The pioneer of transport technology

Fortaco Group is among the pioneers to carry out the revolution in public transportation. The company is manufacturing a new type of fast-charging electric bus for Linkker.

The first batch of electric buses manufactured by Fortaco Group were delivered to Linkker this summer. The buses are manufactured at Fortaco Sastamala Business Site. Fortaco Group is one of Europe’s largest subcontractors in heavy equipment manufacturing.

“This is a significant project, and we believe it’s only the beginning. The future potential of the electric bus market in Europe is around 5,000 vehicles by the year 2020,” says Jussi Malmi, Senior Vice President, Business Unit Assembly, Fortaco Group.

The cooperation with Linkker is an example of Fortaco’s comprehensive service portfolio. Fortaco is responsible for the project management, sourcing, material logistics and manufacturing of the buses, as well as quality and testing. Linkker is responsible for the sales and marketing of the innovative system they have developed and launched. Linkker’s background is in extensive R&D work carried out at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Light weight, quiet and emission-free

Malmi points out that Fortaco’s competitive advantage lies especially in its ability to handle the entire sourcing process of the large-scale projects. Fortaco also possesses solid and versatile knowhow in the assembly of heavy machinery. “Regarding this project, special skills were required in handling the chassis, made of aluminium. In addition, the bus interior includes an unusually large amount of parts that need to be glued,” Malmi says.

An extremely light chassis structure, combined with a fast charging system for batteries developed by Linkker, makes electric city buses very competitive. Since January 2016, Helsinki Regional Transport has tested two buses with good results. An electric bus can operate with the same frequency as the diesel-powered vehicle, but without the vibration and noise of a traditional bus. The experience is more pleasant to the passengers and improves the driver’s working conditions. And most importantly, the city bus operates with zero emissions.

“We are pleased to incorporate our expertise and broad sourcing network into such a partnership. Thisis exactly the kind of project that responses to current needs: it creates work opportunities in Finland and opens promising export opportunities for environmentally friendly technology,” Malmi says.

Further information

Jussi Malmi
Senior Vice President, Business Unit Assembly
+358 45 146 8355


Latest machine investment in Wroclaw in full swing

Fortaco Business Site Wroclaw has invested in the state of the art 16 m floor type milling and boring machine - SORALUCE FP 16000 - with higher precision, faster reaction time and possibility to cover the wide spectrum of machining requirements. Due to the high precision and flexibility of the machine, not only the new machining possibilities for large sized workpieces are generated, but also the capability to work for new industrial sectors.

With the available traverses of 16.000 x 3.200 x 1.300 mm (X,Y,Z) and the two rotary and travelling tables with the linear axes of 2.000 mm, SORALUCE FP 16000 deserves to be called a multipurpose milling and boring machine, which offers exceptional versatility and enables increased productivity.

We are looking forward to interesting business opportunities together with our customers.

For further information please do not hesitate to contact Erik Gustafsson, Sales Manager, Business Site Wroclaw.


Successfully implemented Continuous Improvement Project with HIAB

Hiab SRM², Case Study 2, published on October 10, 2016 by Hans Lindblom, VP Hiab Global Sourcing.

Fortaco Estonia, one of Hiab's preferred suppliers, has achieved great results as an outcome of a Continuous Improvement Project implemented at the Business Site Narva. Examples of Hiab products include inner booms, extensions, outrigger beams and the biggest bases. This time, the project scope was boom components supplied to MAU Zaragoza, one of Hiab customers.

The achieved results were significant

Hiab has invested in supplier relations management (SRM) and preferred suppliers. The achieved results at Fortaco Business Site in Narva were significant:
Production productivity increased 10%.
Total component cost reduced 4%.
Project lead time, from start to end, reduced by 30% compared to the previous project.

Implementation of improvements

The first major improvement implemented was a new layout with a clear material flow and 5S principle (sort, set in order, shine, standardise and sustain).
Minimising the overprocessing was another improvement. Together with the Quality and R&D in Zaragoza the clear instructions were created regarding grinding. And the next step to improve the jig design. Thanks to the Zaragoza Loader Cranes crew for their support !
A fact-based monitoring of the component production process was made and filmed, and results were analysed.
The key enabler for the success is a long-term relationship and a continuous improvement approach. Further success factors are openness and the great team.


Thank you for visiting us at Subcontracting Fair 2016 in Tampere

Subcontracting Trade Fair 2016 ended as a great success. We were proud to see so many visitors at our booth this year and it was really nice to witness the positive sprit among the visitors. Exhibition made the all-time record number of visitors - congratulations to Tampere expo as well.

Fortaco would like to thank all the customers and other stakeholders, and wish all of you a productive autumn!

See you in Tampere 2017!


Expertise in cabin solutions

Fortaco Group has designed and manufactured a completely new type of cabin for Mantsinen Group Material Handling.

Fortaco Group is one of Europe’s largest subcontractors in heavy equipment manufacturing. Comprehensive cabin design and manufacturing projects are one of the company’s strong expertise areas.

In autumn 2015, Mantsinen empowered Fortaco to design a new cabin, in two different sizes. Mantsinen Group operates two business units; Logistic Services and Material Handling Machinery. The cabin was launched during spring 2016 at the Bauma construction trade fair in Germany. Mantsinen material handling machinery is typically used in ports, factories and terminals to handle various materials from dry bulk to general cargo.

“The schedule for this project was exceptionally fast. After seven months of signing the agreement we delivered the first cabin to the customer,” says Jussi Malmi, Senior Vice President, Business Unit Assembly, Fortaco Group.

According to Malmi, the project required seamless cooperation with Mantsinen. A considerable amount of time was spent, especially on the initial design phase, including interviews with end customers. Respectively, the development phase was proceeding fairly rapidly, which made the fast delivery schedule possible.

Safe and efficient working environment

”Sometimes, the customer has very specific ideas about what a cabin solution for heavy machinery should look like, but in this case we made a fresh start,” Malmi says.

The machine operator is sitting high up, therefore cabin safety is the high priority for Mantsinen. In addition to good ergonomics, other important factors are good visibility, varying weather conditions and cabin insulation to reduce strain caused by vibration. The cabin material is stainless steel, which is a rarely used material, according to Malmi.

“When designing two different cabins at the same time, a narrow and wide version, the advantage was modularity; we were able to use the same parts in both cabins. This, in turn, lowers the need for investments, for example, in certain tools and interior design components,” Malmi adds.
Ensuring the alertness and wellbeing of the operator should be the starting point for all cabin designs, as it increases productivity and minimises the number of mistakes, according to Malmi.

Further information

Jussi Malmi
Senior Vice President, Business Unit Assembly
Fortaco Group Oy
+358 45 146 8355


New boring machine successfully started at Fortaco Härmä Business Site

The new TOS Kurim machining center has been successfully started at Fortaco Härmä Business Site. The machine represents a modern technology with the new technical solutions, which will guarantee the top speed in the machining with the high accuracy and rigidity. The machine is equipped with the robot tool changer, which speed and reliability are much better compared to the conventional machines. An automatic milling head changing improves flexibility and makes the optimizing of a machining process easier.

Safety has improved by a new operator video screen. An operator can easily follow a machining process from a video screen in a cabin.

Working area of the machine is:
X=4000 mm
Y= 2500 mm
Z=1500 mm

The machine has received interest among our customers, and some new opportunities are already under investigation. This investment together with the long experience in the high accurate machining at Fortaco Härmä Business Site is a cost effective choice for our quality-conscious customers.

“We shape the way things are produced.”


Fortaco at Subcontracting Trade Fair 2016

Finland’s leading industry trade fair brings together companies, experts and decision-makers in Tampere on 27 – 29 September. A record number of international exhibitors will attend, Fortaco among others. In 2015 almost 1.000 exhibitors participated from 20 countries and the amount of visitors totaled to 17.000.

Subcontracting Trade Fair has been a meeting point for many good customer contacts and new products. Fortaco businesses Assembly & Cabins, Steel Fabrication and Special Machining are represented at the fair, including our unique manufacturing skills based on the lean practice. Our people will tell you more how we can together shape your industry through our solutions and services.

You can find us in our traditional place in the main hall, booth A630.
We are looking forward to welcoming you there!


Fortaco at The ONS Exhibition in Stavanger - Norway

Fortaco is participating The ONS 2016 Exhibition in Stavanger Norway from 29 August to 1 September 2016. The ONS Exhibition is one of the world’s most important meeting places in the energy business. For more than 40 years ONS has been gathering international oil and gas industry to network, debate and to do business and plans for the future. More than 90 000 people visited exhibition and conference last time.

You find us in Hall 10, Stand 1076. We hope to see you there – welcome!


Fortaco has further developed Beowulf vehicle for BAE Systems Hägglund

BAE Systems Hägglund and Fortaco have further developed the BEOWULF vehicle. The dual use of Beowulf was introduced at the Eurosatory show in Paris on 13-17 June – this time the vehicle was introduced both in the military colors and with the rescue approach, blue lights on the roof. Fortaco has further designed the Beowulf cabins. With the dual use the flexibility of this vehicle can be visualized, and how the interior of the rear car fits for the different purposes.


Fortaco sharpens its strategic focus by divesting Business Unit Machining to Komas

Fortaco Oy has signed an agreement to divest two dedicated machining sites to Komas Oy. The sites, located in Härmä and Sastamala, Finland, provide precision shaft and prismatic part machining services and serial production primarily for the energy and industrial machinery industries. Around 110 employees including key resources from Fortaco Group sales and sourcing will transfer to Komas upon closing of the transaction, which is scheduled to take place during Q3/16. As a result of the transaction, Fortaco will become a minority shareholder in Komas. Financial details of the transaction are not disclosed.

“Our strategy is based on our mission to create value add for our customers by reshaping the way things are produced. We want to be the desired partner for our customers, mainly within the heavy equipment industry” says Lars Hellberg, Fortaco President & CEO. “The divestment of Business Unit Machining is based on sound industrial logic and is in line with Fortaco’s sharpened strategic focus, and will benefit the customers of both companies. Härmä and Sastamala production and people capabilities will complement the Komas portfolio, and together will broaden the range of machining services available to customers.

Fortaco’s core offering comprises high quality processed steel fabrications, design and manufacturing of mobile equipment operator cabins as well as assembly services, whereas stand-alone machining services in Finland will be offered by our investee company Komas. This transaction strengthens our excellence going forward” Hellberg continues.

For further information, please contact:

Matts Rosenberg
CFO & Deputy CEO
Fortaco Group Oy
Tel. +358 50 453 1949