A global company
with strong local roots.

Persson Innovation’s solid Swedish foundation and extensive global experience puts us in a strong position to refine and develop our sustainable paper handles to meet today’s needs and the demands of tomorrow.

The Persson 101

Persson Innovation was founded in 1982 by Sune Johansson and Olof Persson, establishing a manufacturing facility in Kumla, Sweden. Two years later the company moved to another site and that factory remains in use today.

The handles and applicator machines have always been designed, refined and developed in-house, with the primary
focus on the handles. Since the beginning, we have been operating globally, initially in Europe and then expanding to the USA, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Today, our dedicated team at Persson are responsible for everything from production and development to sales and marketing. All employees focus on keeping sustainability at the core of our business.

Company Timeline

1970s

Machine invented in the late 1970s

1982

Limited Company start 1982

1984

Moved in to current premises 1984

1990

Partnership with Nordgren for machines – first machine sold 1990

2012

Nordgren and Persson merge 2012

2018

Ceder Capital acquired Persson in 2018

Daring to take
a leading role

”We want to drive the development and use of sustainable materials with our production knowledge and expertise. After many years in the handle industry, we are able to contribute with our manufacturing experience, access to a global network and leverage strong customer relationships. We are constantly striving to fulfil our aspirations by developing innovative, sustainable products that support our customers and the environment.”

Kristian Nordgren, CEO Persson Innovation

Employee story: Tord Lund

About Tord och the role as machine operator

I work as a machine operator at the company and have worked in manufacturing and warehousing all my professional life. To me, a handle is not just a handle, there are an infinite number of variants to work with. There is constant development in terms of materials and design, and right now a large part of our focus is on environmentally friendly material choices.

How would you describe Persson Innovation as a workplace?

I am evolving all the time in a role that has a lot of responsibility, constantly dealing with problems to solve. I am always learning new things about our machines, making my job very exciting and rewarding. As a machine operator, you often work alone on a machine for long periods of time. However, there are times when depending on what orders we currently have, you are working at a different machine every day.

What do you see as the opportunities and challenges ahead for the company?

We constantly strive to deliver customer benefits that differentiate us from our competitors. Behind the scenes there is a lot of work continuously on quality improvment. I thrive at the company and look forward to taking on more opportunities and challenges in the future together with my colleagues.

”We constantly strive to deliver customer benefits that differentiate us from our competitors.”

Tord Lund, Machine Operator

Employee story: Lise-Lotte Atterling

About Lise-Lotte and the role of Quality and Environmental Manager

I have a background as a mechanical engineer and have worked at the company since 2017. I work with improving the work environment, quality and our environmental protection performance, where for example, together with our internal auditors we are responsible for our ISO and FSC certifications. I am also a workshop manager, with a team of five people who support me.

How would you describe Persson Innovation as a workplace?

It is an exciting company to be employed at with a remarkable, customizable product. Our main product is our handles, but we are also supplying handle applicator machines. Right now, we also have a number of development projects underway, with a focus on digitizing our processes, developing our machinery and refining our production system.

What do you see as the opportunities and challenges ahead for the company?

Since I started in 2017 a lot has happened, for example, now we are in a major innovation phase with our production process. What was previously handled manually is now digitized, providing valuable data to work with to improve efficiency and the quality of the work environment and environmental protection. We are in an expansive phase and production is rolling on like never before – I see a very bright future for us and the industry as a whole.

"It is an exciting company to be employed at with a remarkable, customizable product."

Lise-Lotte Atterling, Quality and Environmental Manager

References

Persson Innovation’s customers can be found all over the world, in a variety of industries where the common denominator is the need for smart handles that are durable, stylish and customer focused.

Here are the main industries we serve:

Pet food and cat litter

Detergent, liquid and dry

Bag in box packaging

Electronics

Housewares

E-commerce packaging

E-commerce meal kit industry

Club store merchandising

Food service take-out and delivery

Beverage packaging

Automotive parts packaging

Medical industry

We have the privilege of working with some of the world’s largest brands and leading manufacturers within these industries.

We work for a sustainable environment

Persson Innovation has a set of guidelines for our environmental efforts:

Minimize our usage of raw materials, commodities and energy.
Meet or exceed the requirements of the laws, regulations and ordinances regarding the environment.
Work preventatively, and strive for continuous improvement in the environmental field.
Strive to constantly work to decrease our use of resources, and the load our production and our products put on the environment and climate.
When it comes to our use of paper, all our handles are produced only using paper that meets the EC Regulation No. 1935/2004.
With regards to work environment, we work according to the Swedish
Work Environment Authority´s guidelines, and the company strives to continuously improve the work environment, safety and hygiene in collaboration with our employees.
Increase employee knowledge in environmental issues and actively motivate so that work is performed in an environmentally responsible way.
We are FSC® certified: DNV-COC-001235
If you want to read more about our environmental policy download a copy (as a PDF).