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Nokian Tyres is a steadily growing company, whose operations are amongst the most profitable in the world. It produces over 350 different tyre models and its production capacity is constantly growing. However, increasing capacity requires not only automation of the production, but also of the handling of finished tyres. Pesmel has taken part in automating the tyre-handling operations and has delivered systems to Nokian Tyres for a decade.
Nokian Tyres is a well-known brand in the Nordic Countries and the biggest tyre producer in the area. The company manufactures summer and winter tyres for passenger cars and tyres for heavy machinery. There is a long tradition of tyre production in Nokia: the company´s best-known brand, Nokian Hakkapeliitta, has been in production for 70 years.
Co-operation between Nokian Tyres and Pesmel has also become a tradition. Nokian Tyres has been an important customer of Pesmel for ten years. During this time, Pesmel has delivered conveyor systems to the production plant in Nokia: for tyre handling, for the automated stretch film wrapping of tyre piles, for warehouse handling and for the automated truck loading of tyre pallets. "With these systems, we have been able to boost our material flow and increase capacity", explains Keijo Ylitalo, the development manager in charge of passenger car tyre production, technology development and capital investment.
The benefit of long-standing co-operation is that the supplier understands the customer´s product and production. This simplifies and speeds up the work and facilitates a successful outcome. "For example, space is very limited at the factory in Nokia, so we needed creativity, flexibility and the ability to customize when making the layout", observes Reijo Marttila, the sales manager from Pesmel.
"In addition to product knowledge, we need to consider both the reliability of the system and technical competence when selecting a supplier. These issues are crucial for us, because our production runs some 350 days a year", adds Keijo Ylitalo.
Russia and the Baltic countries form another important market area for Nokian Tyres, in addition to the Nordic countries. Recently the company has put lot of effort into these markets and last year a new Nokian tyre factory was established in Russia; it is another main production centre along with the Nokia plant in Finland. Nokian Tyres plans to manufacture ca. 1,9 million passenger car tyres in Russia in 2006, rising to 4 million a year by 2008.
Pesmel has also played its part in getting the new factory up and running. Pesmel´s delivery included the tyre handling, transfer and checking systems at the end of the production line. "We have co-operated successfully with Nokian Tyres here in Finland, so it was relatively easy to expand deliveries to the Russian plant", comments Marttila.
Successful co-operation between customer and supplier requires not only a good delivery but also keeping in continuous contact between projects. "Good technical support and an efficient spare part service have an important role to play, especially in Russian deliveries, because they are so-called "full deliveries", which include both equipment and control systems", stresses Ylitalo.
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