UPM Timber appoints new sawmill directors

 Tuesday, December 19, 2023

UPM Timber recently welcomed its new sawmill directors to further enhance the proper working process of its sawmills. The newly appointed directors are took control of the Seikku, Korkeakoski and Kaukas sawmills.

Jaakko Huttunen, Kaukas sawmill

Jaakko Huttunen started as Sawmill Director in Kaukas in early November. He has previously worked in the sawn timber industry outside UPM. Based on the first few weeks, his first impressions of UPM Timber and the Kaukas sawmill have been positive.

Jaakko believed that the there is always room for improvements. He aims to further improve the safety with the improved skills that he owns. “I have previously been in various positions in different places, so managing the whole package from customers’ needs to the forest is my strength. I believe that we can still develop in that. For example, I think there are good opportunities to increase cooperation and mutual understanding between UPM Forest and Timber,” Jaakko thinks.

With various aims to acoomplish, Jaakko has also had time to get familiar with our promise “Setting the Standard”. To him it means being a forerunner.

“Operations, skills and technology must be constantly developed to keep up with the competition. Although sawing is an old industry, it has changed and developed even during my 25-year career. It’s especially important to be actively involved with customers, so that new opportunities can be found and harnessed,” Jaakko lists.

Janne Klaavuniemi, Korkeakoski sawmill

Janne Klaavuniemi started as the Sawmill Director at Korkeakoski in early April. He has previously worked in various roles in investment projects, maintenance and production.

“Korkeakoski is a small town where people work together. The cooperation at the sawmill works well, and the employees like it here. For example, last summer one employee retired after working at the sawmill for as long as 50 years”, Janne says.

He was drawn to UPM Timber for several reasons, such as getting to work with a renewable raw material. In just a few months, Janne has seen significant investments, as a new heat pump was introduced at Korkeakoski in the autumn and a new split saw is being planned for 2025. Janne thinks it is great that the sawmill is taking steps forward. As sawmill director, he wants to, among other things, better understand the customer perspective and the end products.

Searching for more opportunities to improve the sawmill, Janne said, “I have done several customer and forest visits so far, because I want to understand how different stages of the process affect the final product. Because I come from a slightly different background, I also want to develop in change management and practical implementation and thus bring added value.”

Marko Kesti, Seikku sawmill

Marko Kesti started as Sawmill Director at Seikku sawmill in early November 2022. Before the current role, he worked as Mill Service Manager at Seikku sawmill. During the first year in the new position, Marko has been impressed by, among other things, safety work and desire for continuous improvement at Seikku.

“Excellent safety work has been done here, and in August we reached another year without accidents. We also received two UPM Safety Awards in the spring of 2023, one of which came from an innovative dust removal system. We want to continue good proactive safety work,” Marko says.

Marko wants to take production efficiency to a new level in the upcoming future. He feels that the sawmill is already well on the way with long-term development. Highlighting the future aims, Marko said, “Seikku has a strong spirit of doing things together, and there is good co-operation and promises are kept. I want to maintain this great co-operation. Seikku has set an annual production target, which is also a big dream for me – we want to show ourselves that we can do it so that safety and quality remain excellent during the high production volume.”

Read more news UPM

Tags: sawmill directors, sawmills, UPM, UPM Timber, wood, wood and panel, woodworking, woodworking UK