Scope #16 (6/2022)

1th Prohoc Stakeholder Magazine Summer 2022 prohoc.fi

NURTURING MINDSETS

PLATF0RM for GROWTH RECRUITING IN HUNDREDS

Becoming a workplace for 500 people

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10 LENTUS FILMS

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COVER: Curiosity Leads Growth

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WOIMA: In the Core of Green Energy Transition

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From the CoB: The New Proactor

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Passionate About Project Management

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Recruiting in Hundreds

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Portrait: Pekka Antti-Roiko

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Heikki Kaltola: Special Places around the World

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OSME: Towards Human-centric Ecosystem

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RECOMILL: Ready, Steady, Testplant!

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Wellbeing: Enjoy the Magnificent Nature of Finland

SCOPE is a stakeholder magazine giving insight to the daily business and development of Prohoc

Group and its personnel. PUBLISHER: Prohoc Group EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Ilkka Palola ART DIRECTOR: Jonne-Pekka Stenroos/Staart COVER PHOTO: Mikko Lehtimäki PRINTED BY: Printhaus Pori Oy, Finland.

Papers and inks used are eco-friendly and produced responsibly.

KEYNOTE

STORIES and LAYERS of GROWTH Ms. Deborah Ruuskanen, my English teacher at the university, said when we analyzed the sample texts on our literature course: ”Ilkka, I want you to dig deep, and you will find more meanings from it.” And I dug into the texts for hours. Apparently, some growth was happening as I learned, that things had more profound meanings behind the words and numbers. In business – and yes – in Dylan Thomas poems too.

I learned that personal growth is possible when you have the right mindset, clear goals, supporting environment, and a ‘light bearer’ in form of colleague or leader to help you find the way.

The growth of a business is often measured by turnover or by the number of employees. For example, Prohoc has grown from 70 to 300+ employee company just within two years. But why that happened?

The short answer is loads of motivation, personal growth, and an old theory of service-profit chain. The service-profit chain is a business logic that emphasizes the importance of employee and customer: Take care of your employees; they will put their best effort for your customer, and a happy customer trust you back and you get the numbers.

When digging deeper, it becomes obvious that a growth story is a puzzle of things. Growth means changes and planning, a more

Ilkka Palola

professional way of working: daily routines in place, embracing

CEO

new efficient ways of working, and often forgetting the old habits and adopting new ones. For both individual, team, organization,

A smalltown boy, born by the sea. A complex

and ecosystem.

mixture of an engineer and a humanist.

Instead of focusing on growth numbers, we at Prohoc chose

Passionate about planning for the next steps.

Spends most of his free time on his couch with

to closely plan our path forward and defined three main targets

the family, running with a map in the woods,

for our strategy: 1) embrace good leadership for individuals and

sweating in Les Mills classes and playing with

teams, 2) understand our customer’s business and do whatever

excel spreadsheets. • LINKEDIN: @ilkkapalola

it takes to help them to grow and succeed, and 3) enjoy and get your happiness from daily routines.

Everyone wants to be on top of the mountain, but we believe that all the happiness and growth occur while you’re climbing

PHOTO: MIKKO LEHTIMÄKI

it. As Brianna Wiest writes “One day, the mountain that was in front of you will be so far behind you, it will barely be visible in the distance. But who you become in learning to climb it? That will stay with you forever. That is the point of the mountain.”

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NURTURING MINDSETS

CURIOSITY

leads

GROWTH A

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few months ago, Johanna Hämäläinen started as a Chief Human Resource Officer in Prohoc to steer the human resource functions to support the company growth.

“I’m very excited about this opportunity and happy to be part of Prohoc’s growth journey where the wellbeing of our people and great employee experience are at the core of our strategy.”

Johanna has a long career in various HR roles in the technology, finance, and insurance sectors. She has worked with employment matters, people development, and business HR roles and has earlier experience scaling HR functions in a growth company.

“I’m a people person, and I get my energy working with multiple topics and people with different backgrounds. I have been fortunate I have had the chance to work with several areas in HR in my previous roles”, says Johanna.

“Joining Prohoc feels good as I feel the company values match mine, and I can utilize my wide HR expertise from many angles. Growth also sets an interesting platform to build on.”

THE WINNING DNA

Prohoc builds future success in three strategic cornerstones: excellent employee experience and leadership culture, customer success through our expert services, and professional and smooth daily working.

“Our mission is inspiring with our people in the center of everything we do. When people feel good and valued, they also perform better, and when happy and skilled people win our customers' loyalty, we all can do profitable business”, says Johanna.

Instead of fancy wordings in strategy statements, Johanna calls for a practical and tangible approach.

“It’s important for people to understand the real meaning of why we exist, where we are going, my role in all this, and

Growth mindset I can learn anything I want to.

When I'm frustrated, I persevere.

When I fail, I learn.

Joining Prohoc feels good as I feel the company values match mine, and I can utilize my wide HR expertise from many angles. Growth also sets an interesting platform to build on.

Johanna Hämäläinen CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICER

Fixed mindset I'm either good at it, or I'm not.

When I'm frustrated, I give up.

When I fail, I'm no good.

how I work to succeed.”

This might sound very simple, but many companies still fail in their strategy implementation.

“If the company's purpose is too high fly and people don’t see the connection in their daily working, the vision and strategy is just a paper. The magic happens in people’s everyday work. We as an organization need to ensure that the employee journey and daily working are as smooth as possible and people feel cared for and appreciated”, says Johanna.

In addition, for smooth daily working, Johanna emphasizes involving people.

“We need to be clear and transparent in our future choices.

We need to share the big picture and feedback on our progress and involve our people to build our inspiring story. We must ensure we motivate and develop our people to succeed in their work and trust them to make good choices and decisions while we work for our common goal”.

GROWTH MINDSET

Developing organizations and people has always been close to Johanna’s heart.

“Creating a growth mindset culture is critical when building an environment where our people can shine while our company grows.”

Work-life has changed and continues to change rapidly due to new technology, global complexity, and acute crises (such as Covid), which push us to adapt and find new ways of working.

“We all need to keep up with the speed of technology and work-life changes to ensure our future competitiveness. It means we need to be curious to learn and grow constantly.”

The concept of growth mindset was originally invented by professor and researcher Carol Dweck. It emphasizes that skills and capabilities can be improved over time. People with a strong growth mindset look for challenges, they are CONTINUES →

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NURTURING MINDSETS

FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

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persistent in trying new things, and they are not afraid to make mistakes as they see it as an opportunity to learn. In addition, they seek for feedback to learn from it, stay calm when facing difficulties, and are happy for others’ success.

Growth mindset drives development and continuous improvement both on the individual and company levels.

According to Johanna, Prohoc needs to drive a growth mindset culture and ensure all employees have the capabilities to learn and explore new opportunities as individuals and as teams. This is done by learning together and allowing people to network, creating a transparent and open communication culture, supporting people to use their best strengths, and setting clear goals and development targets for people.

“We need to equip our people with new skills helping them to cope with new requirements and possible changes. We also need to build an organization where learning together is easy, and people can build networks and peer relationships easily.”

To support the development of growth mindset culture, Johanna points out the importance of allowing people to do experimental learning and questioning.

“We must welcome questioning and different views. Questioning is a powerful tool for learning, sharing ideas, and continuous improvement”.

As individuals, we all can learn growth mindset and challenge our fixed mind, which assumes that skills are something we are born with and we either have what it takes to succeed or don’t have it.

Johanna encourages everyone to reflect on their attitude.

What is my mindset style? How do I act and talk? Am I curious about new things? How do I view obstacles? How do I react when facing challenges or if I fail?

“Everyone can develop a growth mindset and practice it.

I challenge everyone to think outside their comfort zone, try new things, learn more about what interests them, and develop new skills.”

How does Johanna grow her mindset then?

“I’m naturally a very curious person willing to learn and try new things. I have had many opportunities to test my wings as well. I’m also very open to sharing my learnings and the mistakes I have made. For example, I currently mentor and coach young students in their early careers during my free time. It is very insightful and meaningful. Through my expertise and experience, I can support, challenge, and share my learnings. On the other hand, I feel I learn a lot of new insights from these future talents.”

Leadership is like gardening; you plant the seed and provide the right environment for the growth by ensuring that the plant gets enough water, sunshine, soil, and nutrition.

KNOW YOUR PEOPLE AND LEAD THE WAY

We all know things don’t always go according to great plans in the flow of work, and we need to adapt ourselves to survive.

Also, the simple truth is that real life is always much more complicated when looking outside the organizational chart boxes.

“A modern leader knows her people. She knows what makes them flourish and sees the effort to create an environment where people can grow. She provides the right conditions and support, so her people can use their best potential while working for their goals,” says Johanna.

“Leadership is like gardening; you plant the seed and provide the right environment for the growth by ensuring that the plant gets enough water, sunshine, soil, and nutrition.

Depending on a plant, the same amount of sun and ingredients do not fit all. You need to know what the plant needs to support its growth.”

THE INSPIRING FUTURE

People are the drivers of our success. They are the soul and the culture of our organization. We need to make all efforts to know who our people are and how they can best utilize their skills and serve the company's purpose. We need to involve them and use their intelligence to build a better tomorrow.

“The speed of growth takes care that we have a lot to do for our people in Prohoc. We continue to strengthen the foundation by designing our ways of working and systems. Still, at the same time, we strongly focus on developing the great employee experience journey and the well-being of our people.

We also need to develop future skills and grow our leaders to have the capabilities needed to take care of our employees.”

WÄRTSILÄ 2019–2022

PHOTO: MIKKO LEHTIMÄKI

Johanna Hämäläinen

Talent Development Lead HRD manager PENSION INSURANCE COMPANY ELO 2016–2019

Development Manager, workability and wellbeing CITEC OY AB 2011–2016

HR Manager CITEC ENGINEERING OY 2008–2011

HR-Specialist OP – POHJOLA 2007–2008

Service Manager 7 VAASAN OSUUSPANKKI 2001–2006

Service Manager Finance and investment advisor

FROM THE DESK OF COB

Matti Manner

Announcing NEW PROACTOR with sustainable Industry 5.0 Solutions services offering We are super excited to announce the birth of the New Proactor. Joining forces with former Tähtipiste – now Prohoc Works, under the familiar Proactor brand, is a leap forward in strengthening our manufacturing industry services portfolio.

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In addition to the familiar Proactor brand, the companies are working closely together as one team to offer a comprehensive range of services for the manufacturing industry and other industrial customers.

In Proactor’s Industry 5.0 Solutions offering, modern assembly, project solutions, operations development and industrialization services are now getting accompanied by industrial digitalization services, as well as plant and equipment operation & maintenance services.

Proactor’s new services and development will accelerate to full speed right after the summer when Jari Saaranen will take the lead as Head of Business Unit, PROHOC WORKS OY, responsible for Proactor’s digitalization and operation & maintenance services, helping manufacturing businesses to drive up factory floor digitalization, and serving in plant and equipment operation and maintenance needs.

Matias Träskbäck will continue as Head of Business

Unit for PROHOC PROACTOR OY, being responsible for Proactor’s assembly, project solutions, industrialization, and manufacturing & commissioning project services.

PROACTOR’S MISSION IS NOT JUST WRITTEN ON THE WALL

At Proactor we are on a mission to drive Industry 5.0 within our team and with our customers. It means to help industrial customers to manage their capacity and improve their manufacturing capability, offering a new way to cope in this fast-paced and simultaneously volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world. We help our customers and our people to become the vanguards of Industry 5.0, where the best employee experience and leveraging human capabilities with the latest manufacturing automation and

THIS MOVE COMBINES TWO GREAT COMPANIES AND BUILDS THEM INTO A 10M IN EUROS AND 120 IN TEAM SIZE INDUSTRIAL SERVICES BUSINESS.

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I IN R L T A S T I U G I D D N I L L A DIGITA IGITALINDUSTRI NDUSTRIALDIGITAL I D L LD L A A A T I I T I R G I G T I D S D L U L A D A I T R N I I AL DIG UST T I D G I N I D L L A A T I I R G I D UST D N I L A I R T US D N I L A T I G I D

00 M€ digital solutions, resilient operations, and becoming the most sustainable operator in the industry will bring the decisive edge. We believe that by building the best workplace for professionals, we will succeed in our vision and become the most trusted industrial services provider in our segment.

We believe that the companies which can adopt quickly new ways of working, adapt to the requirements of the VUCA-world, and continuously improve their learning speed, will outpace their peers in the long run. At Prohoc Group, we are pursuing this by living our everyday work life with an Infinite Mindset approach. It means focusing on our Just Cause ie. the mission, Building Trust among our people and all stakeholders, and demonstrating Courage to Lead.

We do follow also the backward-looking KPI’s, but we lead our operations with forward-looking Leading Indicators, mostly giving answers to whether we are developing in terms of our two decisive key metrics – our Employee Value KPI and our Customer Value KPI.

FLIQ – DIGITAL FACTORY PLATFORM AS A STRATEGIC TOOL

We are also excited to announce a strategic investment to Fliq Oy – a Finnish software company offering digital solutions to manufacturing companies. With Fliq we are developing a digital twin of Proactor’s operations and offering a digital leap to our customers.

Fliq offers a digital manufacturing platform with tools to automate workflows, digitalize Lean methodologies

and run smart predictive maintenance and equipment condition monitoring processes. Fliq also comes with advanced planning and analytics solutions and combines AI, machine vision and IoT solutions to bring all the modern manufacturing buzzwords into one platform.

BACK TO THE BIRTH OF THE NEW PROACTOR

This move combines two great companies and builds them into a 10M in euros and 120 in team size industrial services business. We are now mostly focusing on building our ecosystem in the Vaasa/Ostrobothnia region but are also foreseen to open a new location elsewhere already this year. We’ll introduce new digital tools and services with our strategic partner Fliq in the second half of this year and that journey will surely bring many future Scope stories to tell.

With the new setup, our customers will see a stronger Proactor and Prohoc Group with a full services portfolio and our people, including all new professionals, both at Proactor and in Prohoc’s project services business will have even more opportunities to build a versatile career at Prohoc Group.

Jari Saaranen Head of Business unit, Prohoc Works Oy Management team member, Prohoc Group Before joining Prohoc in 2020, Jari as a mechanical engineer, build a strong career in manufacturing, factory automation and service businesses at Wärtsilä, ABB, and Fastems among others. Jari brings the missing element to Proactor’s Smart Maintenance business and great experience in scaling up businesses in general. You can also ask Jari about cooking, fishing and sports!

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PHOTOS: MIKKO LEHTIMÄKI

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WHAT A YEAR! Everyone has certainly noticed

Prohoc’s recent growth story, which we have been able to follow on several different channels.

Prohoc is now on the way to becoming a workplace for 500 people in a few years.

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ne step forward was hiring the first full-time Talent Acquisition Specialist, Johanna Finström-Sara, in May 2021. At that time, the Group had about 180 employees. In her first months, Johanna started working with the Project Experts team, Proactor's team, and Marketing & Communications Specialist, Jari Kangasmäki, to develop recruitment processes with the idea that there would be 500 Prohocians in a few years.

The growth rate was already high last year when there were 224 Prohocians at the end of the year, but this year has only just begun at a brisk pace. The growth was made possible through cooperation, various measures, and long-term development work.

"We have learned to make better use of our recruitment systems. We have started using logical tests and personality assessments as part of specific recruitment processes. We have invested more in recruitment marketing. In addition to this, we have hired two new Talent Acquisition Specialists at the beginning of 2022, Katri Elo and Mikael Rantala", Johanna says.

Katri Elo has shown her expertise, among other things, in the recruitment of project professionals, where the number of employees has risen to about 150. The percentage increase has been higher within Proactor, where the number of employees has increased by more than 100%. In Proactor’s recruitment, MiDURING THE FIRST kael Rantala has utilized his machinist background. He has managed to find HALF OF THE YEAR, almost 50 new assemblers to Proactor together with Matias Träskbäck and PROHOC HAS RECEIVED Tuukka Rainio during the first half MORE THAN 1000 of the year. ”We have faced a vast demand for APPLICATIONS FOR our services from our valued customers and this mean heavy need VARIOUS POSITIONS in recruitment. The team has done awesome job so far to fulfill the recruitment needs for all of our businesses!”, Iiro Wesslin, Sales Director, Projects says.

During the first half of the year, Prohoc has received more than 1000 applications for various positions, which shows the

interest in the employer and the successfulness of marketing campaigns.

Campaigns have strongly included social media as well as billboard, newspaper, and bus ads.

To support Proactor’s recruitments, a marketing video was made with Proactor’s assemblers as the leading movie stars. The video was shot both at VirtaVIDEO: viiva and in production facilities and Proactor rekrytoi can be viewed by scanning the attached asentajia QR code with a suitable smart device.

"I appreciate how the Proactor 11 people threw themselves into video filming and have been involved in the production of the campaign. I think in recruitment marketing, it’s essential to show job seekers the real co-workers with whom they would work in the future.

That way, the work environment immediately gets one step closer", Johanna says Prohoc employees were selected for the general awareness-raising marketing campaign, where the employees shared their highlights of Prohoc. The campaign's bus advertisements circulated in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Turku and Jyväskylä.

"The marketing campaign was a significant joint effort, and it demonstrated our ability to achieve nationwide attention and reach new potential Prohocians. We have received great feedback on career stories, and it was a joy to share the experiences of our professionals", Jari describes.

After successful recruitments, new employees are also welcomed and introduced to Prohoc. This is the moment when great teamwork and smooth communication are very important.

"We have also developed onboarding processes because the ways that worked a few years ago may not work today. In the future, we still have a lot to develop in both the recruitment and onboarding processes, but fortunately, excellent cooperation will make it possible", Johanna sums up.

Prohoc's recent growth story is just a beginning, and it is expected to continue at least the same level until the end of the year, if not beyond.

PORTRAIT: Heikki

Kaltola

Around the World in a Decade Heikki Kaltola is one of Prohoc’s seasoned professionals, currently working as an Electrical Supervisor in Brazil. Over the past ten years, he has worked in 16 different countries.

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round ten years ago, Heikki Kaltola was sitting on an airplane, on his way to his first-ever secondment abroad.

From the perspective of Finland, the destination was farflung: Africa, Gabon and the coastal city of Port-Gentil. A gas engine power plant was under construction in the city.

“My language skills were still pretty weak back then, but as a person I’m not the type to get nervous about things in advance. Never have been,” says Kaltola, who works as an electrical supervisor.

Back then, he had just joined Prohoc.

Now he can look back on a decade-long career in the company, encompassing 21 projects and 16 countries across the world.

“I have seen quite a few countries and cultures. It may be the very best thing about my work.”

IT ALL STARTED WITH INKEROINEN

The foundation for Heikki’s career at Prohoc was actually laid as early as in his childhood. He grew up in a small town called Inkeroinen, with a population of about 4,000, in southern Finland, near the city of Kouvola. The small town was home to a large paper and paperboard mill, which often also defined the lives of local people.

Skills in electricity ran in the family.

“All the locals working at the mill was more of a rule than the exception at the time. My dad also worked there as an electrician,” says Heikki.

Heikki went through comprehensive school in Inkeroinen, but for his electrician’s diploma, he had to study in the nearby city of Kouvola. After that, it was time for him to move on to working life, and to the home town mill, already familiar to his family.

This was no pit stop.

“I worked there for some 30 years in maintenance. My own tasks involved mainly electric and instrumentation installations.”

His skills in the installation of industrial electrical equipment proved enormously beneficial later on during Heikki’s career, when he joined Prohoc.

APPLYING IS ALWAYS WORTH IT

After the decades he spent working at the paper and paperboard mill, Heikki decided to try something new. This included further education and training: Heikki completed a vocational degree in refrigeration, found work in the field and ended up working at a mining project underway at the time in Sodankylä, Lapland.

And then he spotted an ad concerning an open vacancy: a company looking for an electrician who’d be working in Africa.

“I sent in my application. A couple of weeks later I got a call from Prohoc’s then CEO, Matti Manner. We had a chat and in the summer of 2012, I joined Prohoc.”

Heikki was 51 when he stepped into a new world. While his tasks as an Electrical Supervisor were, of course, something he had plenty of experience in, working at far-flung destinations was still very different.

“I’ve visited some pretty special places. A mountainous region in Iran, located in a restricted area. China and Indonesia. One of the sites I worked at was in Ust-Ilimsk, Siberia.

The temperature there at the time was 46 degress below zero,” says Heikki.

“The sites I’ve worked at have included power plants, copper and titanium works, container cranes and boiler units.”

Many things have also changed over the past ten years.

Prohoc as a company has grown and developed. And the

same can be said about Heikki: his skill-set has developed and his job description has expanded. In addition to electric installations, his responsibilities nowadays include instrumentation and deployment.

“As my responsibilities have expanded, I’ve been able to prove through my work that I can handle them.”

Successful projects are always about smooth cooperation between people from different cultures. Working and communication methods in, say, China and Brazil may differ a great deal from those in western Europe.

“You have to have an eye for how things are taken care of in different countries. And your own conduct plays a decisive role,” says Heikki, when asked about his secret to success.

ALL ROADS LEAD HOME

STILL PRETTY WEAK BACK THEN, BUT AS A PERSON I’M NOT THE TYPE TO GET NERVOUS ABOUT THINGS IN ADVANCE. NEVER HAVE BEEN.

HEIKKI'S PHOTO: JENNI HOOK PHOTOGRAPHY

MY LANGUAGE SKILLS WERE

Heikki is currently working in Brazil, at a gas engine power plant under construction there. For Heikki, this means a 3–6-month project before he returns home.

Although successful projects are always rewarding in and of themselves, the return home is always a happy experience.

Heikki’s home has always been in Inkeroinen.

“I’ve seen a bit of the world, but I’ve lived in the same town for my entire life.”

Heikki lives with his wife Anne and their sevenyear-old Havanese dog, who goes by the name of Lilli.

But there’s also something else important waiting for him at home.

“The sauna!”

“I really enjoy going to the sauna, and I try to find one whenever I’m seconded abroad. I’ve seen quite a few of them as well, of all types.”

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RECOMILL

READY, STEADY, TEST PLANT! R

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ECOMILL Oy has opened a new test plant-based on Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) in Stormossen Oy premises in Mustasaari near Vaasa, the Finnish energy cluster area.

RECOMILL’s HTC technology has not been used similarly in Finland before. RECOMILL recognizes the significant potential of utilizing HTC as a nutrient in the recycling and energy industries. Customers and other stakeholders are welcome to visit and test their waste streams.

The RECOMILL Hydrothermal Carbonization test plant has been prepared and commissioned, and the first hydrochars have been produced. The facility is a modular 40-foot container that offers the possibility to test the customers' waste fractions' suitability for HTC technology before they implement a potential full-size HTC plant.

The plant is run with diverse parameters in the test phase by a joint test plan created with the customer. Analyzing and standardizing test masses for compatibility with the plant is part of the testing phase. In the process, diverse waste materials are exposed to varying temperatures, pressures, and treatment times. These enable the end products to be varied for miscellaneous applications.

TEST YOUR FEEDSTOCK SUITABILITY TO HTC

RECOMILL invites customers and other stakeholders to come to visit the plant site. A visit to the site is easy to arrange, and RECOMILL supports throughout the process, providing its expertise from start to finish. The journey to the test phase begins with an initial discussion with Jan Hägg, RECOMILL's Business Development Director. RECOMILL will send an offer to participate in the feasibility study based on the discussions and customers' needs.

The feasibility study, test run of the customers' waste fractions, and the definition of the end-products will set

parameters for the full-scale plant. RECOMILL’s plants' biomass flexibility means the plant is the right solution for many waste challenges.

“The primary option is that the customer delivers the biomass to us, but, if necessary, we can also deliver the test plant to the customer’s premises. The test run takes one to two months, and we will process the gathered data into a project report. We will discuss the results with the customer and then provide a full-scale solution for the right need”, Jan informs.

CHANGING GLOBAL MARKETS

The challenging global situation has changed the waste management market this year. Global demand for circular economy and sustainability solutions has grown significantly, and efforts to reduce the use of virgin materials have increased.

The change in the markets reflects in various areas, of which the agricultural sector is one of the most significant.

"The availability of fertilizers has decreased, and prices have increased rapidly, posing major challenges for agriculture in terms of profitability," Jan says.

HTC technology enables efficient processing of sludge and other biomasses while also enabling commercial business. The method commonly used in biogas plants is to compost the post-digestate. The treatment process and its various stages to soil enrichment are a long and not cost-effective method.

HTC creates the opportunity to produce biochar directly from the digestate, and the previous composting method can be bypassed.

“The HTC method brings significant land area savings and reduces unpleasant odors when you don’t need to store post-digestion in large open fields,” Jan describes HTC technology benefits.

Welcome to visit RECOMILL test plant

Jan Hägg DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

RECOMILL will arrange an open doors day to the Stormossen test plant

jan.hagg@recomill.com

where you can see the test plant in action. Follow RECOMILL's social media

+358 45 3507 465

channels for more information about the event. To arrange your private visit at the test plant, please contact Jan Hägg.

recomill.corporation

recomill

WE CAN ALSO DELIVER THE TEST PLANT TO CUSTOMER’S PREMISES

What is HTC? HTC, Hydrothermal Carbonization is a thermochemical wet coal process.

The process converts wet biomass into hydrochar at a 20–30 bar pressure and a 180–230 °C temperature.

The process takes from half an hour to eight hours, depending on the feedstock and the requirements of the end product. After the process, the slurry is filtered or centrifuged, separating the solid and water phases. After the dewatering process, the solid material is suitable for producing pellets that can be used, for example, as a fertilizer and soil improvement product. This process also prevents the degrading of the material.

63.128895 21.765885

TEST PLANT

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WOIMA

IN THE CORE of GREEN ENERGY TRANSITION L S N G

WESTENERGY

7300 t of clean transport fuels Cleantech export to global markets

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Global warming mitigation is driving the migration away from fossil fuels. This “need for change” is exacerbated by the recent disruptions in global oil and gas production and transmission.

This has driven most countries to seek alternatives for imported energy and to increase self-reliance especially in the energy sector.

Synthetic methane offers an excellent alternative for traditional transport fuels. Especially, since the infrastructure to store and transport it already exists in most countries.

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nergySampo CCU is the regional cooperation project in Ostrobothnia, Finland aiming at erecting Finland’s first next generation synthetic methane (LSNG) production facility at Westenergy's waste-to-energy site in Mustasaari next to Vaasa. The building consortium is currently finalizing funding for the project, and once confirmed, the plant is scheduled to be built in 2023–2025. The project supports Finland's journey towards carbon-neutral future in line with EU's “Fit for 55” goals, promotes decoupling from fossil fuels and plays a key role in the region's quest

for carbon-negative district heating. Vaasa region’s position as the home of the energy cluster in Finland ensures that all technical know-how and expertise is available locally.

LOCAL ENERGY FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES

The plant will have a production capacity of 7,300 tons of LSNG per year (112 GWh).

This equals the annual energy consumption of almost 500 trucks, a thousand lorries or two passenger ferries sailing between Vaasa

(Finland) and Umeå (Sweden) in the Kvarken.

In addition, the process generates excess heat, which is utilized in the local district heating network. The LSNG supply will utilize the existing natural gas and biogas distribution networks, thus enabling and ensuring the efficient utilization of the methane-bound green hydrogen. This will help decarbonize sectors that are hard to electrify, and thus help to limit climate change.

CCU in the project name refers to the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide, an essential part of the new plant concept.

FOLLOW THE PROJECT

→ woimacorporation.com

CO2 CAPTURE PLANT

20 000 t/a less CO2 emissions from Westenergy Renewable electricity & water

CCU

ELECTROLYSIS PLANT

The next generation power-to-gas value chain 17

Added 51 GWh of clean district heating

LIQUEFACTION PLANT

The ccWOIMA carbon capture solution plays a key role in the process capturing 20,000 tons p.a. directly from the power plant’s flue gas stream. This reduces Westenergy's fossil CO2 emissions by 25%. The other components in the innovative modular plant complex producing the LSNG include the production of hydrogen through an electrolysis process, the combination of hydrogen and carbon dioxide into synthetic methane in the chemical methanation process, and the liquefaction of synthetic methane into transport fuel. The production process is powered by 100% renewable wind energy.

METHANATION PLANT

GOING GREEN – FASTER

The EU has set an already aggressive target of 40 GW of electrolysis capacity by 2030. And this target will only rise as investments in green hydrogen and LSNG increase due to the current energy uncertainty. The energy-dense synthetic methane is an excellent medium for the storage and utilization of hydrogen thanks to the already existing gas infrastructure. The replacement of fossil natural gas with synthetic gas fuels will play a significant role in the power generation and transport fuel mix in the coming decades.

WOIMA, with its modular, pre-engineered,

and prefabricated carbon capture solution, is in a unique position to serve both the smallto-medium-scale carbon capture market and the LSNG production facility customers globally. The ccWOIMA solution scales flexibly between 20,000 and 200,000 tons p.a. thus offering the exact capacity required by each customer. The modules are easy to transport, fast to install and simple to maintain. The process utilizes widely available low-cost chemical called hot potassium carbonate (HPC) as the process medium ensuring safe and reliable operation throughout the plant lifetime. The energy-efficient solution also offers the lowest capture cost in the market.

PROHOC PMC

MANAGED PROJECT SERVICES DEFINED S

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ervices for capital-intensive industrial projects have been at the heart of Prohoc's actions from day one. It all began with documentation and site supervision services for dear close-by customers Wärtsilä and ABB back in the 90s. Since then, Prohoc has developed into a team of more than 300 people, an industrial services' provider combining services for manufacturing technologies and services for delivering complex turnkey solutions for global markets.

In our project services business, we divide our offering into three different project services; being managed project services, project consulting and resourcing services, and project management tools and processes.

WHETHER AT AN EARLY DEVELOPMENT STAGE OR ALREADY REACHING A FINANCIAL CLOSE, OUR SERVICE CAN BE TAILORED TO RESPOND TO YOUR UNIQUE NEEDS.

LEADING THE PROJECT EXECUTION

This article shortly defines our managed project services, including PMC and managed construction site service. Whereas the project consulting and resourcing have been and still is the biggest share of our project-related services, both project management tools and processes, and managed project services have been key focus areas in our business development for the past couple of years. We do recognize that climbing up in the value chain doesn’t happen overnight, hence we are building credibility project at a time.

Our managed project services include acting on behalf of our customer as a project management consultant (PMC). The PMC service can be suited both for the developer/ investor/owner or for the EPC or main contractor of the project. A PMC contractor has a responsibility to lead the project execution to meet the time, cost and scope as planned with the customer. PMC service is an alternative for the customer for managing the project with an external rather than an internal team

Samuli Kyttälä CBO

+358 50 5686974 samuli.kyttala@prohoc.fi

and leadership, and it comes typically with an incentivized fee structure.

PMC TEAM FOR VARYING TYPES AND SIZES OF PROJECTS

Today Prohoc is delivering project management consultancy services for an EPC contractor delivering a green field biogas project in Estonia, for a plant relocation project in Finland, and for an investor developing a large bioenergy project in Finland. In all these projects we represent and act on behalf of our customers, delivering the results and reporting to a steering group or project owner at our customers' organization.

We are responsible that our client’s interests and finally the plant owner’s requirements are met. Besides leading the project and the construction, installation and commissioning of the plant to reach the desired scope of delivery, the service includes managing safety, cost, and time requirements as planned.

Combining our current team of more than 300 people with our network partners and a large pool of project professionals that are working with us project by project, we can create a PMC team for several varying types and sizes of projects. Furthermore, with our project management tools and processes, including project requirements management, documentation and project information management, and lean project planning and execution program, we provide a solid foundation to deliver a comprehensive service for a variety of project types.

Whether at an early development stage or already reaching a financial close, our service can be tailored to respond to your unique needs. Let’s team up for a successful project – our teams in Vaasa, Tampere and Helsinki are ready for taking on the challenge!

PORTRAIT: Pekka

Antti-Roiko

People first — co-operation now and in the future Please tell us a little about your background?

I am originally from Kalajoki from Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. I left Kalajoki to study international business in 1996 and studied and worked in Lithuania, Belgium, England, and Ireland. In England, I joined IBM as the first Finnish recruiter on their EMEA-wide recruitment team. Sales and account management have been an integral part of my duties during my PHOTO: MIKKO LEHTIMÄKI

over 20-year career. In 2012, I returned home to Kalajoki, now with my wife and children.

What is your role in Prohoc?

As Prohoc’s Account Manager, I am responsible for the company’s selected customer relationships, finding new ways to expand cooperation, and making sure Prohoc is responding to customers' expectations in the shorter and longer term. I already have taken on industry and customer responsibilities and received essential insights about the services in Prohoc. My job is to open doors to the services of the entire Prohoc Group and to enable people

Pekka Antti-Roiko

to find the right channels to develop our partnership with the customer.

PERSONAL MOTTO

How would you describe working with Prohoc customers?

At Prohoc, we are a fast-growing company where success and growth together with customers are key group goals. I feel we are in the same boat

"A man who never makes a mistake will never make anything"

with our customers. We are not sitting on opposite sides of the table. Instead, we sit side by side, sharing a common goal where everyone has their important role. Our open-mindedness, robust interpersonal relationships with customers, and companies that thrive on creating opportunities for people are competitive advantage for us.

After announcing I would work with Prohoc, I received messages where people sincerely congratulated me on making a superb choice. These messages and the possibility of continuing working with many previous cooperation partners have made me feel there are no barriers to cooperation.

HOBBIES

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ECOSYSTEM CO-OPERATIONS

STATUS

Mr. ANTON ON SITE

OSME: TOWARDS HUMAN-CENTRIC OPERATIONS LOCATION

FACTORY

#5582

T

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oday’s European manufacturing industry competitiveness is built on digital and green transition. This manufacturing maturity leap is also known as Industry 5.0 concept, where sustainability, resiliency and human centricity are in focus. Open Smart Manufacturing Ecosystem (OSME) is one of Prohoc’s and Wärtsilä’s and their core partners’ initiatives for the Industry 5.0 transition.

After recognizing partners’ strengths maximum potential and enhancing co-creation as key enablers to adapt to market needs, Wärtsilä adjusted its strategy towards an extended enterprise. Hence an “open” ecosystem, challenges the traditional manufacturing and supply chain constraints. The OSME concept was initiated in 2021 and formally packaged into the OSME project for the period of 2021–2023.

HUMAN-CENTRICITY ON VARIOUS LEVELS

Prohoc was invited to the OSME project team with references from our previous role as an ecosystem partner, and due to our strong focus and mission on people in industrial services. OSME focuses on digitalization, people, service value chain, information transparency and resiliency from business co-creation perspectives.

The nature of human-centricity and human relationships is visible in OSME on many levels: Identifying the personal needs and interests, shaping the optimal competency and cultural mix in working teams, and enabling co-creation capabilities between ecosystem partners.

Rather than taking emergent technology as a starting

HQ OFFICE

LOCATION #8102

ROLE OF GOOD LEADERSHIP IN THE ECOSYSTEM

Developing and adapting to new co-creation platform, tools, and empowering digitalization are fundamental elements to play and succeed in the ecosystem. In addition, our focus is to ensure good leadership and employee value are taken into consideration as the ecosystem is being built and continues to evolve.

A recent survey performed in the OSME project underlines the importance of good leadership. More than 90% of ecosystem workers value most the practices of good leadership, such as encountering people, providing personal and team feedback, acknowledging good performance, investing in competence development, and offering career options. Simple, people-focused actions are valued.

Another significant finding from OSME has been that clear communication about meaningfulness and context of work are important for factory workers too. Regardless

PHOTO: MIKKO LEHTIMÄKI • COMPOSITION: JONNE-PEKKA STENROOS

of their age, manufacturing workers want their work to have a purpose, to contribute something to the world and to be proud of their employer and ecosystem.

We have identified similar trend in the Prohoc talent acquisition phase too. Interest in and our viewpoint of the company’s purpose, culture and leadership practices have been constant topics in recruiting meetings while we have grown from a 70-employee company to a 300-employee company in just two years.

DIGITALIZATION OF SERVICE CHAIN PROCESSES

In OSME, several project partners are developing an open IT backbone and systems for facilitating extended enterprise information and visibility that can be shared with partners. Our scope includes the operator’s “scoreboard”– a toolset to operate, interact with the ecosystem and analyze the value impact. We are piloting mobile applications, which enable a more user-friendly way for assemblers to access the work-related systems and information and report the progress of work. The first human-centric technology pilots were performed in 2021. Currently, we are developing the third release of the manufacturing employee toolset.

In our OSME roadmap we have unified information flow: a data model combining the work-related information to the user instead of surfing several scattered systems and UX logics. There is a set of people-related value-streaming features and – where possible – automate supportive routines, like clock in and out, vacation application and sick-leave notifications. All features are co-created with “the doers”, of course.

Furthermore, we have mapped the possibilities to utilize gamification principles to provide valuable real-time information to support self-management. For example, competence or performance indicators, vacation day quota and working hours report. Again, all features are to be developed based on findings from the users.

OSME is about understanding people are not the expensive element to be eliminated from the production or delivery process. People are an asset to boost value creation and produce more diverse value from it.

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PHOTO: MIKKO LEHTIMÄKI

point and examining its potential for increasing efficiency, people's needs and interests are the starting point for value creation and emergent technology utilization. At Prohoc, we acknowledge the human need for the purpose (for the work to be performed), feed people with the information they need to fulfill, develop, and share their work and learnings.

OSME is about understanding people are not the expensive element to be eliminated from the production or delivery process. People are an asset to boost value creation and produce more diverse value from it.

Co-creation power that emerges from companies developing, delivering, and sharing services together is also seen as “a must” ingredient for competitiveness and resiliency.

A shift from know-and-do-it-all-by-yourself mode towards an ecosystem is also a natural continuum of companies’ move to sustainable business and responsible members of society. Another essential step is to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

WELLBEING

ENJOY the MAGNIFICENT NATURE of FINLAND Many trends are emphasizing to have a vacation in your home country.

You don’t need to take a 12-hour flight to reach a beautiful spot!

90%

of Finnish land is open to exploring and enjoying for everyone. We Finns call it the “Everyman’s Rights”. These rights guarantee vast possibilities to wander, camp, fish, and enjoy the estates in other ways. But with great power comes great responsibility.

Below, you can find some free-roaming dos and don’ts in Finland.

In Finland, nature is both wild and free. The law allows anyone living in or visiting Finland the freedom to roam the countryside, forage, fish with a line and rod, and enjoy the recreational use of natural areas – respectfully, of course. This is known as “The Everyman’s Rights,” or Jokamiehen oikeudet.

While enjoying these rights, you must remember your responsibility. Finland’s arctic nature, particularly that of Lapland, is fragile. You must tread carefully, leave no trace, avoid private property and stay out of areas designed to protect vulnerable environments or wildlife. A few hard rules also apply, regardless of where you are within Finland. Hunting and fishing, aside from angling, are strictly prohibited without a permit. Otherwise, enjoy! Finland’s beautiful nature is accessible to everyone.

THE WILDLIFE

Elk, wolf, lynx, fox, wolverine, and bear are just some of the wild animals in Finnish forests. These animals aren’t usually dangerous unless they’re provoked. On the contrary, they tend to shy away from people. Should you wish to view or photograph animals at closer range, please stick to specific areas or excursions designated for wildlife-watching. And never feed or approach a wild animal! The forest is their home; you’re just visiting.

THE RULES AND ETIQUETTE

Finland has over 40 national parks with clearly marked trails available to visitors. To protect the ecosystem (and stay safe), plan to stay on marked trails and campsites. Most national parks also have rentable cottages and unlocked wilderness cabins open to anyone. Remember the unwritten rules: clean up after yourself and replace anything you use (such as chopped firewood). Note that wilderness huts are not for commercial use, and the bed should always be offered to the last arrived. Read the visitor guide to outdoor etiquette in Finnish national parks for more information.

Building a campfire is not included in Everyman’s Rights.

For example, campfires are allowed only on campfire sites in most national parks. Always check the rules of your destination and find out whether a grass or forest fire warning is in effect in the area. During fire warnings, Aurora Borealis campfires are strictly forbidden. If conditions are safe, you may light a fire in designated public spaces or with permission from a landowner. When you light a Finland is one of the campfire, make sure it is safely contained, away from best-inhabited regions the wind, and (ideally) close to water. Don’t light a fire globally for viewing northon rocks, which could blacken and crack, and do not ern lights, i.e., auroras. tear bark or cut wood from living trees.

Finns have a low tolerance when it comes to noise and littering. Always take your rubbish with you, avoid making excessive noise and take care not to disturb wildlife. Stay on paths when you can – this helps keep you safe and preserve fragile ecosystems. Remember that low-growing vegetation, including lichens, mosses, and dwarf shrubs, are easily damaged, and rocky fells are sensitive to erosion. Ancient glacial rocks along the coast are similarly at risk. In short, leave nothing but footprints behind.

The probability of seeing

auroras is best in the northernmost part of the country, i.e., in Lapland. During geomagnetic storms, the auroral oval expands southward, and then auroras are also seen in Central and Southern Finland. →

PHOTO: PETRA KOSONEN

WHEN?

The typical time for auroral displays is at midnight and a couple of hours before and after. However, auroras may occur randomly anytime when the sky is dark enough to see them.

Auroras occur pretty evenly throughout the year, although slightly higher rate during spring and autumn than in winter and summer.

Considering the weather, the best time for seeing auroras in Northern Finland is in March and early April.

The solar activity, which varies with the 11-year sunspot cycle, also affects the frequency of auroras.

In Lapland, auroras are

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always quite common, even during solar minimum.

TIPS FOR AURORA WATCHING

Find a dark, open place, preferably far away from town lights. As auroras are most often seen in the northern sky, try to find an unrestricted view toward the northern horizon.

The optimal weather for watching auroras is a dark and cloudless night, and it is practically always cold.

Dress very warmly.

Lying on a mattress may be a more comfortable way to gaze up than bending your neck backward for lengthy times.

WE BECOME WHAT WE VALUE We are on a journey to enable our people to shine in the world of industrial services.​ In our vision we are the best community for our people and the most valued partner for our chosen customers.

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PROHOC GROUP Virtaviiva 8 F

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FI-65320

FI-33100

FI-00580

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Tampere, Finland

Helsinki, Finland

tel. +358 6 315 7700

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