Pasi Laine starts as the new President of Metso Paper and Fiber Technology: “Continuous development work will further strengthen our position”

Published Mar 2, 2011 09.00.00 +2 GMT

Pasi Laine will succeed retiring Bertel Langenskiöld as the new President of Metso Paper and Fiber Technology as of March 1, 2011. He has had a long and versatile career in Metso and most recently was the President of Metso Energy and Environmental Technology. Laine believes the company is in a good position to further improve its customer service and efficiency within the pulp and paper industry.

Matti Kähkönen, Metso’s new President & CEO and Chairman of the Executive Team as of March 1, 2011, says: “Pasi Laine has expertise in the pulp and paper, power and automation businesses, i.e. good knowledge of the sector and a solid track record in operative management”.

Laine (b. 1963) began his career in Metso as a project engineer in Canada in 1988. After graduating from the Helsinki University of Technology, he got an opportunity to work at Valmet’s (currently part of Metso) Toronto unit.

“Since then I have lived in Finland, Germany and the UK. My jobs have been mainly international in character, with responsibilities in service, energy automation, pulp and paper automation, power, and the valves business.”

Laine served as President of Metso Automation since 2006 and President of Metso Energy and Environmental Technology since December 1, 2008. “Now I am returning to pulp and paper technology, where I began my career,” he says.

Perttu Louhiluoto will follow Laine as the President of Metso Energy and Environmental Technology, also starting on March 1, 2011. Previously he was Senior Vice President, EMEA market area, in Metso Mining and Construction Technology.

“Expect results”

Pasi Laine says that he is approaching his new task with humility: “We have had the pleasure of working with excellent customers all around the world, covering all fields of pulp and papermaking. Although Metso Paper and Fiber Technology is well-respected in the market, and has first-class personnel, excellent products and fine references around the world, I want to position us as the challenger. With the resources and capabilities we have in this company, I’m confident we can still improve in practically every sector - technology, service, quality and the efficiency of our processes - whether internal or customer-related. Naturally, I also believe that these improvements will be positively reflected in our financial performance as part of Metso Group.”

“Regarding our market and customers, our main aim is to take care of our customers’ processes so that they can concentrate on their own areas of core competence. We must be able to produce processes, products and services that best assist our customers in achieving that goal. And by combining all the forces in Metso’s various sectors, we can offer our customers even better solutions,” he adds.

He is also well aware of the very competitive market situation in the industry. “I highly respect our competition and feel that we at Metso must be even more active in keeping the wheels of development turning in order to keep abreast of all the changes and challenges in the market.”

“In short, my ambitions can be summarized with Metso’s customer promise: ‘Expect results’.”

Growth potential

One key area of development is service. “It is a very important part of our operations, and its growth potential is considerable. This is particularly so in the paper and fiber technology business, where service can greatly influence customer satisfaction. Therefore, we will focus on further developing this area in the future.”

“With regard to our global presence, we must act where our customers are. We have already made good progress towards this goal, but we still need to strengthen our local presence. However, we must also bear in mind the needs of our current customers and must ensure their satisfaction with Metso through service means.”

“Metso’s acquisition and merger with Tamfelt Corp. as our new Fabrics business line was a major development step in our strategy and we can already see that it is bearing fruit. Being able to develop and combine paper machines and clothing in an integrated way is a definite new competitive factor for us.”