System integrator acquires industrial digitiser.

The technology company Protacon has acquired ARROW Engineering Oy, which specializes in improving the productivity of the manufacturing industry through digitalisation and visual management. With the acquisition, the parties will be able to continue to offer new types of services to their current customer base. The deal is Protacon's fifth acquisition this year.

(LtoR) Timo Akselin, Lotta Akselin, Veli-Matti Nurminen, CEO, Protacon Group Oy, Pekka Pylkkänen, CEO, Arrow Engineering Oy, Sami Kajan, Kalle Häkkänen, Juho Vuohelainen, Arrow Engineering Oy

“ARROW, an internationally operating company, will bring to our customers its expertise in industrial production management and software products with a strong position and a vast array of views based on data from different industries. We can take advantage of each other's know-how, for example by offering a wider range of services and developing management by knowledge services for the future” says Veli-Matti Nurminen, Managing Director of Protacon.

Protacon will bring a new shift to ARROW's services and product development

“We share a common view of the challenges and possibilities of industrial digitalization for our customers. Our services complement each other almost perfectly. We can create entirely new types of service, for example for the paper and energy industries by combining strengths in product development, customer service and customer deliveries" says Pekka Pylkkänen, Managing Director of ARROW Engineering Oy.

“Our ability to respond to the most demanding delivery projects will rise to a new level. We can also continue to invest heavily in the development and internationalization of our services. A common vision of digitalisation and significant synergy benefits make Protacon an ideal new home for us and is an excellent innovation for our customers.”

ARROW Engineering Oy will continue as a subsidiary as part of the Protacon Group. The company has operated for 25 years and currently serves about 500 customers in 30 countries. ARROW is one of the most prominent players in its own area of ​​expertise, in the digitalization of the management of floor-level production in the manufacturing industry and in the development of operative activities in industrial production.

"We expect ARROW to strengthen our competitive position especially in the global market," says Timo Akselin, Management Board Member responsible for the growth strategy of Protacon.

“As a whole, ARROW is a unique player, as the company is offering a corresponding service package that is not in the market. We have a large and significant common customer base, but no overlaps in the offering. We are also happy to make ARROW part of the story of Protacon.”

• The deal is already Protacon's fifth this year. In January, the company acquired software company Netwell Oy and Descal Engineering Oy, which produces industrial design services. In March, Protacon acquired a significant portion of Inray Oy, a supplier of real-time measurement systems, and in April the technology company Vision Systems Oy's business operations. Acquisitions have been the focus of Protacon's growth strategy, targeting companies globally producing industrial services and products as well as on companies producing software development services in Finland and neighbouring regions.

@protacon #Pauto @arroweng_FI

New business in machine vision.

Protacon has strengthened its framework by purchasing the business of Vision Systems a Finnish company. For process industry customers this means an increasingly broad range of services with turn key deliveries that can include, in addition to measurement and quality control solutions, Industry 4.0 technology in the form of remote control as well as equipment functionality analysis.

Kari Pellinen (left) and Kari Rahkola

With the deal, the product portfolio and all employees of Vision Systems will be transferred to Protacon to form a completely new business unit specialised in machine vision.

“There are not many companies offering as broad range of services and we therefore believe that with this package we will be an even more interesting partner to paper industry customers, for example”, says Kari Pellinen, CEO of Protacon Technologies.

According to Mr. Pellinen, great growth potential is still linked to the utilisation of machine vision solutions in different industries, such as the wood processing and the metal and steel industry – as well as health technology.

“Generally, benefits can be found in areas where machine vision can help detect things that are invisible to the human eye, particularly when the object moves. For example, it can improve efficiency of production equipment”, he explains.

The transaction is a continuum to Protacon's investment in industrial integration services. In the past year, the company purchased several businesses that strengthen its concept of operation. Kari Rahkola, the owner of Vision Systems, a company founded more than 30 years ago, reflected upon various possibilities regarding the future of his company.

“I considered options of growing our business further and providing the best possible opportunities for success to our highly skilled and committed personnel also in the future. I have been following Protacon's strong development for a long time and my confidence in future perspectives is strong. In a larger company, the visibility and foothold in the market will certainly bring new opportunities and boost our business”, Mr. Rahkola says.

Kari Rahkola believes that there will be a great number of remarkable benefits for both parties, some of which are not yet even visible.

“A package containing a sufficient number of positive items creates a virtuous circle helping to find larger entities – good things will lead to other good things.”

@protacon #PAuto 

Automated fuel management co-operation.

Protacon has purchased a substantial part of Inray Ltd, a Finnish company supplying X-ray technology based measurement systems to power and thermal plants. Together, Protacon and Inray can now offer a complete solution for fuel measurement and analysis to bioenergy-fired thermal plants, for example. The solution is fully automated and provides real-time data.

LtoR: Janne Kovanen, CEO Inray Ltd, Mika Muinonen, Sales Director Inray Ltd, Timo Akselin, CEO Protacon Group Ltd, Kari Pellinen, CEO Protacon Technologies Ltd.

“The fuel quality influences, among other things, the efficiency ratio, emissions and fuel pricing. Ultimately, customers will save money when they pay only for the actual fuel and not for water or sand contained in it. At thermal plants, savings can amount to 0.5 million Euros on an annual basis”, says Inray’s CEO Janne Kovanen.

Continuous automatic quality measurement speeds up the process and makes it notably more accurate. If samples were previously taken as individual random checks, now it is possible to go through the entire fuel mass and accurately analyse its quality.

Large market, many applications
The great number of thermal plants in the northern European region create a large market for the complete fuel management solution. Protacon and Inray have also identified other potential applications for the technology. In the pulp industry, it can be used to measure chip moisture and size and to find foreign objects, such as stones.

“If the chip moisture and size are known, the amount of chemicals used in the pulp cooking process can be cut down thereby reducing energy consumption and achieving significant cost savings. At waste combustion plants, X-ray technology would help identify material on the conveyor belt enabling separation of non-combustible material from waste”, explains Kari Pellinen, CEO of Protacon Technologies Ltd.

The solution for the management of solid fuel supply chains, Protacon Once, is available throughout the Baltic countries, Russia, Central Europe and the US. In Finland, the solution has become the market leader. Now, customers can benefit from an even more advanced system in which manual steps have been completely eliminated.

“Until now, analysing fuel and raw materials for their moisture content, energy value, etc. has required laboratory work. Inray's technology enables accurate real-time analysis of fuel mass during unloading. This streamlines the overall process and reduces risk of errors”, according to Kari Pellinen.

@protacon #Pauto #Finland #Power