AUTUMN · 2017 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD

visedo electrifies heavy-duty machines and vehicles

sustainability and profitability go hand in hand Contents

Editorial. The importance of 3 | sustainability and digitalisation.

AUTUMN · 2017 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD News. Significant development efforts 4 | have been completed and verified.

Customer introduction. Visedo is a 6 | fast-growing developer of electric powertrain systems.

Sustainability. For Darekon sustain- 10 | ability is about much more than just conserving energy.

Personnel space. Pekka Mikkonen 12 | is a competitive man who is used to winning.

New client. Sandvik is an international 14 | conglomerate whose products are used in mining and rock excavation.

Plant introduction. The expansion 16 | of Darekon’s Haapavesi manufactur- ing facility is complete. Read all the details.

Beyond sales. The new customer ser- 19 | vice manager of Darekon talks about his principles for taking care of clients.

Visedo has Sustain- Sandvik The ex- developed the ability is manufactures pansion of 6 efficiency of 10 present in all 14 drill rigs at 16 Darekon’s electric motors to a Darekon’s operations, its Tampere plant in There was Haapavesi plant has completely new level. from management which the importance “ made production growth with The rapidly growing system to production, of digitalisation, au- even more fluent and company electrifies the sourcing and facilities. tomation and energy both existing material streams clear. traditional drivetrains Things are done well efficiency is continu- and new Now there is space of heavy duty vehicles and economically. LED ously increasing. and capacity to serve and machines. lights conserve energy. customers.” clients.

Publisher: Darekon Ltd

Editor-in-chief: Kai Orpo

Production: Lampila Publishing Ltd

Editor and layout: Jouko Lampila

Printer: Eura Print Oy © 2017 Darekon Ltd

2 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 Editorial

Darekon puts effort into sus- tainability and digitalisation

Nowadays one can read about sustainability and digitalisation until boredom almost sets in. The significance of them is, however, self evident and essential. Both take the world in a better direc- tion even if they also create fear as change always seems to do. We at Darekon consider their role in our opera- tion and the effect of our operations on them. We continue to automate and digitalise our internal and external processes and try to understand their effect on our operation. Our aim is to maintain and improve our competitiveness and make the con- tinuation of profitable growth of the company possible and make sure of the well being of our employees and other stakeholders. During the last fiscal year our revenue exceeded, for the first time, the milestone of 40 million eu- ros. There was growth with both existing and new customers. At Darekon the clients have always been at the centre of our focus and will be in the future. According to our strategy we will contin- ue as a supplier of versatile and flexible contract manufacturing services. We can see that there is a clear demand for them. At the leading edge for further economical growth we have completed the expansion of our Haapavesi manufacturing facility. At the same time the machinery investments completed in Haapavesi and Gdansk have prepared the compa- ny for further growth. Everything is ready and we can powerfully respond to increasing demand. In the customer introduction pages of this mag- azine you will find Visedo Oy, a company with an astonishing way to improve the efficiency of electric motors, and with their electric drivetrains raise the efficiency of many heavy duty vehicles and machines to a completely new level. In our own operation we continuously strive to improve energy efficiency, develop material re- cycling and prefer renewable alternatives in our operation. At our different plants the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency is at a reasonable level, as a survey made by Enegia shows. Read more about our sustainability activities on the following pages. “Our aim is to improve our Kai Orpo competitive- ness”

3 News Vaisala Oyj Vaisala

Vaisala honours suppliers with Sustainable Business Award

Vaisala, a global leader in environ- Value-based operation mental and industrial measurements, The Supplier of the Year awardees were announced the recipients of its 2017 “To us at Vaisala, striving to become net pos- chosen by a global team of Vaisala’s special- Supplier of the Year awards in July. itive is a vision that means doing business in ists in sourcing, purchasing, logistics, quality, Among them was Darekon. a way that puts back more into society, the manufacturing and R&D. environment and the global economy than it he first ever Vaisala’s Supplier of the takes out – having a bigger handprint than Customer service: Darekon Oy Year awards were granted to five sup- footprint,” says Kjell Forsén, CEO at Vaisala. Darekon merited recognition for good cus- Tpliers based on their outstanding per- “Since the performance of the whole supply tomer service thanks to its very fast response formance. The top five were selected out of a chain is crucial when it comes to responsi- time as well as flexibility and adaptability to total of 500 international suppliers. The award bility, we want to encourage our suppliers Vaisala’s needs. A proactive approach to risk is the highest honour Vaisala can bestow upon towards that goal too.” management produces solutions. a supplier.

New web pages are part of Darekon’s digital development

er and on the smaller display of a CEO at Rajasoft. “At the same time mobile phone. At the same time the the message is also directed to firm’s objectives and core messages a firm’s own personnel. The site were redrafted. shows where we are working and The renewal of the site was car- what is important for us. The pages Responsible business – sustainable ried out by Rajasoft Oy of Espoo, are like a mental overall.” development whose delivery process suited “The renewal of the pages suc- Darekon well. The result was a long ceeded very well,” says Kai Orpo, lasting content structure and tech- CEO at Darekon. “The background nical functionality that makes fur- of Darekon, quality orientation and ther development easy. above all service entirety is now in- “Today web pages are very troduced more clearly and logically DAREKON’S web pages and plat- the update was to move the pages important for companies. They than before. Usability with all differ- form have been updated to provide to a new platform – a responsive reflect the identity of a company ent equipment is naturally important a fresh and informative look at the software – that shows the content and tell the reader what matters to and all our core messages can be company. The starting point for well on a large screen of a comput- the company,” says Jarkko Sipilä, found more easily than previously.”

4 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 Equipment investments are needed all the time The expansion at Haapavesi plant is now ready A PCB ROUTER has been acquired for Darekon’s Haapavesi plant, for gently THE HAAPAVESI plant’s 1,440 square metre expansion de-paneling the boards. is now complete in all its detail and open for business. The boards are attached to the pro- The total space of almost 5,000 square metres has duction panel with a few bridges that are been reorganised and all equipment has been found its often perforated – small holes are drilled ideal place. During the spring the outer roof and lawn across the bridge. When the board is around the building were still being finished. Now the completed it is generally detached from roof is ready and the lawn green. the panel with manual cutters or a com- SMD lines function perfectly in the new premis- pressed air operated Hektor cutter. es, manufacturing is more fluent, material streams are Both tools leave a slightly jagged place straightforward and the layout is clear. The Haapavesi at the edge of the board. The router plant introduction starts on page 16. opens the bridges neatly and accurately. With routing there is no bending force PC-BOARDS are sometimes tiny, some- applied to the board, which might effect times very large. The Ekra stencil print- components very close to the bridges. ing machine at Haapavesi plant has been supplemented with an option for print- SELECTIVE coating is often needed ing larger boards, up to 610mm long. for shielding PC-boards when, for in- “For a contract manufacturer it is stance, optical components or connec- good to be prepared for extreme situ- tors must not be coated, or if there are ations,” says Haapavesi plant manager only some critical areas to be coated. Antti Järviluoma. “Sometimes there For this purpose the gluing robot at are very large boards in production. the Haapavesi facility has been sup- Component placement or soldering plemented with a coating dispensing have not been problems before and nozzle and thus transformed into a now we are able to screen print the selective coating robot. largest boards.”

X-ray inspection and mounting line upgrade to Poland plant They expand, recruit and upgrade in Gdansk boards in production. X-ray inspection at the plant had previously been carried THE COMPANY operating in another wing of the newer out by a partner but now the investment Darekon facility in Gdansk has moved out and Darekon makes inspections faster. has rented the premises. A renovation and reorganising “The investment is notable and im- project is in the pipeline. proves our ability to take new demand- “We can for instance start production of larger new ing jobs in production,” says Kari Kopo- product families in a separate space, open new produc- nen, Darekon’s Polish business director. tion cells and make our growth easier. The expansion is One of the three SMD mounting lines relatively small but important,” says Sławomir Wawryk, has been upgraded to improve accura- Darekon’s Polish plant director. cy. The two new placement machines In Poland the firm is continuously recruiting for dif- can mount 0201 components and fine ferent positions. Wawryk enumerates engineer-level pitch circuits more precisely. people recruited for quality insurance, documentation, “Electronics is getting smaller and project management, production development, sourc- A NORDSON DAGE X-ray inspection smaller and we too receive small- ing and warehouse operations. Besides them more than system for the quality insurance of de- er boards that require more accurate 20 people have been recruited to the production team. manding products has been acquired mounting,” says Koponen. “The up- Wawryk also details the upgrade of the Polish fa- for Darekon’s Polish manufacturing graded line is now the most accurate cility’s management system. The management system, facility. of our three lines and opens doors for used for more than a decade, has been upgraded to The X-ray system can be used for in- manufacturing boards demanding high level ISO 9001:2015. At the same time the environmen- specting new products, starts of pro- accuracy for instance for wireless tech- tal management standard ISO 14001:2015 and medical duction series and random testing of nology.” devices standard ISO 13485:2012 have been certified.

5 Customer introduction

Tero Järveläinen shows the “Base Machine” of Visedo, a 1,000 kilowatt liquid-cooled synchronous reluctance assisted per- manent magnet motor.

6 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 more power, less fuel, cleaner air in an electric revolution VISEDO ELECTRIFIES HEAVY-DUTY MACHINES AND VEHICLES Electric motors use more than 40 per cent of the world’s electrical energy. By developing steering technology it is possible to cut a remarkable part of that. Visedo has taken a leap further and also redesigned the electric motor.

very few weeks there is news of how the push for that in 2008-2009. We knew we had a electric drivetrains developed by Vise- team with knowledge and ability. With the fuel do are being used in new and versatile prices at that time it was economical to electrify applications – from busses to stone 8 machines out of 12, payback time was less than Ecrushers and forest harvesters to ships. three years.” In most cases they are hybrid systems where the Year 2012 was the most difficult for the company electric drivetrain working together with a com- according to Rauma, as the oil price collapsed. It bustion engine improves the performance and fuel broke the whole foundation of the operation. They economy of the machine. had, however, discovered that with their technol- ogy it was possible to increase the performance Fast expansion and strong backing and productivity of machines through electrifica- Investors clearly trust Visedo. The company turned tion. It resulted in a motor that was better than any a 6.7 million euros revenue last year and just before achieved by earlier technology. The consequent Christmas raised 20 million euros of new capital in saved fuel is just pure added value of course. The its latest financing round. The total capital raised firm has developed on the back of this discovery by the company now stands at 35 million euros. and its technology has been used in the electrifi- Visedo has also been widely acknowledged cation of ships and busses among others. The plan publicly. At the beginning of May the company is to grow to become a 30-50 million euro com­ was given an award by Finnish financial newspa- pany by the year 2020. per Kauppalehti for its strong growth. Visedo was founded in 2009, now employs more than 100 Software and super capacitors people and has practically doubled its revenue All of Visedo’s technology is its own. Its device every year. Ninety per cent of the firm’s products solutions are in principle divided into the control are exported with its main markets in Central Eu- of technology, motors and energy storage. The rope and Asia. technology is modular and flexibly scalable. At the “We electrify all heavy duty machinery,” says core and, most importantly, is Visedo’s software Kimmo Rauma, founder and CEO at Visedo. “Our technology. intention is to remove pollution from the world by Electric motors are in fact simple machines and electrifying – nothing less. Initially the idea was to their efficiency is actually quite high. Visedo has electrify heavy-duty machines, there was a strong however developed its own motor, the reluctance

7 Normag is the first electric horizontal drill in the world. It does the same job in one day that takes a diesel-operated drill three days.

assisted permanent magnet synchronous motor. “Let’s take the example of a hybrid stone crush- Essential to the motor is its efficiency in a wide er that crushes blocks of rock. A 40-tonne ma- speed and load range. The efficiency of an ordi- chine crushes 400 tonnes of rock in an hour at its nary electric motor is at its best about 96 per cent, best. With our technology the productivity of the but only at a certain speed. Visedo’s motors pro- machine is 40 per cent higher and fuel consump- duce high efficiency in a very large speed range. tion 30 per cent lower compared to a crusher with The motors are liquid cooled, totally shielded for just a diesel engine. The fuel saving alone is up to harsh environments and smaller and lighter than 16,000 liters in a year. traditional motors with the same power. The pow- Another example Järveläinen describes is the er range of the motors start from tens of kilowatts ferry “Happiness” operating in the harbour of Ka-

The Logset harvester gets over 70 and the power of the biggest standard motor is oshiung in Taiwan. Replacing the 300 horsepower per cent more power and 20-30 per one thousand kilowatts. diesel engine of the 23-meter long 100-tonne fer- cent lower fuel consumption with The steering units of the motors represent high- ry with a Visedo hybrid solution brought a 50 per its Visedo diesel-electric drivetrain. ly developed power electronics that is shielded in cent saving in fuel consumption and emissions. IP67 level enclosures. Power range is 50-2,000kW Visedo has also electrified ferry traffic in Finland in and like the motors, the steering units are also the city of Turku. “Föri”, the oldest ferry in Finland liquid cooled. Their selection includes frequency operating across the river Aura, got a completely converters, DC-to-DC converters and their com- electric drivetrain. bination multiconverters in various power ranges. “Last year forest machine manufacturer Log- The real deal in many of their machines is the set introduced the top model of their harvesters, Visedo energy storage unit based on super capaci­ equipped with our 175 kilowatt electric motor and tors. For instance forest harvesters and digging super capacitor energy storage besides a 220 machines require momentary high power in their kilowatt diesel engine,” continues Järveläinen. movements. The power density of super capaci- “The result is 380 kilowatt maximum power that tors is excellent and they can give very high power takes the machine agilely up the steepest moun- Visedo’s PC-boards pulses for short periods. tain slopes and makes felling and lifting the big- are large and heavy. The Visedo electric motor can be connected via gest trees easy.” The baseboards and the same axle with a combustion engine. At top There are plenty of other examples. One of copper are thick. load the electric motor can, for instance, double the latest, introduced last spring, is the most the power of the machine for a few seconds and powerful truck in the world: Sisu Polar Hybrid, at lower loads recharge the capacitors again. As a 1,140hp/5,000Nm. A diesel engine and Visedo’s result a smaller combustion engine can be used in electric motor are connected via the same axle. In the machine and the engine can run almost contin- rising hills the electric motor gives more power, in uously at the best power range. The productivity of descents it loads the energy storage. the machine is thus increased and fuel is conserved. Three draw and ten write code Electric drivetrain “We are at our strongest in projects and product revolutionises productivity development, while manufacturing is networked,” “Good scalability and high efficiency of our tech- says Järveläinen. “Here in Lappeenranta we make nology are keys in electrifying moving machines prototypes and small series, our main things are The power density of super and vehicles,” says Tero Järveläinen, Visedor applications and design. On the other hand we capacitors is excellent. A and CTO at Visedo. “The electric drivetrain is so also want to sell products, not just plans.” package of 24 capacitors gives 340 kilojoules and up simple. In factories everything runs with electric “Our cooperation with Darekon started very to 2,000 amperes current. motors too, there are no steam engines.” early, at least in 2010 when I joined Visedo my-

8 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 Taiwanese ferry Happiness is equipped with Visedo’s drivetrain. The “plug-in hybrid” conserves 25,000 liters of fuel in a year.

self. Our PC-boards are not very complicated but ronments. The PowerMASTER steering board for they are large, have lots of components and many instance is now in revision T, so it has been made of them conduct remarkably high currents. Me- in 15 revisions.” chanical stresses are also high because of heavy components and vibration. The baseboards and Production round the corner copper are often very thick.” Visedo has a large number of subcontractors “We were actually looking for a supplier with a and manufacturing partners. The frames for its selective soldering machine,” continues Järveläi­ motors and cabinets of active devices are made nen. “There are not so many of those in Finland from demanding light alloy moulding. Thousands and Darekon was the clearest choice. At the be- of punched iron plates are needed in the motors ginning we made lots of prototypes and that has for making rotors and stators. The stators are Darekon always functioned well with Darekon. Soldering coiled manually in Estonia using a rubber ham- was the quality has always been excellent and there has mer. The work needs high precision but it is very clearest been very few mistakes.” monotonous. According to Järveläinen they have some 20 Most of the PC-boards are manufactured at choice.” active boards and more than a hundred boards Darekon’s Haapavesi plant. At the beginning Vise- active to some extent. In total they have made do acquired some essential components by them- 300-400 different versions of boards, so “that selves and sent them to Haapavesi. Now Darekon was a million euros”, in Järveläinen’s words. Typi- takes care of all the sourcing and management cal run lengths are 10-100 pieces, a few hundreds of components. Some sheet metal parts are also at the most. made at Darekon’s Klaukkala facility. Coopera- Visedo’s production is very dynamic and sched- tion between the two companies has developed ules are tight. “We need the boards immediately steadily. once the design is ready,” explains Järveläinen. “From what I can see now, we will continue the Delivery times have however been met very well. same way,” reckons Järveläinen. “Of course if we Until now the operation has been to some extent start making drivetrains for Chinese buses, for in- “from hand to mouth” but during this year it has stance, we must also move the production there.” been possible to plan a little longer for the future. In the future one essential theme for develop- “Four hundred boards and 400 parts on all of ment, according to Järveläinen, will be the accu- them,” says Järveläinen. “All the boards have the mulator. Connecting to the grid, comprehensive same parts and the same software, but the use electrification of heavy-duty machines and man- varies. At the moment three guys design and test aging accumulators are the firm’s future visions. boards, ten write code. Production boards never Accumulator and grid connection benefit from have wrap wires or other makeshift solutions be- each other, the devices become more complicated cause they must stand vibration and harsh envi- but at the same time more versatile. ·

9 Sustainability

Antti Järviluoma examines one of the new venti- lation machines that was put in place during the renovation of the facility.

sustainability and profitability GO HAND IN HAND

Sustainability can nergy consumption is the first thing “Darekon has made all the necessary invest- be found across all that comes to mind when discussing ments. In the audit we mainly examined that sustainability and Darekon’s facilities everything was in order and found extremely little Darekon’s operations: mainly benefit from district heating. Yet to improve,” says Juho Linsuri, energy specialist from management Ecooling is also needed in electronics at Enegia. “Electronics manufacturers often con- systems to produc- manufacturing facilities where electricity powers sume a lot of energy but Darekon is from a com- Darekon’s many production machines and con- pletely different planet. Things have been taken tion, sourcing and trols the humidity and ventilation. Of course light- care of and this is the most energy efficient plant I facilities. When all as- ing is also required but its share of energy con- have visited for a very long time.” pects of the business sumption is very small. Apart from energy, other “Cooling is achieved cleverly with fifteen 300 important aspects for sustainability are material meter deep energy wells that give enough cooling are run tightly, sus- recycling, production methods designed to con- to take care of the heat from welding lines and oth- tainability also means serve materials and energy and consideration of er machines even during a hot summer day. During economic efficiency environmental issues when sourcing. a frost they pre-heat the incoming ventilation.” “Industry in general wastes a lot of energy prob- and leads to the Energy audit at Haapavesi plant ably because the required payback time for in- generation of as little After the expansion and thorough renovation of vestments is so short. If the payback time is five waste as possible. the ventilation system at Darekon’s Haapavesi years or more, the investment will not be made.” facility, the company wanted to check that the Linsuri raises the issue of Finland’s energy effi- building was functioning to a high standard. Ene- ciency program which has just begun a new per­ gia Group was chosen to make an audit. It is an iod for 2017 to 2025. Any company can join the independent expert and market leader in energy program, make an energy efficiency agreement management in Finland. The auditing included and pledge to reduce consumption by at least 7.5 proper functioning of ventilation, water and elec- per cent until the year 2025. Companies joining trical systems in the facility together with locating the program can also receive support for savings opportunities to conserve heat, electricity and wa- investments in traditional technologies. Free mon- ter and minimise expenses. ey in return for making savings!

10 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 The most re- markable single spot to conserve Remnants of energy at Dare- sheet metal kon’s Haapavesi production facility was the and all surplus step heating material at all in front of the Darekon’s plants main entrance, is recycled. which sometimes heated the step when it was not needed.

The new FMS system acquired for Darekon’s Klaukkala facility three years ago is servo-operated, conserves an essential amount of energy and needs no hydraulic oil.

As the result of the audit Enegia stated that at Recycling channels have also been searched to Haapavesi there is the potential to save three per accommodate solder paste. Some paste will often cent of the energy bill. Things are well under con- remain at the bottom of cans and it is recycled. trol. Flux in the paste may also evaporate and the paste no longer functions properly. Sometimes it also Production consumes energy and materials gets old as each can has a use-by date. Previously Darekon manufactures a lot of electronics for the abandoned paste was sent to the firm Ekokem medical equipment and water-soluble flux is often (Fortum since last spring), but now Darekon also used in soldering. This minimises the risk that flux has a partner that recycles the paste. residue might under some circumstances cause – Sustain­ for instance – corrosion on printed circuit boards. Sustainability keeps lights on This is especially important as the equipment be- “Sustainability is a very multilateral issue,” says ability is a ing made has to be highly reliable in demanding Jari Aspegren, quality manager at Darekon. “It very mul- circumstances. means considering ecological, social, economical tilateral The cleaning systems consume a lot of electric- and human issues in a way that keeps the earth ity and the plate power of both cleaning systems usable and hopefully better than today, for future issue.” at Haapavesi is slightly over 100 kilowatt. The generations.” power of, for instance, a wave soldering machine “Energy is an important issue and we have suc- or reflow oven is less than half of that. Cleaning ceeded relatively well in conserving it, even if systems also consume 20 per cent of the total wa- there are still things to do. In production a lot of ter used at the facility, even if the water circulation material – almost everything – is recycled and in is closed and the same water is cleaned and recy- our sourcing policy we take into account material cled over and over again. recyclability as far as possible. Waste materials are Steam phase soldering is a good alternative sold and waste formation is minimised at all stag- in machine soldering, the advantages are a very es. That is also economically beneficial.” small energy consumption and precisely con- “Many of our clients have strong principles of trolled and even soldering temperature. Galden sustainability and we of course engage ourselves liquid for transferring temperature is inert and an with that. We also try to tell our clients about var- environmentally friendly substance. The liquid is ious alternatives, raw materials and working meth- expensive but the process consumes very little ods and in cooperation with the clients develop of it. products and production to be more sustainable Traditional soldering consumes much more ma- and economical.” terial. Wave soldering machines hold a couple of “Well being of personnel is the last and maybe hundred kilos of tin that is kept molten with 50 the most important part of sustainability which af- kilowatt heating resistors. The tin is in connection fects the business. Social sustainability means, for with air in the process, becomes oxidised and pro- instance, equality, fairness and community. Human duces slag. Slag is of course stripped off from the sustainability means at the very least safe working top of the wave and fresh tin is added accordingly. methods and circumstances so work doesn’t en- One machine consumes hundreds of kilos of tin danger anybody’s health.” in a year. Darekon has, however, found a partner “We are committed to these objectives, they are that buys the tin slag and recycles it for use. The documented in our management system, taken volume of soldering done with the wave method is into use in all our units and evidence of compli- decreasing steadily. ance can be seen across the whole operation.” ·

11 Personnel space

salesman mikkonen values CONFIDENCE AND CHALLENGES

Pekka Mikkonen is a competitive man who is used to winning. An earlier tennis career took him to university in the US and after a double exami- nation and Finnish military service his career went on to the electronics industry and sales work.

he first impression you may get of cording to Pekka life there was anything but what Pekka is that he is reserved and does TV series may lend one to understand. In other not want to talk about his personal life. words, rather dull. That is probably due to the fact that The universities in America are not very cheap The wants to keep his work and private so it was better to study quickly and Pekka grad- life separate. When the discussion warms up Pek- uated two Batchelor of Science examinations in ka, however, turns out to be an open-minded and economics in 3.5 years. He returned home with sympathetic chap with clear ideas about his life management and global marketing management values and objectives. examinations in his pocket. And maybe a tennis ball or two. Pekka gives the ball Abroad from Lohja and back again To turn professional with his tennis would have a boost at a Finnish Pekka is from the small town of Lohja and still meant entering a tough little world. Nevertheless, tennis tournament in Lohja in 2006. lives there. The distance to his work at Klaukkala Pekka considers that he won all the possible ben- is 55 kilometers. His career in electronics began at efits he could have from his tennis playing. Elcoteq just as it has been for so many other Lohja inhabitants. This 38 year-old man was there for a In the navy and electronics summer job in the past, assisting sourcing, though Pekka was 23 when he returned home and joined only for one summer. the navy for military service. The tough seaman Pekka’s father played tennis with his brother for served on a missile boat and got acquainted with fun and that lit a spark for Pekka. He started training ships. Back home now in Lohja, however, there is with a professional coach at the age of six and de- no sea and Pekka doesn’t own a boat. veloped to become a skilled player. At junior level he After the service Pekka first worked in what­ever gained several national medals and as an adult won job he could get – anything but commensurate his place amongst the top 20 players in Finland. with his education. Then he got a job at Darekon’s At one event in Helsinki Pekka took the opportu- competitor at the purchasing department as a nity to hear about educational possibilities in the substitute for maternity leave and after a year he USA. The result was that he got a scholarship from got a position in sales at the firm. He worked at a US university, went there to study – and to play this job for five years and then there was a short tennis. period in sales for consumer electronics which did not suit. Tennis and studies in America After testing consumer sales Pekka applied for a The essential thing about winning his scholarship job at Darekon and he was appointed sales man- was the sporting success Pekka had achieved in ager in 2010. Three years later he was promoted to Finland. It probably also helped that the sport sales director. Pekka’s primary job is to attract new operations manager of the university had a Finn- clients and taking care of certain named clients. ish background. Pekka moved to a small, 50,000 inhabitant “red neck city” in Virginia and started One does not say “no” to a good salesman to study and play tennis. And then he continued “When I phone to a new potential customer, they to study and play tennis… and not much else. Ac- seldom hang up and even open the door,” says

12 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 Pekka Mikkonen is a sympathetic man with admirable self-confidence.

Pekka. “The skill of a salesperson is to give the cus- Pekka, who has been a Liverpool fan since he was tomer in the first contact an impression that this a small kid. guy must not be turned down. The time for selling “Some people believe football is a matter of the value of a meeting is about one minute, that life and death, I am very disappointed with that is the time to create confidence. In this I don’t use attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more One must any Yankee tricks but I won’t reveal my methods.” important than that,” Pekka summarises the leg- “The first meeting must be sold by talking, but endary Liverpool coach Bill Shankly. listen care- then one must listen and find solutions to the Private life is important for Pekka. He tries to fully to the customer’s needs. Of course one can’t get all the keep work and his private life separate and has needs of deals and it would not necessarily be worth our also succeeded in that pretty well – work does not while either.” come home. Workmates are neither Facebook nor the client.” “I am competitive – I must always be the best or other pals. The friends from his private life tend to win, it tastes bad to loose. When I loose, I am very be childhood pals or acquaintances from hobbies annoyed for a while. Then I start thinking about and of course in Lohja almost everybody knows what I could do better the next time in order not each other. to loose again.” What will you be when you grow up? At home there is no need to compete Pekka is happy in his current job but of course is Pekka has a wife, a 7-year old son and a 3-year old willing to answer the question. daughter. His wife worked as a restaurant manager “Professionally it doesn’t matter so much, as and is now just about to graduate as a nurse, and long as the task is interesting and challenging. And so luckily there is no need to compete with her. sometimes also fun. It doesn’t have to be sales but There is some competitiveness in Pekka’s home I don’t know what else it could be. Work is done life, however, as his son started tennis training with in earnest but not with a wrinkled face. And it is a professional coach at the age of three – so there possible to laugh in between. This is such a place is Pekka’s sporting heritage. His daughter may and I enjoy it here very much.” also start very soon. Pekka’s answer reflects his natural self-confi- The most important thing for Pekka is the dence. The word “no” doesn’t shake the salesman physical and mental well being of him and his too much. “Self-confidence is knowing you are family, nothing can be more important. Football, good,” grins Pekka. He must certainly have had par- although, also seems to be pretty important for ents who encouraged him to push himself forward. ·

13 New client

Marko Roivas shows resin mould- ed connection and communication modules manufac- tured by Darekon. The entrance to Sandvik’s test mine is in the background.

darekon and sandvik cooperate in MANUFACTURING AND RESEARCH PROJECTS

Darekon manufactures andvik is an international, high-tech- excavation. Darekon also manufacturers sheet PC boards for Sandvik nology industrial group that employs metal mechanics for many products to be used as about 45,000 people in the whole a frame for the moulded part. for very demanding world and has revenue of 81.6 billion “Digitalisation, sensors and automation can be circumstances. Dare- SSwedish crowns or 8.6 billion euros. seen in our products and their development,” says kon also manufactures The Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology division Marko Roivas, sourcing manager at Sandvik. “We manufactures products for breaking and moving have here a test mine with some four kilometres sheet metal parts for rock. In Tampere they manufacture drill rigs for the of tunnels. There we have a test track where we many products and mining industry and for surface drilling with one test completely autonomous – without any human most of the products thousand employees. – operated machines. In other machines the role of the operator gets smaller. Circumstances for are moulded in resin. Digitalisation and automation go ahead the operators in the cockpits of the machines are It all started at the Subcontracting 2014 Trade Fair comfortable but some machines are, however, re- when the Sandvik sourcing people stepped into motely controlled and the operator sits comfort- Darekon’s booth. Interest in the versatile contract ably in the office. All of this improves safety and manufacturer sparked up and the first deals were efficiency and aims for better productivity.” agreed at the beginning of the following year. Drill rigs have an increasing range of electron- Environment in the centre of development ics and computer technology to steer and monitor EHS – Environment, Health, Safety – are one the operation of the machine and its parts. The entirety for Sandvik and the actualisation is meas- target of this technology is on the one hand to ured and monitored continuously. Energy use is automate the operation of the machine and on the always examined during development and alter- other hand to anticipate maintenance needs. The native energy sources are assessed all the time. electronics are often moulded in resin because Traditionally a drill rig in a mine is powered by of the demanding circumstances in mining and a diesel engine. Now the first battery powered,

14 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 completely electric drill rigs are coming on the market. “Our test mine is one thing we are very proud of here in Tampere,” continues Roivas. “It gives us really concrete surroundings to develop and test various new solutions. All drill rigs from the pro- duction line also go in the mine before delivery to customers. I believe none of our competitors have anything similar.”

Suitable and flexible supplier “We have some 300 contract manufacturers that deliver thousands of products to us,” says Roivas. “This plant is an assembly factory and we don’t weld or mill here. All the components come here more or less completed and, for instance, the The operator’s “office” in a mine is safe and com- fortable. Development, however, is towards remote Darekon’s engine of a machine can be a complete power unit control and autonomous operation. that is then mounted in the machine.” service “Our cooperation with Darekon has developed shows that well. Their size as a contract manufacturer is good also manufactures prototype boards for Sand- they are a for us. The quality of the products is excellent, vik’s R&D. their ability to serve us is good and the operation “I just talked with our designers,” continues family is flexible. I think one can also see clearly that they Roivas. “Darekon delivers products for several re- business.” are a family business – the client seems to come search projects we have going on with them. They first, always.” are digitalisation projects, mainly development of According to Roivas, Darekon manufactures control systems and data collection. IoT is really practically all the firm’s subcontracted resin essentially present in our development. Our de- moulded connection and communication mod- signers say that Darekon’s willingness to serve and ules for a demanding environment. There are ability to answer questions is good. Quality is right some tens of different products and production and delivery times are kept. They are happy with series range from tens to hundreds. Darekon the service they get from Darekon.” ·

Sandvik DD422i Axera is Sandvik’s first next generation mining jumbo that will show the way for the future of mining.

15 Plant introduction

Automated component placement lines at work in the new part of Haapa- vesi’s production facility. The layout is logical, there is plenty of space and room to grow.

< The component cassettes of placement machines are prepared in a spacey area right next to the component storage.

everything is ready THE PARTY CAN START

The expansion at Haapavesi facility is complete, production lines and all machines have found their new places and new equipment supplement- ing the entirety has been acquired and installed. Now there is space and capacity for almost anything!

verything started at Haapavesi for – have been moved to the new part of the facility. Darekon and the facility has been ex- It is much more spacey there and working around panded several times during its history the lines is more fluent. In the long hall there is of more than 30 years. The expansion still plenty of space for growth if one, for instance, Enewly completed is the biggest yet and wished to add new component placement units or the target has been to streamline production and other machines. increase the capacity of the plant. In the old premises there is now plenty of space and manual production is concentrated there. One Straightforward material streams can flexibly set up assembly lines for new prod- Automated component placement lines – the core ucts as needed. Material storage is placed in the equipment at an electronics manufacturing facility centre of production and preparing component

16 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 cassettes for the placement machines takes place staff and the precise control of temperature and in a roomy area next to the storage area. humidity required by production processes. There The objective has been to clarify the whole lay- are fifteen energy wells, each 300 metres deep, out of production and to make material streams drilled under the new part of the building and they as straight and short as possible. There is as little conserve a lot of energy in cooling the facility.” extra moving as possible and production advanc- The building is connected to the district-heating es from the end place of one production phase network of Haapavesi city and energy wells warm straight to the start of the next phase, without up incoming ventilation when the weather is cold. The whole need for separate movement. The renewed ventilation is of course equipped with heat recovery from the exhaust air, so energy production Many practical improvements consumption for heating is now much lower than is more flu- “We are very happy about the realisation of the before. ent and at expansion and the improvements and possibili- ties it has given us,” says Antti Järviluoma, plant Peaceful and quiet working environment the same director at Darekon’s Haapavesi facility. “The The large hall and the many mechanical produc- time more whole production is now more fluent and at the tion machines in it are bound to create some peaceful.” same time more peaceful. We wanted to invest in noise. At the beginning there were signs of this in visuality, easiness, clarifying production phases Darekon’s new premises. Then there was a serious and eliminating bottlenecks – and we have clearly effort at noise abatement – both local attenuation succeeded in these objectives.” and general sound isolation. Noisy machines, such “Technically the whole facility has been thor- as the nitrogen generator, are located in sound- oughly renewed. Ventilation has been built again proof rooms and much attention has been paid to from scratch and it ensures both the wellbeing of acoustics as a whole.

17 Selective soldering is well suited for use on connectors and many large components.

The thousands of titles for compo- nent storage can be found in their place on the warehouse shelves.

Manual production now has more The functional testing of completed space to set up assembly lines for boards has its own area, equipped with new products as required. all necessary test instruments.

“Sound level in all spaces is now less than 80 existing lines by, for instance, adding new place- decibels, that is considered the limit for the need ment units.” to wear hearing protection,” says Järviluoma. “In One significant investment just realised at most spaces the sound level is much lower than Haapavesi is an AOI system that is an automated that. For instance in the area for manual produc- optical inspection system connected to the pro- tion it is quiet like in a felt boot factory and work, duction line. The system is a 3D measuring sys- safety and comfort have been improved.” tem that makes a profile of the boards and exam- Soldering paste is printed ines component placement and soldering. With through a stencil on solder Framework ready for growth high-resolution cameras the system identifies pads on the boards. “The number of employees and the volume of moiré pattern created by light beams from various sales are roughly at the same level as the last angles and out of this concludes if the soldered couple of years,” continues Järviluoma. “We have board is exactly as it should be. now got almost 50 per cent more space and the The idea behind the investment in the AOI sys- renewals have made our production more fluent tem is that there is a continuous stream of exam- in many ways. Now we have excellent possibilities ined and flawless boards from the production line. to respond to new demand and increase both the This improves efficiency and quality – the human number of employees and capacity of production eye sometimes gets tired, but the machine doesn’t in all other ways.” have bad days. “We now have two automated component According to Järviluoma, the strategy for placement lines, both functioning in two shifts,” Darekon is to proactively and in all ways ensure says Järviluoma. “It is possible to increase capaci- customer service, quality of operation and ability ty significantly by starting to use a third shift. For to deliver, before starting to sell more to clients. The robot hands of the flying probe the time being we don’t need a third line and it First the framework and then new deals. · tester make one thousand tests a minute. is still possible to further increase the capacity of

18 CUSTOMER MAGAZINE OF DAREKON LTD AUTUMN · 2017 Beyond sales

understanding client’s needs IS ALL IMPORTANT With the completion of the Haapavesi facility manufacturing and economics success – different focuses of expansion, Darekon has also strengthened its as a whole.” different manufacturing facili- “But how to get a new client ties form an entirety; good for customer service. B.Sc. (Eng.) Ilmari Haho to choose us? Even if machines, serving the most varying needs started as customer service manager in Febru- references and everything else of clients. Haapavesi makes ary. He wants to understand a client’s produc- is okay, it is people that make top-level component place- the contracts. Personal chemis- ment, Savonranta versatile final tion and development situation. try has to work too and create a assembly, Klaukkala mechan- confidential mutual understand- ical parts and final assembly lmari Haho, living close to velopment stage the client ing. The final decision is always and Poland cable harnesses the city of Oulu, has a back- needs prototypes quickly. If based on personal service. I have and long production series very ground in product devel- they are changing supplier, even seen that a contact person economically. Darekon also opment at Nokia and data price and quality are the most has sometimes been changed if wants to get to know its clients Icommunications. After 15 important issues. In most cases the chemistry has not worked.” well and build a long lasting years the 54-year man moved quality is the reason for chang- relationship with them. to customer service in 2002 and ing supplier and reliability of Well-managed company Darekon is a well-managed has worked, amongst others, for deliveries is an essential part of Haho has the experience of hav- company with a slightly differ- Elektrobit, Innokas Medical and quality.” ing worked with several elec- ent management culture than Ele-Products. “My job is two-sided: to find tronics contract manufacturers many others. According to Haho new clients for whom our service and he has observed Darekon’s the production plants are rela- Situation and future concept would be optimal and to operation for a long time from a tively independent and opera- “We need to understand the manage the arrangements for a competitor’s point of view. For tive management from the top state of a client’s product de- group of existing clients. At one some reason Darekon grows and management level is light. This velopment and product, what time I managed and sold prod- succeeds better than many oth- low interference along with pre- kind of service they need, and uct development so I believe I er companies in the field. cise financial control keeps costs offer a solution to their real can well understand the client’s He thinks Darekon’s versa- down so the company can be needs,” says Haho. “At the de- needs regarding development, tility is a natural reason for profitable, invest in modern pro- duction technology and grow. Behind everything there is the strong focus on quality and relia- bility of deliveries.

Ability based on experience “Sometimes earlier I thought a contract manufacturer is a tail that the client wags,” continues Haho. “But that is not at all the case. It is just here that there is a lot of professionalism. The well-rounded and expert per- sonnel can solve many client’s problems quickly and flexibly.” “In production they can switch project and client fluently and immediately observe the re- quirements and routines with Ilmari Haho wants new products. It is real profes- to understand both the production and sionalism that ensures easy, reli- development circum- able and economically profitable stances of the client. cooperation for the client.” ·

19 Responsible business – sustainable development

ISO 9001 ISO 13485 ISO 14001

Contract manufacturing of medical equip- Profitable growth for over 30 years has been ment and industrial electronics. Continuous possible because the customer has always been development with the customer at the number one. Motivated staff, versatile services heart, digitalisation and sustainability are and comprehensive quality management system the signs on Darekon’s road as a contract help us to operate economically, flexibly and manufacturer. proactively.

Contact us!

Pekka Mikkonen, tel +358 40 570 8327 [email protected]

Petri Kettunen, tel +358 45 178 7478 Darekon Ltd [email protected] Vaisalantie 2, FI-02130 Espoo Finland Ilmari Haho, tel +358 40 560 5780 www.darekon.fi [email protected]