Becoming wiser

At the end of this magazine, Professor Harry Gatterer encourages people to take a positive view towards the future – the world is becoming a better place. He bases his claim on statistical facts: today already around 80 percent of the global population has the fundamental skills of reading and writing, and the global life expectancy has increased to 71 years. In contrast to what many other people believe, Professor Gatterer feels that the “silver society” megatrend and aging population has many bright sides – societies are becoming wiser.

This is an interesting viewpoint that can be applied to business as well. Valmet is building on over 220 years of industrial history. During this journey, the company has accrued a lot of wisdom, creating a solid foundation for Valmet and helping us to bring the future to our customers.

We are proud of our long history, but at the same time we are nurturing a culture of continuous renewal and learning. This we do through a wide portfolio of learning programs, and by enhancing internal mobility within Valmet – but to a wide extent also together with our customers. In addition to continuously developing our offering based on our customers’ needs, we share a lot of innovation work. Also, our Innovation Pathways training program – which seeks to promote a totally new approach to enhancing innovation culture – allows customers and Valmet specialists from different parts of the organization to sit at the same table to solve real customer problems.

In this issue, we are demonstrating projects that have taken our customers’ performance to the next level. Together, we have been able to make wise decisions to build future competitiveness.

I hope this magazine takes you again on a great journey of learning!

Anu Salonsaari-Posti, Senior Vice President, Marketing, communications and sustainability