S4i Stainless – A Complete Service for Industry Concept ...and maintenance. Projects involve...

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74 Business Finland 3/2010


75Business Finland 3/2010

S4i Stainless for Industry

– A Complete Service Concept Providing Added Value to the Customer

S4i is a complete service concept providing everything from design to final installation, as well as omprehensive service solutions to the following indus-tries: pulp and paper, process, energy and environmental technology.

Text: Klaus SusiluotoPhotos: S4i / Hakmet / Sini Pennanen

From left:Tero Niemelä / Managing Director / High Metal Production OyJuha Rossi / Export Manager / S4iSami varsamaäki / Regional Manager / Efkava OyEsko Lammervo / Business Development / Stairon OyVisa Frimodig / Managing Director / Kymtec OySeppo Sorsavirta / Managing Director / Sepima OyToni Sorsavirta / Deputy Managing Director - Director Sales/ Sepima OyJuha Peltomäki / Senior Consultant / Finpro





Officially, S4i – Stainless for Industry export chain - was established in January 2010. The idea emerged

in May 2009. A great role was played by the managing director of Stairon Oy, Mr Tapio Hussi.

“The idea was born from necessity. In-ternationalisation of business operations will secure and enlarge our customer base. By combining forces, export pro-motion is more efficient. And this way we can offer turnkey deliveries tailored to customer needs. The S4i business comprises five mutually complementary companies specialised in making welded sheet metal structures and machinery, as well as engineering and installation,” he says.

The products are mainly made of stainless or acid-proof steel; in the acro-nym S4i, the letter ‘S' stands for stainless and ’I’ for industry.

“However, S4i also has expertise in aluminium handling, which is an impor-tant issue for our customers,” says Hussi.

“Through our partners we already ex-port more than 90 per cent of our pro-duction. We have strong experience in pulp and paper machine components. Our top expertise covers paper and board machine air systems such as air dryers, diverse runnability components, heat ex-changers, heat recovery units and fans.”

The S4i companies are located in Turku and Naantali in western Finland, and in Vantaa in the Helsinki region, as well as in Kouvola. Companies involved in S4i are Stairon Ltd, High Metal Pro-duction Ltd, Sepima Ltd, Kymtec Ltd and Efkava Ltd.

One-stop shop

Companies in S4i provide comprehensive cross-technological expertise.

“From a customer’s point of view, it is an advantage that we can offer one-stop shopping. We want to offer the customer the easiest possible way to get the reliable service they need – today and tomorrow

Managing Director of Stairon Oy, Tapio Hussi

However, S4i also has expertise in aluminium han-dling, which is an important issue for our customers,”





– though a partnership. Otherwise there could be five different agreements, five contractors etc,” explains Joint Ex-port Manager of S4i, Mr Juha Rossi.

“With this approach the number of contact interfaces is kept to a mini-mum level. S4i is a common brand that strengthens the visibility of companies and gives us a kind of an umbrella under which we can offer an alternative to the bigger players,” continues Rossi.

Finland’s export promotion organisa-tion is Finpro. Its consultant, Juha Pel-tomäki, says that the way of thinking in industry has changed: “So far, the com-panies have been subcontractors to larger Finnish companies, but now we take long steps for international business opera-tions. Joint Export Manager of S4i Juha Rossi has strong experience of German-speaking Europe, which will be one of the focus market areas for the S4i export chain.”

Stairon’s Esko Lammervo is in charge of the Russian operations for S4i. “In Rus-sia pulp and paper production will grow in the near future – this will create new opportunities for S4i,” believes Lamm-ervo.

Cost-effective approach

Tapio Hussi emphasises that S4i is not only about manufacturing processes: “Our delivery does not end when we deliver the products. We can handle the installation process as well. After-sales, even maintenance and repair, are options for our customers.”

All operations are carried out in a cost-effective way. “People talk a lot about labour costs. Naturally they count costs, but good and innovative engineering generates a lot of savings in the long run,” he says.

At the moment quite a few large-scale paper mills are being designed and con-structed.

“However, the rebuild market is taking off in many parts of the world. Some PMs have been shut down, but those left run

Our delivery does not end when we deliver the products. We can handle the installa-tion process as well. After-sales, even maintenance and repair, are options for our cus-tomers.”





ning need to be upgraded every now and then, in order to keep up with cost efficiency. Paper mills want to have more efficient machines, with better runnabil-ity and less energy consumption. They want good heat recovery properties so the drying technologies can improve quality and generate savings. So, we are not that pessimistic at all.”

Especially mid-size and medium-speed PMs with a width of about 6-8 me-tres and speeds of 600-800-1200 metres per minute will be upgraded, believes Hussi.

“As one important single issue I could mention that heat recovery in paper mills is our very core competence,” says Hussi. “For example, one important factor is heat recovery close to an air dryer.

“Our basic operating principle is to generate added value for our customers by cooperating closely in product devel-opment during the design and planning process. A system or service package designed together with the customer is production-friendly and of high quality.”

Energy and the environment

Things to do with pulp and paper and are not the only competence of S4i: “We sup-ply solutions for energy, food, beverages, waste water technology and pharmaceu-tical industries. Environmental technolo-gy is also promising. We also supply vari-ous products to different energy sectors, including nuclear, solar and bio.”

S4i is in the environment business, biomass drying, cleaning of industrial air, handling of waste water and clean water technology. In the latter area, it works with Turku University of Applied Scienc-es, which is highly knowledgeable about water treatment issues and heat exchange technology.

Engineering competence

The design services offered by S4i com-prise process planning, energy planning and environmental engineering. It has





more than 300 professionals, of whom close to 40 are involved in engineering and research.

The largest engineering area of S4i comes from Kymtec Ltd whose managing director, Visa Frimodig, says that his en-gineering services company encompass process, mill and energy-technical engi-neering.

“Our focus is on circuit-specific op-eration descriptions and process problem surveys and analyses, for example,” he says. “At the mill level a typical assign-ment is composed of preliminary and implementation engineering of the mill investments, as well as tasks related to production plant process modification and maintenance. Projects involve pre-liminary and site planning for factory investment schemes and tasks related to upgrades and improvements in produc-tion plants. We master various engineer-ing software and 2D/3D layout and pip-ing design, and mill HVAC design. These are all things that we share with other S4i companies,” concludes Frimodig.

Stairon Ltd

In 2009 Metso Paper Turku Works Oy was sold to a new company named Stai-ron Works Oy through a management buyout.

“In connection with the sales process, Metso and Stairon agreed on long-term co-operation on certain key products. Metso Paper still is the most important customer to us.”

The S4i companies put a lot of effort into finding the best employees. Accord-ing to the Production Manager at Stairon, Mr Markus Hotanen, recruiting is not a problem – it is rather a challenge to form a good team.

“But naturally it takes some time to give new employees all the necessary training. For example, welding special grades of steel is not easy. The workforce is a very important part of the process that delivers the added value to the cus-tomer,” continues Mr Hotanen.

Production Manager at Stairon,Markus Hotanen

Finn-Power L6 laser





The S4i companies also put a lot of emphasis on the latest technology that generates savings. Stairon, for example, has acquired a new Finn-Power L6 + LU laser-cutting machine with top-level speed and extreme accuracy.

“The machine contributes superior cutting speed, increased production ca-pacity, higher dimensional accuracy of cut sheets, and enhanced component quality. The L6 was designed to incor-porate an innovative linear cutting tip motor, which allows for maximum speed even in small grooves or narrow forms. The Finn-Power offers excellent perform-ance in cutting dynamics, shape accuracy and process safety.”

In pre-processing the company uses trimming and diverse cutting methods such as laser, plasma and water cutting, as well as guillotining. The welding tech-niques include hybrid, laser, 3D-laser, TIG, MIG and MIG robot welding.

Some products have their own pro-duction lines, including various integrat-ed production techniques such as hydro moulding, large- and small-component machining, balancing and final tests, for example for vibration and density.

The organisation’s management and operations are certified in accordance with the ISO 9001 standard. Other cer-tifications include ISO 3834–2 and OH-SAS 18001.

In the Pansio industrial area of Turku, the company has 12,000 sq m of high production hall area that has good lifting capacity. Due to its overall dimensions, the manufacture and transfer of large and heavy products runs smoothly. The logis-tics location is excellent, considering its close proximity to the harbour.

High Metal Production Ltd

Another strong metal works company that is part of S4i is High Metal Produc-tion Ltd. It focuses on manufacturing innovative sheet metal structures from stainless and acid-free/resistant steel.

“We have strong partnership activi-ties.

Managing Director of High Metal, Tero Niemelä

“We have strong partnership activities. High Metal has invested in the latest laser technology, product development, manufac-turing processes and design know-how. “

86 Business Finland 3/2010 87Business Finland 3/2010

High Metal has invested in the lat-est laser technology, product develop-ment, manufacturing processes and de-sign know-how. Operations are guided by innovative attitudes and the need to understand customer needs,” tells Tero Niemelä, managing director of High Metal.

High Metal has several references to point to: Metso Paper and Andritz are among its clients.

Sepima Ltd

Material competence in steel and alu-minium can be found at Sepima Ltd. Toni Sorsavirta, Vice-President and Head of Sales of Sepima, says that the S4i group is an ideal match to Sepima too:

“We can offer high-class technologies and planning to our consortium. We do water jet cutting, fine beam plasma cut-ting, robotic welding systems and many other methods. Our production ranges from small components and prototypes to extensive comprehensive compo-nents.”

Installation by Efkava

Installations also are part of the S4i serv-ice concept. S4i has over 20 years’ experi-ence in industrial installations.

“Our services comprise machine and equipment installations, steel structures and working platforms, demanding pipe-line production and installation, pressure device directive compliance, energy pro-duction equipment installations, main-tenance and servicing, after sales, and project management and supervision,” says area manger Sami Varsamäki.

The installation arm of S4i is Efkava, a business with extensive experience of do-ing installations in the process industry.

www.s4i.fiwww.stairon.fi

www.highmetal.fiwww.kymtec.fiwww.efkava.fiwww.sepima.fi

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