Hyötypaperi Oy: Successfully tapping into the biofuel market

The Company

Hyötypaperi Oy was established in South-East Finland in 1987. In addition to its paper production activity, the company collects and processes paper and other materials from companies in industry, trade, logistics and other areas. It also collects forest owners’ and companies’ logging residue, long-length logs and stumps for solid biofuel production. Hyötypaperi Oy employs 61 staff and has an average annual turnover of 12.2 million €.

The Challenge

As public environmental awareness grows and the notion of sustainability becomes a focal point of political attention, Hyötypaperi Oy chose to orient its business towards the expanding market for biofuel, in particular from forest biomass.

The energy content (MWh) of wood largely depends on its qualities (e.g. humidity content). In order to get the most out of it, it is important to manage and trace the product efficiently along all supply chains.

The Satellite Solution

Hyötypaperi Oy uses a management tool based on satellite navigation that allows it to geo-localise the residues for collection according to their readiness and to guide the supply chain fleet efficiently .

The tool allows for coordination between the back-offices and work in the field, who use mobile devices to connect to a central platform. It allows users to document biomass resources (location, volume, qualities), to take pictures, to calculate the easiest access route to it and decide on the closest transporter to contract. In terms of back-office use, the system allows the company to manage invoicing and traceability vis-à-vis its customers.

The Result

Hyötypaperi Oy’s business model rests on the principle that the customer pays according to the quantity of MWh contained in the biomass delivered. Thanks to the satellite navigation based system, Hyötypaperi Oy knows the exact energy content and can calculate costs and profits per load. A more efficient management of the supply chain means increased MWh content per load and per driven kilometre, thus saving time, effort and transport related costs to increase profits.

 Moreover, electronic information management enables contractor-based business models that require less supervision. Contractors collecting biomass plan their daily work by themselves and can save 5-10% by reducing working hours due to better route planning.

“The solution is easy to use cost-effective. We at Hyötypaperi Oy are using it to manage our biomass business, but any kind of business that collects and manages different materials can use it” Seppo Hovi, Customer Manager