UPM Raflatac strengthens the competitiveness of its RFID business

(UPM, Helsinki, 8 May 2009 at 09:00 EET) – UPM Raflatac is planning to strengthen its RFID business in order to further secure its industry leadership. The plan includes turning the Jyväskylä facility in Finland into a development center equipped with special resources for global product and process development as well as for piloting new products. It is planned that production of RFID tags and inlays will be transferred from Jyväskylä to Guangzhou, China, and to Fletcher, North Carolina in the USA. Production at the new factory in Guangzhou and the Fletcher factory will be developed to meet the market demand.

At the time being the RFID business has around 200 employees. If all the measures are realized according to the plans, the number of employees will increase in Guangzhou and decrease in other locations. According to plans, the total number of employees of the RFID business will decrease by around 25 persons.

Plans concerning production transfer and development will be negotiated with employees according to local legislation. Opportunities for relocation within UPM as well as retraining will be handled as part of the negotiations. The proposed actions are estimated to be completed by the end of March 2010.

“With the planned measures we are seeking to improve our growth potential and future profitability. We will be stronger than before and focus on serving our customers and deployment of RFID. UPM Raflatac is committed to developing the RFID business and strengthening its current position as the globally leading producer of RFID tags and inlays,” says Christer Härkönen, Senior Vice President of the RFID business at UPM Raflatac.

For more information, please contact:

Mr Christer Härkönen, Senior Vice President, RFID, UPM Raflatac tel. +358 50 569 3342 (Between 11:00–12:00 EET and after 17:00 EET)

About UPM Raflatac
UPM Raflatac, part of UPM’s Engineered Materials business group, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of self-adhesive label materials and the world’s number one producer of HF and UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and inlays. UPM Raflatac has a global service network consisting of 14 factories on five continents and a broad network of sales offices and slitting and distribution terminals worldwide. UPM Raflatac employs 2,600 people and made sales of approximately EUR 1 billion in 2008. Further information is available at www.upmraflatac.com.

About UPM
UPM is one of the world’s leading forest industry groups. UPM consists of three Business Groups: Energy and Pulp, Paper, and Engineered materials. UPM’s competitiveness is based on cost-leadership, change readiness and leading innovation. The Group employs around 24,000 people and it has production facilities in 14 countries. In 2008, UPM made sales of EUR 9,5 billion. UPM’s shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange.

UPM, Corporate Communications
Media Desk, tel. +358 40 588 3284
communications@upm-kymmene.com