated to improving quality. The company's systematic drive to improve quality was first recognized in 1993 when the quality system developed entirely by the personnel achieved ISO 9000 standard. Through the strong commitment of the personnel to the tasks required, the Kotka plants gained ISO 14001 environmental certification and the following year EMAS registration.

"The Finnish quality award conferred on Laminating Papers today demonstrates what the united resolution of all the personnel can achieve. It is also a recognition of the long-term commitment of Stora Enso as a whole to quality management, which has guided our operations," said Pentti Huhta, Managing Director of Laminating Papers.

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