The history of Valmet goes all the way back to the 1750s. It was then that a small shipyard was established in the Viapori fortress on the islands outside Helsinki. In the early 20th century it ended up under the ownership of the Finnish state and became part of Valmet. Tamfelt was established in 1797 and became one of the leading suppliers of technical textiles. These operations are now part of Valmet’s Services business line.
The story of Valmet
The story of Valmet documentary tells about Valmet’s 220 years of industrial history linked with events that occurred in the history of the world. It also describes the insights and solutions that modern-day Valmet has been built on. The documentary is a story about how to rise to the position of market leader and how significant the hard work of past generations is to the success of the present-day company.
From cloth making to high-tech
The history of Valmet can be woven from many different strings, looking into the history of different companies which today form Valmet Corporation. In Finland there are Tamfelt, Tampella and Valmet itself, in Sweden Götaverken, Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad and Sunds bruk, and in North America Beloit and Dominion, just to mention a few.
The history of Valmet can be woven from many different strings, looking into the history of different companies which today form Valmet Corporation. In Finland there are Tamfelt, Tampella and Valmet itself, in Sweden Götaverken, Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad and Sunds bruk, and in North America Beloit and Dominion, just to mention a few.
Aug 2,2024
On August 2, 2024, Valmet completed the acquisition of Demuth, a provider of wood handling technology and services in South America. This acquisition significantly strengthens Valmet’s wood handling technology offering and services presence in South America.
On July 7, 2023, Valmet entered into an agreement to acquire Körber Group’s Business Area Tissue. The Business Area Tissue specializes in innovative converting and packaging technologies and services for the tissue industry. On November 3, 2023, the acquisition was completed. By combining the complementary offering and competences of Valmet and the acquired business, Valmet creates the markets’ widest technology, automation and services offering for the growing tissue industry covering the entire tissue value chain from fiber to finished products.
In July 2021, Valmet and Neles announced that their respective Boards of Directors had signed a combination agreement and a merger plan to combine the two companies through a merger. On April 1, 2022, the merger of Neles into Valmet was completed, bringing together two companies with complementary offerings. Neles’ former business and operations were organized in Valmet as the Flow Control business line. The flow control offering includes an industry-leading portfolio of valves, valve automation solutions and related services.
In January 2015, Valmet Corporation and Metso Corporation signed an agreement on the sale of Metso's Process Automation Systems business to Valmet. The acquisition was completed on April 1, 2015. The acquisition strengthened Valmet's competitiveness by creating a unique customer offering combining paper, pulp and power plant technology, services, process know-how and automation.
Metso Corporation’s Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) held on October 1, 2013, approved the Board of Directors’ proposed plan for a partial demerger and decided to demerge Metso into two companies: Valmet and Metso. On December 31, 2013 Metso’s Pulp, Paper and Power business was transferred to the new company, Valmet Corporation, and the Mining and Construction and Automation business remained part of Metso.
To complete its portfolio as a full scope supplier to the pulp industry Metso acquired in 2013 the lime kiln and recausticizing technology of the Danish company FLSmidth. This acquisition made then Metso Pulp, Paper and Power, now Valmet, a complete technology supplier for the pulp industry.
Tamfelt had become one of the world’s leading suppliers of technical textiles. On November 5th, 2009 Metso and Tamfelt agreed to combine their operations under the combination agreement. As a result, Metso made a public tender offer to purchase all of the issued and outstanding shares in Tamfelt. The combination strengthened Metso’s services business especially in the pulp and paper industry.
The core of Kvaerner power business was acquired through mergers of the Swedish Götaverken and the Finnish Tampella boiler businesses. Kvaerner had further broadened its biomass product portfolio through the acquisition of the boiler business of Fortum Engineering, in 2002, and a majority acquisition of the Finnish boiler plant supplier Noviter Oy, in 2005. In January 2007, Metso acquired Aker Kvaerner’s pulping and power businesses. The former Kvaerner Pulping and Kvaerner Power operations became an integral part of Metso, and later formed the core of Valmet’s Pulp & Energy business line.
In 2001 Kvaerner Power delivered world's largest biomass burning CFB (circulating fluidized bed boiler) to Alholms Kraft in Pietarsaari, Finland.
In 2000, Metso acquired the service and aftermarket assets of North American Beloit. This acquisition covered Beloit’s roll cover division and the paper machine aftermarket with related paper machine technology. It strengthened Metso’s position in the maintenance and upgrades market. Beloit’s large base on installed machinery was also seen as a strong platform for growth.
Metso Corporation was created as a result of the merger of Valmet Corporation and Rauma Corporation (“Rauma”) in July 1999. At the time Valmet was a paper and board machine supplier, while Rauma’s operations were focused on fiber technology, rock crushing and flow control solutions. The merger produced an equipment supplier serving the global process industry. The new combined company was initially given the name Valmet-Rauma Corporation. The name was changed to Metso Corporation in August 1999. Shares in Metso were listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange, which replaced the listings of its predecessor companies.
Valmet’s Järvenpää unit was awarded the Finnish quality award (Suomen laatupalkinto) from President Martti Ahtisaari in 1997.The award was handed over to Hannu Mälkiä (from the left) and Martti Karttunen.
Götaverken Energi, which was established in 1841, was in 1991 acquired by the Norwegian Kvaerner. In 1994, after the merger of Kamyr and Götaverken, the company changed its name to Kvaerner Pulping. In 1996 Kvaerner Pulping is merged with Tampella, and the company is renamed to Kvaerner Power AB. This merger brought together two boiler businesses which had developed separately over a period of 150 years.
As a result of financial crisis in late 1980s Tampella came to the ownership of the Bank of Finland and was reorganized into independent business groups and companies in 1991. Tampella’s forest industry and packaging operations were sold to Enso Gutzeit, and Valmet became the new owner of Tampella’s board machine production (Tampella Papertech Oy) in 1992. In 1996 Tampella Power, the chemical recovery, evaporation, and power generation technology businesses, was sold to Kvaerner, which had previously acquired also Götaverken.
During 1930s Tampella started to manufacture power boilers and recovery boilers. In 1967 Tampella presented its first large-scale industrial multifuel power boiler to the market.
Gustaf Gidlöf was born in 1899. He started at Sunds Bruk Verkstäder & Slip as a 13 year old. Eventually he became a draftsman and later on a skilled designer. In 1933 he became the local manager. He was manager until 1957 when he stepped down due to illness. Gustaf Gidlöf was a powerful and foresighted person that has contributed a lot to the development of Sunds. The road the company is located on is today named Gustaf Gidlöfs väg after him.
The Valtion Tykkitehdas artillery works was established in 1936 when the State of Finland decided to move the repair shops of Armory 1 from Helsinki to Jyväskylä. The move of the works took place over the course of one night on a military train with two passenger cars and 40 freight cars full of gear. About 75 families travelled into the unknown on the train that arrived at the station yard of the works area on the morning of June 1, 1938. Valmet was created in 1951 on the foundations of the artillery works.
The main task of Valtion Tykkitehdas was to manufacture artillery pieces and take care of their repairs and spare parts. The production of shell cases and fuses started later. Due to the prevalent shortage of labor, the factory also employed women. The photo shows painting of 37 mm anti-tank shells at the artillery works in 1942.
After the war ended, the reference to artillery was removed from the factory's name; it became the Rautpohja works of Valtion Metallitehtaat. The works participated in the war reparations production, manufacturing log lifts, log bundling equipment, locomobiles and bandsaws, among other things.
The first paper machines made by Kone ja Silta were delivered from Finland to the Soviet Union in connection with the war compensations in 1945-1952. Kone ja Silta received its first paper machine order from Czechoslovakia in 1949 with a 3-year delivery time. From the beginning of 1950s paper machines started to be an important part of the production program. In the 50s, paper machines were delivered to all over the world, including China, Switzerland, Soviet Union, France, Finland, among others.
The machine felt division had always lived in the shadow of the woolen mill. But, in the 1950s, when the woolen industry encountered many difficulties, the machine felt division took on the role of savior. The felt mill flourished and for the first time, in 1960, its sales exceeded those of the woolen mill. This development was due to the declining market situation in the woolen industry combined with strong growth in the Finnish paper industry and the successful export of machine felts. Exports started in 1956. The production of filter fabrics began in 1965, and from then on the company focused on technical textiles.
The last war reparations product of the works, a winder, was handed over in the Rautpohja machine hall in 1952. After the reparations were completed, the factory concentrated on developing its own production. The earlier artillery works was turned into a heavy machine workshop that initially had a wide product range.
The first two paper machines manufactured at Rautpohja, a Yankee and a sack paper machine, were delivered to Poland in 1953. Paper machines became the workshop’s main focus in the 1960s, and Valmet became an internationally significant company in the mid-1960s after delivering several machines to the world's leading paper industry countries.
The first Valmet paper machine was started up at the Simpele mill of Yhtyneet Paperitehtaat in 1954. The machine with a working width of 2,400 mm had many innovative technical solutions that were not in use at other paper mills in Finland at the time.
Glimpses of paper machine production at Valmet Rautpohja works. This film was done together with Suomi Filmi in 1955. The film is in Finnish.
The production of the Karhula machine shop included, among other things, machinery for the wood processing industry. The first paper machine was delivered from Karhula in 1948. In the summer of 1987, Valmet Paperikoneet Oy and A. Ahlström Oy agreed on transferring the paper machine operations of the Karhula machine shop to the newly established Valmet-Ahlström Oy. The company manufactured small and medium-sized paper machines, multi-layer board machines and pulp-drying machines. Operations in Karhula continued until 2005.
Wärtsilä had bought Kone ja Silta in 1936, but is wasn’t until 1965 when the factory name was changed to Oy Wärtsilä Ab Helsinki factory. In 1970 the factory moved from Helsinki to the current premises in Järvenpää. Also the Wärtsilä machinery school moved to Järvenpää in the early 1970s.
After the North American market opened at the end of the 1960s, Valmet had reached all potential paper machine market areas. At its time, the machine delivered to Continental Group Inc. in 1972 was the world's widest machine and had the highest output. Its working width was 9.3 meters.
The high technical level of Valmet's paper machines was based on extensive research. The one-meter-wide pilot machine of the pilot plant completed in 1977 was used to test new solutions for increasing the speed of paper machines and improving the paper quality. The pilot paper machine was also used to test the suitability of new raw materials, such as sugar cane, for paper production. In 1996, another pilot paper machine was constructed in Rautpohja.
Arne Asplund invented the Defibrator pulping refiner and the defibrator method for pulping wooden chips in 1930s. The company AB Defibrator was founded based on Asplund's invention. AB Defibrator was merged with Sunds AB to form Sunds Defibrator in 1979. The annual Arne Asplund Mechanical Pulping Award was established in 1985 to commemorate Asplund’s contributions to the pulp and paper industry. Sunds Defibrator Industries AB came under Rauma-Repola’s ownership in stages during 1988-1991 and later part of Valmet-Rauma.
Mobile research carriages were already a part of Rautpohja's research equipment in the 1970s. The carriage was taken to an operating paper machine, and measuring sensors were connected to the machine. The results were used to troubleshoot process problems in paper machines. The Service business was started in the 1980s based on operating models like these. The conditions for service operations improved with the Service Technology Center that was completed in 1989. The service center also handled large-scale roll modernizations and demanding special coating for rolls. Around-the-clock standby operations were also established.
Tampereen Verkatehdas Oy - Tammerfors Klädesfabriks Ab was listed in the Helsinki stock exchange in 1942. The old company name became distinctly misleading as well as old fashioned as the company focused on machine felts and technical textiles. In 1981 the name was changed to Tamfelt Corp. In 1984 Tamfelt acquired a forming fabric manufacturer, Viira Oy, and became a full line supplier of paper machine clothing (PMC products).
In the 1980s, the Järvenpää factory was turned from mixed production to a specialized workshop with main focus on paper finishing machines and machines for pulp production. The company’s internationalization was started in 1983 by acquiring the finishing machine manufacturer, Appleton Machine Company in the USA.
In 1984, Valmet acquired a majority of shares in Canadian Dominion Engineering Works. Valmet owned 65% of the new Valmet-Dominion, Inc. The new company opened new opportunities for Valmet's paper machine business and secured more effective operations on the North American market, which had become very important to Valmet as a whole.
Wärtsilä Järvenpää factory become part of Valmet in 1986. The background for this acquisition was the product rationalization agreement between Wärtsilä and Valmet. The roots of the agreement date back to a product split agreement between Tampella, Valmet, Wärtsilä in 1969. In 1986 Wärtsilä and Valmet also rearranged their shipyard ownerships.
Valmet acquired KMW’s paper machine production operations in 1986. Since then Karlstad has been established as Valmet’s technology center and main location for tissue machines business and innovation. Some milestones in the development have been the TAD-machine developed in 1980s, DCT-concept launched in 2004 and NTT-concept launched in 2008.
Tampella broadened its circulation fluidized bed boiler technology know-how through the acquisition of the North American Dorr-Oliver’s boiler operations in 1989. In 1992 Tampella presented its first CYMIC boiler based on its own innovation within circulating fluidized bed boiler technology.
Götaverken, originally AB Keillers Mekaniska Verkstad, was founded in 1841 as a shipyard by a Scottish businessman Alexander Keiller in Göteborg, Sweden. Alexander Keiller’s mother was the creator of the famous Keiller's marmalade, which is believed to have been the first commercial brand of marmalade, originating in Dundee, Scotland.
As a steam propulsion became more common in 1850s, Götaverken started to design and manufacture boilers for steam production. During the coming years almost 1 000 steam boilers were produced in Göteborg. Among the customers were also Swedish and Finnish pulp mills.
The roots of Valmet’s Järvenpää unit lie in Osberg’s machine shop founded in Sörnäinen, Helsinki in 1854. At the turn of the century, after merger with Siltarakennus Oy, the company’s name was changed to Kone ja Silta (Machine and Bridge). The production program included military equipment, steam boilers, bridges, pulp cookers, weighing scales, locks, household enamel ware and various other products.
In 1858 Orson E. Merrill came to Beloit in Wisconsin (USA) and started a foundry at 637 Third Street. Next year he took in a partner, George Houston. The company’s, known as Merrill and Houston Iron Works, principal product was a water wheel developed by Houston, but the firm could also supply horseshoe nails, iron and steel castings, saws, augurs, spokes, and a variety of iron products. In 1860 Merrill’s brother asked Merrill and Houston to make parts for his paper machine. By 1862 Merrill and Houston was producing complete paper machines, building four machines the first year.
Jokioinen Verkatehdas was hindered by the lack of water. To ensure the water supply the mill was moved from Jokioinen to the Tammerkoski rapids in Tampere. Production started in 1859. The mill was named A.I Frietsch & Co., but was commonly referred to as "Tampereen Verkatehdas". The machines were moved from Jokioinen and many of the workers relocated, too. In 1863 Frietsch went bankrupt.The mill was taken over by the Bank of Finland and was soon sold to Frans von Frenckell, A.W. Wahren, Nils Procopé, August Borgström and Carl Zuhr. This was the foundation of Tampereen Verkatehdas Osakeyhtiö (Tampere woollen and worsted mill).
Karlstads Mekaniska Werkstad (KMW), a metal workshop, was founded by Gustav Adolf Andersson in 1860 in Karlstad, Sweden. In 1865, after the conflagration of Karlstad, the company got a major order: casting of new church bells for the Karlstad cathedral. The expansion of the railway network in Sweden opened new markets for locomotive, carriage and railroad equipment producers KMW being one of the companies benefitting from this development.
Tampella, originally Tammerfors Linne- & Jern-Manufaktur Aktie-Bolag, was founded in 1861 through a merger of a linen factory Tampereen Pellavakehräämö and a metal workshop Tampereen konepaja which both had been established in 1856. In early years the company manufactured linen clothes, ships, water turbines, pulp grinders and steam engines.
Sunds Bruk, the predecessor of Sunds Defibrator Industries AB, was established in the village of Sund, Sweden in 1868 by Erik Jan Hammarberg, a son of a blacksmith, with the financial support from Anders Petter Hedberg, Lars Johan Hierta, who was a well-known politician, publicist and businessman, and Bernhard Almquist.
In 1885, four employees of Merrill and Houston formed a new company, Beloit Iron Works. T. Organizer and president of Beloit Iron Works was Fred Messer, who had been superintendent at Merrill and Houston. The company leased the old Merrill and Houston plant from its new owner for its operations, and hired ten employees.
In 1888, the Tampereen Verkatehdas mill was destroyed by fire, one of the biggest in the history of Tampere. The whole town came out that summer night to see the main building consumed in just a few hours. The new mill was, however, built quickly and production re-started after only a short break. The next year, the mill was damaged by a flood. Politics then intervened to cut off trade with Russia. Finland became independent and in the battle of Tampere, in 1918, the company's raw material store burned down. In 1936, a new building was constructed specifically to meet the needs of machine felt production. The 1940s brought war once again. There was a manpower shortage and little fuel. Air raids disrupted normal life. On March 2, 1940, the mill was hit by 16 bombs.
The industrialist William Ruth established a machine shop in Karhula in 1890 to take care of the repairs and service of the machinery in his sawmills and groundwood plant. This was the start of the Karhula machine shop, which A. Ahlström Oy acquired in 1915.
In 1891 KMW delivers its first paper machine to Mänttä paper mill in Finland after long negotiations with Gustaf Adolf Serlachius. Before the machine started its journey to Finland it was presented thoroughly to the Swedish press by engineer Wilhelm Hesslin. In 1895 the company manufactures its first Yankee machine with a diameter of 2,400 mm. The development and construction work was led by Hesslin.
A small shipyard was established in the Viapori (Suomenlinna) fortress on the islands outside Helsinki started operating in 1750s. In early 20th century the shipyard came to the ownership of the Finnish state and became part of the state metal factories, later Valmet.
The origins of Tamfelt go back to Jokioisten Verkatehdas, which was founded by the governor of Turku province, Ernst Gustav von Willebrand, with permission granted by the royal authorities in Stockholm on May 17th, 1797. Willebrand wanted to produce cloth using the new English machine method and the wool from the sheep of Jokioinen manor. At first he had 15 workers and two weaving looms. In 1798, the entire mill was burnt to the ground, but it was quickly rebuilt, and carding and weaving machines were in use as early as 1800. At that time, the mill was unique in Finland.
