English - Vahterus Oy
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HOT &COLD<br />
V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0<br />
Future Forerunner<br />
page 6<br />
17 Years of<br />
Cooperation<br />
page 10<br />
1
HOT COLD<br />
2 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0<br />
3<br />
HOT & COLD<br />
Publisher<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong><br />
Pruukintie 7<br />
23600 Kalanti<br />
Tel. +358 2 84 070<br />
Fax +358 2 84 7299<br />
sales@vahterus.com<br />
www.vahterus.com<br />
Editor in Chief<br />
Sari Kesälä<br />
Interviews Raija Herrala-Nurmi<br />
Lay-out<br />
Esko Ruoranen<br />
Mainostoimisto Grafesko<br />
Press<br />
Euraprint<br />
On the cover<br />
Susanna Ventelä, welder,<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong><br />
33 Years of Plate Heat Exchanger<br />
Technology from Finland<br />
Anniversaries are a time to reflect and perhaps feel a little smug. This anniversary is no different.<br />
I hope that our readers can take the time to appreciate this matter which is very important to me.<br />
My story<br />
Although having grown up on a farm, I have had the unique opportunity to work with plate heat<br />
exchangers ever since my student days. I completed my Master’s degree at Tampere University of<br />
Technology where thesis focused on calculating the heat transfer coefficients and pressure drops<br />
for the first ever Finnish gasketed plate heat exchanger, developed by Rauma-Repola Uusikaupunki<br />
Shipyard’s thermotechnical department. That was back in 1978. With hindsight, it is now clear that my<br />
chosen topic was at the very core of understanding plate heat exchangers. The study in itself was basic<br />
and the methods discovered extremely simple, considering what we know now, but anyhow it was a<br />
starting point. We still work in cooperation with the same university and even with some of the same<br />
professors! I guess that means that we haven’t lost our youth.<br />
We were developing new innovations and finding new applications for plate heat exchangers even<br />
then. One example was a vacuum-operated distiller, based on vapour compression and plate heat<br />
exchangers that could be used to turn sea water into drinking water. We even succeeded in selling the<br />
invented technology to a wellknown Swedish plate heat exchanger manufacturer. Back then, there<br />
was already a considerable amount of expertise on both sides of the Gulf of Bothnia.<br />
I was lucky enough to find interesting work close to my home for over ten years, mostly involving<br />
district heating applications for properties, mainly for Finnish customers.<br />
Unfortunately, the company that employed me decided to sell its heat exchanger business to a<br />
competitor and close down the local production facilities. The decision came as a surprise and was a<br />
nasty shock to me. I suddenly found myself in a situation where I had to find a work in order to survive.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong><br />
We had an idea to develop a new kind of a plate heat exchanger that could combine the good heat<br />
transfer properties of a plate heat exchanger and and still handle the pressure strength without rubber<br />
gaskets. That historical moment was 20 years ago today. The new company was named <strong>Vahterus</strong>, which<br />
is the name of the village where I was born and where I still live with my wife, Sinikka.<br />
The <strong>Vahterus</strong> product family has developed in many ways but the basic structure of our heat<br />
exchangers has remained the same. The range of applications is also now more extensive than I could<br />
have even imagined, let alone comprehended, in the beginning.<br />
These new opportunities are all thanks to our customers and wonderful staff. We have tried to<br />
respond to new opportunities to the best of our ability. We have had some amazing successes, but<br />
there has been frustrations as well.<br />
Customers<br />
For one reason or another, we have always been able to find customers who are interested in the new<br />
heat exchanger solutions which we offer and develope together with our customers.<br />
Our foreign customers have shown incredible bravery in buying our products. After all, we began<br />
as a brand new start-up business selling completely unprecedented heat exchanger solutions from a<br />
little place called Kalanti in Finland. That’s quite a risk to take.<br />
I would especially like to mention Mr. John Wijbenga, Mr. Angelo Richelli, Mr. Tjark De Lange and Mr.<br />
Chris Trevatt. Their companies have been our customers since the very beginning, and still are.<br />
I would like to thank all of you wonderful people for your continued customship and unwavering<br />
commitment. We have customers on every continent, and export trade has accounted for more than<br />
90 percent of our production for a number of years. For us, customer is The King! And we want to<br />
continue proving that to you also in the future!<br />
Committed staff<br />
Growing from three to 150 employees has demanded flexibility and personal growth from all of us.<br />
The company’s development and physical growth would not have been possible without the strong<br />
team spirit of our staff. I want to thank you all for our years together and for the work that you have<br />
done for <strong>Vahterus</strong> and for the success of us all. Together we have been able to be flexible when faceing<br />
financial hardships and to stretch ourselves under pressure. Thank you!<br />
Initiative and innovation have been the cornerstones of our development. The fact that we were<br />
voted the sixth best enterprise in Finland in terms of initiative last year is an excellent proof to this.<br />
We value extremely high the drive to grow and the will to succeed.<br />
Our future together<br />
We believe in heat exchange technology. With our DYNAMO 2014 project we are paving the way for continuing<br />
our strong growth in the future. We need new drive and momentum, and our goal is to generate<br />
this together with our customers as an independent enterprise.<br />
Together we can make heat exchange technology a source of pride and joy!<br />
Mauri Kontu<br />
Managing Director<br />
&<br />
Deeply Rooted<br />
in Countryside<br />
Juha Suominen.<br />
“The sheep were bleating, just on the other side<br />
of the wall – this shows just how deeply rooted<br />
we are in countryside!” says Quality Manager<br />
Juha Suominen, laughing about <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ early<br />
years.<br />
Technician Jorma Laaksonen and Financial<br />
Director Sinikka Kontu also smile as they<br />
remember the first facilities in the corner of an<br />
old farm building – and particularly how shocked<br />
visitors were by the smell of the sheep pens. All<br />
three were involved right from the start when<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s production of heat exchangers<br />
began at Mauri and Sinikka Kontu’s little farm in<br />
the village of <strong>Vahterus</strong>.<br />
In the early years, the company only<br />
employed a handful of people and some of them<br />
only worked part-time. Everyone got involved<br />
in all aspects of the business, in the spirit of<br />
fearless innovation. Sinikka Kontu handled all<br />
the paperwork single-handedly without any<br />
computers.<br />
Now there are a total of 150 people working<br />
with heat exchangers and the amount of<br />
production facilities has increased twenty-fold.<br />
“Development has been incredible”, says Juha<br />
Suominen. He himself joined the company in May<br />
1991 as a sheet-metal welder. Over the years, he<br />
progressed to welding coordinator and three<br />
years ago to Quality Manager.<br />
A disastrous fire interrupted the company’s<br />
early operations in the Autumn of 1993. Most of<br />
the machinery and equipment – built at great<br />
effort – was destroyed, but a few of the more<br />
important items such as the plate press and<br />
sheet-metal machines were saved.<br />
The break in operations lasted just a<br />
few months. New facilities were found at an<br />
almost empty dairy in Kalanti where another<br />
engineering company had previously operated.<br />
From here it all started. Mauri and Sinikka walking in <strong>Vahterus</strong> village.<br />
The dairy, now the Lahti Hall, felt big at first but<br />
soon filled up and was expanded. In 2000, the<br />
new larger Arvassalo Hall was completed at the<br />
same site, and in 2008 another new production<br />
facility, the 2,600 m² Santtio Hall, entered service<br />
on a larger plot of land.<br />
The three of them remember how the brand<br />
new facilities felt enormous but soon began to<br />
feel cramped as the size and volume of products<br />
grew and the number of machines increased.<br />
“It didn’t occur to anyone that space would<br />
run out here”, says Sinikka, remembering the<br />
move to the dairy in 1994.<br />
Now even the newest hall is already becoming<br />
cramped and the next plans for expansion are<br />
ready and waiting for the right time.<br />
Jorma Laaksonen, who works at assembly<br />
line, considers the advent of automation as the<br />
greatest change in his job. Nowadays there are an<br />
increasing number of such automated machines<br />
at <strong>Vahterus</strong> production facilities.<br />
So far, the late 1990s have proven to be the<br />
period of most dynamic growth. At that time<br />
work was being done night and day, especially<br />
when new products were sold even before the<br />
machinery was ready for it’s manufacturing.<br />
“That was an amazingly busy time”, they all say,<br />
remembering the enthusiasm that prevailed.<br />
“In this family business that has grown from<br />
small to medium-sized, we still try to be one<br />
family wherever it is possible.”<br />
“Mauri makes a tour around the halls in the<br />
mornings and once a month we all get together<br />
for a joint assembly”, says Sinikka.<br />
Over two decades the turnover of staff has<br />
been very small. Many of the employees were<br />
recruited from the nearby region and were<br />
already familiar with the company.<br />
Juha Suominen.<br />
Jorma Laaksonen.
HOT COLD<br />
4 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0<br />
5<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> Village<br />
gains International<br />
Recognition<br />
Aili Kontu.<br />
Aili Kontu, now aged 90, still lives on the Kontu estate in her<br />
beloved home village of <strong>Vahterus</strong>, the very same place where<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> was founded.<br />
“A rural village was a healthy place for our children to grow<br />
up,” she muses.<br />
Her twin boys played sport with their father, Eino Kontu, and were<br />
involved in the farm work from an early age. Aili also believes that her<br />
three children learned a lot from the large elderly population living in<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> at the time.<br />
Aili recalls how her ‘boys’ – who at the time were admittedly grown<br />
men taking their first steps on promising engineering careers – used to<br />
sit at the table across from each other, each holding a pencil, scribbling<br />
calculations and conversing in muted voices. Aappo was the one who<br />
told their mother that Mauri intended to launch a business and even<br />
had a name ready: <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>.<br />
Aili liked the name; even if she had her doubts about the enterprise,<br />
at least her beautiful home village would go down in history regardless<br />
of what happened to the business.<br />
The potency of Mauri’s invention only dawned on Aili when the new<br />
heat exchanger won a prize at an exhibition in Holland.<br />
“At that point I started to think that he was onto something!”<br />
Now, in her advanced years, Aili is grateful for and delighted with the<br />
success that her son has achieved over the last 20 years. She has seen<br />
the hard work that both Mauri and Sinikka have put into expanding the<br />
business. One half of the couple travels around the world sealing deals,<br />
while the other keeps the wheels turning back at home.<br />
Aili is also delighted to see how the old dairy that has played an<br />
important role in Kalanti’s history has been restored to its former glory<br />
under the tenancy of <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>. What’s more, the name of <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
village is now known in completely new parts of the world.<br />
“The company has sold products all over the globe and the <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
name has spread like wildfire,” Aili muses happily.<br />
Working<br />
Together to<br />
Keep With<br />
the Times<br />
Two Decades of<br />
Partnership With<br />
a Boiler Supplier<br />
Turku-based Noviter <strong>Oy</strong> has been one<br />
of <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s oldest customers and<br />
partners.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s Managing Director<br />
Mauri Kontu emphasises that Noviter<br />
played a key role in <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ early days.<br />
“We received our first product orders<br />
from Noviter, and this is how <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
heat exchangers got on the market.<br />
Noviter had a significant effect on helping<br />
us kick-start our business and begin<br />
production!”<br />
Noviter is now part of MW Power<br />
group.<br />
Subcontract<br />
Projects<br />
Ranging from the<br />
Sawing of Machine<br />
Shells to the<br />
Manufacture of<br />
Billets for Base<br />
Structures<br />
Rautarakenne S. Lipponen Ky, one<br />
of <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s longest standing<br />
subcontractors and partners, is<br />
located at the Mannersuo industrial<br />
area in Kalanti, only a stone’s throw away from<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong>’s Santtio-hall factory. The company,<br />
which specialises in heavy metal structures, was<br />
founded in 1984, just a few years before <strong>Vahterus</strong>.<br />
In addition to Managing Director Sampo<br />
&<br />
Russia’s military villages taught Turkubased<br />
Noviter <strong>Oy</strong> an important lesson on<br />
the international market’s ever-growing<br />
quality demands.<br />
“Foreign consultants, primarily German ones,<br />
had different demands from those we were<br />
accustomed to,” recalls Pentti Koivikko, who has<br />
worked in Noviter’s management and sales team<br />
for two decades.<br />
Noviter <strong>Oy</strong> was one of <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ first<br />
customers in the beginning of the 1990s, and<br />
cooperation between the two continues to this<br />
day. <strong>Vahterus</strong> manufactured heat exchangers<br />
for the boiler plants Noviter supplied to Russian<br />
military villages. Nearly 40 new residential areas,<br />
military villages and neighbourhoods were built<br />
for demobbed soldiers returning home from<br />
the German Democratic Republic and from<br />
elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Germans funded<br />
and helped the transfer process.<br />
“For our Russian projects we used welded<br />
plate heat exchangers developed by <strong>Vahterus</strong>.<br />
We found they were of higher quality than other<br />
models. Almost every boiler plant was equipped<br />
with one or more of these,” Koivikko explains.<br />
Noviter, which was originally a privatelyowned<br />
engineering consulting firm, is now part<br />
of the MW Power Group, an energy technology<br />
subsidiary jointly owned by Metso and Wärtsilä,<br />
which has set its sights on the growing bioenergy<br />
market, among other goals.<br />
Koivikko retired just over a year ago and looks<br />
back on his work-filled days at the company with<br />
obvious pleasure. In Finland, Noviter has supplied<br />
boiler plants to municipally-owned power plants<br />
in particular. The most powerful of these have<br />
been supplied to domestic locations.<br />
At the very beginning of the 21st century<br />
Lipponen, the company employs five in-house<br />
workmen and a large number of subcontractors.<br />
Today, most of the company’s products are sold<br />
to construction firms.<br />
“Our partnership with <strong>Vahterus</strong> began quite<br />
soon after the company was founded. In 1991<br />
and 1992, we sawed the first shells for <strong>Vahterus</strong>’<br />
heat exchangers,” Sampo Lipponen recalls.<br />
Today, <strong>Vahterus</strong> manufactures its own heat<br />
exchanger shells but cooperation between<br />
the companies has continued, for example in<br />
the manufacture of metal base structures and<br />
their billets. Additionally, <strong>Vahterus</strong> has a need<br />
requirement for different small machine parts,<br />
frequently but at irregular intervals, for which<br />
Rautarakenne S. Lipponen’s machinery is tailormade.<br />
These parts are ordered by e-mail and can<br />
be picked up when they are ready.<br />
Additionally, Rautarakenne S. Lipponen has a<br />
wider range of raw materials always available in<br />
their warehouse.<br />
“As our companies are situated close to one<br />
another, <strong>Vahterus</strong> staff will occasionally come<br />
to pick up materials they need, and if we are<br />
busy they sometimes even use our machines<br />
themselves and leave a note about it,” Lipponen<br />
says describing the open working relationship<br />
between the companies.<br />
Every day, cooperation between the<br />
neighbouring companies takes place seamlessly<br />
Noviter focused its operations on boilers<br />
powered by biofuel by acquiring a share in one of<br />
the field’s top design companies.<br />
“In hindsight this is one of the wisest decisions<br />
the company has ever made,” Koivikko assesses.<br />
Bioenergy use is experiencing strong growth.<br />
In Finland, the government is working to step<br />
up the use of biofuel with measures such as the<br />
new “twig package”, in which the government<br />
provides subsidies for production of renewable<br />
energy sources. The change in direction meant<br />
that work continued at Noviter, but now as part of<br />
a bigger group.<br />
At Noviter <strong>Vahterus</strong> heat exchangers are used<br />
for preheating combustion air and fuel in plants<br />
that run on gas and heavy oil. Use of biofuels<br />
poses the additional challenge that, as these fuels<br />
have high moisture content, both the fuel and<br />
the machines treating it must be kept unfrozen in<br />
winter conditions – even when temperatures are<br />
below freezing. Structures and conveyors require<br />
individual heating circuits through which glycol<br />
or some other antifreeze fluid circulates. By this<br />
way even wet wood chips can be moved from the<br />
storage silo to the boiler.<br />
In Koivikko’s experience <strong>Vahterus</strong> plate heat<br />
exchangers have shown that their structure is<br />
both straightforward and reliable. They endure<br />
high pressures as well as high temperatures and<br />
have no practical usage limitations. The heat<br />
exchangers’ surfaces are made of stainless steel<br />
or acid-resistant materials, allowing the use of<br />
limitless types of heat-transfer fluids without<br />
worrying about corrosion damages to the<br />
machinery.<br />
“The heat exchangers performs just as<br />
promised and no problems have arisen,” Koivikko<br />
specifies.<br />
in both directions. Rautarakenne S. Lipponen<br />
has also occasionally needed a certain size pipe<br />
which they have been able to pick up from their<br />
neighbour’s warehouse.<br />
In times of urgent need a partner close by can<br />
be of great assistance.<br />
”The small size of our workshop enables us to<br />
be flexible and therefore delivery times do not<br />
stretch to a week or two. If our customer is in a<br />
hurry, we can even have the required part ready<br />
on the same day,” Lipponen explains.<br />
Additionally, these good neighbours have<br />
naturally helped one another in expansion<br />
ventures. Rautarakenne S. Lipponen’s field of<br />
expertise is manufacturing steel structures for<br />
buildings, which were recently needed when<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> expanded its facilities to include a<br />
new production hall. Lipponen’s company is also<br />
beginning to expand its own facilities and has<br />
already had “a helping hand” from its neighbour<br />
in the form of HVAC design expertise.<br />
Cooperation between the companies has<br />
continued in a spirit of openness and trust for<br />
some 20 years already, and there has never been<br />
any problems.<br />
Sampo Lipponen is particularly happy that<br />
cooperation between companies within the same<br />
area works so efficiently.<br />
“<strong>Vahterus</strong> often uses the services of local<br />
subcontractors, as do I. It is important that<br />
Pentti Koivikko<br />
Noviter has become accustomed to always<br />
receiving excellent service from <strong>Vahterus</strong>.<br />
Koivikko is especially pleased at how quickly<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> has always provided answers when<br />
Noviter has needed information on technical<br />
aspects or prices in sales situations. Although<br />
each solution is custom-made, the design plans<br />
are usually received during the same day or the<br />
next day at the latest. Sizing and pricing is carried<br />
out quickly. “And in joint projects deliveries have<br />
always been prompt,” he adds.<br />
Noviter’s and <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ common history also<br />
includes a joint project with Eesti Termotehnika<br />
in Tallinn, Estonia. “<strong>Vahterus</strong> designed the heat<br />
exchanger model that they would be pressing in<br />
Tallinn, and we at Noviter provided the mould,”<br />
Koivikko explains.<br />
Noviter sold its share of the company in 2006,<br />
but production is still going on in Estonia by new<br />
owners.<br />
Sampo Lipponen<br />
companies located in the same area work<br />
together for mutual gain.<br />
It is exceptionally pleasing that <strong>Vahterus</strong> was<br />
founded here in Kalanti and that it has found an<br />
international market niche!”
HOT COLD<br />
6 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0<br />
7<br />
Future Forerunner<br />
“We aim to be the<br />
forerunner in the area of<br />
plate heat exchangers, a<br />
leader in the technology.<br />
We are working towards this goal and believe in<br />
strong growth,” summarises Managing Director<br />
Mauri Kontu.<br />
Every four or five years, <strong>Vahterus</strong> defines its<br />
long-term strategy. The strategy established last<br />
year was entitled Dynamo 2014.<br />
The name reflects the extra drive and strength<br />
we are working for together. We have also set our<br />
production and result targets to be reached by<br />
2014. Our target is an annual production rate of<br />
10,000 units – so we are facing a great growth<br />
challenge.<br />
The Dynamo process resulted in a compact,<br />
more customer-friendly strategy. The three most<br />
important points are:<br />
“The customer is our number one priority,<br />
we must have the desire to succeed and, finally,<br />
we must be enthusiastic about change,” stresses<br />
Kontu.<br />
These points have been discussed together<br />
with our entire 150-member team. The strategy<br />
must be applied in practice and it must be seen in<br />
our every-day work.<br />
A leader in the technology must have thorough<br />
knowledge of the production and heat technology<br />
as well as engineering skills.<br />
“This requires a strong investment in product<br />
development and research,” says Kontu.<br />
The company cooperates with three<br />
universities of technology and several other<br />
research and educational institutions.<br />
Other corner stones are development of<br />
the skills of our own personnel and an active<br />
outlook. There seems to be plenty of readiness<br />
to change and improve, as <strong>Vahterus</strong> is one of<br />
the top companies in proposing development<br />
initiatives amongst small and medium-sized<br />
companies in Finland. In 2009, the company<br />
was sixth in proposing initiatives per person<br />
within the entire Finnish industrial sector.<br />
“We have worked consistently to develop<br />
our quality management systems and<br />
guidance. We value improvement and positive<br />
change. We try to maintain a good level of<br />
communication within our departments,” says<br />
Kontu.<br />
Development team work enables us to look<br />
at issues that the employees themselves want<br />
to improve in their workplace.<br />
Eyes on 2 0 1 4<br />
Some of the greatest global challenges of the<br />
21st century are saving energy and protecting<br />
the environment. Heat technology is one of<br />
the fields which has a lot to offer.<br />
“We are operating in a good field of<br />
business.” Our technology can help to carry<br />
out projects by using natural and climatefriendly<br />
media. Other important benefits of<br />
our products are saved space and wide range<br />
of usage. The small size enables savings to be<br />
achieved, especially with new investments.<br />
More opportunities are offered by the<br />
increased use of and greater requirements<br />
for cooling technology. Large refrigerated<br />
warehouses and systems used by retailers<br />
require new cooling solutions. At the moment,<br />
approximately half of our production goes to<br />
cooling technology applications.<br />
“The customer is our<br />
number one priority,<br />
we must have the desire to<br />
succeed and, finally,<br />
we must be enthusiastic<br />
about change”<br />
&<br />
Closer customer relations<br />
“The important aspect of the Dynamo strategy is<br />
its aim to increase and widen our expertise. This<br />
way we can meet our customer’s requirements<br />
more efficiently,” says Kontu.<br />
We must get close to the customer so that<br />
together we can find the heat exchange solutions<br />
that make their operations effortless. Kontu is<br />
convinced that the customers’ needs must be<br />
anticipated before the customers themselves<br />
realise it.<br />
“We must be able to present a plan and ask<br />
if they would find it helpful to do thing this way.<br />
When we know our customer’s field of business<br />
well enough, we can develop whole new<br />
products in cooperation with the customer.”<br />
Acquiring the necessary knowledge of the<br />
customers’ area of expertise is a great challenge<br />
for the <strong>Vahterus</strong> personnel.<br />
“It is important that we train our own people<br />
to know our customers’ area of operation. This<br />
calls for investments. But our customers are also<br />
prepared to provide us with training, show us<br />
around their production facilities, demonstrate<br />
their work processes and explain their priorities.”<br />
R ecov er y in sight<br />
Even though the recession in 2009 also hit heat<br />
exchanger production, <strong>Vahterus</strong> has held on<br />
to its employees. Today, Kontu sees clear signs<br />
of recovery. There will soon be the need again<br />
for more personnel to meet the increased<br />
production targets.<br />
The main production facilities will remain in<br />
Kalanti. However, the growing market, especially<br />
in Asia and America, will also require the launch<br />
of production elsewhere by 2014. This location<br />
is likely to be somewhere close to these growing<br />
markets.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong>, which celebrates its 20th<br />
anniversary this year, is still a very small operator<br />
on the market despite its rapid growth.<br />
“The market is entirely open if you have<br />
the right product and expertise. It is up to us<br />
to ensure that we all have work to do,” stresses<br />
Mauri Kontu.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong>’ Strength<br />
– Where Does it Come from?<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s twenty-year journey as a business enterprise<br />
is a significant achievement. With its own specialised heat<br />
exchanger solutions the company has found its niche<br />
and its customer-base in the competitive international<br />
markets. The company’s development has been extraordinarily<br />
focussed; the family enterprise that was founded in the family’s<br />
barn in the village of <strong>Vahterus</strong> in Kalanti, Finland, now employs 150<br />
staff members. Ninety percent of the company’s customer base<br />
are situated outside of Finland, in over one hundred countries<br />
across all continents. Everyone at <strong>Vahterus</strong> can and should be<br />
proud of this achievement. Very few companies have managed<br />
this sort of feat.<br />
I have had the opportunity to follow <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ development<br />
from its very start as Chairman of the Board and an owner of a<br />
small share of the company. This has been extremely interesting<br />
and rewarding as I have been part of a growing family enterprise,<br />
whose award-winning technological solutions are recognised all<br />
around the world. I am very grateful for this opportunity.<br />
Where does <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ strength come from? This strength that<br />
has seen the company grow in profitability for 20 years, between<br />
10–50 percent annually. Few companies can achieve this level<br />
of growth. As a company develops, there are constant bottle<br />
necks that need resolving. Sometimes these arise in sales, design,<br />
production, financing, financial administration, patents, resource<br />
allocation or in product deliveries, to name just a few examples.<br />
It has been astonishing to witness how many different business<br />
areas the company and its staff have been able to continuously<br />
develop and grow through training and learning.<br />
I have tried to come up with the reason behind <strong>Vahterus</strong>’<br />
vitality during its twenty-year success story. The following is my<br />
own summary of the key factors:<br />
• the drive exhibited by the company’s owner,Mauri Kontu,<br />
• the company has kept its feet on the ground,<br />
• <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ continuous technological outlook, expertise and its<br />
ability to come up with new innovations,<br />
• the company being a family enterprise in Kalanti in the<br />
Vakka-Suomi sub-region of Finland,<br />
• the company’s decision makers are known<br />
• a continuous desire to develop and to challenge the markets<br />
with the company’s own different solutions.<br />
When <strong>Vahterus</strong> was first founded it was built on Mauri’s vision and<br />
enthusiasm. He has now gained a group of enthusiastic people to<br />
work with. Sinikka Kontu’s skilled management of the company’s<br />
financial administration has also played a key role. However, as the<br />
company’s operations have expanded, its success has been built<br />
on the enthusiasm and commitment of the large group of experts<br />
at <strong>Vahterus</strong> and on the trust shown by its customers.<br />
The long period of development has of course also included<br />
its fair share of growing pains, surprises and even failures. But the<br />
company has learned from these and grown as a result. Having a<br />
successful business includes taking controlled risks – sometimes<br />
even large ones. In a family enterprise a certain level of caution is<br />
a basic principle, as it is important to ensure the family’s interests<br />
in the long-term. A good indicator of this is the company’s strong<br />
financial standing even after a year of recession. This is a good<br />
place to continue from as growth begins again.<br />
After a well-earned moment of celebration, work will continue<br />
at <strong>Vahterus</strong>. The company sees many opportunities to continue<br />
along this growth path in its present and new markets and with<br />
products that are innovative and constantly being developed. It<br />
is important that the company ensures that both its customers<br />
and staff remain enthusiastic and committed in the future. I<br />
believe that by continuing as a family enterprise and by keeping<br />
family enterprise values at the heart of the company <strong>Vahterus</strong> will<br />
continue its positive development.<br />
I would like to thank the entire staff at <strong>Vahterus</strong> for their<br />
excellent work and I wish them every success in the future –<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> has a lot of strength!<br />
Aappo Kontu<br />
Chairman of the Board
HOT COLD<br />
8 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0<br />
9<br />
They had with them a circular piece of<br />
corrugated metal which they claimed to<br />
be the next generation in heat exchanger<br />
technology – the piece of metal was just<br />
200mm in diameter with corrugations pressed<br />
into it every 4 or 5 mm which made it look similar<br />
to a conventional plate heat exchanger plate,<br />
only it was circular rather than rectangular. One of<br />
the men, Mauri Kontu explained the technology<br />
– “each of these plates is welded to the next to<br />
make a fully welded plate heat exchanger” he<br />
explained, “however, the plate pack is circular. The<br />
whole plate pack is then put in a shell – from the<br />
outside it looks like a shell & tube exchanger, but<br />
has the performance of a Plate type, only there<br />
are no gaskets”. This to us was very interesting –<br />
APV had been making plate type heat exchangers<br />
since the 1920’s and had developed the product<br />
into a highly efficient product. However, joining<br />
the plates had always been done with gaskets.<br />
In one respect this was beneficial in that after<br />
time the gaskets would wear out and needed<br />
replacing, providing a very useful and profitable<br />
revenue stream. However the gasket was also a<br />
weakness as pressure containment was limited<br />
to 25-30 Bar and temperatures limited to -30 to<br />
+ 200 degC due to the limits of the elastomeric<br />
materials employed. Some attempts had been<br />
made at introducing laser welded cassette type<br />
plate pairs. This meant that highly corrosive<br />
media could be placed on the welded side of the<br />
unit but there were still elastomeric materials<br />
sealing the secondary side which again gave<br />
limitations on pressure and temperature.<br />
he idea of a circular welded plate had great<br />
T potential and the APV engineers pounced on<br />
the two guys wanting to know how many had<br />
been made, what references and applications had<br />
they been used in, and so on.<br />
It turned out that the product was quite new<br />
– it had been the brainchild of Mauri Kontu when<br />
he had been working at Rauma Repola, a pressure<br />
vessel company, a few years earlier. He had formed<br />
the company, <strong>Vahterus</strong>, shortly after to provide a<br />
vehicle to develop the product further. During the<br />
few years that the company had been operating<br />
they had supplied several units, mainly into the<br />
arduous District Heating sector, but needed to<br />
expand the marketing of the product further –<br />
hence the interest in partnering with APV. APV, in<br />
turn, desperately needed new products in what<br />
was becoming a highly competitive market and<br />
the ‘Plate and Shell’ technology, which is what the<br />
product came to be called, was the ideal solution.<br />
An agreement was drawn up and the two<br />
companies began co-operating. It wasn’t long<br />
however before we discovered that there were<br />
significant differences between the expectations<br />
of the APV personnel and what their Finnsh<br />
counterparts were able to deliver. “The standard<br />
of engineering drawings were significantly<br />
different to what we were used to and the level<br />
of documentation was below the expectations of<br />
the demanding markets that we served” recalled<br />
Adrian Foster – the APV Product Manager at<br />
the time. “Over time we worked together to get<br />
common standards that were acceptable to the<br />
APV client base”<br />
UK<br />
I was first introduced to the<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> product in 1993 – the<br />
APV stand at the Process &<br />
Chemical Industry Exhibition had<br />
been visited by a couple of<br />
Finnish gentlemen asking if APV<br />
Heat Transfer might be interested<br />
in marketing their product.<br />
As the product was introduced to the market<br />
place it was quickly discovered that the<br />
capacity of the 200mm diameter plate was a<br />
major limitation and development started on the<br />
300mm, and then sometime later the 500mm.<br />
Whilst the product had great potential, the<br />
level of testing and understanding of how it could<br />
operate under different conditions needed to be<br />
explored further to exploit the full benefits that the<br />
product could offer. Fortunately we had a number<br />
of clients who could help us with the development<br />
work.<br />
One customer Croda, a chemical processing<br />
company, were desperate for a high<br />
performance, compact welded heat exchanger<br />
to replace a troublesome gasketed unit. The<br />
conventional plate heat exchanger had special<br />
gaskets which cost over 30000 GBP to replace<br />
and, due to the arduous temperature cycling<br />
nature of the application, the gaskets were being<br />
replaced several times each year. It became clear<br />
that a 500mm Plate and Shell unit would be<br />
the ideal solution – unfortunately <strong>Vahterus</strong> had<br />
never made one before! This did not stop the<br />
entrepreneurial spirit of the <strong>Vahterus</strong> engineers<br />
who set about designing the plate geometry,<br />
the tooling and the manufacturing processes to<br />
bring the new product on stream. “The unit was<br />
delivered in 6 months, which was miraculous<br />
given that <strong>Vahterus</strong> had never made a unit of this<br />
size before” commented one of the Croda Process<br />
Engineers. The exchanger went into service in<br />
1995 and is still giving excellent service today.<br />
Another example of the <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
entrepreneurial spirit was when APV received<br />
a call from a major fine chemical manufacturer.<br />
They had experienced significant failures of<br />
first brazed exchangers, then gasketed types in<br />
a Thermal Oil heating and cooling duty – the<br />
application had significant rapid changes in<br />
temperatures and the brazed units cracked after<br />
a short time in service, whilst the gasketed units<br />
leaked as the gaskets contracted at a different<br />
rate to the surrounding metalwork, which in<br />
turn reduced the clamping force on the seals.<br />
The client wanted to know what experience we<br />
had in using the <strong>Vahterus</strong> exchangers in such<br />
an arduous application – we had no choice but<br />
to say “none!”. After reviewing the operating<br />
conditions we agreed to supply the units as<br />
we felt that the Plate and Shell exchanger had<br />
the ability to accommodate shock loads of this<br />
nature – the client agreed to them being installed<br />
on trial. Again these exchangers are working<br />
happily some 13 years later. <strong>Vahterus</strong> have gone<br />
on to supply several hundred exchangers to all<br />
the major Fine Chemical and Pharmaceutical<br />
companies such as GSK, Pfizer, Novartis etc since<br />
then.<br />
Most heat exchangers are designed around<br />
low viscosity liquids and handling high<br />
viscosities is always a challenge – <strong>Vahterus</strong> were<br />
helped in understanding how well the product<br />
could perform when Recticel, a high density foam<br />
manufacturer, agreed to use PSHE technology<br />
on its new production facility. It was not possible<br />
to use a conventional plate heat exchanger due<br />
&<br />
to the pressure generated by the high viscosity<br />
chemicals involved and a Shell & Tube exchanger<br />
could not achieve the thermal performance<br />
required. A 500mm plate unit was supplied in<br />
1998, which is still functioning today, handling<br />
viscosities up to 10,000 cP.<br />
During 1998 the APV group of companies was<br />
sold and, with the uncertainty of the future<br />
of the heat transfer division, I left the company<br />
and shortly afterwards, with Adrian Foster formed<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> UK in 1999. Since then we have had the<br />
privilege of seeing the <strong>Vahterus</strong> organisation<br />
continue to grow significantly.<br />
One of the most alluring aspects of the<br />
PSHE was the potential of its pressure retaining<br />
capabilities – housed in an outer pressure<br />
vessel shell, in theory at least the pressure<br />
capability could be as high as 200 Bar. Again<br />
one of our clients was willing to help us push the<br />
boundaries. In 1999 an application working with<br />
a product development test house required rapid<br />
cooling of an air/water mixture at 105 BarG. The<br />
idea was to introduce water to the high pressure<br />
air stream at the inlet to the exchanger to aid the<br />
cooling process. In addition to the exchanger a<br />
carefully designed spray tube was incorporated<br />
into the design and mounted in the inlet nozzle.<br />
More recently an exchanger designed as<br />
an input gas heater for the offshore industry<br />
has been supplied which is capable of a design<br />
pressure of 200 BarG. The exchanger was<br />
manufactured from duplex materials throughout<br />
and during proof testing a sample plate pack was<br />
pressurised to over 700 BarG.<br />
Since the inception of <strong>Vahterus</strong> UK in 1999 we<br />
have been instrumental in introducing the<br />
PSHE technology into a variety of applications<br />
and industries. Some of the more interesting<br />
projects include:<br />
• LPG process heaters and condensers for on board ship<br />
• Solvent Condensers for the chemical industry<br />
- including a major project for GSK supplying 27<br />
Hastelloy units<br />
• CO2 Condensers for the refrigeration sector<br />
• Amine interchangers for Gas Processing facilities<br />
• Crude Oil Heaters, Coolers for the Offshore Industry<br />
• 100 BarG Heavy Crude Heaters (20,000 cP)<br />
• Retort Heater/Coolers for pet food processing<br />
• Syrup Heaters for the confectionary industry<br />
• Steam Condensers for Combined Cycle Power Stations<br />
The past 17 years working with <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
have provided some interesting challenges<br />
and success stories, ups and downs, new<br />
opportunities and achievements. All in all the<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> story has been one of entrepreneurism,<br />
tenacity and stamina – Congratulations, <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
<strong>Oy</strong>, on your 20 year celebration!<br />
Chris Trevatt<br />
Managing Director<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> UK<br />
Maintaining International<br />
Certification Requires<br />
Continuous Work<br />
Making sure that certification and quality management systems are in line with those<br />
recognised around the world requires constant attention. <strong>Vahterus</strong> is currently<br />
undergoing a regular audit for the ASME certification and is in the process of<br />
applying for Korea Gas Safety Corporation (KGS) certification.<br />
“We are also quite far along in the process of acquiring supplier approval for the Russian<br />
nuclear power industry. We have just undergone an audit for this and are awaiting feedback,”<br />
explains Paavo Pitkänen, <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ Technical Director.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> has been ISO 9001 certified since 2003. The company also meets the quality<br />
requirements for welding (EN ISO 3438), the EN 14001 environmental quality management<br />
system and the OHSAS 18001 occupational health and safety system, the last two being<br />
awarder last year.<br />
There can be quite a difference between different systems, for example, between European,<br />
American and Chinese systems. Each requires slightly different operating methods, which<br />
means that the finished product also differs depending on where in the world it will be<br />
delivered.<br />
”In Europe operations are assessed in depth in accordance with the ISO system, which<br />
means that the European Pressure Equipment Directive (PED) is based on a different system<br />
than the American equivalent, ASME, which also includes very strict requirements for the<br />
design and manufacture of pressure equipment and the materials used for this,” Pitkänen<br />
continues.<br />
Acquiring entirely new certification can take up to half a year. The systems are also<br />
constantly re-audited. The ASME and China’s corresponding certification are renewed once<br />
every three years and the ISO system once a year.<br />
“We are constantly undergoing one audit or another. Experts come here to assess what<br />
our quality management systems state and whether our operations conform with them,”<br />
Pitkänen explains. Assessors familiarise themselves with the manufacture of heat exchangers<br />
at grass root level.<br />
Pitkänen lists a few examples: “Is the welding is carried out according to the instructions?<br />
Does the machine have the correct values? Are the additional materials used the ones that<br />
have been stated in advance? Does the welder have the required skills?”<br />
During the regular ASME audit, <strong>Vahterus</strong> is expanding its certification to include not only<br />
the manufacture but also the repair of pressure equipment.<br />
What else is currently happening in <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ manufacture of heat exchangers?<br />
“We have expanded our quality services to include helium leak testing. We have made<br />
some equipment acquisitions that now allow us to carry out both vacuum and over pressure<br />
helium leak tests,” Pitkänen states.<br />
On the technology and product development front, we are developing the manufacture<br />
and inspection of high pressure heat exchangers. While updating the numerous welding<br />
methods in use, we are now strongly focussing on submerged arc welding in the manufacture<br />
of shells.<br />
Another new innovation is vacuum drying. A dry product is important for customers and<br />
increasingly so when our heat exchangers are to be integrated into refrigeration application<br />
units.<br />
The facilities in <strong>Vahterus</strong>’ two years old factory have allowed the company to separate the<br />
stainless steel and carbon steel production lines. Customers can see the effects of the company<br />
having its own pickling plant, for example, in the form of shorter delivery times. “We now<br />
have our own production lines for all heat exchanger plates and have completed the layout<br />
arrangements for sheet metal, meaning that production is more streamlined.<br />
In late Spring 2010 <strong>Vahterus</strong> was nominated Finland’s sixth best company in terms of<br />
proposed initiatives. In 2009, totally 283 initiatives were proposed at <strong>Vahterus</strong> for every 100<br />
employees. “Quality management systems include a continuous responsibility to improve,”<br />
Pitkänen reiterates, “our ranking proves that our employees are enthusiastic about developing<br />
our operations. We are very happy with this result! The proposed initiatives also show our<br />
employees’ level of expertise.”<br />
Paavo Pitkänen
HOT COLD<br />
10 V a h t e r u s N e w s 1 / 2 0 1 0<br />
11<br />
17 Years of Cooperation<br />
Wijbenga B.V. is an engineering and sales<br />
company for refrigeration components<br />
in the Netherlands & Belgium.<br />
For over 25 years the company<br />
is the leading specialist in industrial refrigeration<br />
and focuses mainly on natural refrigerants like ammonia<br />
and carbon dioxide. Wijbenga represents<br />
leading companies like <strong>Vahterus</strong>, Witt and RTK. Customer<br />
satisfaction is generated by providing reliable<br />
and innovative solutions.<br />
The relationship between <strong>Vahterus</strong> and<br />
Wijbenga goes back to the early beginning of<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong>. In 1993 the first contacts between<br />
Mauri Kontu and Hans Wijbenga were the<br />
beginning of a long term cooperation. The<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> heat exchangers were introduced to the<br />
refrigeration market using their own Q-plate®<br />
trade mark. The First size 5 unit was delivered in<br />
1994 for a slaughtery in Belgium, this unit is still<br />
in operation as a flooded heat exchanger with<br />
ammonia.<br />
One of the first size 5 units<br />
To learn more about the possibilities for plate and<br />
shell heat exchangers in the refrigeration market,<br />
Wijbenga set up a test program in cooperation<br />
with <strong>Vahterus</strong> and TNO (a Dutch research<br />
centre). The testing was focused on flooded<br />
and direct expansion systems using natural and<br />
synthetic refrigerants. The results provided better<br />
knowledge of the heat exchanging and twophase<br />
flow patterns. The numerous advantages of<br />
the Plate & Shell heat exchanger in refrigeration<br />
applications were very clear and in 1997 the NVKL<br />
(Dutch refrigeration society) granted the Q-plate®<br />
test programme with an innovation award.<br />
Nowadays the Plate & Shell heat exchanger is<br />
worldwide used as an evaporator (flooded and<br />
DX systems), as a condenser, for heat recovery, as<br />
oil coolers etc.<br />
NVKL Innovation award<br />
Due to the high demand for systems with a small<br />
refrigerant content, the popularity of the PSHE<br />
increased even more. The (re)introduction of<br />
Simply Better Together<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> and GEA PHE Systems to<br />
supply complete plate heat exchanger<br />
package for Russian urea resin plant<br />
The project: a urea resin plant in<br />
Russia. From next year aminoplastics are to<br />
be produced in a reactor by condensing urea<br />
and formaldehyde. The medium needs to be<br />
cooled repeatedly using plate heat exchangers<br />
at various stages throughout the production<br />
process. The requirements made by the client<br />
were clear: all of the plate heat exchangers had<br />
to be supplied from a single source. Thanks to<br />
its strategic partnership with GEA PHE Systems<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> was in a position to offer gasketed<br />
high-performance plate heat exchangers to<br />
complement its own range of fully welded<br />
models, thus covering all aspects of the complete<br />
cooling package required.<br />
Originally the West German plant engineering<br />
company had envisaged two cooperating<br />
competitors as component supplier. However<br />
the plant engineers revised their strategy in<br />
March, when <strong>Vahterus</strong>, as international leader<br />
in the manufacture of fully welded plate heat<br />
exchangers, made reference to the cooperation<br />
agreement concluded over a year ago with GEA<br />
PHE Systems as the technological market leader<br />
for plate heat exchangers. The decisive factor<br />
for the planners from Germany’s Rhineland was<br />
the established joint solution offered by two<br />
technological leaders guaranteeing the required<br />
process reliability.<br />
A total of eleven plate heat exchangers, five<br />
fully welded and six gasketed models, are to be<br />
installed in the Russian facility. On the pressure<br />
side the units are flanged onto circulation and<br />
product pumps and ensure the constant and<br />
correct temperature of the medium in the<br />
heating and cooling circuits. The flow rate is up to<br />
170,000 litres per hour.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> is supplying plate heat exchangers<br />
of types PSHE 3 and PSHE 4 with fully welded<br />
packs of circular plates. Where high thermal<br />
pressures and extreme temperatures prevail in<br />
production processes, the planning specialists<br />
for chemical plants from Finland prefer to install<br />
their gastight plate heat exchangers. The units<br />
are typified by high heat recovery, extremely low<br />
space requirements and a clearly lower price than<br />
conventional shell-and-tube heat exchangers.<br />
These compact PHEs perfectly complement<br />
the gasketed plate heat exchangers from the<br />
Varitherm and NT series by GEA PHE Systems. This<br />
strategic partnership allows both companies to<br />
offer the complete product range of plate heat<br />
exchangers, whether gasketed, brazed or fully<br />
carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, in the beginning<br />
of this century, was an excellent application for<br />
the fully welded plate & shell heat exchanger. At<br />
this moment the installed capacity of cascade<br />
condensers in the Benelux exceeds 100 MW.<br />
Nowadays over 2.600 units, for all kind of<br />
applications in refrigeration, were sold over<br />
Wijbenga in the Benelux market. Around 30%<br />
of the annual turnover of Wijbenga is related to<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> products.<br />
Q-plate test unit<br />
The future for Plate & Shell heat exchangers looks<br />
very bright. For the last ten years the design of<br />
refrigeration plants focuses on the use of natural<br />
refrigerants, reduction of refrigerant charges,<br />
reduction of energy consumption and reduction<br />
of the total cost of ownership. Plate & Shell heat<br />
exchangers can fulfil these demands.<br />
After 20 years the position of <strong>Vahterus</strong> is very<br />
strong. The company is still privately owned and<br />
that results in shorts contact lines, essential for<br />
a good cooperation. Innovations and quality<br />
improvements over the last 20 years contributed<br />
to a continued leadership in heat exchangers. We<br />
congratulate Mauri Kontu and <strong>Vahterus</strong> with their<br />
20 years anniversary and we look forward to the<br />
next 20 years!<br />
Jeroen Schröer,<br />
Managing Director<br />
Wijbenga B.V.<br />
welded. And this is appreciated by the customers.<br />
The liquid urea resin to be produced in the<br />
Russian facility is mainly used as glue in the paper<br />
and wood-processing sectors. When hardened,<br />
aminoplastics form a lightfast, scratch-resistant,<br />
flame retardant plastic that is white in its raw<br />
state.<br />
&<br />
As Finland entered the 1990s, the financial markets underwent<br />
a significant change due to market deregulation. Our banks were<br />
not prepared for this and an excess supply of international financing<br />
overheated the stock and property markets. Because inflation continued<br />
to accelerate and the Finnish mark continued to strengthen, our traditional<br />
metal industry, beginning with our shipbuilding industry, completely lost its<br />
competitiveness and we descended into a long recession.<br />
There was a need for structural change, driven by companies founded<br />
on technical innovations. We also learned that the export trade was not the<br />
exclusive right of large corporations. <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> was founded in 1990 in<br />
this changing operational environment. Close cooperation began between<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> and the Vakka-Suomi branch of the OP Bank Group at this time,<br />
based on existing good relationships. The export industry regained its price<br />
competitiveness when the Finnish mark was floated in 1992 and it was no<br />
longer difficult to acquire the financing required for growth.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> is managed in a target and growth oriented way. <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
strives to be a leader in both product development and production<br />
technology. Even large scale investments are carried out in a conscious way<br />
and at the appropriate time. We at OP Bank Group value when a company’s<br />
ERP and financial administration systems are in line with the company’s<br />
business development. At <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> in addition to requirements<br />
established for profitability and the basic factors that contribute to it, strict<br />
minimum requirements have always been set for solvency and liquidity.<br />
These standards provide the best benefits for our customers when they are<br />
in the process of obtaining financing or other financial services.<br />
Since the company was founded, <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s owners have worked<br />
to instil strong basic values within the company, with a particular focus on<br />
family enterprise. This reflects responsibility for consistent development<br />
and fits in with the values held by OP Bank Group’s Vakka-Suomi branch<br />
exceptionally well. As a consequence of the banking crisis of the early<br />
1990s, Finland’s commercial banks were transferred to foreign ownership<br />
one by one. In this situation, the OP Bank Group reassessed its principle task<br />
and initiated a focused corporate services development programme. Over<br />
the years, the bank has developed into an important provider of financial<br />
services required by <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> and other small and medium-sized<br />
enterprises in Finland’s Vakka-Suomi sub-region.<br />
I am pleased to say that as <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> has grown, its management and<br />
owners have continuously developed a broader sense of responsibility for<br />
the surrounding community. As the company makes use of local services<br />
and subcontracts work, it has already employed a significant number of<br />
local residents for some time. <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> supports our area’s cultural and<br />
sports activities, and the company’s management actively participates in<br />
developing the region’s services and infrastructure in various ways. OP Bank<br />
Group and <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> often work together in these ventures to achieve<br />
even more.<br />
Juha-Pekka Nieminen<br />
Managing Director<br />
OP Bank Group, Vakka-Suomi branch<br />
Together<br />
We Can<br />
Achieve More<br />
Small and<br />
Medium<br />
Enterprises an Important<br />
Part of Uusikaupunki’s<br />
Business Life<br />
The town of Uusikaupunki crumbled to its knees during<br />
the far-reaching and worldwide depression of the 1990s. At that<br />
time, our town believed that it would fare best by relying primarily<br />
on large-scale industry.<br />
Large-scale industry is, of course, of great importance and even<br />
crucial for a small town like Uusikaupunki. However, based on our<br />
experiences, we have realised we also need a strong and versatile<br />
base of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SMEs have<br />
developed in our town in an admirable way. This is due to our town’s<br />
committed and innovative group of business owners.<br />
During the 1990s, there were fewer than ten SMEs based in<br />
Uusikaupunki. Now, we have nearly 50 businesses that employ at<br />
least ten people. <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> is a prime example of such a business.<br />
When I first became the city’s head of business development at the<br />
end of the 1990s <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> employed 20 people and now the<br />
company’s staff has grown to approximately 150. So, in just over a<br />
decade, <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> has become our town’s third largest industrial<br />
employer.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s development has also been admirable by national<br />
standards. The company’s growth has been exceptionally strong in<br />
all business areas. A small town the size of Uusikaupunki benefits<br />
from this type of company growth both through added vitality in<br />
its general business activity, as well as in a financial sense. In recent<br />
years, a large portion of the town’s communal tax income has come<br />
from SMEs.<br />
The following are <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s principal basic values: customers<br />
are our number one priority, a will to succeed and a motivation to<br />
transform and develop. These values are clearly visible to outsiders<br />
when they see the way in which <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> has developed its<br />
operations. The company “is fighting it out” in the international<br />
market entirely with its own innovations and seems to constantly<br />
be a step ahead of its competitors, thanks to its strong product<br />
development work.<br />
Uusikaupunki as a town has much to learn from <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s<br />
example. You must run one step ahead of everyone else if you want<br />
to succeed. This is exactly what we have strived to achieve. We hope<br />
that we will be able to continue “running”, just as <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> has,<br />
although the company owners’ running fitness seems to be a bit<br />
better than ours.<br />
I wish extend heartfelt congratulations to <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>, on<br />
behalf of the town of Uusikaupunki and especially on behalf of<br />
myself, for 20 successful years of work, benefiting both Finland and<br />
Uusikaupunki. I would also like to extend these congratulations to<br />
the entire staff at <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>. The future is in your hands.<br />
Kari Koski<br />
Mayor
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong><br />
was founded 1990<br />
Size 2<br />
Plate & Shell 1991<br />
Size 3<br />
Plate & Shell 1993<br />
Moving to<br />
Pruukintie 1994<br />
Size 5<br />
Plate & Shell 1994<br />
Size 9<br />
Plate & Shell 1998<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> (UK)<br />
Ltd was<br />
founded 1999<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
GmbH<br />
was founded 2000<br />
New<br />
production<br />
hall to<br />
Pruukintie 2000<br />
Compact 2001<br />
Plate & Ring 2002<br />
Size 14 2003<br />
Size 7<br />
Plate & Shell 2004<br />
Size 4<br />
Plate & Shell 2005<br />
Carbon steel 2007<br />
plate<br />
Combined<br />
model 2008<br />
New<br />
production<br />
hall to Valintie 2008<br />
High pressure<br />
PSHE 2009<br />
WH plate 2009<br />
size 7<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> ECO 2010<br />
From here it all started.<br />
The first <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
unit from year 1991.<br />
Year 2000 <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
turned 10-years, 44<br />
employees.<br />
Twins 100-years.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong>Ring inauguration in year 2004. From the right side:<br />
Finnish Minister of Culture Tanja Karpela, Mauri Kontu and Olympic<br />
gold medallist Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi.<br />
Support and<br />
Sponsorship from Tekes<br />
“I wish we had more companies like <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> in<br />
Southwest Finland to make funding proposals to!” says<br />
Esa Lindqvist, Head of the Turku unit of the Finnish<br />
Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES).<br />
TEKES is Finland’s number one state-owned funding<br />
organisation sponsoring research and promising new<br />
businesses. Every year, TEKES invests around EUR 440<br />
million, in the form of subsidies and loans, into businesses<br />
that the organisation believes have future potential.<br />
The public venture capital investor encourages its<br />
customers to seek expert consultancy from the science<br />
and research community and to set up partnerships with<br />
other enterprises.<br />
TEKES grants funds for honing innovations and for<br />
production-related development projects, but not for<br />
ventures such as property investments. In these matters,<br />
TEKES directs applicants to the Centres for Economic<br />
Development, Transport and the Environment (ELY),<br />
which operate alongside TEKES’s regional units.<br />
Mr Lindqvist believes that many applicants could<br />
carry out their initiatives even without TEKES’s help, but<br />
that the projects would then be less ambitious and take<br />
considerably longer.<br />
“Funding from TEKES allows enterprises to seek<br />
external consultancy and to speed up timescales,” he<br />
explains.<br />
Mr Lindqvist has been following the growth of<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> since the very beginning when Mauri Kontu<br />
first turned to TEKES for funding. He considers <strong>Vahterus</strong><br />
<strong>Oy</strong> an exemplary applicant:<br />
“They have been extremely active and enthusiastic<br />
about launching development projects even though<br />
these can be very hard on businesses. <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> is<br />
also prepared to turn to third party experts, which is<br />
something that TEKES considers very important.”<br />
It is difficult to find other examples of traditional<br />
manufacturing enterprises that have been able to<br />
increase their turnover as quickly. Despite the company’s<br />
rapid growth, <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> has an exceptionally firm<br />
foundation.<br />
According to Mr Lindqvist: “<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>’s expertise is<br />
based on solid engineering science”.<br />
Over the years, <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> has turned to TEKES<br />
especially with regard to promoting its products and<br />
improving its production technology. Mr Lindqvist recalls<br />
that even the very first funding applications were easy to<br />
approve.<br />
“The new heat exchanger solution was completely<br />
revolutionary and in a league of its own compared to<br />
its predecessors. Moreover, <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> is an excellent<br />
example of a company that has continuously wanted to<br />
develop its production technology in-house in order to<br />
maintain its competitive edge,” Mr Lindqvist explains.<br />
<strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> has always considered the support<br />
and sponsorship of TEKES an invaluable asset. With the<br />
funding from TEKES, the company has been able to<br />
develop the heat exchanger itself as well as the related<br />
production technology, both of which are critical to the<br />
company’s business.<br />
Mr Lindqvist has no wish to emphasise the<br />
importance of TEKES’s contribution to the growth of the<br />
company’s customer base, although he does believe that<br />
cooperation with TEKES has helped <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong> to carry<br />
out more ambitious projects and to turn them around<br />
more quickly.<br />
“Innovation and the drive to develop a business<br />
always stem from within, from the family behind the<br />
business! This is why I want to congratulate Mauri and<br />
Sinikka Kontu and the whole of <strong>Vahterus</strong> <strong>Oy</strong>, and give<br />
them my assurances that we at TEKES want to continue<br />
our partnership in the future!”