Strong roots and modern new winds 

Karhula Industrial Park, a few kilometers from the center of Kotka, has been home to an industrial community since the late 1800th century. A casual visitor to the area admires the idyllic old milieu, red workers' apartments built in the 1880s and 1890s. In contrast to the wooden houses, the area is dotted with layers of factory buildings and warehouses built in different phases. The six buildings of Sulzer Pumps Finland Oy are also located here: a pump factory, a research center, a maintenance unit, a logistics center, a packing house and warehouses. 

“We are very proud that we have strong roots in Finnish industrial history since the 1800th century. The first pump was made here as early as 1891,” says the CEO. Marja-Leena Mäkinen  

The story of the Swiss parent company Sulzer also begins in the same century.    

"That's where strong industrial expertise comes from. Our long history in Finland and Switzerland is our strength and the foundation for the fact that today we are a modern company, constantly undergoing strong change and development. You could say that we have new winds and strong roots." 

Sulzer manufactures process and special pumps, mixers, mechanical seals and compressors used in water purification in Finland. In addition to production, the company offers competent and extensive installation, maintenance and spare parts service. There are customers all over the world, with the Nordic countries and Finland as an important market.   

"We are a well-known brand in Finland in the pulp and paper sector, but we also have customers in numerous other industrial sectors, such as the mining and energy industries. Water management is important and growing rapidly, whether it involves pumping and treating clean or dirty water. I would even say that wherever liquid needs to be moved, we have no restrictions in supplying equipment." 

New customer needs  

Marja-Leena Mäkinen joined Sulzer Pumps Finland as plant manager of the Kotka plant and CEO of the Finnish company three years ago.   

“For me, the big thing is that the operations are very concrete – the factory and the products are in the same context. Also, the fact that Sulzer is an international, global company, whose customers provide a connection to many industries. The task itself is similarly multidimensional, and that makes this an interesting field. No two working days are the same.” 

There are a lot of current and interesting things going on in the company right now.   

"What is really exciting is, among other things, the utilization of traditional pulp and paper technology in the processing of new materials. It is largely about finding solutions in collaboration with customers; developing and testing for their needs. Our goal is to support customers in scaling up new products and processes and replicating working concepts. We have top expertise in this." 

Among other things, the CEO highlights Sulzer's ongoing strategic renewal and sustainability perspective. "High-quality, durable products that serve in demanding conditions bring an ecological perspective to our operations, as do the excellent efficiency of our products and the availability of spare parts. We are also developing rental services and pre-owned product solutions to extend the life cycle of equipment and reduce environmental impact." 

Local work and quick meetings 

Sulzer Pumps Finland Oy's Kotka factory is one of ten factories in the Water and Industrial business unit. There is close cooperation between the factories, as well as close contact with the group's headquarters in Switzerland. Calls and remote meetings to different parts of the world are held daily. 

At Sulzer, close work is done in a large open-plan office, where 160 people work. The open-plan office was once the largest in Finland, but during the most recent renovation, it was divided into a few different parts with partitions.  

“We are close to our colleagues here, which is really convenient. We can exchange information quickly,” says Mäkinen, stopping the sales director. Ilari Pakkalan for a quick meeting about sales development prospects.  

As he dons his safety gear for the factory tour, Mäkinen says that he participates in daily Gemba walks whenever possible, where employees are observed, listened to, and improvements are identified together. Similarly, whenever possible, he participates in morning meetings, where escalated issues, such as component challenges and quality-related deviations, are reviewed. The goal is to quickly address challenges or, if necessary, take them forward for resolution. The operating model is that different functions work together, not on their own. They confront, agree, ensure, and hold people accountable.

Two production lines 

“These visits are the best,” says Mäkinen from the factory.  

"Here, there is concrete action and it is good to talk with colleagues, there are inspiring encounters and a focus on solutions." 

The Kotka factory building dates back to 1968, but was modernized in 2022. The process pumps are manufactured on the Eagle line, which includes a pump installation point, a test drive station, a paint shop integrated into the production line, and final equipment.

The transfer of materials between different work stages is automated. The pump, which has left the knob assembly, travels to the test station on a platform transported by an automated forklift. The test station at Sulzer's Finnish factory is in a class of its own, and there is no equivalent in the company's other factories. Each pump is tested at the automated test station. If everything is in order, the pump continues its journey to the paint shop. Washing, painting, drying and final equipment. After that, the pump goes to the packaging room and to the customer.   

Next to the Eagle line, on the other side of the wall, HST turbocompressors are being assembled and tested. At their workstation Janek Arcs installs electrical wiring to a compressor under construction. It takes three shifts to install wires, cables and everything needed. Mäkinen and Kaaret exchange a few words about the installations, and then Mäkinen tells how he visited a water treatment plant in China that had HST turbocompressors supplied by Sulzer Finland. Customers praised how the equipment is in a class of its own in terms of energy consumption and noise level. 

“We are proud of our pumps and compressors. Aren't we?” 

"Yes. They are the best in the world," says Kaaret.