"We act as an impartial expert between the measuring equipment supplier and its customer," says CEO Henna Karlsson.
In the transformation of the bioeconomy, Finland needs companies like Prometec Solutions Oy from Kajaani. The process industry expert company has expanded its operations to new bioplants with a measurement concept based on its own product development.
Founded in 2012, Prometec's business idea arose from the observation that purchasing measurement equipment for production plants is difficult.
“People in production plants and measurement technology do not always understand each other. This creates a risk of purchasing the wrong type of measurement technology. We act as an impartial expert between the measurement equipment supplier and its customer and map the measurement needs, conditions and challenges that exist in the process. In other words, what process requirements the measurement equipment to be purchased should meet”, Prometec’s CEO Henna Karlsson says.
The business idea essentially includes independence, especially from the measurement equipment manufacturer. The production plant will start looking for the best possible measurement equipment supplier for the customer's needs without ready-made connections.
Karlsson's career is firmly rooted in wood and paper. When UPM's Kajaani paper mill was closed, a process engineer who had worked at the mill was chosen to lead a measurement technology development program implemented with Metso Automation. The program was partly UPM's support for the region, where paper production ceased with the closure of the mill. The program was also supported by Tekes.
It was seen that there was much to be developed in the measuring equipment side of the renewable forest industry – especially in a situation where automation will also run new bio-plants.
Failed investments
Karlsson knows the need to map and develop measurement equipment from his own experience.
"At worst, paper mills are simply left with quite expensive measuring equipment that has been ordered and tested, but the end result has turned out to be more or less a disaster. The equipment either measures the wrong things or does so inaccurately, and does not meet the need. Then they get worn out and become useless."
Karlsson's expertise in measurement technology and the process industry is complemented by her husband Sami Karlsson expertise in mechanical engineering. The company also has a chemistry expert and a process technology expert specializing in bio-oil measurements. In November last year, a fifth employee was hired.
Own technology for bio-plants
Karlsson points out that the transition to bio-plants introduces its own set of difficulties in the acquisition of measurement technology, as the measurement technology required in them is in many respects completely different from that in the traditional forest industry.
A recent expansion of Prometec's business is a special measurement concept for bio-plants. The concept developed by the company improves the quality monitoring of biomass entering a power plant or biorefinery: quick measurements of the load reveal, among other things, the moisture percentage of the material and, consequently, the energy content per load.
Accurate measurement data on biomass is important for bio-plants, because otherwise it remains unclear what exactly the plant is paying for – for example, whether the moisture in the cargo, i.e. water, is included in the fuel price.
Support has been needed and received
Karlsson believes that it is not easy for a small company to join the large ones in the production value chain. He also understands the reason for the hesitation. The big companies do not want to take the risk that the small ones' ideas will turn out to be ineffective or bad products. This kind of risk always exists when something new comes along, because the product of a small company is in many ways raw – it may not have been tested in practice yet.
According to Karlsson, the start of Prometec's business has gone surprisingly well. Still, there have been challenges. Karlsson thanks Tekes for the "innovation mill"-type financial support for product development and especially for the fact that the Tekes-supported primary customer model has started concrete networking. Prometec's measurement concept aimed at bio-plants has received its first customer, the Kainuun Voima power plant. In its wake, the Kajaani district heating company Otanmäen Lämpö Oy also joined in.
"It's of paramount importance to get that first customer with whom you can pilot a reasonably ready-made solution. That really gives you faith in this thing," says Karlsson.
Tekes provided concrete assistance in the development of Prometec's measurement concept.
“The first customer was hesitant to go all out at his own risk. However, the Tekes carrot helped immediately.”
Text: Jaakko Liikanen
Photo: Pekka Agarth
