“Automation is a requirement for survival at the global market”
Customer experiences
Unified mindset with Kaptas provides added value for our customers
The cooperation between Kaptas and Valukumpu Oy, a Joensuu-based subcontractor and contract manufacturer, is multifaceted, varying from design cooperation to support in manufacture and maintenance. The most recent cooperation project relates to the pharmaceutical industry, which is a growing customer group for both companies.
Kaptas delivered package line and vision system
– Our automaton manufactures the product, package line acquired from Kaptas packs it and checks the items with a computer vision. The products can be delivered without intermediaries directly for the end customer, states Mika Käyhkö, Joensuu Plant Manager at Valukumpu.
Valukumpu has more than 200 customers in different industrial fields – including ABB, Abloy, Ido, Kone, Nokia, Oras and the growing pharmaceutical industry. The company is specialised in injection moulding, punching and plating. Valukumpu provides full automatic assembly both as a contract manufacturer and as a subcontractor.
The extensive service package is composed of a wide selection of technologies, particularly strong knowledge in combining plastic and metal, own tool design and manufacturing, design cooperation with the customer, wide variety of plating, manufacturing technology of connectors as well as controlled premises suitable for contract manufacture of equipment for the pharmaceutical industry. The seal on top is the ISO 13485 certification, without which it would be impossible to penetrate the pharmaceutical market.
– It is a question of cost-effectiveness. Because of automation, we can respond to competition with fewer hands. This is of enormous significance, since many of our customers operate in all continents. In other words, the same calls for tenders that we receive go to the Chinese and Americans; we are constantly in the midst of global competition.
According to Käyhkö, success requires comprehensive understanding of customer’s problems and operating modes. One component solves nothing, a much wider process has to be observed and understood. Hence, the much-discussed knowledge is required.
– The professionals at Valukumpu and Kaptas share similar knowledge backgrounds and mindsets. We know what each of us needs in order to produce efficiency and added value for the customer. In everyday life, this means many types of cooperation; Kaptas has sometimes primed us in design, manufactured automation for us and supported us in maintenance-related issues.
Valukumpu was established in 1979. The production facilities are located in Joensuu and Outokumpu. Currently, they are producing more than 5,000 different components and assemblies as well as over 800 connectors. Valukumpu employs a total of 140 professionals. Since 2011, Valukumpu has been part of an international system supplier in electronic components, Ouneva Group.