When a supplier of piping from Raisio got tired of constantly smaller orders and red tape, instead of giving up, PipeCloud was born. The software reads information on piping from CAD drawings and designs the right pieces, connectors and other parts. Each connector gets its own manufacturing instructions that are sent directly to the maker’s touch screen tablet. Piping is used broadly by industry, but an especially important customer in the Turku region is of course the ship building industry.
As a final touch, there’s real time production monitoring and reporting: “we can model our pipe factory as a 3D-model and see in real time how the work is progressing. Pipe manufacturing was in danger of leaving to countries with low-cost labor, but taoday the Raisio company Ardour, which has developed PipeCloud, is the number one name in pipe production. And our backlog is increasing.” This is how one founder of PipeCloud, CEO Jarno Soinila explains it on stage at Tech Turku Week.
” With PipeCloud, we can manufacture custom pipe components at lower cost. Even at mass production prices. This might be hard to swallow, but it’s true.” Soinila explains.
Turku is well known for its maritime cluster and associated industry, but how many know such specialized innovations were born, and are now flourishing here? In the future, hopefully more do. ”Tech Turku Week was started because we wanted to tell about the results, current state and future plans of companies and research groups. Turku Science Park is providing this platform and we hope all companies and research groups would utilize it” – states Network Manager Vesa Erkkilä, who is responsible for Industry Day presentations.
Another company on stage Wednesday is Fractory. Described as a cloud platform for industrial production by sales engineer Jani Mattila, the impression does not quite describe it, however. Anyone can order self-designed, machined components through their online interface. The advanced interface calculates the price of a project directly from the CAD model. Ordering is fast and easy and resembles normal online shopping. The software will even calculate tax and shipping for you.
Vesa Erkkilä, who works for the regional development company Turku Science Park Oy, describes the event’s significance to Turku’s economic region: “It would be good if companies approached us with news that can increase interest in the Turku region. We have a lot of high-tech companies and when we push information out through our channels, it attracts the best experts from around the world.”
Based on the day’s presentations, there’s a revolution of fast industrial production happening in Turku. And it’s worth putting on stage. Tech Turku Week 2022 will continue until Friday this week.