Extena – Pushing Boundaries
Expert Interview with Peter Falk, Managing Director at Extena AB (Sweden). The interview was conducted by Dr. Nina Strumann (Departement Corporate Communications). This article was recently published in our egeNews.
In March 2020, egeplast acquired a majority share of Extena, the market and quality leader for plastic pipes in Sweden. egeplast welcomes all new members of the egeplast family and introduces Extena with ist Managing Director, Peter Falk.
Briefly presented
The story of what is now Extena starts with an entrepreneurial family from Norsjö, a young man called Kurt Fransson, and a company called Nortena Plast, sometime in the early 1970’s with polyethylene pipe production on a small scale. In 1990, the Finnish pipe producer KWH Pipe acquired Nortena Plast. The original founder Kurt Fransson stayed with KWH Pipe until 1992, when he started Extena in the other end of the small town of Norsjö. Extena found its current home when KWH Pipe moved to the south of Sweden, and expansion came with opto fibre ducting in the late 1990’s, supplying pipe for Sweden’s ambitious strategy to provide high speed internet access for all households by the year 2005. In 2003, the regional investment company Treac, based in the neighboring town of Skellefteå, bought Extena. Treac had a long-term approach to the acquisition, and in 2006 a strategy decision meant more focus on the water and sewage market, as well as investment in a brand new production line for polyethylene pipe up to 630 mm. Since then Extena has manifested itself as a reliable partner for infrastructure projects, with a clear dedication to quality and a real pride for the products produced in the Norsjö factory.
Interview with Peter Falk
Peter, what is special about Extena?
Without a doubt the individuals that make up the company! It is truly remarkable that we have been able to gather such an incredible group of people in this small town in the north of Sweden.
And what is your passion or who is Peter Falk?
A big driving force in my life has always been to improve, to find better and smarter ways to do things, whether at work or in my personal life. I have always been interested in machines and mechanics, and my favorite recreational activity is snowmobiling. I started riding at an early age and have seen snowmobiles develop to a point that they now provide an excellent opportunity to train myself in pushing boundaries, not least mentally. If you get the chance to try a modern high performance snowmobile, you will understand what I mean!
“A big driving force in my life has always been to improve.”
What is the typical business Extena is doing?
We are very good at big projects, we have a close relationship to our customers and a production facility that can adapt to the customer’s needs. Over the years we have also developed our continuous business to give us a broader base, while still maintaining the long-standing customer relationships that we think are so important.
How is it to do business in winter times so far north?
Well, for us I have to say it is business as usual! Most of us are born here, and we have learned to live with the seasons. I also like to think it builds character when the weather literally hits you in the face as you go out the door in wintertime… What is the advantage for your customers to be part of the egeplast group? We can now finally offer a complete range of products for their polyethylene pipe systems, and the egeplast range really is the perfect match to our own products!
Can you tell us a bit about your team? Who can be contacted for what?
For pressure pipe we have a great team in Anders Mattsson, Anders Rydén and our latest reinforcement Patrik Berg, that has joined us from egeplast. While they all can handle most pressure pipe business, Patrik is a specialist when it comes to the egeplast range, Anders Rydén is the man to contact for Polar Pipe, and Anders Mattsson handles most things in between as well as international business. For Power and Telecom pipes we have Edde Johansson working in close cooperation with our customers, and all of the aforementioned are backed by a strong back-office sales team consisting of Anna-Karin Stenlund, Håkan Lundgren and Tomas Berg. All are ready to give our customers personal service whenever needed!
Can you tell us a bit about your team? Who can be contacted for what?
For pressure pipe we have a great team in Anders Mattsson, Anders Rydén and our latest reinforcement Patrik Berg, that has joined us from egeplast. While they all can handle most pressure pipe business, Patrik is a specialist when it comes to the egeplast range, Anders Rydén is the man to contact for Polar Pipe, and Anders Mattsson handles most things in between as well as international business. For Power and Telecom pipes we have Edde Johansson working in close cooperation with our customers, and all of the aforementioned are backed by a strong back-office sales team consisting of Anna-Karin Stenlund, Håkan Lundgren and Tomas Berg. All are ready to give our customers personal service whenever needed!
And what should we know about how to do business with Swedes?
Keep it simple! We are very informal, everyone is on a first name basis with everyone and we are also quite relaxed when it comes to dress codes at work. “Casual Friday” is pretty much every day!