The paperboard manufacturer Iggesund Paperboard, part of the Holmen forest products group, is undergoing changes on several levels. Last autumn the company gained a new CEO, Annica Bresky.
A university graduate in engineering, Bresky has roots in both Greece and the rural heart of Sweden's Småland province. She was previously CEO of BillerudKorsnäs Karlsborg AB and before that she worked as production manager for Stora Enso Kvarnsveden's most modern paper machine. When she took over the reins at Iggesund in October, the top positions of both of the company's board mills were vacant, as was the position of company financial director. She has therefore had unique opportunities to shape a new management team that reflects the dynamism she wants to see within the organisation.
"The market has changed and this process will continue," she explains. "By working in an intelligent and more dynamic way we will be able to match our customers' demands even better than before."
During the autumn Iggesund Mill gained a new manager, Olov Winblad von Walter, who comes from the top job at Metsä Board's paper mill in Husum, Sweden. The new manager of Iggesund's Workington Mill is the former financial director there, Ulf Löfgren. The new financial director is Tobias Bäärnman, who comes most recently from the consultancy Connecta but who has experience in fast-moving consumer goods with Mediamarkt, Procter & Gamble and Statoil. The management team has been further reinforced with Eva Thorén, the HR manager, and Anna-Lena Ström, the supply chain director.
In addition to these changes, Iggesund will be tearing down walls within its sales organisation. Previously the company had separate teams for Europe and the rest of the world but now the global marketing and sales responsibility will be combined under the leadership of Arvid Sundblad.
"For more than a decade we have seen the conversion of packaging for consumer goods move from western Europe to other parts of the world, mostly in the east," Annica Bresky says. "Brand owners with headquarters in one part of the world can have the manufacturing of both their goods and packaging in another. This is globalisation in a nutshell and we must adapt to it.
"Fifteen years ago Iggesund was the first Scandinavian forest products company to adapt its European organisation to the new conditions arising from the European Union. Now we simply need to take another step to ensure that we can live up to – and surpass – the service level required by our customers."
One of the prerequisites for further developing Iggesund's service level is the introduction of a new business system – the backbone of all production and supply processes. Changing systems is a big step and countless tests have been done to ensure that the transition will be painless for customers.
"Our customers' development and needs are the starting point for our own continual process of change," concludes Iggesund's new CEO. "Doing business with us will become even easier. Iggesund has long been a fantastic company and we definitely have the strength needed to continue to be competitive in the future too."
