A visible trend in nonwovens & converting sector is specialisation
Larry L Kinn, Senior Vice President - Operations Americas of Suominen Corporation talks about the nonwovens industry for wiping, medical and hygiene products.
Which are the core areas that you work in technical textiles? What is the growth potential in each niche?
Suominen is focused on nonwovens for wiping, medical and hygiene products. The overall global market for nonwovens is growing approximately five per cent annually. We have estimated that in the markets Suominen has selected --- nonwovens for wiping, medical and hygiene products in Americas and Europe --- the annual growth is some three per cent. However, it is good to keep in mind that these figures are averages. We have identified interesting opportunities in certain pockets of the market where growth rates are higher.
What are the challenges facing the growth of the nonwoven industry in emerging markets?
The limited purchasing power of consumers tends to lead to an all-purpose use of materials. For example, baby wipes are being used not only to clean babies. A big number of local players commoditise the market which makes Asia currently somewhat unattractive for western manufacturers that offer unique capabilities. However, the large and growing middle-class and their desire for convenience and nonwovens products exist and make Asian markets exciting.
Out of all the applications for nonwovens, healthcare applications are growing at a fast pace. What are the probable factors contributing towards this development?
The demand for medical nonwovens is indeed expected to continue to develop favourably, thanks to several global megatrends and other drivers. An ageing population will boost the demand for healthcare services as a whole, while at the same time healthcare institutions face strong cost pressures. Moreover, the global increase in the number of hospital-acquired infection grows the demand for hygienic single-use industrial wipes for healthcare institutions. These are just examples of drivers that globally impact the demand for healthcare applications.
Which are your biggest markets? Where does Asia feature in your growth strategy? Which are the countries looking for more technical textile?
North America and Europe are our main market. Moreover, we gained a foothold into the growing South American market through an acquisition in February 2014. We have some exports to Asia at the moment. But as we have already stated, during the current strategic period (2015 - 2017), we are not actively seeking opportunities to expand in Asia. In this strategic period, we will focus on organic growth in our current market regions.
How has your business grown in the last two years? What is your target growth for the next two years?
Even though our focus for the last two years has been more on building common company culture and securing our financial strength, we have been able to increase net sales. Considering the future, by succeeding in the implementation of our strategy, our net sale is estimated to grow to the vicinity of EUR 500 million by the end of 2017.
The markets for wipes today are drifting towards flushable wipes. To what extent has Suominen been successful in this zone?
Suominen was among the first ones to introduce nonwovens flushable wipes to the market, and we are still the leading player in this field. We are confident that our range of flushable nonwovens, which we keep developing continuously, meets not only consumers' needs but also the expectations of the municipal waste water systems.
We also continue to develop our offerings. In January 2015, we launched the next generation product to this category: Hydraspun Dispersible Plus. It is a substrate that breaks up over three times faster than the standard Hydraspun Dispersible. We have a patent for the standard Hydraspun Dispersible, and have filed a patent for the range of Hydraspun Dispersible Plus products.
Just recently, we decided to invest in a new wet-laid manufacturing line in the United States of America that will focus on nonwovens for household, industrial and flushable wipes.
What do you consider the most revolutionary of Suominen's work in the past years that have greatly changed the industry?
As said, Suominen was among the first to introduce nonwovens for flushable wipes to the market. That took place in the 1990s and we are still the leading player in this field. We have continuously developed our flushable offerings, and in the beginning of 2015, we launched the next-generation products to this category. Flushable is a prime example of a category that has really changed the industry.
Our Fibrella Lite Spunlace, introduced in early 2015, offers uniform lightweight spunlaced nonwovens for the global hygiene market. Fibrella Lite nonwovens make a perfect example of an innovative application of technology, where traditionally incompatible nonwoven features, like softness, strength and light weight match in one material. It is available in 25 gsm and 28 gsm configurations, and is a perfect component for baby care and incontinence applications. However, its applicability for various lamination processes creates a broad range of end products, and makes the product very attractive and exciting.
Beyond products, I would like to highlight our digital consumer dialogue, We Love Wipes. It aims to raise overall awareness among consumers of wipes providing, in an entertaining way, objective, brand-free information on the wide range of wipes, different end-use applications and various features of nonwoven products. Thanks to We Love Wipes, Suominen has received a wealth of information directly from consumers about how they use nonwoven products and what their needs are ---- all this through the dialogue taking place in digital platforms like welovewipes.com, Twitter and Facebook. Today, there are over 25,000 members in the digital community.
What percentage of profits do you earmark for R&D annually?
In recent years, we have spent approximately one per cent of our net sales in R&D. In this strategic period, our focus is on achieving growth and product leadership, which obviously further strengthens the importance of new product development at Suominen.
What new applications do you foresee in the near future for nonwoven and converting sector?
We continue to see opportunities for nonwovens in replacing textiles and other materials in various markets, including wipes, hygiene and medical space. We have seen just a fraction of the possibilities of nonwovens in bringing exceptional features to end products when combined in a new way. For instance, combining features of nonwovens with features of foam will deliver a superior wound-care product.
A visible trend is that we continue to see specialisation. More and more specific products will be developed for very specific end-use applications.
Sustainability is also one of the prevailing megatrends. One could say it is a pre-requisite for businesses to enter any market today. Nonwovens are no exception here. We will be using more and more natural (eg cellulosic) fibres to create products that, for example, meet the requirements set by consumers for the later part of the lifecycle of a nonwoven product.
Which domestic or global fairs do you attend and what do you expect to gain from there?
As we are the global market leader in nonwovens for wipes and seek to grow our position in medical and hygiene markets, we are obviously participating actively in all relevant fairs and conferences.
Industry associations like INDA, EDANA and ANFA organise conferences annually on all continents from Asia to Europe, Latin America and North America and we are there. Additionally, you will meet the Suominen team at Techtextil, Hygienix, Medica, AORN and EWOC, to mention some examples. We participate to meet customers and to establish new business contacts, to promote our company, products and solutions to a global audience and to launch and demonstrate new products and services.
