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SURFACE PROTECTION CUSTOMER MAGAZINE BY FSP 1/2017
Large order for lighting poles
➤ Thermal spraying extends life span
➤ FSP's biggest paint shop in Raahe
➤ Simple is beautiful in production planning
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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 Viestintätoimisto VCA Oy Printing house Savion Kirjapaino Oy Cover photo Tehomet Headquarters Kalliosolantie 3 FI-01740 Vantaa Tel. +358 9 278 6270 www.fspcorp.com
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SURFACE PROTECTION Founded in 1964, FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy is one of the leading surface treatment providers in Northern Europe. It offers surface treatment services for machinery, equipment, ships, bridges, storage tanks, steel structures and off-shore equipment on a turnkey principle. The company follows strict quality, environmental, occupational safety and health standards. In 2016, FSP's turnover was about Meur 25. FSP employs over 200 surface treatment specialists in about 30 paint shops in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Estonia and Poland.
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Large order for lighting poles
4 Thermal spraying extends life span
8 FSP's biggest paint shop in Raahe
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Simple is beautiful in production planning
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editorial
A lasting increase in growth Dear reader, the amount of positive news has increased in the metal and mechanical engineering sector during spring 2017. First of all, the confidence of the industry and now also the amount of new orders have turned to a surge, which also suggests a lasting increase of growth in the industry. According to order volume surveys in the technology industry, companies in the sector received new orders at the end of last year a third more compared to the preceding quarter. At the beginning of the year our sales volume and in particular our sales volume regarding international operations also turned towards a rise in growth. Every fourth of our sales volume Euros already come from our international offices. In Poland our number of personnel has already been doubled into 30 and our sales volume will double from last year. Secondly, our clients are increasingly seeing FSP as a natural partner and developer of surface treatment operations. As an excellent example of this is the Outotec Filters unit operating in Lappeenranta, Finland, which, from the beginning of April, decided to outsource their factory’s acid pickling and painting operations to FSP. The contract covers all of the facility’s surface treatment operations. Thirdly, services on the rise have been effect coatings, thermal spraying and fireproof coatings. With effect coatings our clients are striving for extravagance, durability and other special features. Early in the year we have handled several surface treatment projects using our versatile thermal spraying system. As well as protection from corrosion, it offers durability, hardness and adhesion strength. The demand for fireproof coatings has increased explosively due to the new restrictions of the rescue law. A fireproof coating slows the weakening of steel structures during a possible fire. It also makes possible the safe exit of personnel from the building. We have done fireproof coatings in several places such as harbour terminals, processing pipes of refineries and data centres built in Finland. Dear reader, on these pages, we will present to you our newest company news and case stories. The direction on the market is positive. I wish all a positive service attitude and good luck in the grind of the beginning year.
"Every fourth of our sales volume Euros already come from our international offices."
Best Regards,
Pentti Virtanen CEO FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy
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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case met : Teho Photo
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FSP and Tehomet worked together to turn old and worn lighting poles into brand new ones in the centre of Lahti.
The city of Lahti gave a huge project to Tehomet and FSP Tehomet, the Nordic countries’ largest manufacturer of custom steel and wooden lighting poles and high masts and FSP work in close co-operation in Kangasniemi Finland, where the companies operate under the same roof. The results of the partnership became visible this year in the lighting poles project in the city of Lahti.
The partnership, since 2004, has deepened in the last few years so that FSP does the surface treatment for all the products that are manufactured by Tehomet in Kangasniemi. Usually the partnership deals with innovative new products, which FSP treats with effect and special coatings. On the other hand, the partnership can also be used to deliver on some more unusual orders as well. An example of this is the project, which was started last spring in the city centre of Lahti, in which the old lighting poles were repaired to be as good as new.
“The refurbishment project of the poles was an interesting challenge. Early in the year, the City of Lahti began a large reconstruction project on Aleksanterinkatu, where the driveway of the main street was made narrower and the pavement was widened. All the surface materials of the street were renovated and at the same time the city wanted to update the lighting poles,” says the Tehomet production manager Tomi Pasanen. According to the calculations conducted by the city it was easier to repair the old lighting poles than to replace them with new ones. Tehomet and
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On the left, the old lighting masts and on the right, the masts after renovation and surface treatment.
: Teho
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FSP took up the challenge, during which the repair and coating works needed to be done following the city’s refurbishment schedule and also in such a fashion that there would be the least amount of disturbance to traffic.
Quality coating treatment makes public cleansing easier “The dismantling of the old poles was begun in April and was conducted in six stages. There were a total of 39 poles. During the project Tehomet was in charge of scheduling of the surface treatment, mechanical renovation and manufacturing of necessary new parts. After that FSP treated the surface of the poles,” says Lauri Leppänen, the head of Kangasniemi surface treatment facility unit. During the coating process the poles were also given an UV lacquer treatment and a special coating on the lower parts, which prevents stickers and other glued products from adhering to the poles. Due to the efficient surface treatment a lot less pollen and street dust clings to the poles and it will be easier to them keep clean. After the surface treatment the ten-meter-long poles were reassembled, transported onto the main street and mounted. “The project was worked on by five surface treatment specialists and lasted approximately four months. The surface treatment was done in three separate stages, each of which lasted about 3 to 4 days. Of course, other products could be
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done also during this project,” Leppänen says. The old poles had originally been manufactured by Tehomet.
Two companies, one attitude According to Tomi Pasanen Tehomet and FSP play well together. Together, new and significant renovations have also been made. Among the most important of these is the environmentally friendly powder painting procedure developed in 2007, which completes traditional wet painting. In regards to painting procedures, the market changed drastically a few years ago. “About 10 years ago 90 percent of all targets were wet painted, now 95 percent of them are coated using a powder painting process. The powder painting process guarantees a quick turnaround time: products, which have been painted in the morning, can be packaged and prepared for transport in a few hours,” says Pasanen. In Kangasniemi, the output of both companies has been on an upward trend. Pasanen thanks FSP for having an active working stance, which means that problems and challenges are handled preemptively and keeping in mind a fluent dialogue. “We have big production facilities, high quality of workmanship and efficient production. In principle, personnel from two different companies are working in the same space, but practically everyone feels like they are part of the one and same company,” Pasanen sums up.
Photo: Tehomet
From Dubai to HelsinkiVantaa
In 2015, Tehomet received the biggest single order of wooden lighting poles in its history, which consisted of delivering 788 wooden poles equipped with solar panels and steel lighting masts into Dubai zoo in the Arab Emirates. FSP coated the poles using the powder painting process, providing their bottom pipes and top blocks with a bronze coloured special effect coating. The Tehocoat-powder painting provided the 4–8 m high poles with a visually stunning, durable and elastic surface. In the spring of 2016 Tehomet worked on nine 27 meter high flight obstacle masts for Helsinki-Vantaa airport. The masts came already zinc coated from Poland to Kangasniemi, where Tehomet polished and trimmed the masts. After that FSP made for the two-part poles a traditional surface treatment with sandblasting and painting. The method used was wet painting because, in using that, the process line is able to work on especially long structures, such as the masts, more efficiently than when using the powder painting line. The masts were given a red and white surface as per flight safety regulations. All buildings, factory chimneys, towers and masts, which are near airports and air fields, and which are of a certain height – depending on the area it’s 30 or 45 meters – need to be equipped with flight obstacle lights. The Helsinki city street image also showcases the collaboration of Tehomet and FSP. At the beginning of the year, Helsinki introduced the first completely electric driven buses. The buses, which can be automatically boost charged, get their power from sturdy electrical charging masts, their sticker rejecting surface having been made by FSP. The surface coating of the charging masts was begun in Kangasniemi last fall and the work will continue in pace with the production of the masts. In April 2017 two charging units were being worked on.
Effect and special coatings are becoming more popular in both the domestic and international markets. In the top picture are the impressive wooden poles supplied to the Dubai zoo, in the middle the flight obstacle masts and at the bottom, city bus charging masts.
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case
In thermal spraying, a solid metal is melted down and sprayed onto the surface of a given product. The result is a surface coating that is of uniform quality and high durability.
Thermal spraying extends life span and maintenance intervals In 2017 FSP conducted a big thermal spraying project in their paint shop in Pori, Finland. The project consisted of 132 steel segments, which were transported to Norway after assembly, to be used as part of the foundations of wind turbine power stations in the North Sea.
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suu i Joen : H arr Pho to
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"The main goal is to extend the life span and maintenance intervals of the product."
The foundations of a wind power plant are constructed from four segments. According to the area manager of FSP, Miikka Kuutilo, the goal of the surface treatment is to protect steel structures from salt water corrosion and prevent abrasion corrosion, as the structures will be used in highly extreme circumstances in the Norwegian North Sea. Kuutilo describes thermal spraying as one of the most diverse industrial surface treatment methods, and that it’s also in high demand because it offers a wide selection of coating materials, among other things. The main goal is to extend the life span and maintenance intervals of the product. “Thermal spraying provides steel structures with excellent qualities compared to other types of technical applications. Such qualities are, on top of the corrosion-protection, resistance to abrasion, hardness, thermal conductivity, heat durability and adhesive strength as well as its suitability to be used for large surfaces,” Kuutilo describes.
Expansion to several sectors of industry Thermal spraying can be used to enhance the electrical conductivity or insulation, lubrication, friction, chemical durability and other qualities of treated objects. The advantages of the procedure, according to Kuutilo, are also the great speed of manufacturing, low heat input into the work-piece and reasonable surface treating costs compared with other applications. Due to its versatility, thermal spraying has spread to a number of industries. In several countries, it generally is now a industrydemanded surface treatment method. It can be used for bridges, cranes, ships, off-shore platforms, port facilities, oil rigs, fences and gates as well as vehicles, among other things. In thermal spraying a solid metal is melted
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down and sprayed onto the surface of a given object, which will form a surface coating of uniform quality and high durability.
Strict quality control The whole coating process consists of preliminary preparation of the surface to be coated, spraying, sealing and finishing. A thermal spraying process demands a strict quality control according to standards. Before the actual coating, the suitability of the steel structure will be checked through for the used method. The workers will diligently clean out all grease and contaminants. After the abrasive blasting the surface roughness, the absence of dust and the rest of the surface profile will be checked. Also, it will be made sure that the oxide layer has been removed from the metallic surface, meaning that it is in an active state. The surface temperature must be sufficiently over the dew point. Sufficient smoke exhaust will ensure that a harmful dust layer will not accumulate onto the surface during the coating. After thermal spraying the work quality will be assessed visually both with a film thickness measurement and a pull-off test.
Wind turbine flanges received durability In 2016–2017 FSP has also done another demanding surface coating project in Pori using thermal spraying. The objects of thermal spraying were wind turbine flanges, which were also given a zinc coating. The wind turbine flanges are part of the new Pori Tahkoluoto wind park ocean foundations. FSP conducted the work in western Finland, in Mäntyluoto, Pori, for Technip Offshore Finland Oy, which manufactures oil rigs, among other things.
news
FSP’s biggest paint shop in Raahe FSP’s new paint shop in Raahe will be, measured in surface area, the company’s largest and most modern facility in Finland.
The new paint shop will start its operation in the beginning of June in Raahe, Finland, in hall number one in Kiiluntie. Earlier, FSP has been operating in the paint shop situated next to the Miilukangas workshop. “The new premises are much more modern and bigger. The premises and the amount of staff doubled from earlier,” says Sanna Parkkonen, Sales and Marketing Director at FSP. There are three painting chambers in the new paint shop, which makes it possible to conduct surface treatment works on long objects. The total number of square metres in the premises is approximately 1,400. Operations are facilitated by the covered storage spaces.
The lifting capacity in the facility will be 20 tonnes, so FSP can surface treat extremely heavy steel structures. In Raahe, the customer base of FSP also includes, besides Miilukangas, other prominent steel manufacturer, such as SSAB. The three painting chambers of the new paint shop enable surface treatment of long objects.
Excellent location The facilities offer more varied possibilities to serve the area clients and future projects in the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant project. The excellent location along the road 8 also makes for better serviceability. “We have been operating in Olkiluoto from the beginning and in the Loviisa nuclear power plant from the 1970’s. We possess a strong experience in the nuclear industry,” Parkkonen continues. The new paint shop offers shot blasting and wet painting services for steel structures manufactured by customers. At the turn of May and June 2017 FSP will hold an open day in the new facility.
Photo: FSP
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occupational case safety
Production planning: simple is beautiful Because manufacturing processes are continuously becoming more effective, the lead times get shorter and the production volumes increase. One of Juli-Ann Rikkonen’s key tasks at FSP is to make development visits in the company’s paint shops. “The development visits are primarily focused onto the facilities where it’s clear that there is room for improvement in operation and productiveness or help is otherwise needed with production. Sometimes it is a so-called positive problem: for instance the production volume can grow drastically and the facility and its staff must then know how to react accordingly,” Rikkonen explains. Area managers Miikka Kuutilo and Lauri Pasola together with COO Jarno Huttunen act according to the situation and if needed, assess together with the client which of the units will become the next development visit site. “The development period is not strictly timed or scheduled beforehand, because every workplace is different and the amount of work between units varies.”
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Photo: Kai Filppula
Effective and loss-free production is no longer a competitive factor, but something which makes it possible to “stay in the game”. This is how JuliAnn Rikkonen, Development Engineer at FSP, describes the general trends of the industry.
Strengths and challenges made visible Unit operation development is also being conducted, depending on the situation, in several facilities at the same time. In March 2017 Rikkonen worked in Finland in the Raisio and Kaarina units, before that she worked with the Savonlinna, Finland, and Poland units. The Savonlinna unit does surface treatments mostly for Savonlinna Works Oy, which manufactures chemical pulp industry products and steel structures. The components are pretreated with acid pickling or shot blasting. FSP also does over and touch-up painting after assembly as well as packaging. Savonlinna Works, owned by Andritz Oy, designs and manufactures heavy duty DDwashers, filters, sifters and pressure tanks. The development visit brought to light both strengths as well as challenges.
An idea-filled atmosphere, away with the useless “The communication between the client and FSP was seamless and continuous, as for instance the weekly production meetings show. The atmosphere was open for development and the staff flexible. On top of that the employees and the supervisors gave a lot of development ideas and notes regarding problem points,” Rikkonen lists the successes. Production is made more efficient regardless of unit as far as possible. At the same time FSP’s Engineering unit is continuously searching for new technology applications and process solutions, which will provide a competitive edge in the form of quicker lead time. Juli-Ann Rikkonen bases her evaluation on the Lean philosophy, which focuses on the principle of getting rid of actions which don’t add to value, in other words preventing loss. Lean identifies eight different losses, for instance needless waiting around between working phases as well as needless processing, which are for instance the result of mistakes.
Prediction raises productivity “I also do production simulation and optimizing. The purpose of the simulation is to determine the capacity, production bottle-necks as well as the utilization rate of workstations.” “After that we will begin to think, among other things, on how resources such as machines, equipment, premises and staff can be made use of in the best possible way and how to minimize set-up times. Production simulation can be used to develop already existing operations and to
support the start of new operations.” During the development period in Savonlinna it became apparent, that there was also room for improvement in some areas of operation. “Productivity can be enhanced through being able to efficiently predict future production. Prediction will facilitate efficient planning of production and resources. The production process itself can also be simplified and clarified – we noted redundant intermediate phases, which take time. And there is never too much open dialogue between client and supplier,” Rikkonen says.
"Productivity can be enhanced by careful prediction."
Occupational safety and productivity go hand in hand FSP’s paint shops are all individuals, but they also have common characteristics. In many facilities quality and productivity are excellent. On the other hand the common challenge is the fact that as surface treatment is situated at the end of the whole manufacturing process, so the problems and delays of the previous production phases multiply towards the end. “It’s important to me that the staff in the units understands that we are all part of the same team and together we’ll make our operations better.” The reception in the units has been exceptionally positive and open. Enhanced production also demands more than before from occupational safety. “Everything begins from trust. Employees do not stint on safety and they must always make sure that their working conditions are safe and report on any deficiencies. The supervisors will be responsible for fixing the noted problems immediately and ensure that all suggestions for development will be reacted to quickly. Thus the trust in other people’s actions will increase during practical work and will become a habit that isn’t deviated from.” Occupational safety is one of Rikkonen’s core responsibilities. She was appointed the new Health and Safety Manager of FSP in early March. The job description includes the following strategic goals: supporting and developing the workplace safety work in co-operation with the whole organisation, taking part in the health and safety committee both co-operating with the occupational health and safety authority.
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news
FSP is strongly taking part in fire protection on several branches
Sufficient carrying capacity during a fire During the last few years FSP has made fire proof coatings for several places such as harbour terminals, Neste oil refinery processing pipes and data centres built in Finland. In Sweden FSP
During the last few years FSP has made fire proof coatings for several places such as data centres built in Finland.
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has made fire proof coatings for instance at the Volvo Penta factory in Gothenburg. On top of fire proof coatings also traditional anti-corrosion paintings have been made in these locations. In practise a fire proof coating is demanded of all buildings and steel structures which are expected to have sufficient carrying capacity in a fire. The thickness of the coating defines how long it will protect a load-bearing structure in a certain temperature, before the carrying capacity diminishes significantly.
A fire proof coating is handier than concreting A possible top coat layer in fire proofing is mainly to provide the preferred colour. The primer and fire proofing together usually already give a sufficient protection against corrosion. The fire protection can already be made before the assembly in a paint shop, but it can also be done in site after the assembly. All the damages sustained during transport and the touch-up painting of the welding seams will in any case to be done even after the assembly. A fire proof coating is an easy and cost effective method compared to traditional concreting. The fire coating is also lighter and it is easier to do on a work site than concreting. There is also the added benefit of being able to easily touch up the fire proof coating due to possible dents, where repairing concrete dents is more arduous.
Photo: Shutterstock
For the last ten years, FSP has been part of carrying out fire protection as well as traditional surface treatments in several building projects. Fire protecting steel structures has been accelerated by the tightening of the Finnish rescue law that came into force in July 2011. As result of the law many industrial facilities have had to update their fire safety. The legislative reform demands that all new facilities need to have an exit safety survey conducted and fire safety plans to be drafted, among other things. And in the building permission stage the fire resistance time needs to also be determined. According to the rescue law the facility owners and occupants as well as operators of all public properties must ensure that the danger of fire, intentional starting of a fire and the danger of fire spreading is low. It is also demanded that the persons inside a building are able to exit the building or are able to be saved in some other way in case of fire or some other sudden dangerous situation. According to the law all rescue activities must be possible and the safety of the rescue personnel be taken into account in the case of fire or other accident.
Outotec partnership extended to Lappeenranta
A huge renovation at the Akaa railway bridge During the summer of 2017 FSP will conduct a surface treatment project of the railway bridge over Lontilanjoki in Akaa, Finland. The leader of Finnish infrastructure constructor, Kreate Oy, chose to partner with FSP as the result of the tendering. “On top of cost efficiency other deciding factors were FSP’s expertise and prior experience on surface treating bridges,” says Antti Kokkonen, Kreate Oy’s responsible foreman at the Akaa bridge. During the project Kreate will be responsible for the general overhaul of the bridge’s concrete elements and decks. FSP will surface treat the steel beams situated under the bridge. The surface treatment works will cover, in all, repair of damages with rounding of edges, washing, shot blasting and three layers of paint. FSP has a strong and long tradition in surface treating big bridges in both Finland and the Nordics. The latest bridge projects have been the Raumojoki and Pirkkiönjoki railway bridges in Tornio, Finland, and the Rotebro and Höga Kusten motorway bridges in Sweden.
fspcorp.com Photo: Shutterstock
Since the beginning of April, the Outotec Filters unit operating in Lappeenranta, Finland, has outsourced their factory’s acid pickling and painting operations to FSP. The contract covers all of the surface treatment operations of the facility. The Outotec surface treatment professionals transferred to FSP with their current employment conditions. As a result of the partnership, FSP will extend its operations into southern Karelia in eastern Finland and expects that there is demand for high quality surface treatment services in the area. The unit is currently handling a variety of different mining- and processing industry related products. “On a group level FSP has been partnering with us since 2004. Because of our functional and refined co-operation we felt that they were a natural partner and developer of operations in Lappeenranta,” says Head of Global Manufacturing, Petteri Malin from Outotec. The new FSP paint shop is situated in the Pallo city district of Lappeenranta. The facility consists of an acid pickling unit operating inside the Outotec factory as well as a separate paint shop and shot blasting unit. ARC coatings are also produced on the premises. “In addition to Outotec we are also ready to offer versatile surface treatment services to other clients in south Karelia. We will possibly later expand our offered services to cover the needs for a powder painting. We also offer our clients final assembly of surface treated products as well as logistics and packaging services,” states FSP's CEO Pentti Virtanen.
FSP Finnish Steel Painting Oy Kalliosolantie 3 FI-01740 Vantaa Tel. +358 9 278 6270 www.fspcorp.com
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Š VASTAVALO.FI
A longer life span
Our industrial surface treatment, engineering and added-value services are well-acknowledged both in Finland and internationally. We offer surface treatment services for machines, equipment, ships, bridges, storage tanks, steel structures, oil and gas drilling rigs on a turnkey basis. We help you save time and focus on your own core competence and its development.
We use non-polluting working methods, we recycle and we practise safe storage techniques. We follow quality, environmental, industrial safety and health standards ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.
FSP FINNISH STEEL PAINTING OY | KALLIOSOLANTIE 3 | FI-01740 VANTAA | +358 9 278 6270 | WWW.FSPCORP.COM