Towards the Solidi business ecosystem

Companies’ social responsibilities will be taken care of in every respect, even though their operations are global.

“Why could putting values into practice more effectively than at present not begin in the Nordic countries, which have perhaps implemented them best?” / Ahtisaari Iloniemi Ruokanen, 2016: the book “Miten tästä eteenpäin” (Where do we go from here)

Nationally justified targets for the use of Solidiwood process technology are: a) the further processing of as large a share as possible of our current sawn timber production (10 million m³/a), b) in addition, the further processing of the growth in our sawn timber production brought about by the technology, c) our companies’ Solidiwood production abroad, d) sub-licensing to foreign companies, and e) supplying the technology and its development from Finland only.

The starting point for estimating the total volume of Solidiwood & Solidi business is global sawn timber production of 300 million m³/a, of which 1/2 is produced in the Americas, 1/3 in Europe and 1/30 in Finland, together with the fact that almost all sawn timber is used in further-processed form. What percentage it is possible to achieve depends primarily on the amount of intellectual and material investment made by our country.

The very order of magnitude of the starting volume shows that bringing Solidiwood process technology to industrial scale would certainly be worth paying for – there would hardly be an upper limit. There are good grounds for using Solidiwood process technology in the production of all value-added sawn timber products, at least in some form. The technology’s functions are possible in all products, and their use is not tied to anything, such as wood species, surface treatment, etc. All functions are optimised product by product.

In addition to the above, it should be recognised that the need for sawn timber / wood construction is growing as a result of the rising world population and rising living standards in poor countries, and also through the competitive price-quality ratio of Solidiwood processed wood products. Solidiwood is also taking market share from products made from other materials, such as concrete, brick, steel and aluminium, as well as laminate and plastic.

The greater the profit potential that can be achieved, the more can be invested in the level of functionality and utilisation of Solidiwood process technology, the Solidi Finland business ecosystem, the national interest and global market leadership.

“For Finnish public administration, promoting business at ecosystem level is a new challenge. The public sector does not pick winning ecosystems or companies, but seeks, in close interaction with players in the business community, to identify promising growth ecosystems of the future.” / www.tem.fi/ekosysteemit

The platform economy is a great opportunity for Finland, a country known for its expertise – for example, for the technology and wood products industries. The public sector can accelerate the formation of business-driven platforms. The platform economy can be made into a national competitive factor. “The role of the public sector would be to support those niche sectors in which Finland and Finnish companies can lead the rest of the world and win the competition. Sufficient public funding also brings sufficient private funding, as long as the goals of the ecosystems’ innovation activities are ambitious enough”. / www.tekniikkatalous.fi

“If a programme’s level of ambition is mediocre and the participants operate in the same markets, the benefit to each participant remains marginal, because the results are usually given away free to the customers they all compete for. The situation is different if the programme aims at radical change and succeeds. The parties can then standardise the applications and create a technology cartel from which they benefit substantially more. In recent years the EU has championed this possibility. The essential thing is to achieve a dominant market position, to become the global market leader, so that one can focus on customers’ needs rather than on responding to competitors’ moves”. / Jyrki Kettunen, 2008: the book “Uudistu ketterästi” (Renew with agility)      

The Solidi Finland business platform ecosystem is not built on standardisation alone. With it, Finland and Finnish companies can lead the rest of the world and win the competition. Solidi Finland’s interests also coincide with the interests of humankind.

Digitalisation with its business platform ecosystems enables the production growth of Solidi joint-concept companies and the reduction of global warming at an exponential rate.

All of the above is built on Solidi Finland’s key success factors.