A pole carries a lot of information

Customer experiences

When the same job is done with automation, it is much more efficient. The automation solution we needed was smoothly found from a local manufacturer

Scanpole Oy, which is part of Iivari Mononen Group, delivers poles for electricity, telecommunications and lighting around the world. They produce approximately 100,000 poles per year. Each pole includes three metal plates indicating specific information of the pole. Metal plates are manufactured by automated engraving machines consisting of two production lines – designed and produced by Kaptas.

Iivari Mononen Group unified their brand in the beginning of 2015, bundling wood procurement, pole manufacturing and sales under the title of Scanpole. SFS 2662, DIN 48350, BS 1990, NF C 67, ANSI, EN 14229 – a few of the common standards employed by Scanpole. In addition to the standards of a specific market area or a customer’s specific standard, much more important information is also documented on a pole.

– Each pole is specified – its size, the time of manufacture, instalment and maintenance. The condition of the pole can be monitored with the help of the information. In case of unexpected problems, the information enables us to smoothly trace where the pole was manufactured and the process it went through, states Pekka Tahvanainen, the Technical Director of the Group.

Poles have included markings before, but the previous manufacturing method with an eccentric press became out-dated.

– It was a question of cost-effectiveness. When the same is done with automation, much more efficiency is gained. Kaptas was selected as our cooperation partner through one of our professionals in the house. That’s great – we found the necessary automation solution smoothly from a local manufacturer.

The turnover of the entire Iivari Mononen Group is approximately EUR 58 million. The Group has 130 employees. Scanpole is one of the leading pole manufacturers in Europe. The market area of the company covers the entire world, with the main export areas consisting of the Middle East, Northern Africa and Western Europe.

Organic growth has been challenging, as there have been wars and destruction in the traditionally important market areas in North Africa. Instead, the company has grown through acquisitions. In the beginning of this year, Scanpole Oy’s subsidiary Scanpole Ltd acquired an English pole manufacturer Burt Boulton & Haywood.