The Kissakoski sawmill in Hirvensalmi, leased by Koskisen, is sawing sound-knotted timber from small-diameter logs especially for the needs of the carpentry industry. The shipping mark for Kissakoski’s sawn timber has been VERA, but in June it was replaced by Koskisen’s KKN mark.
The Finnish sawmill industry engaged in export activities uses so-called shipping marks, which are stamped onto the end of each piece of sawn timber. The mark indicates the producer, sawmill and grade of the piece. The shipping mark is very informative for the customers, since a sawn timber seller, for example, can see at a glance where a batch of sawn timber on its shelf was produced. “Sawmilling-company or even unit-specific shipping marks have been used throughout history. Although we are leasing the facilities from Veisto, we obtained permission to use the KKN mark on our timber sawn in Kissakoski,” says Jani Nypelö, Sawmill Manager at Kissakoski.
“We felt that it benefits us to have all our products under the same shipping mark. There is no need for specifying the products by unit. The codes on package labels tell us where the sawn timber products have been produced, if need be. The name of the supplier unit will remain on the label,” Nypelö points out.
KKN stamp stands for quality
The change makes things clearer in terms of Koskisen products. “We wanted to harmonise our products so that all Koskisen’s sawn timber is sold under the same name. After all, the Koskisen shipping mark stands for quality,” Nypelö says.
“The stamp is recognised all over the world, so customers can tell the producer of the sawn timber products. In some cases, the KKN stamp may be better known than the name of Koskisen,” says Export Manager Jukka Tamminen. Before the change, sawn timber from Kissakoski was also packaged in Koskisen’s wrapping. According to Tamminen, changing the stamp serves the customers. “Having matching stamps and wrappings does away with any confusion.”
The small-diameter sawn timber supplied from Kissakoski is mainly destined to Viro, the UK and France. Tamminen says that some sawn timber is also delivered to China. In addition to the carpentry industry, customers operate in the packaging industry, window and door industry, and further-processing industry, and also include heat-treated sawn timber manufacturers. Some Kissakoski products with the KKN stamp, which was introduced in June, have been delivered already, but the VERA stamp will co-exist for a while, since existing products with the VERA stamp will have to be sold.