Juha Sojakka, CEO of Siparila Oy, believes that branding and specialization are worthwhile in the wood processing industry.
Ten-year-old Siparila Oy makes exterior and interior cladding products for buildings. There has been a lot of growth in a short time, but along the way there have also been quick turnarounds, surprising challenges and adaptation to the market situation.
CEO, M.Sc. (Industrial Engineering) Juha Sojakka got the idea for the acquisition while working as a production manager at Incap Furniture in Kärsämäki.
“I thought I wasn’t going to live in that area for the rest of my life. When I heard that Keski-Suomen Puukympit was selling its planing mill business, I made the decision to become an entrepreneur.”
Last year, Siparila's turnover was 18 million euros. At its highest, turnover has exceeded 20 million. Profitability and productivity were at their highest three or four years ago, before the acquisitions.
After years of success, in 2010, the company acquired the businesses of Incap Furniture Oy, a bed manufacturer in Haapavesi, and Parkanon Höyläämö Oy. However, the Ikea bed deliveries that employed the Haapavesi unit ended last year, and the company is currently looking for new customers, including from the Nordic countries.
Siparila has responded to the economic recession by streamlining its work methods: the management hierarchy has been eliminated and employees' responsibilities have been increased. Thanks to development work, the company's profitability has improved. Siparila has also received an honorable mention from labor market organizations for its development work.
Siparila currently employs 90 people. Slightly more than half of its turnover comes from the Vaajakoski factory in Jyväskylä and the rest from the Parkano and Haapavesi units.
Branding and training
Sojakka says that the wood processing industry is an industry of rapid copying. Among other things, Siparila's most famous innovation, the Siparila Topcoat exterior cladding panel, was granted utility model protection, or a small patent. Topcoat is a pre-treated, concealed-mount panel that allows facades to be installed without nail holes.
In addition to home builders, Siparila's customers include hardware and lumber stores, construction companies, architectural firms, and interior designers.
“The end customer, for example a builder or interior designer, wants a nice wooden surface for their home. We need to tell the seller what options are available and what applications they are suitable for. We also guide interior designers and supply them with materials.”
The target group for project sales includes construction companies, which decide on the exterior cladding materials for houses.
Sojakka emphasizes that simply increasing the degree of processing does not bring more margin, but in order to succeed, a company must be able to specialize, brand the product and always be one step ahead of others. Siparila aims for growth through brand marketing and training of customers and partners. In the interior decoration sector, a new kind of brand has been built, among other things, through collaboration with a designer Cross mat Ratian and interior architect Kari Lappalainen with.
"The woodworking industry is the most traditional of traditional industries. The adoption of new inventions is slow, and developers are not always able to estimate how much ready-to-use treated exterior cladding panels save compared to separate planking and painting."
The full article can be read in the print issue of Paperi ja Puu magazine, 1/2013.
Text: Anne Repo
Photo: Mikko Vähäniitty
