LAPPEENRANTA, FINLAND - August 29, 2007 - Larox celebrates its 30th anniversary on September 7th at its homebase in Lappeenranta, Finland. In thirty years Larox has grown from a company with net sales of a few million euros into one of the leading players in the global markets in its field of operation, solid/liquid separation. Mr. Timo Vartiainen, chairman of the board and Mr. Toivo Matti Karppanen, president & CEO of Larox Corporation will have a reception on 7 September from 1 pm till 3 pm at Larox Headquarters in Lappeenranta, Finland (street address Tukkikatu 1).To reserve an appointment please get in touch with Larox reception, phone + 358 5 6688 11. Possible donations are kindly asked to be addressed to the Lappeenranta University of Technology's support foundation, account number 109130-2500686, reference; Larox 30v. To celebrate the 30 year milestone Larox will have open doors for public on Thursday 6 September at its premises between 9 am till 11 am and for student groups from 1 pm till 3 pm. The main event takes place in Lappeenranta on Friday evening, 7 September for Larox's personnel and invited guests. At midnight fireworks, which Lappeenranta citizens are welcome to watch at Pallonlahti in the lake of Saimaa will finish the evening. Additionally Larox will publish a book “From a gravel pit to the far reaches of the world” written by Ms Outi Salovaara. The book tells the story of Larox and its founder, Mr. Nuutti Vartiainen. For further information please contact: Larox Corporation Mr. Mikko Häkämies, Chief Communications Officer Phone: +358 5 6688 232 E-mail: firstname.lastname@larox.com Larox develops, designs and manufactures industrial filters and is a leading technology company in its field. Larox is a full service solution provider in filtration for separating solids from liquids. It supplies comprehensive aftermarket services throughout the lifespan of the Larox solution. Companies world-wide in mining and metallurgy, chemical processing and related industries benefit from the Larox technologies. Larox operates in over 40 countries and has over 440 employees. Larox Group is headquartered in Lappeenranta, Finland. Product factories are located in Lappeenranta and Utrecht, The Netherlands. Net sales in 2006 totalled 122.8 million euros, of which more than 95 % were generated by exports and the company's foreign operations. Beginning: Modest but Brave Larox was founded in 1977 by Mr. Nuutti Vartiainen. The business started operating in the premises of a 100-year old former Lappeenranta Workshop. The most important difference between Larox and the workshop was Larox's initial intention to export the products it made. The basic idea of the company was to produce energy saving and environmentally friendly solutions for classification, concentration and filtration processes used in the mining industry. In its first complete year of operation Larox achieved net sales of approximately two million euros. In the same year 17 representative agreements were signed in different countries. Meanwhile Larox made substantial investments in research and development as well as in developing its quotation routines. New products played a major role in production in the company's second year of operation. A backlog of orders developed quickly despite the company's small size and this built confidence with both customers and financiers. During the first three years the company's net sales nearly doubled and reached 2.5 million euros in 1980. At this time Larox employed 84 people. New Customer Groups in the 1980s In the early 1980s the company's target group was expanded outside mining to include other areas of the process industry. Larox thus established a foothold in the chemical, foods, pharmaceuticals and other industries. In 1986 the company's efforts were recognized when Larox received Finland's Presidential Export Award. Annual net sales were then running at 10 million euros with exports representing over 80 percent. Larox owned companies in six countries and had agents in 15 more. In 1988 Larox went public when its B share was listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. In the following year Larox received a national entrepreneur's award. In relation to the company's size, investments by Larox in research and development have always been strong with emphasis especially on new products. In the late 1980s Larox introduced a mid-size hydraulic pressure filter. At the same time the company began development of the largest pressure filter in size and capacity in the product family. Larox introduced this product in the early 1990s. Handover to the Next Generation in 1990 The handover to the next generation played a vital part in building the future of the company. In 1990 Mr. Timo Vartiainen took over operational management of the company while his father, Nuutti, continued as chairman of the board. Net sales were now close to 20 million euros and Larox employed 192 people, 153 of whom worked in Lappeenranta. To strengthen development of the valve business, Larox Flowsys Oy was established in 1993 as a subsidiary of Larox Oy. This made it possible to expand the valve marketing to target new customer groups. Effective research and development allowed both the product line and the number of possible applications to be expanded, and the sales network was enlarged. Today Larox Flowsys Oy is an associated company of Larox Corporation, parent company of the Larox Group. Larox Flowsys focuses on pinch valves and pumps, placing special emphasis on their operation in difficult conditions. In the same year Larox's quality processes reached the level required for the award of an ISO 9001 quality certificate. Today all Larox Group companies have ISO 9001:2000 quality certification audited annually. Larox Corporation was the first Finnish company to receive certificate SFS-EN 729-2:1995 (SFS-EN ISO 3834-2) for fusion welding of metallic materials. Throughout the first half of the decade, the share of net sales taken by exports remained stable at about 90 percent. In addition to its headquarters in Lappeenranta, the Larox Group now consisted of two other units in Finland and 12 units overseas. In 1995 net sales were approximately 30 million euros and the Group employed 257 people, with representatives of 14 nationalities. Investing in Research and Development Operating world-wide requires both continuous product development and maintaining the best knowledge in the business. The Larox Research Centre, inaugurated in 1995, is the company's way of providing its customers with superior service. Facilities are designed to carry out research for Larox customers, mostly by performing test filtration with customer-sourced process slurries, and to enable the continuing development of Larox products. …and Not Forgetting Production A major investment in the 1990's by the Larox Group was the installation of a welding robotics unit. The investment was part of a research project on the use of computer simulation in robotics, carried out in cooperation with the Lappeenranta University of Technology. With two welding robotics units Larox is today able to balance production peaks and shorten manufacturing turnaround times. Larox also invested in the professional skills of its personnel. In February 1997 the first Larox welders were awarded European Welder certificates, and later in the same year Larox received the Kymi Province Occupational Safety Award. Acquisitions Speed up the Growth in the New Millenium In April 2000 Timo Vartiainen was appointed to the position of chairman of the board of Larox Corporation, and Mr.Toivo Matti Karppanen, who joined Larox in 1991 as executive vice president of marketing and sales for the solid/liquid separation business, was appointed to the position of the president, Larox Corporation. During the first 25 years company's growth was entirely organic. The new millenium started the phase of growing by acquisitions. In summer 2002 Larox acquired polishing filter manufacturer Scheibler Filters Ltd in UK and in 2004 the filter business of Outokumpu Technology (now Outotec Oyj). This brought along the well recognized Ceramec, Hoesch , Pannevis and Scanmec filters to the Larox product portfolio. Target-oriented Focusing on Narrow Field of Expertise Supports Growth Objectives Today Larox is a full-service solution provider within its field of operation and the only truly global player 100 % focused on filtration. It provides comprehensive aftermarket services to its customers throughout the life of the Larox solution, which is typically between 15 and 25 years and more. Having a clear profitable growth objective, Larox will continue to focus on solid/liquid separation, but with a wider range of solutions and deeper level of expertise. The cornerstones of our operations are the expertise and skills of Larox people, the unique Larox customer service approach and continuous product and process development. Our customers are leading producers in their fields, either nationally or internationally. We want our customers to see us as a reliable partner. Our expertise is at their disposal before an order, during and after delivery, and until the end of a product's life. In our tightly defined field of expertise, Larox can help customers simplify their production processes, improve profitability and save energy in an environmentally friendly way. Larox equipment can reduce or even eliminate the duties of other equipment, such as dryers, ultra-filtration, wash systems and plant effluent systems. They can improve product quality, yield, value and consistency. And they can eliminate e.g. thermal drying with fossile fuel. We believe that our expert and motivated personnel continuing to concentrate on managing customer relationships, keeping our products and technologies competitive and maintaining efficient operations, we can fulfill the expectations of all our interest groups and maintain long-term customer relationships with the leading companies in different fields of business. The fact that a large number of the orders we receive are repeat orders from our existing customers is a clear proof that continuous product development and high-quality customer service bring results. Values Guiding Larox People to people - Sisu - Progress Together… we make it happen… one step ahead for the benefit of our customers
Larox Celebrates Its 30th Anniversary
| Source: Larox Oyj