Sami Packalén, MSc and EMBA, has been appointed CEO of Stalatube Oy as of January 1, 2020. The current CEO and Stalatube Oy entrepreneur Jukka Nummi will become full-time chairman of the board. The company has also invested in a new line for stainless structural tubes.

Sami Packalén will transfer from the position of senior vice president, sales and marketing, and has long experience in the stainless steel business after working in the company since 1999.

“I have been working with Stalatube for nearly twenty years and during that time I’ve been involved in building a global brand and taking the sales to new figures. I am now excited to continue developing Stalatube as a company,” says the newly-appointed CEO. “I’m especially proud of our talented and motivated staff, our global mindset and the internationally recognized Stalatube brand.”

For Packalén, Stalatube’s keys to success are listening to customers, a distinctive and unique range of products and services – and working together, meaning teamwork among the entire staff. Packalén says: “The customer must be at the centre of everything, and we must be able to constantly change and develop to succeed in the ever-changing world.”

Chairman of the board, Jukka Nummi, is confident about the future: “It’s time to harness newer talents to drive Stalatube forward in its more than 50 export countries. The company is in a good development stage with the start of further processing of stainless tubes and profiles in Poland earlier this year. Our new CEO has the sales experience and insight needed to grow the company. Under his leadership, Stalatube will be in good hands. Also, I am not going to disappear. I will work as full-time chairman and help with the search of the growth paths we consider important in implementing our strategy”, Nummi promises.

The new CEO, the company says, will bring with him strong knowledge of the field, as well as customer insight and energetic leadership. “I want Stalatube to develop into an even stronger international company, capable of serving its customers locally and deliver customer-specific solutions fast, flexibly and cost-efficiently”, Packalén says. “My first job is to concentrate on launching our strategy and making sure our entire staff is on board with our vision and that we concentrate our resources and development investments into our chosen main projects. I’m also going to invest into the development of our employees’ professional skills.”

Stalatube launches new production line in Lahti

Meanwhile, Stalatube has launched a new best-in-class production line at the company’s main facility in Lahti, Finland. The new line produces square and rectangular stainless structural tubes from 25×25 up to 70×70, thickness ranging from 1 to 4mm, strengthening Stalatube’s offering of special-sized tubes. The new line is in ramp-up phase and will start official production during early 2020.

This investment, together with Stalatube’s recently opened production facility in Lodz, Poland, for stainless steel tubes in special dimensions and further processed stainless steel products, will enhance the company’s competitiveness through capacity increase and significantly shortened delivery times, as well as a closer reach especially to central European markets.

Stalatube invested Euro6m in the new production line, and with the Poland facility, the total investment sum reaches Euro20m.

“We strive to specialize in stainless steel square and rectangular tubes of all sizes to distinguish us from mass manufacturers”, Nummi explained. “The state-of-the-art technology enables completely customized tube  and production batch sizes. By investing in a new line, we will continue to improve our competitiveness.”

Packalén emphasized customer orientation as the cornerstone of the company’s operations: “The customer is at the heart of everything we do. With a wide range of customized products and services, we ensure that we stand out from the competition and are able to serve our customers in the best possible way.”

Using the latest technology and a high level of automation through all phases of the production process, Stalatube ensures both operational competitiveness and safety. “Our aim was to maximize product quality as well as usability and delivery accuracy of the production line”, says Stalatube’s safety and project manager Ari Sarajärvi. “Our experiences with the machinery have been excellent and we are eagerly moving on to production phase.”