Spectacular products and projects - Strong personalities - Theodor Krogvig – Moelven’s forefather - Friends form Moelven stock company in 1899 - Johs Mageli – the great industrialist - The wheel boiled in oil – first trademark - Trailers for tractors in a new setting - House on wheels – a new trademark - Assembly line produced modular houses - Loaders, dumpers and cranes - The start of the Glulam success - Skis och ice hockey sticks - Wood components and system interior walls - First sawmill launches a new era - Major reorganisations during the turbulent 1990s - Olympic gold for Moelven - Gardermoen - a showcase for Moelven - Group celebrates its centenary - 20 new production plants in four years - Finnish owners - Longest wooden bridge - Moelven back to beeing independent - Moelven buys Trysil Skog - New partners join Moelven -A year of record profits - Nominated for World Building of the year 2008 - Major Glulm projects in Sweden and Norway
Spectacular products and projects
The major arenas built for the Olympic Games in Lillehammer in 1994 and the Gardermoen airport terminal are some of the most impressive building projects in recent years that have put the Moelven group on the map both in Scandinavia and beyond. Prior to this, a large number of Moelven products included some that were really significant for the company and had large market shares in their time. The ”Wheel boiled in oil” and the ”Moelven house on wheels” are examples of such products. During most of the 1900s Moelven was either a fully or partially mechanical industry based company, and the mechanical industry division was not phased out until the end of the 1980s. Today Moelven is a purely wood working based industrial group.
Strong personalities
Many competent business executives, innovators and engineers have left their mark on Moelven over the years and have been vitally important to Moelven’s survival and successful development. Some of these individuals stand out as particularly strong personalities.
Theodor Krogvig – Moelven’s forefather
Industrial pioneer, Theodor Krogvig (1847-1898), laid the foundation for what was to become Moelven Industries. He purchased the waterfall rights to the Moelva river in 1877 and founded Strømmen Brug. Krogvig personally constructed many of the machines that were required to produc wooden barrels and wheels for carts and carriages. This factory was subsequently sold and Krogvig established the Anderkværn Hjul- og Trævarefabrik along the Moelva river. Many of the apprentices who worked in the new factory later established significant industrial businesses. Krogvig’s work was on the way to reaching considerable proportions when he fell ill and died in 1898.
Friends form Moelven stock company in 1899
Following Theodor Krogvig’s death his friends bought the Anderkværn business and founded Moelven A/S on 24 July 1899. The four friends invested each NOK 5,000, which is equivalent to approximately NOK 1 million in today’s money value (2009). One of the four company founders said on this occasion, ”It is by no means given that we founders will receive any special return from it, but it may provide a living for many in the future”.
A number of businesses that had already been up and running for decades at this time, primarily sawmills, became part of the group at a much later stage.
Johs Mageli – the great industrialist
The Second World War changed the world. A new society was to be formed, and manufactured products were in strong demand during the post-war period, not least in Norway. Up to this point Moelven’s business activities had primarily involved the mechanical production of wheels boiled in oil for horse-drawn carriages, but now tractors and motor vehicles were starting to take over, and it became apparent that the Moelven product range was to a large degree outdated.
It was at this point, when Moelven was facing huge challenges, that Johs Mageli took over as managing director and later as the group chief executive. Mageli made a radical switch in production and Moelven began manufacturing trailers for tractors and construction industry machines, as well as snowploughs and fertilizer spreaders. Very high investments were required, but Mageli succeeded in arranging financing after overcoming significant problems. The journey towards becoming a modern industrial group of companies of national importance had begun. Under Mageli’s leadership, Moelven developed into a solid industrial company offering a wide product range.
In 1957 Mageli recognised a new potential for Moelven when he observed laminated timber structures at an exhibition.
Mageli resigned from his position as group chief executive in 1979, but remained as chairman of the board of directors until 1985. In 1979 the group had approximately 1,500 employees compared with 135 when he first joined the company in 1948. Johs Mageli, the founder of the modern Moelven and great industrialist for 30 years, passed away in 2007 at the age of 89.
The wheel boiled in oil – first trademark
During the first few years after it was established in 1899, Moelven manufactured joinery and interior products made from wood. As early as 1904, the production was switched to “The carriage wheel boiled in oil”, a quality product for horse-drawn carriages. This, in addition to a large number of different types of wheels and carts became Moelven’s trademark right up until the 1940s. During the first two decades of the 20th century the company also produced furniture, as well as platforms and bodywork for lorries.
Trailers for tractors in a new setting
After the Second World War Moelven abandoned its old product range and switched to manufacturing products that were better suited to and in greater demand in a modern society: different types of trailers for tractors, construction machinery and equipment, snow-ploughs and fertilizer spreaders.
House on wheels – a new trademark
The start of production of what was to become a new trademark for the group – the ”Moelven house on wheels”, a modern portable log cabin took place in 1950. This small mobile house was very popular and widely used in the forestry, construction and oil industries. Contractors called it the ”Moelven shack,“ whilst Moelven employees referred to it as the ”House on wheels”.
Assembly line produced modular houses
Moelven then began manufacturing more advanced dwellings – container houses, modular houses and element houses. In the beginning these houses were designed as temporary, but subsequently became permanent dwellings and buildings for institutions such as schools and day care centres. Modules were manufactured on assembly lines and assembled in large factory halls. Such an industrial production of houses was something completely new in Europe. This developed into the production of finished house components that were supplied to building sites and assembled there. Between the end of the 1960s and the end of the 1980s Moelven was a significant supplier of residential housing, and in some cases was responsible for entire housing development projects. The different types of Moelven houses were extremely popular in Norway and Scandinavia.
Loaders, dumpers and cranes
At the beginning of the 1960s Moelven began developing loaders, dumpers and mobile cranes. The range of cranes expanded to include different types of cranes. The production continued into the 1970s and 1980s. During this period Moelven also manufactured many types of semi-trailers for military use. In spite of the commercial success of many of Moelven’s products, the development costs subsequently proved too high. The group’s mechanical industry division was therefore closed down at the end of the 1980s.
The start of the Glulam success
Glued laminated timber constructions started to be used in Europe during the 1950s. Moelven began glulam production in 1960 and the market took off during the 1970s as Moelven became the glulam market leader in Norway. In 1982, Moelven bought its Swedish competitor, Töreboda Limträ, which had been producing industrial glulam as early as in the beginning of the century. During the later decades, Moelven’s glulam technology has been responsible for many of the group’s most spectacular projects.
Skis och ice hockey sticks
From 1976 until 1988, Moelven owned the Madshus ski factory, which also produced ice hockey sticks.
Wood components and system interior walls
In 1972 Moelven set up a new factory for the production of wood components for houses. Sawmill operation on a large scale started in the 1980s. In 1989 Moelven bought part of Norema and this added the production of flexible system interiors, walls, flooring and ceilings for industrial buildings to the group’s product range.
First sawmill launches a new era
In 1980, Moelven established Mjøsbruket, the first Moelven Industries sawmill, which was the start of a new and successful business division and the beginning of a new era for the group. In 1981 Moelven was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange with a share capital of NOK 17.5 million. The growth within the timber industry continued in the 1980s through the purchase of two large Swedish sawmills, Dalaträ in 1985 and the Valåsen sawmill in 1988. The purchase of and investment in Valåsen was Moelven’s largest financial investment to date, and made Moelven one of Scandinavia’s largest producers of industrial timber.
Major reorganisations during the turbulent 1990s
The 1990s began with a deep recession hot on the heels of huge expansion during the 1980s. The Norwegian housing market slumped and Moelven stopped producing residential houses. The first half of this decade was characterised by major reorganisations and cost cuttings within Moelven, whilst the timber industry and glulam business areas were enjoying success. ”A clean bill of health” was declared as a result of the purchase of the Eidsvold Værk sawmill/planing mill in 1995. Moelven bought the Westwood building module factory in Säffle in 1997, and Notnäs AB and the rest of the Westwood Group in Sweden in 1998, resulting in almost a doubling of its timber industry activities.
Olympic gold for Moelven
The 17th Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer in 1994 was a national festival and a memorable sporting event. Moelven supplied complete load-bearing glulam constructions for all the major arenas, and building modules for many other Olympic venues such as the athletes’ village. Moelven’s constructions left an indelible mark on the Games, and work prior to the games also meant tremendous technological advances for Moelven. ”We can declare ourselves Olympic Industrial victors ,” said group chief executive Frode Alhaug.
Gardermoen – a showcase for Moelven
Just as was the case with the Olympic village, the Norwegian government wanted Norway’s new principal airport, the Gardermoen international airport in Oslo, to be a showpiece of Norwegian building culture and technology. In 1995 Moelven was given the demanding task of designing, manufacturing and assembling load-bearing glulam constructions for the terminal building’s large spanning roof. It was the largest timber construction of its kind in the world. Gardermoen, which was opened in 1998, was an even more prestigious undertaking than the Olympic village. Many orders for Gardermoen followed, and in 2008 Moelven Limtre AS supplied load-bearing glulam constructions for an expansion of the terminal building.
Group celebrates its centenary
Moelven celebrated its centenary in 1999. There are several companies within the group that are even older than the parent company, the oldest being Eidsvold Værk, which dates back to the 1670s. In its centenary year, Moelven teamed up with Swedish timber industry group, Bergkvist-Insjön and AB Karl Hedin, to form a new raw materials company in Sweden, Weda Skog, to secure access to raw materials.
20 new production plants in four years
In 2000 Moelven took over the timber-manufacturing business of the Norwegian industrial group Forestia, thereby increasing turnover by NOK 1.3 billion, the number of employees by 820 and the number of production plants by twelve. In the same year Moelven was represented at EXPO 2000 in Hannover together with the Norwegian Ministry of Trade and Industry and leading Norwegian companies. Moelven was responsible for building the Norwegian pavilion. In 2004 Moelven bought the Norwegian saw and planing mill group, Are, thus acquiring six new production plants, five of which were located in Sweden. In the same year Moelven took over Mobilarum AB in Värmland, a building module manufacturer, thus acquiring two more production plants in Sweden and 150 new employees.
Finnish owners
The Finnish wood products company, Finnforest, became the majority shareholder in Moelven in 2001 after purchasing shares from Norwegian and Swedish forest owners. Together the companies represented Europe’s largest wood working industry company. Moelven was delisted from the Oslo Stock Exchange in 2002.
Longest wooden bridge
The longest wooden bridge in the world to date was opened in 2003 in Flisa over the river Glomma. The bridge was built using Moelven glulam constructions.
Moelven back to beeing independent
On 15 December 2006 Eidsiva Vekst AS and the forestry cooperatives, Glommen Skog BA, Mjøsen Skog BA, Havass Skog BA, AT Skog BA and Viken Skog BA signed an agreement with the majority shareholder, Metsäliitto, buying Finnforest’s shares. Moelven was then once again independent after five years of Finnish ownership.
Moelven buys Trysil Skog
In November 2007 Moelven bought the wood working industry company, Trysil Skog AS, with 57 employees. The Trysil plant became part of the Moelven Wood division.
New partners join Moelven
In December 2007 Felleskjøpet Agri BA signed an agreement with Eidsiva Vekst regarding the purchase of 40% of Eidsiva’s shares in Moelven. This was done through buying shares in a company jointly owned with Eidsiva, Eidsiva MI AS.
A year of record profits
The Moelven group earned just under NOK 1 billion in 2007, and the year was one of the best ever for the wood working industry.
Nominated for World Building of the year 2008
Viken Skog BA’s office building outside Hønefoss in Norway was nominated in the office building category of World Building of the Year 2008 at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. The building contains solid wood and glulam from Moelven Massivtre AS and Moelven Limtre AS.
Major Glulam projects in Sweden and Norway
Moelven was involved in several spectacular glulam projects that attracted attention in 2008, including the Gardermoen international airport terminal building and a new sports and event stadium under a glulam roof, the Göransson Arena at Sandviken in Sweden.