Opportunities Beyond Obstacles
Every cloud has a silver lining – Petra Špačková’s motto, and more thoughts about her quarantine times during Corona virus crisis.
Special circumstances require special solutions – and those solutions would not be created with ordinary thinking. As everything else in life generally, these special circumstances shall be passed by, but in the meantime our thinking is being stretched to dig deep into our potential in creative thinking and problem solving. Petra Špačková, Fortaco’s Operative Purchaser in Holíč, Slovakia, is a professional, who is working at the frontline of business to keep operations going. Communicating with vendors and production, she is securing that all parts needed in the manufacturing process are being purchased just on-time.
Fortaco operations have been safe and solid during the Corona crisis this spring thanks to all hardworking and flexible members in our team, like Petra. At the moment working means for her spending the days in the solitude of her home office. “In the beginning it was hard to imagine a different daily routine, even though I did understand the seriousness of the situation”. Like for many, at first it was obvious to see only the negative sides, and the change didn’t come without doubts.
“It’s difficult to deal with someone without seeing face to face. On top of that I’m also communicating quite often with people whom I’ve never met before.” Naturally, there were a lot of questions occurring in her head, and not all the answers were totally clear; what can be expected from virtual suppliers; are our network agreements the same as personal agreements?
When the dust was settled, Petra started to pay attention to the advantages of this special situation. Thanks to the advanced information technologies we’re able to stay in contact without the physical presence. “There is no need to meet people personally, in most cases a considerable amount of time is being saved – and also a huge cost”. Even though she was worried the circumstances would affect people’s communication skills, it proved out to be that connections were still made, and people were able to carry on and follow the path towards a common goal.
We are not always able to change situations around us, but luckily, we can always decide, how we respond to them. When a crisis occurs, there are also opportunities to be found. ”I have said to myself, it’s a new period in my job and I should take it as an opportunity for my personal development.” Staying resilient and calm, these are the key factors when making progress through the crisis. And we all have our own way forward when facing hardships. “I´ve discovered the benefits of yoga thanks to my social networks in free time”.
“Viva information technologies - technologies against business crises”, Petra sums up.
True Believer
Agnieszka Koziara’s goal is to create conditions that allow teams to play to win, rather than playing not to lose.
Fifteen years ago Agnieszka Koziara began her career as an executive assistant. Her direct supervisor was from Sweden. "As a Pole it came as a huge surprise to me that you could work with people without giving orders,” she says. “My boss gave me lots of freedom.”
As fate would have it, a career move gave her a second direct superior who was also Swedish. “I wanted to be like them. I wanted to work with people who had their own mind and own ideas, and I wanted to bring out the best in people."
Playing to win
In 2014, Koziara was invited to join Fortaco’s human resources team, and having never forgotten her Swedish bosses and the work cultures they created, she found Fortaco’s culture to be familiar. Today she’s Fortaco’s People & HR Director.
“My Swedish bosses made me a believer that you have to give people the freedom to take risks and make mistakes. When you’re taking risks then you’re playing to win. Otherwise, you’re just playing not to lose.”
She says Fortaco is full of like-minded believers, despite the fact they come from a wide variety of cultures.
Strategy for a winning culture
Koziara works regularly with people from Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Slovakia, and Finland, and within each of these cultures are generational differences. Accommodating those differences is one of the challenges that she relishes.
“Each environment has a different reality and there is no one good way to deal with everyone. What’s critical is that you find enough time to listen to everyone and hear their proposals for change. As an organization we can't dictate how people must behave. We should give guidance and work together to build our own reality."
Take safety, for example. "We'd like to have zero accidents, however our work environment can be quite dangerous. You reach zero accidents by increasing safety awareness. But you can’t do that by organizing training sessions alone. In addition, you’ve got to interact daily with your coworkers, explaining why safety issues are important, and why shortcuts are not necessarily a good idea. In private life, we do everything possible to keep our families safe. Work should be no different."
These conversations go better when everyone is on the same page, and at Fortaco that page is the company’s core value of respect. “We’re all believers in this vision, and Fortaco's vision and strategy are key in empowering our employees to choose the right direction.”
Challenges
Culture is also key when confronting business challenges. In Koziara’s role coordinating HR at the group level, her challenge twofold. First, she readies the staff for an environment of change, since change is the only certainty in business. Second, she’s charged with attracting young people to Fortaco. “We’re competing with the IT industry for young people. Those with us tend to have real experience and know-how we can’t find on the market. We need to treat them with great respect, and it’s critical to show appreciation for them.”
There are more direct measures, too. "We know technology is something that attracts young people to work, so we’re investing in welding robots and other modern solutions. We also want to make the production environment less dirty. But above all is our culture. Everyone has the freedom to share ideas and sometimes make mistakes.”
Koziara says feedback is particularly important to young people. “They get feedback when something is done wrong, but not always when something’s done right. We’re always working to improve that.” To make sure feedback runs both ways, each year Koziara invites employees to European Work Council meetings and to take part in joint initiatives.
Creating leaders
“The Fortaco culture is about creating leaders,” she says. “A leader isn’t a person with a title, but a person who illuminates a direction and allows others to use their own skills to get there.”
Her two Swedish bosses once made Agnieszka Koziara a believer. And now it’s her job to create more believers within Fortaco. "If you’re working with believers, then it's much easier to move forward.”
Can safety be measured?
Better Ways to Measure Safety
Days Without Accidents posters may be common in industry, but counting accident-free days does little if anything to prevent accidents.
"Traditional manufacturing safety programs deal with negative information, says Andras Csizmazia, Head of QHSE at Fortaco. “If that’s how we think about safety, then it means the best result is when we hear nothing at all.”
Of course, the seemingly obvious approach is to celebrate those accident-free days. (Fortaco’s cabin vehicle assembly plant in Holíč, Slovakia, has over 888 accident-free days. A unit in Sepänkylä has over 5,000 days!) But factory workers can be as superstitious as 18th-century sailors, and a celebration can be viewed as inviting an accident.
From lagging to leading
Like days without accidents, loss time injury rate or frequency (LTIF) is another lagging indicator of safety. It’s expressed in hours lost per one million working hours. It’s not bad to measure it – manufacturing in Finland averages an LTIF of 30, according to tvk.fi – but like all lagging indicators, it measures only a lack of safety.
Since accident-free days and LTIF are both easy to understand and measure, it’s unlikely the measure will soon be fully replaced. “We’ll of course continue to use lagging indicators, because they’re accurate, and make it simple to benchmark ourselves,” says Csizmazia. “But they’re not of help to predict the future or take actions to change outcomes.”
Heinrich's triangle was one of the first attempts to create a leading indicator of safety. This theory of industrial accident prevention, developed in the 1931, posits that if the number of minor accidents is reduced there will be a corresponding fall in the number of serious accidents. After studying 75,000 accident reports, Heinrich concluded that there is one major injury accident for every 29 minor injury accidents, and for every 300 no-injury accidents.
Larissa Shabunova, Managing Director at Fortaco Estonia, routinely tracks three KPIs at her factories in Narva: number of accidents, near misses, and unsafe behavior. As she works further down the list, the indicators transition from lagging to leading.
In practice, less unsafe behavior and fewer near misses translate to fewer lost-time accidents. Shabunova knows that if she can convince a worker to stop riding a palette jack as if it were a recreational scooter, she will reduce serious accidents.
Fortaco’s Agnieszka Koziara, Senior Vice President of People & HR with Fortaco Group, is also a believer in tracking near misses. “KPIs of risk behavior are the key to unlocking the mindset.” She says zero tolerance for accidents has to be more than just a slogan. “We can’t stop with the motto and pretty words. We’ve got to have zero tolerance for unsafe behavior.”
A new KPI: measuring ideas
Near misses and incidences of unsafe behavior are easy enough to count, but only if employees report them. Adam Czerwiec, General Manager of Fortaco’s Wrocław Steel Fabrications plant, and his team decided to create a new KPI: ideas. Czerwiec’s management team regularly collects ideas for changes from the plant’s 400 blue collar workers.
Ideas are written on a whiteboard on the factory floor and systematically addressed before being erased. “We’re trying to show that all ideas are most welcome, and we’ll at least try to fix the problem, says Czerwiec. “This demonstrates that the workers’ ideas are important. Sometimes, with small issues, we encourage them to help us fix the problem, so it doesn’t just become a worker complaint board.”
Many critical ideas are received, and no idea is too trivial. Last summer, requests were addressed to put drinking water on the production line on hot days. Another request was to remedy missing toilet paper. “The process shows that every worker can be an influencer,” he says. But it’s not only psychological. The ideas serve as a leading indicator.
Czerwiec’s team counts the number of ideas that come from employees, and tracks from which employee group they come. “We still get most ideas from white collar employees and the safety department,” he says. “But our goal for Wroclaw is to be challenged and supported by our blue collar workers in safety.”
No matter how you measure it
For the near future, near miss and safety observation reporting may represent the best indicators for both improving safety and changing culture. But no matter what your leading indicator, no one disagrees that success depends on safety becoming a personal commitment for everyone in the organization.
“People are eager to raise their hands and say ‘this is unsafe,” says Andrzej Wrona, Fortaco’s Director of Operational Excellence. “But once you identify these things management has to react immediately. If you don’t, people will think you’re not serious.”
Citius, Altius, Fortius!
What sports and business have in common and how they’re applied at Fortaco.
By Heidi Lehtonen, Fortaco Quality Health Safety & Environment Manager
From sports to the factory floor
I’ve been involved in sports all my life. From the beginning, I have competed as an individual athlete and as a team member. Today I’m a group fitness instructor and part of a coaching team for swimmers ages 16 and older.
At Fortaco, I lead the QHSE-team in Kurikka, Finland. My team is responsible for maintenance, customer- and supplier claims, internal quality, safety management, and the operational excellence of quality assurance.
The principles of competitive sport are something I bring with me to work at Fortaco, as well. People who’ve taken sports seriously know all about target setting and strategy — it’s the very key to their success. They set long-term targets and train systematically according to a plan to get there.
But no matter how carefully you plan, life will surprise you from time to time. These are the times when we must react quickly and focus on containment to get back on the track. To be a champion, we must learn from failure and move on.
Consistency transforms average to excellence
Long-term development needs a solid base before details can be fine-tuned. It means daily rituals and common processes that every member of the work community is familiar with. Why? Because rituals coming from the spine free up space for the next step: for a new skill, for better performance, for thinking, and continuous improvement. They enable climbing to the next level, step by step.
It takes time to create rituals. Shortcuts are not permitted and will result in efforts that are quickly forgotten. Human beings are lazy by nature and always try to find the easiest and the most comfortable way of doing things. The possibility for human error is always present and must be eliminated by quality assurance and operational excellence throughout the whole chain.
In both sports and business, great results are never the accomplishment of one person alone. Doctors, trainers, massage therapists, family, and friends are all needed to take care of athlete’s overall well-being through coaching, administering tests, analyzing, motivating, and simply being present. Equally, collaboration between functions creating cross-functional competence is necessary to build the best possible quality culture and zero-defect mindset.
Team power and a successful attitude!
Quality is a process of teamwork, where every team member has their own important role to support the goal of the team. The most valuable player is the player who makes the most players valuable. By respecting that, and combining our strengths and different perspectives, we multiply success and bring more value to processes.
The equation “result = competence x motivation x attitude” holds a lot of wisdom. Most important, I think, is to understand that we are all responsible for our own attitude. What can I do today to make tomorrow better? How can I support and help my colleague? Because what could be more motivating than a team of co-workers you know will play toward a common goal?
There are many similarities between sports and quality management. Both aim for continuous improvement and finding the most effective method to achieve a desired result. As a QHSE Manager, I do my best to ensure our team is competent, motivated, and has a successful attitude.
Top Down Safety to Change Daily Habits
In 2008, he and his son were using the bucket of a tractor to drive fence posts into the ground for a corral at his farm. They'd placed a wooden block between the post and the tractor bucket, which Hellberg held in place. But the block split when struck by the tractor. "A few tons of pressure is like a guillotine," he says. The top of his thumb was gone and was too mangled to sew back on. "I was wearing gloves but it didn't matter. I thought I was smart. I was more worried about getting the pole straight than I was my personal safety. Stupid me!”
Devil’s Advocate
Joanna Lesicka is Fortaco’s Group Controller. If she challenges you, it’s just part of her job.
Winter is coming. Well, eventually. Although an economic downturn hasn’t yet arrived, it’s Joanna Lesicka’s job to be ready for it.
As Fortaco’s Group Controller, Lesicka describes her job as “the bridge between all functions.” Reporting to the group CFO in Helsinki, she’s responsible for performance monitoring of five factories in the Steel Fabrication Business Unit, plus Group Sourcing and IT. She measures and controls financials and KPIs, and attempts to predict and steer future direction of development. Most succinctly, it’s her role to question the current state of things and push for improvements.
Culture clash?
In her role of Chief Questioner she's always pushing people to justify their current approach and consider new options. No one likes to entertain the notion that what they’re doing isn’t optimal, and Lesicka’s job is further complicated by challenging the status quo in cultures not her own.
Lesicka is responsible for five factories in four countries with employees from at least six different nations. “And add to that that I’m a woman in a male industry,” she says.
“I need to delicately make the point that just because I question something doesn’t mean I’m the enemy. I’m really there to offer support.” To do her job well, Lesicka has learned the nuances of communicating with the different cultures.
Speaking with nuance
“People in all cultures like to know what they’re doing well,” says Lesicka. “That’s just human nature.”
“If you’re talking to a Finn, it’s best not to propose a specific solution, but show your faith that they’ll come up with one.”
“Poles, on the other hand, like you to be direct and offer specific advice. They also expect you to follow up.”
“Russians are extremely hard workers. It pays to show pride in their work.”
“Hungarians, more than other cultures, appreciate great detail and regular follow-up.”
“It’s interesting that if I send the very same email to four countries I’ll get four different responses. But this can be a plus: these very same differences bring a variety of new ideas for a single situation.”
Universal challenges
If an economic downturn arrives, as many predict, it will impact all of the business. But even if winter doesn’t arrive, there are plenty of other universal challenges.
One of those is that many countries in New Europe are no longer low-cost countries. “Poland and Hungary, for example, have salary inflation of about 10 percent,” says Lesicka. “We have to offset that with productivity improvements and automation. There’s also very low unemployment, which means a small rise in pay elsewhere can mean welders disappear. And with white collar jobs, we’re finding we need to build flexibility in contracts to accommodate seasonal fluctuations.”
Having originally graduated from a technology university with a specialty in finance, Lesicka revels in the challenges of a controller. “I love controlling, because it’s not just about analyzing numbers. With finance, you’re mostly attempting to predict the future based on the past. But in my job to push for improvements I’ve got to connect the functions across the entire business, with the added complexity of cultural differences.”
The Disciple of Data
Change has been the one constant in the job of Veera Gordijevski, Fortaco Estonia’s production director. Over the last two years the factory has added 200 workers, several welding robots and CNC machines, and introduced tens of new products.
Coping with dramatic growth requires change, and in a modern production environment change isn’t most effective when it’s dictated. Shop floor personnel need to buy in to change and be convinced there is a better way. To make a convincing case, Gordijevski doesn’t consider herself a “person of words.” Data is her tool of choice.
Study the processes
Gordijevski's approach has been to study processes and understand deviations, employing data analysis to isolate the root cause of a problem.
When Fortaco’s Narva factory found itself in the situation of actual orders exceeding customer forecasts, Gordijevsky and her team froze forecasts for two months in order to analyze the lines and verify capacity. "We studied the workflow of every line, balanced resources, rotated people, and eventually optimized the processes. We built a dashboard tool which gave us a global view of production so we didn't lose information." It may sound simple when expressed in a few sentences, but implementing change in a period of heavy growth required a large amount of discipline.
"When I started as production director in 2017 I made the decision that I would take the time to investigate processes myself. I didn't want to take anyone's word for how something worked, and I learned that employees themselves don't always have an accurate view.”
‘Is it possible we’re not right?’
Middle management had worked with the processes for many years and were accustomed to doing things in a particular way. Gordijevski views it as her job to pose the tough question: Is there a possibility that you are not right?
“Sometimes a problem gets identified,” she says, “but that problem represents only a small part of the root cause. In order to convince middle management that change is needed, you’ve got to have the numbers.”
A good example was with pre-fabrication in small machining centers. "There was the belief that we had 400 hours of delays, and we needed to add labor and produce 24/7," says Gordijevski. "But when we carefully analyzed delays and associated hours, we saw that 300 of those hours were due to other mistakes in the process. There were only 100 hours of real delays. We used data to prove it wasn't a backlog and we did not add an additional shift."
"I'm not a person of words," says Gordijevski. "I am confident when what I say is based on figures. I dislike long meetings where lots of time is spent speculating about what might be the problem. Meetings can only give you a hint of where the problem might be and help you figure out ways to gather data."
Sowing doubt
Gordijevski is the first to admit that she can’t be an expert on everything. “I once thought that as production director I should understand all detailed technical elements. But I’ve realized it’s more important to lead.”
“I have great experts on my team. My role as a leader is to rely on these experts. I can use data to sow a bit of doubt, to make them question the way we’re doing things. Should it really work like this? How else might it work? If you can raise doubt in the mind of those doing the work, get them to consider that the way we’re currently doing it may not be the best, then they will find a way to improve it!”
‘How strong you are inside’
Larissa Shabunova, Managing Director of Fortaco Estonia, talks frankly about industry- and personal challenges.
"Fantastic growth" is how Larissa Shabunova characterizes today's business situation in the off-highway industry. It’s not only overall market growth, she says, but growth due to the success of Fortaco's most important customers winning more market share over the last five years.”
According to Shabunova, Fortaco Estonia's most difficult challenge is balancing customers’ rapidly changing demands vis-à-vis capacity limitations, ensuring delivering on required lead times, right quality, and right price.
Fortaco challenges
To handle a 40-percent growth in net sales over the past two years, Fortaco Estonia has purchased and put into use several large CNC machines and welding robot stations. At the same time, it has added 200 new employees to its Narva factory team. In Ida-Virumaa, a county with a total population of only 140,000, this has not proven easy.
"We've been proactive, always looking a few years ahead," says Shabunova. Her team works closely with vocational technical schools, training the best students at Fortaco while they're still in school and hiring them when they graduate. Fortaco Estonia also works closely with the county's unemployment agency to train and hire new workers. And, of course, Fortaco hires from the open market.
"Our salaries are competitive on the local market," she says, "but this is not the main driver. We're working hard to be an attractive employer thanks to the way we treat people, plus how we establish social- and development programs, support and train workers, fund worker education, and even support their children's sports initiatives."
Fortaco Estonia also has an impressive track record for promoting from inside its organization, and there is no better reference case than Shabunova herself.
First female plant director
Shabunova started her career in an assistant position and constantly worked on self-development. Holding a pedagogical education from Narva, she added an MBA from the Estonian Business School in Tallinn, and found herself in HR- and finance roles.
Working with Nordic companies she found the European work culture motivating. In 2014 Shabunova was named Managing Director of the Fortaco Estonia plant. It was not easy being the first female plant director in the history of the factory. "The factory had 70 years of history with men with strong personalities in the top position," she says. "And these men always had a technical background." She says it was a psychological challenge to be the first woman leading a heavy industry company, but any doubts about her ability dissolved when she showed year-on-year positive results in the factory.
Abilities tested
Shabunova’s leadership abilities were critically tested in crisis situations. Recently, the core problem haunting Fortaco Estonia was related to capacity planning and machinery availability challenges. "We took a holistic view on the customers’ forecasts, putting all forecasted and non-forecasted demands into one software. We were amazed how many non-forecasted requests we got in the end – for example product modifications, new products implementation, new product development, engineering change requests. It meant overall demand was much bigger than original forecasts and, at the same time, problems with machinery from time to time reduced capacity.”
Shabunova buckled down and focused on leadership and execution. "You must find the root cause of a problem and attack it. You plan and then you make sure the planned actions are properly executed.” After a few months, her team started to see positive results. After six months, she says results were excellent. “Results were good enough that nobody asked any more questions!”
Don’t fear a challenge
Shabunova is a non-technical person in a highly-technical job. Yet she says that can play to her advantage. "There is benefit if the leader has a technical background, but there are also disadvantages. You might be tempted to dictate what should be done. For me, however, I rely on my people and give them the opportunity to use their skills. I empower them. And we are very successful technically speaking."
Shabunova realizes that as factory director she not only occupies a high-profile position at the plant, but in the entire community, as well. She frequently finds herself in front of young women who are faced with making decisions about their own futures. Her advice: Don’t run from a challenge. "Men are used to challenges. But women’s first reaction may be 'Oh, I won't cope.' My advice to them is to be braver."
Take the chances life offers you, she says. "My credo is that it's better to take the opportunity. If you don't try it, you'll regret it your whole life. Take it. Give your maximum. You don't yet understand how strong you are inside."
The Economics of Safety
India has always been a source of vast wealth. In the 18th century, before India's deindustrialization at the hands of the British Raj, it held over 24 percent of the world's wealth. Today, India ranks second worldwide in farm outputs. Agriculture employs 50 % of the Indian work force and contributes roughly 18 % to country's GDP. India is a market to be reckoned with, and a great opportunity for companies with meaningful experience to contribute.
Your grandfather’s tractor
If you want to get a sense of tractors in India, do a Google image search using the term “tractors India.” The cabinless machines may make you nostalgic for your grandfather’s farm, the open air and the smell of the harvest.
“Some companies are still producing tractors introduced in the 1960s,” says Aki Komulainen, Fortaco's Director of Cabin Technology, “and that’s because they’re very good machines for their purpose: simple, robust, easy to service, and proven in the field.” Small tractors make sense in India, where the average farm size is estimated to be 1.15 hectares, and there is not a culture of farming collectives where equipment is shared across multiple farms. Government policy also serves to keep farm size small and encourage family farming.
New regs, new cabins
But as India reasserts itself on the world stage, a culture of safety is on the rise. In the next few years, new safety regulations are coming into force for newly manufactured tractors. “No one yet knows exactly what the new regulations will call for, but we can be sure they’ll include European-style ROPS and FOPS,” says Fortaco’s Komulainen, referencing roll-over protection and falling-object protection. “And because of the recent rise in family car comfort in India, farmers are also demanding air conditioning in tractor cabins.” The new cabins will minimize vibrations and noise, include air filtration systems for pesticide handling, and be delivered at a cost significantly lower than in Europe.
Typically, a cabin for the Indian market must be delivered for around 1,500 euros, versus a European cabin which could easily cost ten times more. “But a one-to-one comparison here is not appropriate,” clarifies Komulainen, who notes that a typical Indian cabin is a drop-on cabin with no floor structure, pedals, or heating unit. “However, cabins for the Indian market cannot be stripped-down European cabins. They must be specifically designed and manufactured for the purpose to meet all needed requirements.”
Local partnership
In September 2018, Fortaco and Tata AutoComp Systems Limited signed a memorandum of understanding. Fortaco will provide technical expertise, cabin know-how, and design competence. Tata will provide the manufacturing facilities near the city of Pune in western India, home to many global OEMs.
“The tractor market in India is estimated to be 700,000 units per year,” says Komulainen, “and a good partnership like this is the key to growth in the market.”
Beyond agriculture, other off-highway businesses in India are also experiencing growth. According to Construction Week, manufacturers in the construction and mining equipment market have enjoyed double-digit growth. Aki Komulainen says Fortaco is also looking at the construction market, participating in the last Bauma expo to develop construction contacts in India. There are plenty of Indian OEMs, plus European manufacturers are showing clear interest in the Indian market.”
Bringing flexibility
India continues to compete neck and neck with China for the title of world's fastest-growing large economy. In 2018, India’s economy improved 23 spots in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business ranking.
It’s a dynamic market waiting to be served. “Local manufacturers often make cabins for only one specific customer, or they are limited by geography,” says Komulainen. “Fortaco’s 30 years of experience mean we can bring real flexibility to the market.”
Not Ready for Robots (in High-Stress Structures)
Robots may soon dominate the service industry. But heavy industry still requires welding skills only humans possess.
“Robots weld. They don’t think.” Wärtsilä Inspection Manager Raimo Mäki-Reini succinctly delivers his verdict when asked how quickly the robots will begin welding structures for his company.
How soon robot overlords will put humans out of jobs has never been a more popular topic in the mainstream media. In the service industry, it’s predicted that by year 2030 between thirty and forty-seven percent of humans will be replaced by robots. But welding is a different story.
Robot flaws
Steel base plates which house Wärtsilä ship engines and generators can weigh 32 tons. Add an engine and they weigh over hundreds of tons. This is not yet a job to entrust to robots. “I was amazed in the visual inspection,” says Mäki-Reini of the times he’s inspected robot work. “What beautiful welds! But when I broke them open they were terrible. Robots don’t notice air gaps.”
Tolerances are tight in Wärtsilä’s business. Material tolerances for welded plates are +/- 0.5 millimeters; cutting tolerances +/- 2.0mm; assembly +/- 2.0mm; and expansion tolerance +/- 5 mm. “A robot can’t handle all of these,” says Mäki-Reini. “I’ve inspected nine suppliers who use robots and I’ve rejected all but one. The one I accepted made assembly planning, and they welded only the clear areas with a robot — only about half of the total welding job.”
“Manual welding, like Fortaco does it, is the only possible way of working to get the quality level Wärtsilä requires with the highest stress structures,” says Mäki-Reini. “However, Fortaco does use robots to do small parts of the larger job in areas where a robot can excel.”
A robot future?
Mäki-Reini does not totally dismiss robots but believes if they’re to have a future working for Wärtsilä, then good communication will be part of that solution.
“If you want to use robots, then step one is better defining where a robot can weld and where it can’t,” says Mäki-Reini. “Step two: program it so well that the robot can weld tough parts like the corners. Step three is better cutting control.
Perhaps the tolerance should be +/- 0.5mm and not 2 mm.” But tightening tolerances is not only tough — it also causes increased costs.
Whether robot welders will ever replace humans in large part depends on the development of a machine eye. “If we can give it clear requirements for what it must see, then it can determine what’s okay and what’s not okay. After that, however, you need an adaptive system. And then after that you need control, checking the work. You need a robot to do the control if possible. There is no equipment for that today.”
Wärtsilä is currently working with a company in Germany which makes machine eyes for automotive manufacturing. “But our situation is more complicated,” Mäki-Reini says. “Automotive robot welding tolerances are in centimeters. Ours are in fractions of millimeters.”
Humans rule (for now)
For the foreseeable future humans will rule the shop floor. “We have great manual welders and Fortaco is one of them,” says Mäki-Reini. “The secret to great welding is good routines to control process and clear requirements to the floor. When that’s done right the result is satisfactory. The result is the most important part.”
Mäki-Reini says if there’s one human challenge to address it’s creating welders themselves. “Young people don’t want to weld anymore” – he makes a gesture of typing on a keyboard to show the type of jobs the young prefer. “We could lose all our welders in 20 years, so our challenge is to improve robots to the point they can weld high-stress structures.”