In 2012, Metsä Board and Oldenburger|Fritom entered into a partnership. Within this partnership, Oldenburger|Fritom works closely with Dirk van Roeyen, who has worked at Metsä Board in Mechelen (Belgium) for over twenty years. Since 2017, he holds the position of Logistics Director Western Europe and UK. We recently asked him how he experiences our partnership and what role flexibility plays in this.

Oldenburger|Fritom provides road transportation solutions for Metsä Board to countries including Germany, Austria, Italy and the United Kingdom. Last year, our partnership was extended by 2 years. Which factors have been decisive in this?

“The most important factors for extending our partnership are the professionalism of the Oldenburger|Fritom organization and the pleasant cooperation within the partnership. In addition, the problem-solving mentality and correct pricing were also decisive factors.”

Brexit has been playing a role in managing shipments to the United Kingdom for a few years now. As of January 1, 2022, border controls have become stricter. This requires a flexible approach. How does Metsä Board deal with this?

“We have had little trouble with this. In any case, we had already chosen to immediately clear the goods on departure from the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. Together with Oldenburger|Fritom, and an excellent local agent in the UK, we have experienced few problems due to Brexit so far. This is partly because we have our own operations well under control. At the same time, of course, this does not alter the fact that we do face challenges in regards to the general context of Brexit.”

A lot has changed since COVID-19 broke out. The “new normal” is also discussed within supply chain management. What are the biggest changes for Metsä Board?

“Looking at our organization, our teams and our people, we have been working from home since March 13, 2020. We had to reorganize ourselves within a time frame of one week. Fortunately, we were already working digitally for 95 percent and only minimal adjustments were needed. We are currently working paperless for 99 percent.

We do our utmost to avoid social isolation, including through daily calls in Microsoft Teams. The major challenges in this set-up are maintaining the team spirit, developing ourselves as an organization and training new colleagues. We hope to quickly switch to a system of working part-time in the office and part-time from home.”

Metsä Board was established in 1986 by the merger between Metsäliiton Teollisuus Oy and G.A. Serlachius Oy, called Metsä-Serla. In 2022, Metsä Board is a leading European producer of fresh fibre paperboards including folding boxboards and white kraftliners. The paperboards are used for, among other things, healthcare packaging, food service packaging and high-tech packaging.

Metsä Board is part of Metsä Group in Finland, one of the largest forestry companies in the world. The pure fresh fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in sustainably managed forests. In doing so, Metsä Board is a forerunner in the field of sustainability: the company aims for completely fossil free mills and raw materials by 2030.