Plytec Oy is a Lahti-based company that designs and manufactures veneer handling machinery for the plywood industry, whose customers operate plywood factories in Finland and worldwide. For years, Plytec has relied on Makron's expertise in automation and electrical engineering. Makron has acted as an electrical automation partner in Plytec's line deliveries.
Plytec and Makron have been collaborating for almost the entire 21st century and working in closer cooperation for the last three years.
The common desire is to deepen their cooperation into a long-term partnership, where the two inspired companies can together develop products and deliver the best possible solutions to their customers. Cooperation development is certainly well underway.
“Makron has always taken care of things to completion, which is essential for us. Lacking the know-how ourselves, we have been ordering automation know-how and electrical engineering from Makron for a long time. Makron fulfills our wishes time and time again – we can rely on their expertise without reservations, and this work has paid its dividends,” says Plytec CEO Eino-Pekka Vatanen, and explains the cooperation between the two companies.
Plytec was founded for more than 30 years ago. Since then, the company has developed as a plywood production line manufacturer and become a solid player and a reliable partner. Makron has traveled along almost throughout this journey – one way or another.
“In the past, we bought automation services and electrical controls from Elmont, which Makron then acquired. The seeds of cooperation and personal relationships were sown at the time, and to our delight, many relationships are still alive and active today,” says Vatanen.
Today, Makron and Plytec operate almost as neighbors and the cooperation has deepened even further.
The global coronavirus pandemic that erupted at the end of 2019 has brought about not only challenges to both companies but also several good things. Over the past year, Makron and Plytec’s experts have had more time than usual to focus on product development and delve deeply into things without a rush.
As a result, it has been possible to develop products to suit Plytec's customers' needs better. Cooperation has included streamlining the machine manufacturing and modulating the products' structure better, which enables a more reliable supply of spare parts.
In the project design phase, Makron's PLC and electrical design are developed to meet the customer’s mechanical design requirements. Over the years, Makron has been responsible for the electrical automation of several scarf-jointing line deliveries. In recent years, Makron has developed control systems for lay-up and stacking lines from the beginning. The electrical control cabinets are always manufactured following the physical measurements indicated by the mechanical design. Once the lines are completed, an essential automation testing phase begins with a trial operation of the line. Makron will electronically install and programmatically test them at Plytec’s facilities. This gives Plytec the possibility to deliver its products to the end customer with a short installation and test run time.
"Makron's professionals have an important role to play in getting the line up and running as quickly as possible and later in instructing the customer personnel to operate the line", says Plytec Chief Technology Officer Tomi Virolainen.
Virolainen continues in the same breath how Makron has done its job in these extraordinary times, in line with its brand promise. “Last summer, two projects to Estonia went as promised, and these successes brought additional jobs – they promise to complete, and they sure did. We are very happy about this!”
In 2021, Plytec's main markets will be in Eastern Europe and Asia, although their products will be exported around the world. World’s largest birch plywood producers are in Russia, and birch is also used elsewhere in Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Therefore, these markets are particularly important for Plytec.
The growth is accelerated by the continually evolving cooperation with Makron and the facilities suitable for production assembly in Jokimaa, Lahti, where Plytec's products are assembled and tested before delivery to the customer.
“Sometimes we may have to work in other locations as well, such as in the adjoining Makron hall!” Vatanen and Virolainen laugh out loud as a sign of the excellent team spirit between Makron and Plytec.
What can Makron do for you? Contact us!
Kari Koski, Sales Director, +358 40 716 5245
