Finnish family company relies on Koskisen’s thin plywood

The company Ilosen Puutyö in Hauho, southern Finland, combines traditional joinery skills with efficient production equipment, allowing them to make reasonably priced products both in series production and as single products. 

Ilosen Puutyö’s mission for 65 years now has been to manufacture high-quality and long-lasting furniture. Still today, Production Manager Antti Teivonen’s company makes just about anything from solid wood, but in recent years a wide range of other options have also been developed. The company has responded to today’s design needs and customers’ desires by expanding its equipment base to include laser cutters and ecological printing technology, which it uses to make, for instance, large and impressive prints on thin plywood.

“We order all of our thin plywood for laser cutting from Koskisen, and the plywood is made to order for us. The plywood of other suppliers just doesn’t measure up in terms of quality – Koskisen clearly has the best and most consistent product,” says Teivonen. 

“We have a straightforward relationship with the people at Koskisen. Together we have found suitable plywood sheets for various applications, and we always get the help we need. The quality of the plywood has been excellent from day one. Of course, when you’re dealing with a natural material, there can be exceptions, but we’ve always sorted things out,” says Teivonen.

Koskisen’s thin plywood is a durable, strong and quality material

The thin plywood delivered to Ilosen Puutyö arrives untreated and is then usually surface-coated before being laser cut. Thin plywood is used to make decorative products and ecological prints, as well as large prints such as signage boards, placards, decorative boards and photo walls. Plywood jewellery, towel signs, keychains, coasters and individual wedding products are also a large product group in Ilosen Puutyö’s production. Thin plywood is a durable and strong material that the company can nowadays use in thinner versions than before.

“We are able to get a sufficient level of strength in the end product from increasingly thin plywood. In terms of quality, thin plywood is excellent, resulting in an end product that is lighter yet just as durable as a product made from thicker plywood,” says Teivonen. “Simply put, a thin plywood sheet must be of a very high quality in order to also produce a high-quality end product. Of course if there are any flaws, we address them immediately, but there have been so few to speak of,” says a pleased Teivonen. 

Both Ilosen Puutyö and its customers have very stringent quality requirements. The surface of a large print, for instance, must be high quality and consistent through and through. There is also growing interest in wood certification, which is something Ilosen Puutyö’s customers have already been asking about. “That is why it is important for us to obtain a sustainably produced raw material,” Teivonen sums up.