Expert interview with Peter Falk, Managing Director Extena AB (Sweden). This article recently appeared in our egeNews.
In March 2020, egeplast acquired a majority stake in Extena, the market and quality leader for plastic pipes in Sweden. egeplast warmly welcomes all new members of the egeplast family and introduces Extena with Managing Director Peter Falk.
Brief introduction
The history of today’s company Extena begins in the early 1970s with an entrepreneurial family from Norsjö, a young man named Kurt Fransson, and a company called Nortena Plast with a small polyethylene pipe production. In 1990, the Finnish pipe manufacturer KWH Pipe acquired Nortena Plast. Kurt Fransson stayed with KWH Pipe until 1992, then founded Extena at the other end of Norsjö. When KWH Pipe relocated to southern Sweden, Extena moved into its current headquarters. Expansion came in the late 1990s with fiber optic cables – with pipes for Sweden’s ambitious strategy to provide all households with fast internet access by 2005. In 2003, Extena was acquired by the regional investment company Treac from the neighboring town of Skellefteå. Treac pursued a long-term concept when acquiring the company, with the strategic decision in 2006 to place a stronger focus on the water and wastewater market and to invest in a new production line for polyethylene pipes up to 630 mm. Since then, Extena has proven to be a reliable partner for infrastructure projects with high quality requirements.
Interview with Peter Falk
Peter, what is special about Extena?
Without a doubt, the individual people who make up the company! It is truly remarkable that we have been able to assemble such an incredible team in this small town in northern Sweden.
And what is your passion or who is Peter Falk?
An enormously driving force in my life has always been to improve things. To find better and smarter ways to approach something, whether at work or in private life. I have always been interested in machines and mechanics, and my favorite hobby is snowmobiling. I started early and witnessed how snowmobiles have developed to the point where they now offer me an excellent opportunity to train, to constantly push the boundaries of what is possible for me, not least mentally. If you ever get the chance to try out such a high-performance snowmobile, you will understand what I mean!
What is typical business for Extena?
We are really good at large projects; we have a close relationship with our customers and a production facility that can be adapted to customer needs. Over the years, we have also developed our ongoing business to have a broader base, while continuing to maintain the long-standing customer relationships that we consider so important.
How does business run in winter in the far north?
Well, for us I have to say, everything runs as usual! Most of us were born here, and we have learned to live with the seasons. I also like to think that it strengthens character when the weather literally whips you in the face as soon as you step outside in winter. …
What do your customers gain from being part of the egeplast Group?
That we are now finally able to offer a complete range of products for their polyethylene pipe systems, and the egeplast product range fits really perfectly with our own products!
Can you tell us a bit about your team? Who is the contact person for what?
For pressure pipes, we have a great team consisting of Anders Mattsson, Anders Rydén, and our latest addition Patrik Berg, who originally comes from egeplast. They can all handle the pressure pipe business; Patrik is the specialist for the egeplast product range, Anders Rydén is the contact person for Polar Pipe, and Anders Mattsson takes care of all other topics as well as international business. For power and cable protection pipes, Edde Johansson works closely with our customers, and everyone can rely on the support of a strong back-office sales team consisting of Anna-Karin Stenlund, Håkan Lundgren, and Tomas Berg. All are happy to support our customers personally at any time.
And what should we know about doing business with Sweden?
Keep it simple! We are very informal, everyone is on a first-name basis, and we are also quite relaxed about the dress code at work. You can come to us dressed casually pretty much every day!
