01/2019 For Surface Protection

FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING CUSTOMER MAGAZINE 1/2019

FOR SURFACE

PROTECTION

SPIRITS ARE HIGH IN HÄMEENLINNA FROM IISALMI TO ALL OVER THE WORLD – AND UNDERGROUND SAUE GAINS ADVANTAGE THROUGH QUALITY AND COOPERATION

FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING OY | KALLIOSOLANTIE 3, FI-01740 VANTAA FOR | WWW.FSPCORP.COM SURFACE PROTECTION

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Spirits are high in Hämeenlinna – a swift start for the new unit

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From Iisalmi to all over the world – and underground

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Saue gains advantage through quality and cooperation

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 requirements. FSP employs over 260 professionals in about 20 surface treatment facilities in Finland, Poland and Estonia, and has a turnover of around 22 million euros.

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For Surface Protection is the stakeholder magazine of FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy, published three times a year.

Content and visual design: Zeroten Oy Printing house: Savion Kirjapaino Oy Photos: Pekka Savolainen Headquarters: Kalliosolantie 3 FI-01740 Vantaa

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Quality arises from cooperation Quality control and improvement. Cooperation and understanding of customer needs.

These big words are often heard, but what do they actually mean? In this issue of For Surface Protection, we wish to tell you what they mean to us.

In Iisalmi, we work in close cooperation with customers, sharing the same production facilities with our largest customer in the area. Open dialogue has helped develop our processes and cut lead times while increasing work quality. You can read more about our Iisalmi unit on pages 8–9.

This issue also describes our operations in Saue, Estonia (p. 10–11), where customer contacts are particularly important. Estonian companies are used to carrying out surface treatment by themselves.

Reaching a partnership deal usually requires lengthy negotiations where the entire production process is laid open. Through simulation we can locate bottlenecks and eventually transform processes other than just surface treatment. It is crucial to find an operating model that is cost-efficient for everyone taking part in production.

This is an important principle in everything we do.

Our new Hämeenlinna unit is introduced on pages 4 to 7.

Operations have had a good start, and the new team has been supported for example through trainings, which are still ongoing. FSP wants to support our personnel on both personal and business unit levels, and across unit boundaries. There is a lot of strength and know-how in our large working community.

Quality actions yield quality outcomes.

On pages 12 to 13 we take a look beneath the surface to see just what it takes to produce a polished, high-quality surface treatment.

This issue also features topical customer cases and news. Summer is getting closer every day, but we are happy to tell you that surface treatment is done more and more outdoors during the cold months, even in winter.

Helpfully yours,

Pentti Virtanen CEO, FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy P.S. The articles in this magazine are also available on our website. Each introduction of a new business unit is accompanied by a video. Welcome to explore!

Follow up on our company news on Facebook and LinkedIn, as well.

Click the link on the fspcorp.com main page or directly on Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Spirits are high in

Hämeenlinna – a swift start for the new unit

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HÄMEENLINNA

IN LATE 2018 THE FINNISH AEROSPACE AND DEFENCE COMPANY PATRIA AND FSP AGREED ON A LONGTERM COOPERATION AT THE HÄMEENLINNA SITE WHERE PATRIA’S PRODUCTS WERE BEING SURFACE TREATED. THE SURFACE TREATMENT FUNCTIONS OF THE SITE WERE TRANSFERRED TO FSP THIS JANUARY. WHAT IS OUR HÄMEENLINNA UNIT LIKE? READ ON TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ITS OPERATIONS AND PERSONNEL. – We are conducting secret projects with public outcomes, says Kristjan Gilden, supervisor in Hämeenlinna, smiling.

He is referring to the work done for Patria. There are armoured vehicles on the paint shop yard, familiar from Finnish Defence Forces parades.

Photography is forbidden. Working with military equipment requires every employee to sign a non-disclosure agreement and pass security clearance by the Finnish Security Intelligence Service (Supo).

Besides Patria, the unit serves nearby industry, handling for example parts of crane vehicles and energy industry products.

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From pre-treatment to packaging Functions of the Hämeenlinna paint shop include pre-treatment with centrifugal blasting as well as wet coating in painting chambers and painting line.

The line is used for smaller workpieces, while the chambers fits workpieces up to 15 metres long and weighing 50 tonnes, such as a tank.

– We are capable of processing different kinds of workpieces in a number of ways, Kristjan Gilden says.

– And there are also new plans, such as a washing facility for large workpieces, which will remove grease and offer chemical pretreatment.

The unit also offers packaging and other value-added services.

Excited for the new Kristjan Gilden became an FSP employee along with the transfer of the Hämeenlinna unit, but he has worked at the paint shop for several years.

– We work for five of our largest customers on a daily basis, and we also have around twenty other customers, Gilden says. – My work is quite varied, including production planning, incoming goods reception and inspection, and organizing logistics.

Quality control is a crucial part of all work and paint shop operations.

– We make control reports and measure the conditions of all workspaces. Machines and equipment used in production are maintained on a regular basis.

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Kristjan Gilden Painter, supervisor from April 1, 2019

Gilden is feeling positive about the transfer to FSP. – Things have gone surprisingly smoothly. In our work community of 14, everybody can stand in for each other. There are no stoppages, and the team is very professional.

Atmosphere at the shop is happy and hopeful.

– The painting work itself has not been affected by the new employer, but there is now more investment in quality control and personnel competence. We have also been briefed into FSP’s procedures. The training is ongoing and it’s spicing up the daily work nicely.

Kari Nostaja, head of the Hämeenlinna unit, is also pleased with his agile and adaptive team. The future is looking bright.

– We’ll keep our promise of quality and reliability.

Our aim is to increase production capacity, he says, hinting a future investment.

Gilden says he is constantly improving working methods.

– With the development of production methods, there is less and less to tape up and cover up, for example. This is speeding up the entire process.

It pays off to specialize Kristjan Gilden’s colleague Armi Alamattila is an experienced surface treatment professional. She wanted to pursue the crafts and studied to be a painter. During her studies, Alamattila specialized in spray painting and later, along with her work, in camouflage painting.

– In school I had no idea that industrial painting could be this diverse, and I didn’t know anything about camouflage painting. Now I am very pleased with my choices. The work is nice and varying.

At the moment Alamattila is especially motivated by the possibility of progressing in her career.

– I am interested in technology transfer projects, for example. I am able to train the use of painting systems to other operators. We have also already had talks with the new employer about the possibility of studying further, she says.

Kristjan Gilden finds customer feedback rewarding.

– It is always nice to get good feedback and hear that we have succeeded.

Armi Alamattila Painter, specialized in camouflage painting

FSP Hämeenlinna Finland Services: - Washing and cleaning - Shot blasting with steel grit - Centrifugal blasting with steel grit (1.2 x 2.3 x 11 m) - Wet coating Lifting capacity: 4.0 t Maximum workpiece size: 4 x 3.6 x 11 m (Dimensions: width x height x length)

FOR SURFACE PROTECTION More on FSP Hämeenlinna on our website www.fspcorp.com

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From Iisalmi to all over the world – and underground IISALMI

THE LARGEST CUSTOMER OF FSP’S IISALMI UNIT IS NORMET. WE SHARE PRODUCTION FACILITIES AND WORK IN CLOSE COOPERATION. IT IS BENEFICIAL FOR BOTH PARTIES TO HAVE PROCESSES AS SMOOTH AS POSSIBLE – WHICH LEAVES PRODUCTION CAPACITY FOR OTHER CUSTOMERS AS WELL.

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Jani Laukkanen, head of the Iisalmi unit, is feeling pleased and confident – We have had our rough times, but now it’s looking positive. We have hired new people in the last couple of years, and there are also plans to expand our operations.

The largest customer of the IisaImi unit is Normet, which specializes in mining machinery and chemicals. FSP provides pre-treatment and wet coating for Normet’s machines and their parts.

– For many products, we even take care of the final outfitting – taping, packaging and shipping, Laukkanen says.

Work procedures have been developed in cooperation with the customer.

– We have operated a taping service for a couple of years now. Earlier, the customer would tape certain parts as a separate work phase, but now we take care of taping while the workpiece is still on the painting line. At the same time we import the products into the customer’s system. The initiative for this practice came from us. We have saved lots of working hours by streamlining operations, enabling the customer to eliminate one work phase, Laukkanen says.

On the facility yard there are pallets tailored for products. Their development is also based on customer need. Larger hulls are now assembled directly on pallets, making them easier to move around and greatly reducing minor damages.

Important work for the entire region Jani Laukkanen has spent his whole career in the painting industry, almost 21 years of which in FSP. Laukkanen, who lives in Kiuruvesi, enjoys the outdoors and likes to go hunting with his dog. He likes living especially in this area and enjoys his work.

And so do many others: in the close-knit community of 13 professionals, many have a long history with FSP. – Two of our employees have worked here for over 30 years.

Besides Normet, another customer of the Iisalmi paint shop is HT Laser. These companies are large employers and therefore – along with their partners – important operators for the area.

While operating in Iisalmi, the companies are truly global.

– Last year we shipped out around 400 finalized Normet machines all over the world. We are anticipating high growth, so the number of shipments is expected to grow significantly during the next few years.

FSP Iisalmi Finland

– Some years back we co-developed painting systems, switching from single layer coating to double layer. Due to this change, the number of reclamations about final products was drastically reduced, Laukkanen says.

Services:

Proximity helps develop operations and collaboration.

Normet and FSP share facilities, albeit in separate production halls. Information is shared on a daily basis.

- Centrifugal blasting with steel grit (1 x 1.5 x 4 m)

– People know each other and we all get along really well, Laukkanen says. – Normet is an extremely good customer. We get a lot of development ideas, and also help, if needed. We almost feel like we are one company. Quarterly meetings are held for systematic monitoring and development.

- Washing and cleaning - Shot blasting with steel grit

- Wet coating on painting line and painting chambers Lifting capacity: 1.6 t Maximum workpiece size: 4.5 x 3.5 x 8 m (Dimensions: width x height x length)

FOR SURFACE PROTECTION More on FSP Iisalmi on our website www.fspcorp.com

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Saue gains advantage through quality and cooperation ESTONIA

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF LITRES OF PAINT PER YEAR, HUNDREDS OF CUSTOMER CONTACTS AND A CONTINUOUS FLOW OF CUSTOMER AUDITS. WORK DAYS ARE BUSY AND VARIED AT THE SURFACE TREATMENT FACILITY IN SAUE, ESTONIA. A COOPERATIVE OUTLOOK HELPS SUCCEED IN BOTH THE PAINTING SHOP AND CUSTOMER WORK.

FSP’s surface treatment facility in Saue is located a short drive away from capital Tallinn.

He admits that it is difficult to get new customers in Estonia.

– We have around dozen employees, dozens of customers and a lots of different services on offer, says Matis Jürgenson, head of the Saue unit.

– It is not so much about competition in the industry, but rather that many potential customers want to do their surface treatment internally.

New customers are won over with high quality and cooperation.

On his computer screen there’s a list of Estonian companies, hundreds of rows long.

– I am systematically going through this list and calling potential customers daily. My work consists of sales, offer calculation and every day management of Estonian units, Jürgenson says.

First impression counts There is a lot of work to be done as the Saue unit is growing steadily. The unit currently has more than ten large customers. The paint shop is processing a range of workpieces of different sizes with several different coating systems.

– We are prepared to expand our services, tailoring them to customer needs, Matis Jürgenson explains.

– We are currently developing our operations to increase painting capacity and enable the handling of larger workpieces in the future.

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– We are constantly searching for new information about materials and methods, Jürgenson says. – My passion is to really help our customers, which often means examining their entire production process.

Through cooperation, we are able to make changes that save time and money but still lead to better end results.

FSP has a good and reliable reputation in Estonia.

Matis Jürgenson stresses that high quality must be visible right at the facility door.

– Every week we get customers visiting our premises or auditing our work, often at a short notice. It is crucial that the facilities are tidy and everything is well documented, Jürgenson says. – We perform inspections and maintenance on our machinery quarterly with a specialist company. Our customers demand that all work is done with high quality, adhering to safety standards, and also heeding the environment.

FSP Steel Painting OÜ, Saue Services: - Shot blasting with steel grit - Wet coating - Lifting capacity: 0.5 t

Crossing borders with paints and cooperation Saue uses up tens of thousands of litres of paint per year. Matis Jürgenson says that the choice of paint depends not only on the workpiece, but also on the customer company and its operating area.

– We mostly use Finnish coating products. However, certain products are sent for example to the United States into an offshore environment, so in those cases we use a reliable international paint brand that is known in that area.

Paint acquisition is an important part of customer service.

– Doing things cheaply is not quality, but costeffectiveness is. The price of paint only makes up a fraction of production costs, but as quantities grow it starts to make a difference, too. We can bring advantage to the customer through our own procurement and volume benefits.

Having international customers means international service.

– We offer a full range of services. Saue employees have carried out surface treatment projects at customer premises in Germany and France, for example.

- Max. workpiece size: 2 x 2,5 x 5 m (width x height x length) Value-added services include finalizing and logistics.

Support from the work community Matis Jürgenson has earlier worked in property and construction industries. He came to FSP ten years ago as a summer worker and has since progressed to project manager and head of Estonian units. Many co-workers have also had long careers here.

– There are about ten of us now, and nearly everybody has worked at FSP for more than five years. Nobody has left for another job, but merely because of moving away from the area.

Employees are committed to their jobs and to this work community. Investment in personnel training is one motivational factor. Jürgenson sends his regards to FSP Finland.

– We get support from Finland for all our operations, from procedure development to sales and marketing.

It feels great to be part of a team of over 200 professionals.

FOR SURFACE PROTECTION More on FSP Steel Painting OÜ on our website www.fspcorp.com

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High-quality surface treatment is a combination of materials, technology and expertise EXPERTISE

QUALITY, SAFETY AND ENVIRONMENTAL VALUES ARE AT THE HEART OF FSP’S OPERATIONS. HIGH QUALITY EMERGES FROM THE RIGHT MATERIALS, METHODS AND EXPERTISE. Sustainable development emphasized in material choices Material quality and its development require us to actively monitor the industry and engage in international cooperation. We need all possible information about surfaces and coating materials.

FSP works closely with suppliers in Finland and abroad. Demands for eco-friendliness and sustainable development are increasingly important in the surface treatment industry as well, continuously sparking new product innovations. Some academic research, for example, has lately focused on utilizing the byproducts of wood industry in corrosion prevention.

Innovations may take some time to reach Finland.

Polyurea, for example, has been used in the United States for more than 20 years, but it is still a novelty in Finland. Research on nanotechnology has been carried out abroad for decades, and FSP is also keen on learning more about the possibilities it may open.

Nanosized surface treatment materials are already used in Finland, mainly as protective and cleaning agents in industrial surface treatment.

Operators in traditional paint chemistry are also continuously improving the processing and curing speeds of products, for example.

How is robotics transforming the painting industry?

The right choice of paint alone will not guarantee highquality surface treatment. Working methods have huge impact on the final result.

Latest new methods include the design of robotics and implementation of robotics into production.

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A good point of comparison and benchmark is the automotive industry which has spearheaded the use of robotics in production. Surface treatment models of the car industry are now making their way into industrial surface treatment as well.

FSP is currently investigating painting and shot blasting robots that could be used in treating small objects. The programming of robots is no longer as difficult as before, and prices of robots have come down.

Robotics can make the end-result more uniform in quality and be more cost-efficient. A robotized painting chamber, for example, will soon pay itself off.

Everything starts with people Naturally, high quality of work also derives from the expertise and well-being of employees. Continuous learning and education are more and more important as the industry is changing rapidly.

Many production employees may worry that their jobs will soon be taken over by cost-effective robots.

However, people are always needed – even if their job descriptions change. A robot does work automatically, but it will always require human understanding and supervision.

Robotics can also improve the quality of the working environment. Robots can take care of the heaviest labour, or the work phases that involve safety risks such as being exposed to hazardous metal dust or solvent fumes.

CERTIFICATES ARE GUARANTEE OF QUALITY We comply strictly with quality, occupational safety, health and environmental requirements.

Therefore, our operation has been certified according to: - ISO 9001 - ISO 14001 - OHSAS 18001 - NORSOK FOR SURFACE PROTECTION

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REDI’s Majakka is hard as steel NEWS

Majakka, part of the REDI complex being built in Helsinki’s Kalasatama district, will be a 134-metre high landmark. Once completed, Majakka will be Finland’s tallest residential building, first of the eight new tower buildings planned in Kalasatama.

FSP has provided surface treatment for Majakka’s various steel parts.

Some of these parts will be hidden in the final structure and have been given a corrosion protection. We have also treated hundreds of square metres of visible steel structures with corrosion protection and a metallic paint finish.

Furthermore, we have treated U beams and other smaller parts and provided surface treatment during the construction phase, for example painting the construction site lifts.

REDI’s Majakka is constructed by SRV. FSP’s partner in the Kalasatama project is Teräsnyrkki Oy.

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From urethane foam removal to salt control and painting – Borealis’ propene container is renewed NEWS Borealis is a leading provider of innovative solutions in the fields of polyolefins, base chemicals and fertilizers.

The company operates in 120 countries. In Finland, Borealis Polymers Oy manufactures polyolefins and base chemicals in Kilpilahti, Porvoo. The unit is the largest oil refining and chemical industry facility in the Nordic countries. FSP provides year-round maintenance painting and surface treatment for the buildings and production facilities as part of a multiyear comprehensive service contract.

Next on the work schedule is the maintenance of Borealis’ propene container. It now has a urethane foam insulation. Once that is removed, FSP performs surface treatment for the entire silo and its attached pipes.

There is circa 3000 m2 of total surface area to be treated in about five weeks’ time.

After the insulation is removed, the container is cleaned by shot blasting. After shot blasting, a salt control is carried out on the surface to ensure that it is ready for surface treatment. If there are salts on the surface prior to treatment, the surface may suffer corrosion damage after one year, at worst.

In addition to the container project, this year we will also paint a new long pipeline that Borealis is constructing along with a new repository. The pipeline is over 7 km long and runs from the repository to the harbour.

Our other works in Kilpilahti include fireproofing coatings, for example.

Did you know? Coating can dampen sound and vibration.

We are constantly following material development and product innovations in Finland and abroad. We have earlier told for example a thermal insulation coating for containers. Lately, our Estonian facility has had good experiences with noise damp rubber coating with properties such as noise and mechanical vibration reduction. The rubber coating can be applied to various materials for both indoors and outdoors use.

Maintenance painting at Atria’s plant NEWS

Atria, based in Finland, is one of the leading meat and food companies in the Nordic countries, Russia and Estonia.

During May and June, we perform maintenance painting at Atria’s Nurmo production plant, painting the facility’s steel beam structures.

Regular maintenance has direct effect on the building’s lifespan. FSP’s services include surface treatment inspections as well as preventive and maintenance painting and surface treatment.

Fresh shine for silos NEWS

The Finnish family-owned chemical industry company Kiilto operates in four business areas: construction, industrial adhesive and hygiene solutions, professional cleaning and hygiene, and consumer products. Many car travellers recognize the Kiilto silos on Tampere motorway in Lempäälä.

Now the silos are renewed with Kiilto’s new corporate look. Some of the older silos will be dismantled, but the ones in better condition and still in use will get a fresh paint. The silos will be coated with primer and given a paint finish. FSP is responsible for the entire surface treatment project along with taping the Kiilto logos. The project will begin flexibly as the weather allows.

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VERSATILE SERVICES IN A CUSTOMER-ORIENTED MANNER FSP implements industrial surface treatment services in a customer-oriented, HQYLURQPHQWDOO\ IULHQGO\ DQG LQQRYDWLYH PDQQHU :LWK RXU VNLOOHG VWD΍ DQG WXUQNH\ 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.

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FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING LTD | KALLIOSOLANTIE 3, FI-01740 VANTAA | WWW.FSPCORP.COM FOR SURFACE PROTECTION