Profitability, connectivity and utilisation of data in industry

– Comatec brings together under one roof experts in comprehensive automation solutions

During Spring 2020, Comatec has undertaken company rearrangements and organisational changes to concentrate the Group’s automation solution expertise under one company, Comatec Automation.

Comatec Automation will merge the former A&D Automation, Insinööritoimisto Metso, Microteam (which merged with the parent company in the summer of 2019) and the parent company’s mechanical design experts. The company will employ more than 150 experts at four locations: Imatra, Lappeenranta, Tampere and Joensuu. The plan is to start operations in Oulu later this year.

Expertise concentrated in one place due to customer requirements

For a long time, customer surveys and discussions with customers have revealed that they require support, especially in the utilisation of automation, robotics and Internet of Things (IoT), as well as in finding the options that suit them best. On this basis, the goal has been to create a company offering comprehensive solutions all under the same roof, allowing easy purchase for customers.

“A typical challenge for our customers involves increasing the profitability and improving the availability of their production line, while making the production line safer. Customers are well aware of the fact that the automation devices connected to their production equipment contain valuable data about their production operations, but they need assistance in finding a solution to collect the data and utilise it to support their business” announces Tero Kosonen, the Managing Director of the company.

“They are also aware of the need to use IoT and its related challenges, but they lack an IoT solution and require outside assistance in developing one”, explains Tero.

Such expertise is available, but it typically needs to be purchased from several suppliers as separate projects. Comatec Automation brings together expertise in process industry maintenance planning, process automation, industrial automation and IoT solutions.

“We already had the expertise, but it was divided among the Group’s different companies. Now we have transferred all the expertise in the business segment to the same organisation so customers can interact more easily with us, and to make our internal operations more agile” reveals Tero.

“Many customers face a situation where the manufacturer will only sell them cells, and they will need to contact an engineering or software firm to add the intelligence”.

“Our service portfolio is so extensive that we can offer our customers comprehensive solutions, ranging from mechanical design to software implementation, cloud services, commissioning and safety”, says Miikka Riittinen, the head of the Automation Solutions business segment.

The Goal: being the preferred delivery partner

“A good example of a comprehensive solution we have delivered is the production robot cell in which the mechanical design, automation, technical documentation, cloud connectivity and virtual commissioning were realised with Digital Twin. In a project of this type, we can use our entire range of expertise, and the customer will benefit from the efficiency of a solution bought from under one roof, instead of a solution consisting of several projects”, Tero Kosonen explains.

“We want to be the most wanted delivery partner due to the scope of our expertise and the ease of using our services. If we meet these goals, Comatec Automation’s outlook will be excellent”, Kosonen says of the company’s future.

TEKSTI: MARIA UURTO
KUVA: COMATEC