Bodycote unveils new Finnish premises

Bodycote Finland celebrated the opening of its new heat treatment centre in Tampere’s Vehmainen quarter on May 19th.

The new heat treatment centre on Vehmaisten Hyllilänkatu Street covers an area of 3,500 square metres with a ceiling height reaching to 16 metres.

In his opening speech, Bodycote Finland’s Managing Director, Erik Saviranta, commented that the company had not just invested in the size of the building, but also in the size of the new centre’s furnaces, the largest of which is intended primarily for the case-hardening and austempering of large machine parts, gear wheels and axles. The furnaces can accommodate parts of up to two metres in diameter, 2.5 metres in length and weighing up to ten tonnes.

‘A heat treatment furnace this size is fairly unusual even on the world stage while in a service context it is unique. Smaller pieces can be treated in the furnace and also in our vacuum and nitriding lines. The plant is highly automated and the modern metallographic laboratory has been designed with our ISO quality certification systems in mind, Mr Saviranta explained.

He went on to say that the reason for the opening of the new centre was simple. ‘The first heat and surface treatment plant in Tampere owned by Bodycote, then known as Suomen Bofors, was opened 40 years ago on Etu-Hankkio street. The old premises had become cramped and unable to address the new demands of machinery manufacturers. There has also been a marked increase in the number of transmission manufacturers of which several are in the Tampere area.’

‘The new furnaces are big enough to allow our local customers’ products to be treated here in Finland, avoiding them having to send their products to a distant location. The furnaces also afford our customers greater competitive flexibility to produce new products for international markets. The combination of increased capacity and automation means that this new venture facilitates more precise, faster deliveries, which is vital to the competitiveness of our machinery manufacturers.

Special attention paid to safety and environmental standards

Following Mr Saviranta’s speech, those at the opening were addressed by Technical Director, Ralf Lindqvist. In keeping with his title, Mr Lindqvist described the technical features of the centre, its dimensions, weights, process times and temperatures.

The environmental side of the new centre was also a focus of his address. ‘In creating this new facility, we have paid close attention to safety and environmental standards. New technology minimises the electrical energy consumed for each product and eliminates harmful emissions into the air or water. We operate a closed-water system. Water for cleaning is collected from a separate water treatment plant we have installed that allows hardening salts to be re-used. We’ve also addressed the comfort in the working environment with the addition of filters, for example, which keep the place clean by preventing smoke spilling out of the furnaces.’

Mr Lindqvist also pointed out that the new lines are fully automated. If required, night-time and weekend production can run unmanned. ‘The automation works in such a way that if there should be any malfunction, a text message alerting to the problem will be sent to a mobile phone of the duty person.’

The manager of the new case hardening centre, Veikko Rinta, nevertheless noted that there are no immediate plans to leave the furnaces unmanned. ‘We’ll continue to operate three shifts, even if theoretically we could run one shift unmanned. The most festive part of the opening, the actual inauguration, was carried out by Mr Jan Elwart, who is responsible for the heat treatment operations of Bodycote in Northern and Central Europe. Mr Elwart began by pointing out that making investments during an economic recession was difficult and required exact market research.

‘Tampere nevertheless meets all the pre-requisites. The city is well placed, has a good infrastructure and great customer relations. Nor should we forget what an important role is played in the process by our well trained and highly motivated workforce. And of course,’ he added, ‘our patient customers.’

Mr Elwart closed his address with a remark that had his audience in laughter. ‘I only know one word in Finnish – ‘Hölökynkölökyn’ (closest translation – bottoms up),’ he said, raising his champagne glass to toast the new plant.

Belief in the future, in the midst of the recession

After the speeches it was time to tour the furnaces. During the tour, Erik Saviranta expressed his thanks that Bodycote had been able to call upon the competencies of the whole Group when planning the investment in the centre.

‘When we were planning the process, we were helped, for example, by our people in Great Britain, in Germany, Holland and from the Nordic region. Of course, this also meant that we had many different points of view,’ he added.

But how did he, the Managing Director of Bodycote Finland, feel about opening the new centre in the middle of a recession?

‘Of course it’s true that we are living in trying, difficult times. It’s not pleasant to open your paper and find it full of redundancies and other signs of the recession. But we have faced up to challenges before in our history. We believe, that with the flexibility that our automation affords and with our investment in the latest technology, we are better able with our customers to compete and to address the challenges and possibilities the future brings,’ Mr Saviranta concluded.

As well as its plant in Tampere, Bodycote Finland also operates in Vantaa, Vaasa, Pieksämäki and Hämeenlinna. The company is part of the international Bodycote plc group which is the world’s largest metallurgical services company with a 2008 continuing operations turnover of GBP 552 million.