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FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING CUSTOMER MAGAZINE 3/2018
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High quality surface treatment for a gas pipeline in Inkoo Patria and FPS agree on long-term partnership New paint cover for Ounaskoski bridge on schedule
FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING LTD | KALLIOSOLANTIE 3, FI-01740 VANTAA | WWW.FSPCORP.COM
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High quality surface treatment for a gas pipeline in Inkoo
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New paint cover for Ounaskoski bridge on schedule
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Patria and FPS agree on long-term partnership
FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy is one of the leading industrial surface treatment and value-added service providers in Northern Europe. Instead of the traditional surface treatment work, our future focus areas will be more on developing our production and services and offering new techniques and technology. As a result, our customers gain advantages such as improved competitiveness required in market leadership. We strictly adhere to quality, occupational safety, health and environmental (QHSE) requirements. FSP employs over 240 professionals in about 20 surface treatment facilities in Finland, Poland and Estonia, and has a turnover of around €22 million.
For Surface Protection is the stakeholder magazine of FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy, published three times a year. Content and visual design Viestintätoimisto VCA Oy. Printing house: Savion Kirjapaino Oy Cover photo: Jouni Porsanger Headquarters Kalliosolantie 3 FI-01740 Vantaa www.fspcorp.com
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Towards an eventful 2019 You are holding a thick reading package of our corporate news and success stories. We have had many of those during the last months of 2018! I will give you three examples. Firstly, we are starting a long-term cooperation with Patria in Hämeenlinna in Southern Finland where the surface treatment needs of the Patria factory will be handled by FSP from the beginning of January 2019. The factory will provide us with expertise and technology that will also help us serve other existing and new clients. On page 7, we will explain further this cooperation that offers added value to Patria and its clients on different continents and operating in substantially varied circumstances. Secondly, we will boost our ability to get ideas from our employees in order to implement them more effectively. For this reason, we are tightly involved in the productivity programme that includes team work, training, courses and expert assistance. When working culture is good and the community is a functioning one, we fulfil the requirements for a successful innovation activity. This programme is unique on the Finnish employment market. Read more about this on pages 12–13. Thirdly, great breakthroughs require significant investments. We made an investment decision to implement a new painting line at our factory in Poland in 2019, and this will double the national company’s production capacity. We have great expectations for continuous revenue growth of our subsidiary in Poland. Our revenue has nearly doubled each year since the foundation of it. The markets in the mechanical engineering and metal industry have been positive this year even though order backlog is stabilising. Among industrial sectors, especially machine and metal industries have grown particularly fast this year, and this has brought a welcome increase in demand for high-quality surface treatment and engineering services. More information on the next pages. Now it is time to thank our skilled employees for their efforts to fulfil our targets and our clients for their confidence in us. We now have even better skills to offer you smart, precise and helpful service next year. I wish you an eventful 2019.
Pentti Virtanen CEO, FSP Finnish Steel Painting
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High quality surface treatment for a
historical
natural gas pipeline in Inkoo
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HISTORICAL OFFSHORE-NATURAL GAS PIPELINE ACROSS THE THE GULF OF FINLAND FROM PALDISKI ESTONIA TO INKOO FINLAND WILL BE READY FOR USE BY THE YEAR 2020. FSP WAS IN CHARGE OF THE SURFACE TREATMENT OF INKOO VALVE STATION PIPELINE.
Photo: Balticconnector
What makes the pipeline historical, is the fact that it connects Finland and the Baltic countries to European natural gas network and markets. The goal is to improve Finnish national emergency supply and energy safety, when it comes an alternative to Russian pipeline gas. At the moment in both of the countries gas delivery is largely depending on Russia, even though tanker ships are freighting liquified natural gas on the Baltic Sea. Between Inkoo and Paldiski, an 80 kilometres long undersea pipeline is lowered, on which the gas can flow to both ways, depending on the market situation. When ready the Balticconnector will be 150 kilometres long in total. In the major project FSP was in charge of the Inkoo valve station pipeline surface treatment. The contract set high quality demands for the surface treatment, because the pipeline is under the ground and it has to endure harsh mechanical stress during the years. The planned lifetime of the pipeline is also long. Before starting the project, FSP consulted in choosing the suitable paint specifications. Between Inkoo and Paldiski, an 80 kilometres long undersea pipeline is lowered, on which the gas can flow to both ways.
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Photos: Kai Filppula
The contract set high quality demands for the surface treatment, because the pipeline is under the ground and it has to endure harsh mechanical stress during the years. Part of the pipeline remains on the ground.
Work quality met the expectations The surface treatment project of the valve station proceeded in two phases. First FSP surface treated the pipelines in the paint shop in Kulloo. After that, the project continued with the surface treatment of the welding seams on-site in Inkoo, where the valve station is built as a part of a compressor station. FSP was also in charge of shrink wrapping the outer weld seams of the pipeline buried under ground. Part of the pipeline remains on the ground and part will be underground covered with gravel. The main contractor Louhintahiekka has been satisfied with FSP work quality during the project. “FSP has implemented the project flexibly and on the agreed schedule. Communication has been fluent with FSP’s project manager Pasi Kovalainen,” says Arto Lahti the project manager of Louhintahiekka.
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The Finnish part of the project is implemented by government owned company Baltic Connector Oy and in Estonia a government owned Elering AS. The main contractor in the project was Louhintahiekka Oy and the surface treatment order was done by MT Group.
Balticconnector project • Connects the gas markets between Finland and the Baltic countries. • Leads from Inkoo to Paldiski, 80 kilometres on the bottom of The Gulf of Finland. • The pipeline is built 21 kilometres in Finland and 55 kilometres in Estonia. • Compressor and measuring stations are located in both sides of The Gulf of Finland: In Inkoo and in Paldiski. • The two-way pipeline can transfer 7,2 million cubic meters of gas per day. • The pipeline costs about 250 million euros, of which EU finances 75%. • The Finnish government has capitalized the implementer of the pipeline Baltic Connector -company for 30 million euros. • The pipeline is to be introduced in 2020.
FSP was responsible for the surface treatment of the welding seams on-site in Inkoo, where the valve station is built as a part of a compressor station.
Photo: Patria
Patria and FPS agree on cooperation in Hämeenlinna, Finland NEWS
PATRIA AND FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING OY HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT ON SURFACE TREATMENT OPERATIONS AT THE HÄMEENLINNA PAINT SHOP FROM 1 JANUARY 2019. The paint shop’s surface treatment professionals working for the current supplier will transfer to FSP under their current employment conditions. In addition to Patria, FSP will also provide its services to other companies’ in the area. “From many good options, we found FSP to be the most qualified partner for our future. Patria aims to build an alliance with the industry leaders,” said Patria director Jere Tuominen. “We believe that the partnership with FSP will bring us better know-how in surface treatment. This gives us an advantage in providing more added value for our customers on different continents, operating in substantially varied circumstances. In addition to professionalism and reliability, it is also FSP’s international abilities that have generated a deeper interest in cooperation.”
Interest in wide-ranging partnerships FSP’s new surface treatment unit is situated in the Hongisto industrial zone in Hämeenlinna, and is connected to the Patria factory. In this unit, FSP can effectively treat both small parts or even ready-made assembled troop carriers. With these methods, customers in the engineering Industry located throughout the Häme and Pirkanmaa regions can be serviced. “We are investing in the partnership. FSP is looking for a long-term partnership with an international customer. From the Hämeenlinna factory, we will obtain professionalism and technologies that allow us to serve both new and existing customers,” says FSP CEO Pentti Virtanen.
Patria • An international provider of defence, security and aviation lifecycle support services and technology solutions. • Provides its aerospace and military customers with equipment availability, continuous performance development, and selected intelligence, surveillance and management system products and services. • Operates in several locations in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Estonia. • Patria Group’s net sales for 2017 were 467.7 million euros. • The group’s workforce totalling 2 800 professionals.
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New paint cover for Ounaskoski bridge on schedule
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Photo: Rikumatti Jurmu
CASE
ROVANIEMI'S OUNASKOSKI RAILWAY AND ROAD BRIDGE IN NORTHERN FINLAND WAS OPENED AGAIN FOR TRAFFIC IN THE BEGINNING OF NOVEMBER, AFTER A MAJOR RENOVATION THAT LASTED OVER A YEAR. THE NEARLY 70-YEAR-OLD BRIDGE RECEIVED A WHOLE NEW PAINT COVER, NEW RAILINGS AND LIGHTING, THE CAR LANE A NEW ASPHALT AND MUCH MORE SPACE FOR CYCLISTS. FSP was in charge, on this year's March-November, of the over 400-meter-long bridge's surface treatment undertaking, in accordance to the agreed schedule. In total, the number of painted square meters amounted to 23 000. It was one of the biggest bridge contracts in Finland this year and the biggest single bridge project in FSP's history. ”This was a big bridge with five stream pillars, a road and a railway track on top of each other. This certainly won't happen again on my career,” describes Destia Rail Site Manager Mika Tuokila. Continuing the renovation with surface treatment demanded that the bridge, which is essential to city traffic, was closed for eight months.
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Photo: Rikumatti Jurmu
Photo: Jouni Porsanger
According to Destia Rail Site Manager Mika Tuokila, discussion contact with FSP remained great. The bridge renovation, on the whole, proceeded to its goal on schedule.
Staying on schedule a critical factor
A whole new paint cover
Closing the bridge for the duration of the surface treatment work made the staying on schedule a critical factor, but the work proceeded fluently during the project, according to plan. The work was carried out in several shifts, 12 hours a day, 7 days a week in total. According to Tuokila, the citizens of Rovaniemi responded well to the closing of the bridge. ”Practically all it took, was to put a “bridge closed” sign on both ends of the bridge.” ”Discussion contact with FSP remained great and the changes during the project were reacted as needed. The final stretch was very good. The bridge renovation, on the whole, proceeded to its goal on schedule. Resourcing was very good, when the right people were in the right place at the right time,” Tuokila continues. In charge of the renovation of the bridge was Destia Rail, from whom the contract was ordered by the city of Rovaniemi and Liikennevirasto – Finnish Transport Agency. Now the bridge is once again ready for heavy-duty use: a railway runs on its upper deck and below it is the roadway whereas the sides are reserved for non-motorised traffic.
During the project light traffic lanes were renewed, rails changed, a maintenance cover built and the road got a new asphalt. From car traffic perspective, the bridge works in the same way as before. The light traffic instead received new, wider than before lanes on both sides of the bridge and they can be traveled by bicycle in both directions. At the same time they offer the tourists in Rovaniemi a center stage view of Ounasjoki river to admire. Earlier there were only pedestrian sidewalks, on which cycling was limited. The stream pillars are also more dashing than before. During the renovation, the pillar seams were renewed and lighting was added to them also. FSP surface treatment work covered the surface treatment work and painting of all of the steel bridge. Steel beams received a whole new paint cover. The steel structure and the Arctic location of Rovaniemi set challenging conditions for surface treatment work during wintertime. ”The steel had to be warmed up to plus degrees, so that water won’t be condensated on the surface while sandblasting. Icy steel can’t be painted either,” Tuokila says.
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Flotation pool surface treatment project for SSAB in Raahe CASE
STEEL COMPANY SSAB’S FACTORY IN RAAHE, WESTERN FINLAND RENOVATED THE DURABILITY OF THE WATER TREATMENT PLANT’S FLOTATION POOL IN NOVEMBER 2018 DURING ROLLING MILL SHUTDOWN. THE COMPANY SELECTED FSP’S SURFACE TREATMENT UNIT IN RAAHE TO EXECUTE THE PROJECT.
FSP surface treatment project covered the sandblasting and painting of all of the steel bridge.
Environment protection a key consideration The bridge project was undertaken over a river system, which made protection of the environment a key consideration. The bridge was covered during the surface treatment, so that the sandblasting material or the paint could not spread in the surroundings. The cover functioned as a protection from the elements, equipped inside with heaters for the freezing winter, and in the summer heat it shielded direct sunlight. The bridge, divided to eight sections, was sandblasted and painted in phases. At the same time corrosion damage from decades of wear and tear and road salt was repaired. The bridge received four coats of paint on it. The bridge is now ready for even heavy duty use. It is to be expected that the Ounaskoski bridge traffic will continue with previous amounts, which is about 10 000 vehicles per day. In the year 2018 FSP was also in charge of the surface treatment of Vårdö roadway bridge, Friitala roadway bridge and Kraaselinsalmi railway bridge.
The project covered an inspection of the existing coating and a partial surface treatment for the pool. FSP cleaned the old coating by blasting, after which the tank was given a new coating that endures mechanical stress and humidity. “Our experiences have been positive. FSP is one of our contractors in Raahe, and the quality of the work met our expectations. One benefit of the cooperation was FSP’s location nearby,” says Janne Mattila, work planner for the mechanical maintenance of SSAB’s steel mill in Raahe. The time was right for a surface treatment because the old surfaces were worn. The job was a challenging one because there were also simultaneous mechanical repairs being done at the pool. “The project was finished in time, thanks to our flexible and professional project staff. The tank’s new and shiny surface will add to its life span,” says Joni Siironen, head of FSP’s unit in Raahe. The pool has a diameter of about ten metres, and its six metres deep. SSAB’s factory in Raahe produces standard, premium and special steel. Their main products are hot-rolled plates and coil products. The factory has a coke oven, two blast furnaces, a steel mill, a power plant and a hot-rolling mill. The area also has processing facilities for raw materials and a freight port. FSP has been cooperating with the international SSAB for a long time. In Raahe, FSP offers a wide range of services to companies in Northern Finland, both in its modern surface treatment plant as well as on project sites. Its strengths are willingness to help, security of supply and fast delivery. In addition to SSAB, FSP has many notable steel builders from Raahe as their customers: the Miilukangas group, machine shop company Telatek, and Presteel, producing heavy-duty pipes. FSP has completed both large- and small-scale projects in Finland. In addition to nuclear power plants and bridges, the sites have included lighthouses, ships, water towers, precast bars and lampposts. FOR SURFACE PROTECTION ➤
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Staff strongly involved to affect work results CASE
STARTING FROM AUTUMN OF 2018 FSP HAS BEEN TIGHTLY INVOLVED IN PRODUCTIVITY PROGRAM, WHICH IS ORGANIZED BY TEKNOLOGIATEOLLISUUS RY (TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRIES OF FINLAND) AND TEOLLISUUSLIITTO RY (INDUSTRIAL UNION). THE OBJECTIVE IS TO STRENGTHEN CONFIDENTIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND MAKE THE WHOLE STAFF INVOLVED IN DEVELOPING THE OPERATIONS. THE UNIONS’ PROGRAM IS UNIQUE IN FINNISH LABOUR MARKET. ”The staff is a critical success factor. It’s the people who do the work, even though the machines and automation are at a modern level. The work proceeds human-oriented. With the help of the program we will strengthen our ability to incorporate staff ideas to work at hand, better than previously and alter the work to be more meaningful,” FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy CEO Pentti Virtanen says. The target of the program is to support productivity development, which is a central competitivity factor and for which a lot can be done. According to the unions, a good productivity development is the basis of work and production competitiveness. Good co-operation inside the company is pivotal. The program emphasizes that taking care of productivity is the only sustainable way to guarantee the success of the company, the saving of jobs and making new ones.
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Everybody benefits ”Everybody such as the customers, the company and the staff benefit when we develop operating methods. Productivity is improved when we do the right things in the right way in all the stages of the production process. When the working culture is good and co-operation functions, they give birth to conditions where successful innovations can be made to operations,” FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy HR Director Mari Rajamäki says. In the beginning, the program is piloted in FSP Jyväskylä and Kangasniemi surface treatment plants, in middle part of Finland. The goal is to strengthen the culture of working together and bring the Lean-philosophy to be a stronger part of everyday operations, than previously. In practice the program includes, among other things, teamwork, coaching, courses and professional help.
Photo: Shutterstock
”The program already started with co-operation level measuring. On it was evaluated what is the current state of co-operation and which actions are needed for co-operation, or even more widely, for the improving of operations. This way we can get information for the base on the discussion, of what is the opinion of different parties about the different factors that affect co-operation,” Rajamäki continues.
Lean makes the staff involved During the following year FSP takes advantage of the following program module parts: Lean-leadership, motivational rewarding and functional travel practices. These module parts have been chosen together with staff representatives. In the spirit of the Lean-philosophy, coaching leadership, supervisor and worker skills are developed. This results in improvement of process flow,
operating methods can be standardized and the value given to customer increases. The main objective is to get the staff involved in development work and working together. The goal is also to detect what is loss and what unnecessary work means in everyday work. The motivational rewarding module helps develop the compensation system, so that it would function efficiently and fit together with the business operations as a whole and its objectives. Rewarding is motivational when the staff has a possibility with its own actions to influence it. The functional travel practices module offers the means to develop travel rules.
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Innovation: Durable metal surface with a wooden appearance NEWS
The product is an effective coating that gives the surface an unusual appearance or a desired property. The surface can for example be a lamppost with a birchlike appearance. The development of the method was initiated by clients’ wishes, and now orders are being transferred into production at the Kangasniemi surface treatment plant in Central Finland. A special benefit of the method is its visual aspect that is important in many public spaces where a lot of people visit. The method can be used to create different designs for metal structured furniture. If you can imagine it, it can be made. The coating is resistant to corrosion and mostly to UV radiation. The coated products are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The visual aspect of the method offers ecological harmony and a wooden appearance. There is a selection of different wooden appearances, and the product is not only visual but also very durable and resistant to mechanical strain.
Photos: FSP
FSP offers its clients a wooden appearance for metal surfaces. The surface can be almost any metal surface that can be powder coated.
Dust-free wet blasting in the middle of Kalasatama in Helsinki NEWS
In autumn 2018, FSP provided various wet blasting services to its clients with its mobile equipment. One of the sites was in Kalasatama in Helsinki, close to the shopping centre Redi; the adhesives in an apartment building’s concrete foundation were cleaned with a wet blaster by FSP. Benefits of the method especially include effectiveness and environmental friendliness because it only causes small amounts of dust. Nearly dust-free method minimises the need to cover the surrounding environment, which saves time and boosts the project’s cost-efficiency.
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In Kalasatama, dust-free wet blasting was vital because there are many people around the apartment buildings using the metro, the bus lines and the Redi shopping centre. Tens of thousands of people visit in Redi every day. It is the largest shopping centre in the Helsinki inner city, the fifth largest in the Helsinki metropolitan area, and the seventh largest in all of Finland. Wet blasting is also suitable for areas with a danger of explosion because it does not create sparks. In addition to concrete, wet blasting can also be used on steel and on stone surfaces.
Polyurea makes FSP’s own sur-
an extremely face treatment durable tank training started roof in Kilpilahti NEWS
During fall 2018, FSP completed a project where the roof of a sour water tank received a surface treatment at the Kilpilahti refinery in Southern Finland. The used coating was an extremely durable polyurea. Polyurea became the number one choice because of its effective density, insulation and durability. It is also extremely fast to install compared to sheet metal plating. Polyurea hardens quickly, which speeds up the project. The strengths of the method also include seamlessness and excellent resistance to water. The tank has a diameter of 14 metres, and it is 18 metres high. The coating was placed on the roof on the steel surface and hard wool insulation. Polyurea is suitable for almost all surfaces and adheres to many surfaces like concrete, brick and wool, still leaving a smooth surface. During the last year, FSP has completed several surface treatment projects where polyurea has been utilised. The method has been used in surface treatment of the Cramo central workshop concrete floor, a floor of the maintenance van and the inner walls of the Seaside Industry Park Rauma hall. FSP has also worked in the Terrafame industrial area with the thickening tanks that are subjected to continuous chemical and mechanical stress.
NEWS
FSP and a Finnish internationally operating training company Scandinaval Group have started cooperation. Scandinaval Group implements trainings designed to meet FSP’s needs, within the operating area of FSP. Work quality and the well-being of the staff are essential to FSP. FSP’s own surface treatment training motivates the new employees and helps to make sure that the surface treatment is in accordance with FSP quality requirements. Employees who have passed the training receive a diploma of FSP-certificate. FSP-certificate is to be developed to have three levels. First level certificate indicates that the surface treatment worker masters the exact materials and methods used in FSP tasks, and that the work quality meets the requirements of FSP quality criterion. According to the second level certificate, the surface treatment worker masters several surface treatment methods and can perform his job totally independently. On the third level certificate we approach FROSIO-level surface treatment know-how. “All of the participants are already professionals of the surface treatment industry and many of them have experience of even demanding tasks,” says Business Director Jarno Huttunen who is in charge of FSP’s international functions and customer relations. In FSP training co-operation, Scandinaval is in charge of surface treatment training practical arrangements and implementation, and among other things, the work permits of the trainees and future employees. Most of the participants who pass the first surface treatment training get employed by FSP Poland plants.
Surface treatment trainings are for the time being held monthly and at the first training, seven participants were present.
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FOR SURFACE PROTECTION
VERSATILE SERVICES IN A CUSTOMER-ORIENTED MANNER FSP implements industrial surface treatment services in a customer-oriented, environmentally friendly and innovative manner. With our skilled staff and turnkey service, you can focus on your core business – just like us. As one of the biggest players in Northern Europe, we want to be the most advanced, most versatile, most respected and trusted partner for your business now and in the future.
We use non-polluting working methods, we recycle and we practise safe storage techniques. We follow quality, environmental, occupational safety and health standards ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.
FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING LTD | KALLIOSOLANTIE 3, FI-01740 VANTAA | WWW.FSPCORP.COM