Citec attitude 1 2012

CITEC

NEWS AND STORIES WITH AN ATTITUDE FROM CITEC

1 • 2012

WHEN TWO BECOMES ONE The Citec companies are merging into a one-stop shop.

PAGE 6.

HEADING FOR SAUDI ARABIA Citec is about to enter the tough Saudi Arabian market. PAGE 10.

DOWN IN THE WOODS

Nature provides the ultimate mental relaxation. PAGE 18.

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EDITORIAL

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Towards

new goals

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s I write this, I am on a roadshow to roll out our new strategy and goals to our staff. 2011 was a fantastically interesting but also very challenging year for us. I want to take this opportunity to thank all our employees for their positive attitude and their commitment.

Citec is today quite a large company. It is an undeniably demanding task to restructure a company of this size, but at the same time it is incredibly rewarding. When we first started the merger process, we decided that we would all listen and learn from each other.

The spirit here is positive and open-minded. Our new brand theme, “Expertise with Passion”, is more than just empty words.

It truly reflects our determination here at Citec to do a good job. I am pleased to see that this is also evident in the response from our customers.

In the future we will focus increasingly on proactive solution selling. Competition is really hard in our markets and it is therefore important that we challenge ourselves to continue to be the best choice for our customers. We must be able to demonstrate our value by providing carefully designed control and measurement systems.

Through the merger we will become even better at creating and collating project information into well-functioning entities. This applies for example within the power plant industry, where we see great opportunities in that there are not many other companies that can offer similar complete solutions.

We at Citec are determined to continue to work in a goal-oriented way to offer comprehensive outsourcing concepts to our key customers. From a competence development perspective, our focus in the next few years will be on developing EPCM, consulting and PDM services, in addition to our current services.

I am looking forward to another rewarding year and wish you great times with the new Attitude!

Martin Strand

CEO

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MER CITEC CUSTO

MAGA ZINE

IN THIS ISSUE 6 One-stop shop Information is an embedded part of engineering.

That’s why Citec Engineering and Citec Information are merging.

12 An appetite for growth Under the new majority owner, Citec will grow more aggressively. Meet the new chairman of the board, Eero Leskinen.

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CONTENTS

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CITEC

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PUBLISHER Citec, P.O. Box 109, FI-65100 Vaasa +358 (0)6 324 0700 attitude@citec.com

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EDITORIAL BOARD Katarina Westerén-Hagnäs, Michael Smirnoff, Lars Rosenblad, Kai Dahl, Anna Jeanne Söderlund, Conny Eklund EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Smirnoff PROJECT MANAGEMENT, EDITING Anna Jeanne Söderlund PRODUCTION Mantra Communications and Citec LAYOUT Glenn Nylund, Annika Lillkvist, Janne Nylund

14 What is PLM?

18 Passion for nature

Product Lifecycle Management helps information flow within the organisation. It is a process for managing the entire lifecycle of a product.

Every evening after work, Kai Dahl heads to the woods. Neither bad weather nor pitch black autumn nights stop him.

17 Acquisition auf Deutsch

22 Expertise with passion

Citec has established itself on the German market by acquiring a local engineering firm. The sights are now set on growth.

Citec’s new brand theme is intimately linked with the company’s business idea: to secure the customers’ success with high performance, expertise and passion.

COVER PHOTO Katja Lösönen PRINT Fram COMPANY KEY FACTS Citec offers multi-discipline engineering and consulting, and provides services related to information management.

The total number of employees is 1,000 and the turnover for 2011 is estimated at 58 million euros.

Citec is headquartered in Vaasa, Finland and has offices in Finland, Sweden, Norway, the UK, France, Germany, Russia and India.

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CITEC NEWS

Enroll in Citec Academy n Now it is easier than ever to register for Citec Academy. You can enroll in various courses by simply filling in a form on Insider, where all of the training courses are listed.

Citec Academy is found within the HR section in Insider. Since Citec merged into one company, it is investing a great deal in the competence development of its staff. The idea is that employees should try to get outside of their usual roles and learn from other disciplines.

Under the same roof in Helsinki

5 QUESTIONS

n Merging into one Citec means that many Citec offices will also merge. In November 2011, the former Citec Engineering employees from the Vantaa office moved in under the same roof as their collegues from former Citec Information. This means that the staff at the Töölö office in Helsinki, which has previously been used only

by Citec Information, has more than doubled. The idea behind the move is to enable closer cooperation between information and engineering services.

ROOM FOR EVERYBODY. At the end of 2012, Citec employees in Vaasa will no longer be spread throughout the town.

New headquarters on its way n Today, Citec employees are spread throughout Vaasa at different locations. But times are changing for the better; at the end of 2012, all Citec employees in Vaasa will finally be under the same roof. By then the new headquarters on Silmukkatie will be ready.

The office is being built on the same site where Citec had its headquarters earlier. The old office is being torn down to provide space for the new building, which will be 6,000 m2 and hold 350 people.

From Australia to India Maneesh Mishra is Industry Area Head for India, Thermal & Civil.

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Citec’s vision: “We bring measurable value to our customers by creating and merging project information.”

n You joined Citec just a few months ago. What is your impression of the company so far?

“My impression is good. I see Citec as a nice company having an international atmosphere.

Previously I’ve worked with different aspects of power generation for multinational companies like ABB, Alstom and Siemens that have a huge

number of employees. Being a mid-sized company, Citec still has the systems of a big multinational along-with a lot of flexibility.”

What were you doing before?

“I worked in Australia for different consultancy groups and moved back to my home country India when I started at Citec. The reason I moved back was mainly that I wanted to be

CITEC NEWS

Breakthrough for Citec Russia

VEHICLES Ralf Wallin

HEALTHCARE Gary Manders

ICT Marjut Heinonen PROCESS INDUSTRY & MANUFACTURING Hans Paulsson

ENGINE POWER Mikko Juopperi

COMPETENCE & SERVICES Olli Kytökari

ENERGY & CIVIL Tommy Krohn

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n Citec has won a major contract worth 2.5 million euros in Russia.

Citec has been appointed as general designer for the Wärtsilä TMH Diesel Engine Building Company, that is building a factory in Penza, located 600 km southeast of Moscow.

“We are proud to be able to provide our services in a major project like this. Our local presence and knowledge of Russian design standards is a key factor for being chosen”, says Magnus Forsbäck, General Director, Citec Russia.

Citec will provide multidiscipline engineering and consulting services for the project.

STRONG AS A V6. Citec has restructured its organisation in conjunction with the merger.

Citec’s new organisation – a solid sixpack n In conjunction with the merger of Citec Engineering and Citec Information, the organisation has been restructured. Now there are six different industry areas, which combine information and engineering services. The objective with the new organisation is to offer customers more comprehensive services. Only the healthcare and ICT industry areas do not, at least yet, have any counterpart within engineering.

In addition to the six industry areas, there is also a new team called Competence Services, that will enable swift and optimal resourcing according to project and customer needs.

All industry areas have newly appointed Directors, as listed in the picture above.

closer to my parents, who are getting older. It was a big and somewhat risky decision to move back from Australia which is my acquired home country now, but so far everything has gone well.

In terms of job opportunities in my area I think India offers many opportunities. Besides the job, there are a lot of new things to get accustomed to. I come from another part of India so Mumbai is

a new city for me with a different culture and language.”

Did you enjoy it in Australia?

“Yes, definitely. I was working with new technologies in power plants, which was very challenging and rewarding. There is a nice balance between working life and spare time in Australia and the country is beautiful. And Australians are funloving witty people.”

One Citec – one certificate n In order to fulfil a common way of working within Citec Group, the current several quality management certificates (ISO:9001:2008) will be unified and combined under one Citec Group certification.

“By ensuring the best practices within quality work, we want to enhance customer satisfaction”, says Quality Manager Janne Laaja. “However, our quality is not managed by any standard or system alone. In the end it is our professionals who ensure the quality, environmental, health and safety aspects of work.”

What is your impression of Finnish people then?

“They are quite open and straight forward. I’m actually used to Scandinavians since I used to work in Sweden before. I’ve also lived in Switzerland.”

What do you do when you are not working?

“We tend to work quite long hours in India, so there is not that much

time left when I get home. I like to play tennis when I get the chance.

And I’m a vegetarian and love cooking. My wife also works so I have to support at home. We have an 11-year-old son and his school has kept me busy lately, since the education system here is so different from Australia. It takes time to get him accustomed to the new schooling system.

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COVER STORY: ONE CITEC

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COVER STORY: ONE CITEC

Katja Lösönen

From now on the two former Citec companies are one joint Citec. Through merging Engineering and Information, Citec can offer swifter and more complete services.

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riginally, there was only one Citec, but after Nokia Networks outsourced their technical information to Citec in 2000, Citec Information became a separate company. This was deemed prudent at the time, as the documentation services suddenly got such a dominating position.

A few years later it was Citec Engineering’s turn to grow rapidly. The two companies lived side by side, but partly very separated from each other.

When Sentica Partners stepped in as the majority shareholder of Citec in June 2011, it was announced that Citec Engineering and Citec Information would merge. The idea is that the restructuring is not merely cosmetic but that the two entities will really start to work closely together, so that customers can be provided with wider, swifter and more complete services.

THE INDUSTRY AREA within Citec that has come furthest with the integration is Energy & Civil.

Tommy Krohn, who used to manage the group at Citec Engineering, and Jan Lundberg, who

managed the corresponding group within Citec Information, had already considered co-operation before.

“We used to sit in different buildings and rarely met, which describes how we used to work. But when we met at trade fairs and had the chance to talk, we began to wonder why we work separately.

Pretty soon we realised that we would have a lot to gain from working together and we began to shape a joint budget. So when the decision came that the companies would merge, we were neither very surprised nor unprepared,” Lundberg and Krohn recall.

ACCORDING TO LUNDBERG and Krohn, one big

benefit gained from working together is that everything becomes simpler both for Citec and its customers. Customers will be able to more effectively benefit from the full scope Citec has to offer. And they will now have only one key contact person, and one invoicing address.

The Energy & Civil groups have pretty much the

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COVER STORY: ONE CITEC Janica KarastI

MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE. Välitalo is described as a terrier in the boxing ring. She can go far, if she also keeps a cool head.

“Customers have been asking why we d same market and partly the same customers both for engineering and documentation services. Sales work becomes significantly easier when you can approach customer contacts that have already been developed.

Besides, the customers’ time is not wasted on listening to the same thing explained twice.

“Earlier, a really awkward situation could build up when we, without knowing about each other’s actions, had sales meetings with the same customer within just a few days’ gap.”

LUNDBERG AND KROHN are convinced that the cross-selling of both engineering and documentation services simultaneously increases the quality of the services.

“Documentation is rarely seen as important in the beginning of a project, but may become very expensive in the end as final payments can be delayed if documentation is not ready,” Lundberg says. “If we can start planning the documentation already when the engineering work starts, the whole process becomes smoother for all parties involved, resulting in better quality and delivery accuracy. Things NO, THEY ARE NOT TWINS n One reason for the co-operation to start so well at Energy & Civil is that Tommy Krohn and Jan Lundberg quickly found each other also on a personal level. Many think they even look the same.

“Last summer we took some pictures when we were out sailing with a customer, and I later showed one of the photos to my mother.

She was convinced that Tommy was me,” Jan Lundberg laughs. “So if not even our parents can tell us apart, I guess there must be some resemblance.”

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COVER STORY: ONE CITEC

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d idn’t do this a long time ago.”

Katja Lösönen

run particularly smoothly when we can coordinate all the information from all the subcontractors. And at the end of the day, it saves our customers a lot of hassle – and money.”

Customers also save time when the contact area at Citec decreases.

“All the response we have had from our customers regarding the restructuring has been very positive. They have been asking why we didn’t do this a long time ago. Even after only a few weeks we have received enquiries that we wouldn’t ever have received without our new organisation,” Krohn says.

JAN LUNDBERG’S NEW title is Key Account

Director, and it is he who primarily deals with the sales, also within the engineering services.

“It feels inspiring to go to a new territory.

And if needed, I know I can always get help from some of our experts if I feel my own skills are not enough.”

Tommy Krohn is the new Industry Area Director. He runs a section of about 50 people and is responsible for the operative projects.

Lundberg and Krohn admit that their industry area is exceptionally well suited for integration, as the customer contacts have been the same within both Citec Engineering and Citec Information from the beginning.

“There has been no opposition to this in our unit; in fact quite the contrary. The employees seem to have looked forward to this happening, and the customers too, for that matter,” Krohn says.

“This is the industry area within Citec that we believe has the best growth potential. I don’t think the work will be easier in future, but it will certainly be more fun,” Lundberg adds.

SMARTER PROCESSES. Tommy Krohn (to the left) and Jan Lundberg are convinced that Citec’s new organisation will lead to clear synergy effects. When documentation is embedded in the engineering work, it saves customers a lot of hassle – and money.

“A competitive advantage for Citec” Working with information is truly an embedded part of engineering.

That’s why Citec’s organisational change is really welcome, says Catharina Håkans at Wärtsilä. n Catharina Håkans is the Director of the Engineering Management Office at Wärtsilä Power Plants and one of her tasks is to develop contacts with collaboration partners such as Citec.

“A great deal of an engineer’s work consists of finding the correct information and producing new information. It’s important that we recognise documentation as an integrated part of the whole design process”, says Håkans. “The design process is not really finished before all the required information is in place, due to the needs of the many users of information originating from the engineering work.”

The information and engineering units have already been integrated for several years within Håkan’s own work at Wärtsilä “This has led to clear synergy effects and to improved reuse of information. It has also led to a more widespread competence among our personnel as the understanding of the colleagues’ work has increased between the disciplines. The same advantages will surely be noticed at Citec too.”

According to Håkans, seeing documentation as an integrated part of the whole process is a general trend in the business. Utility customers in particular have high demands on the design information and expect the digital design deliverables to follow the standards of today.

Håkans thinks that Citec’s new organisation will clearly be a competitive advantage. And it will also make life easier for Wärtsilä.

“It’s obviously simpler with a one-stop shop. For us at Wärtsilä, this means less coordinating work, more cost-effectiveness and more comprehensive design work.”

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NEW MARKET: SAUDI ARABIA

HEADING FOR S Entering the Arabian market is no easy task.

But Citec has now taken a big step towards this exciting new area by signing an association agreement with Saudi-Arabian engineering company Alrabiah & Partners.

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n April 2011, Citec signed an association projects: their objective with the coagreement with the Saudi-Arabian operation with Citec is to enter new business engineering company Alrabiah & areas.

Partners. The plan is for the two companies “We wanted to find a partner with to eventually form a joint venture. solid know-how in areas where we lack “You have to co-operate with a local experience, such as energy and power. company to help with the contacts and Citec suited our needs well. I hope our first the registrations when entering the Saudicommon project will serve as an eye-opener Arabian market,” explains General for other potential customers”, says Dr. Manager Gustav Hagström from Citec.

Alrabiah.

Entering the Saudi-Arabian market is no easy task, since registration is required CITEC’S AND ALRABIAH & Partner’s offices before a foreign company is able to work are located in the city of Dammam, near there, even as a subcontractor. Last autumn the well-known industrial city Jubail.

Citec took another big step when the Gustav Hagström has spent a lot of time in company became registered by Marafiq.

Dammam in the past half year, and he says And now Citec is in the process of becoming he has been very warmly received. registered by Saudi Arabia’s biggest “The Arabs are the people who invented electricity company, the Saudi Electric trade, and the culture still lives on. Much Company. is based on personal contacts, and this “We were positively surprised by the requires that you sit down and learn to registrations as it is a major milestone for us know each other.” in order to be able to win larger power plant SAFETY FIRST. There Correct is still a instructions big growing increase market for projects in Saudi Arabia,” Hagström says.the safety engineering companies inaccurate Saudi Arabia, in mining.

Therefore Shortly after the registration, Citec and documentation especiallyisinvital. the fields of oil, gas and power Alrabiah & Partners won their first larger plants. common project.

Currently Citec and Alrabiah make common tenders and meet with potential ACCORDING TO HAGSTRÖM, Citec’s customers together. The plan is that the advantage in Saudi Arabia derives from two companies will eventually establish the company’s multi-disciplinary knowa joint venture company under European how and good reputation as a European management. company. Through its office in India, Citec can also provide cost-effective solutions.

“We consider Citec as a globally recognised engineering firm of great competence”, says Dr. Abdulrahman A. MAJOR MILESTONE. Citec and its partner Alrabiah, President of Alrabiah & Partners.

Alrabiah & Partners have already won their Previously, Alrabiah & Partners has first joint project. The goal is to eventually mainly been involved in infrastructural establish a joint venture in Saudi Arabia.

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NEW MARKET: SAUDI ARABIA

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AUDI ARABIA

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INTERVIEW: EERO LESKINEN

SMOOTH OPERATIONS Eero Leskinen is the new chairman of the board for Citec.

Under his leadership, Citec plans to double its turnover within five years.

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ero Leksinen attained his new position when Sentica Partners became the majority owner of Citec in summer 2011. Sentica Partners is a private equity company investing in small and medium-size Finnish companies and developing them. A couple of years ago, the company began to scan the engineering service sector in order to find a suitable company to invest in. After some careful research, Citec turned out to be the best candidate.

“There are several reasons why we chose Citec”, Leskinen says. “It is a well managed company that has great technical expertise and close co-operation with many longtime customers. The company culture is also very good, and the personnel are skilled. However, the numbers are the most important reason; Citec is profitable and has always been growing fast.”

TODAY, SENTICA PARTNERS owns 67% of Citec, which makes Citec the company’s biggest individual investment project. Sentica Partners’ strategy is to own and develop a company for 6-8 years before finding a new owner.

“This is a company with very good potential for growth. Citec will grow both organically and through acquisitions. Sales can be increased both to existing customers and to completely new ones. The target is that within five years Citec will have doubled its turnover”, Leskinen explains.

One part of the new strategy is to integrate Citec Engineering and Citec Information, and according to Leskinen, the start of this work has been smoother than expected.

“I have been in integration processes before and know that you should proceed carefully, so that the organisation is ready and the employees are mentally prepared. What has positively surprised me is that many in the management wanted to proceed with the integration faster than I had planned. They thought the idea was so good that they wanted to implement it immediately.”

EERO LESKINEN Born: in Kuopio, Finland, in 1956 Family: Three adult children, two of which study in Finland and one in the USA. Hobbies: Different sports, hunting, and motorcycles.

Education: M.Sc. Earlier career: Started as a photographer in a local newspaper when he was 15. Has worked in Assa Abloy both in Sweden and Germany and as corporation head of the Finnish furniture company Isku. Now Investment Director and Partner in Sentica Partners.

EERO LESKINEN HAS a comprehensive

background. He has worked both in Sweden and Germany in Abloy, later Assa Abloy. After

5 QUESTIONS

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Spare parts under control Tea Aho works as a PDM coordinator at Citec.

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n Could you tell us what your job involves?

“I’m part of Citec’s service team in Oulu, which handles spare parts information for a specific customer. In practice, we serve as a kind of helpdesk: customers from around the world contact us and ask about the status of various spare parts.”

Do they usually receive a satisfactory response?

“Yes, they know that we can always provide an answer to all spare parts-related questions: Are the codes right, does the part have to be changed or can it be repaired, etc. My work involves dealing with a lot of Excel charts and reporting. It’s important to be careful, because the high

INTERVIEW: EERO LESKINEN

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THE NEW CHAIR. “Even if Citec had a growth strategy before, it may have been a little cautious.

From now on the plan is to grow more aggressively”, Eero Leskinen says.

that he was the corporation head of the Finnish furniture company Isku. Before starting fulltime in Sentica Partners in the beginning of 2011, he was chairman of the board for the same company. In other words, he has a whole lot of experience from which Citec can benefit.

“I have experience both in international management, acquisitions, and integration processes. Even if Citec had a growth strategy before, it may have been a little cautious. From now on the plan is to grow more aggressively.”

When Leskinen is not working, he prefers to be busy with one of his many hobbies. In winter, he skis, plays ice hockey, and goes to the gym. In summer, it will be roller skating and the occasional round of golf, and hunting in the autumn.

“To have the energy to work hard, you have to be in good shape. I try to train at least three times a week.”

Gunnar Bäckman

quality of our work is important both for Citec and for our customers.”

How long have you been working for Citec?

“I’ve been here for seven years; almost three years in my current position. I’ve been living in Oulu since 2003, but I’m originally from Kemijärvi in Lapland.”

How do you like your work?

“My team is made up of pleasant and professional people and it’s nice to work with them. I enjoy my work because it’s fast-paced but not stressful. Sometimes I help out at another document management department when they’re short staffed, and the change is refreshing. I have a four-year-old son at home, so I also appreciate not having to

take my work home at night.”

What do you usually do after work?

“I often spend time with my family.

My favourite hobbies are cats, gardening and handicrafts. For example, I knit and sew clothing for myself. It’s relaxing to do creative work with my hands after a working day in front of the screen at the office. Then I

have two cats, one of them being a purebred Maine Coon. We’re thinking about taking it to cat shows.”

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EXPERT ARTICLE: PLM

Optimising a product’s info When information flows within an organisation and the tacit knowledge is captured, delivery times can be halved. This is a strong argument for adopting Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

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The first is content and information as such. The second is software and systems, and the third is human action, meaning processes and organisations.

“Sometimes a PLM project is incorrectly seen as a system project, when it actually involves human beings. A large part of the information comes from individuals and the team, either as hidden knowledge or in actual files.”

A typical challenge for a company or its customers is when information about a product cannot be found. This is often when information has been created from the creator’s viewpoint, and stored in the creator´s systems using the creator´s method of reference.

This means that product information is located in different silos. In other words, product development, sales, manufacturing, and service all have their own information that cannot be used directly by other people.

“PLM cannot be created with a single silo, but it can bring the various silos together,” Ilkka Palola says.

commercial product looks the way it does, because the customer wants that kind of product. Products that do not meet customer needs are short-lived.

But how is it with product documentation? How often is the documentation based on the customer’s wishes?

Far too often, the documentation in many companies is only based on the manufacturer’s perspective, and customer focus is lost along the way.

In order to address the issue, Citec’s work with Product Lifecycle Management, PLM, helps customers to create product information and documentation based on their customers’ needs. And as an added bonus, a company using PLM processes and PLM technology can also increase the quality of their products and improve production management.

Product information, all too often, does not even fulfil the internal needs of companies either, and a lot of waste is being generated when the different areas of a company recreate the same information to suit their internal needs.

WHEN A COMPANY completes a PLM project, it is supposed to analyse three distinct areas of practice: 1. How different parts of the company communicate with each other 2. How different data systems communicate with each other 3. How information can be made more uniform.

“THE MOST IMPORTANT thing is to support the reuse of

information and facilitate a flow of information through the entire lifecycle of the product,” says Information Architect Ilkka Palola at Citec.

Ilkka Palola points to three challenge areas for PLM.

EXAMPLES OF ACCURED PRODUCT DATA

Ideas Specifications

Brainstorming

3D models Simulations FEMs Revision data Product structures User’s manuals

Product development

CAE Test run results Proto(type) experiences Instructions Manufacture structures Control parameters

Entry into production

Availability data Cost data Quality data Certificates Procurement data Individual structures

Production and procurement

Marketing

Sales Customer data Delivery data Campaign data

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Prognoses Sales and purchase prices

Servicing data Satisfaction data Updates Location data Maintenance structures

Service

Demolition data Reuse data Recycled parts Disposal data

Disposal

EXPERT ARTICLE: PLM

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rmation flow saves money SOURCES OF INFORMATION

WHAT IS PLM?

PLM DOCUMENTATION

TRANING The aim of PLM is to ensure that all sources have the same information content.

In global companies, the personal competence can vary, which means the need for documentation can vary.

HELPDESK, PRODUCT SUPPORT

PERSONAL COMPETENCE

FRIENDS, TEAM

n Product lifecycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from its creation, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. PLM integrates people, data, processes, and business systems and provides a backbone of product information for companies and their extended enterprise.

PLM should not be seen as a software product but a collection of software tools and working methods integrated together to address either single stages of the lifecycle or connect different tasks or manage the whole process. PLM is about business processes, people, and methods as much as software application solutions.

PDM

THE FIRST AREA involves business

processes and should include both the customers and subcontractors. Citec has a lot of experience in helping customers to describe and develop their processes, including the terms of quality certification.

“The challenge is to get the support from the entire organisation. Often, there are process descriptions for the highest levels, but in the PLM-world, you are expected to describe how the entire organisation works in reality,” Ilkka Palola says.

THE INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

should be described from within. This means understanding what should be documented, in what form, as well as what meta-information is needed. In turn, questions can then be answered focusing on what type of information quality is needed for documentation, training, production and testing. All this information must have a purpose and any unnecessary descriptions can be considered as waste.

One tool that Citec uses is an analysis of information flow. If this is done at an early

stage, time and resources can be saved, because important information can be reused. Otherwise, you have to look for it again.

INFORMATION SHOULD BE standardised

and streamlined once people and systems start communicating with each other.

PLM can have an effect on the costs of many sub-elements, e.g. translations, since documents can be configured and published automatically.

“Organisations have a tendency to try to reinvent the wheel. If there is no systematic method to utilise existing information, it can easily happen that the job is started from scratch each time,” says Ilkka Palola.

Besides making it possible to reuse information in different phases of the same project, the same information should also be available for use in different projects.

One challenge for standardisation is to bring together all the information that comes from subcontractor networks.

A PLM is no small task. It is often more extensive than an ERP-project, which most large manufacturing companies go

n Product data management (PDM) is the use of software or other tools to track and control data related to a particular product. The data tracked usually involves the technical specifications of the product, specifications for manufacture and development, and the types of materials that are required to produce goods. The use of product data management allows a company to track the various costs associated with the creation and launch of a product. Product data management is part of the product lifecycle management and is primarily used by engineers.

PLCM n Product life cycle management (PLCM) should be distinguished from PLM. PLCM refers to the commercial management of a product, and is the succession of strategies used by business management as a product goes through its lifecycle. The conditions in which a product is sold (advertising, saturation) change over time and must be managed as it moves through its subsequent stages.

through. However, PLM is worth implementing since it saves costs and improves quality.

“And this facilitates on-time deliveries when information can be reused and flows through the entire organisation.”

“Two of Citec’s customers have put halving delivery times as their main goal. To achieve this, they are using PLM”, says Ilkka Palola.

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CUSTOMER CASE: METSO POWER

PROVIDING PROFESSIONAL

PARTNERSHIP Metso Power improved its documentation management after signing a partnership contract with Citec.

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Marjaana Malkamäki

couple of years ago, power solutions provider Metso Power decided that it wanted to change its approach to document management.

Previously, the documentation management and control had been handled case by case and the processes seemed unclear.

As Citec’s Max Lindholm had already been working at Metso Power for several years, increasing the co-operation with Citec was a natural choice.

“We wanted a more professional approach to documentation. As a part of this strategy, we began to develop a partnership with Citec,” explains Harry Wahlroos, Department Manager of Project Execution at Metso Power.

THE FIRST STEP involved development

work, during which the documentation processes were made more systematic.

On the personnel side, the goal was to put together a flexible and professional pool of people that would produce documentation according to detailed specifications. Three people transferred from Metso Power to Citec and a few new people from Citec joined the team to offer Metso Power documentation control services.

“All in all, Citec now has eight people working on our premises,” says Wahlroos.

The new way of working has been very beneficial since systematic processes provide better security.

A FEW YEARS ago, documentation

at Metso Power E&I was mainly the responsibility of project managers and their assistants. Without specific competence for document management and the related systems, it meant

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100 YEARS OF DOCUMENTATION. Max Lindholm, Henri Montonen and Harry Wahlroos have been working together to improve Metso Power’s documentation. The chest of drawers beside them was used 100 years ago for storing documentation at Tampella, the predecessor of Metso Power.

long office hours in order to reach the document package deadlines.

“The way of working with document management was pretty chaotic in E&I Project Execution ten years ago.

It was done among other duties by the project leaders”, explains Manager Henri Montonen from Engineering and E&I. “Now we have specific competent resources and back-up persons for high loading situations. The response from E&I project leaders is very positive since

they now have more time to concentrate on their core tasks.”

ONE REASON FOR Metso Power selecting Citec as the partner was Citec’s extensive experience of similar arrangements with other customers.

“We have been satisfied with this partnership. Citec is reliable, professional and just the right size for us. We are happy to continue co-operation in the future as well.”

NEW MARKET: SAUDI ARAB NEW MARKET: GERMANY

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SUCCESFUL START. “Everything has started well, we have a similar way of working”, says Holger Wülken, former owner of Imotion and the new Managing Director of Citec Germany.

ACQUISITION AUF DEUTSCH Citec has taken a great leap into the German market by acquiring the system engineering business from Imotion. The sights are now set on growth in Germany.

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etting established and growing in the German market is part of Citec’s strategy. In August, it was announced that Citec had acquired the system engineering business of Imotion, located near Berlin. One of the sellers is Holger Wülfken, who is also the new Managing Director of Citec Germany.

“After having been a part of Citec for a few months, I can say that everything has started out well. We have felt a sense of mutual trust right from the beginning. Citec has welcomed us in a very friendly and professional manner”, says Wülfken.

One of the things that made the deal and integration easier was that both companies have a similar way of working on customer projects.

IMOTION HAS PRIMARILY been involved with train design, and this is a good complement to Citec’s solid competence in the rail vehicle industry. In addition, the German division will serve as a platform for Citec’s other services and customer segments on the German market, especially in the energy and power sector.

16 employees from Imotion joined Citec, and all in all there are today 20 employees at Citec

Germany. The plan is for the number of employees to still increase. There will also probably be new acquisitions in the future.

“We are constantly looking for people to hire. At the same time we are also meeting with potential new customers. There is a lot going on at the moment,” says Wülfken.

THE REASON THAT Wülfken decided to sell the

company to Citec was due to pressure from customers for larger divisions of subcontractors.

“All the important companies in the railway industry want to reduce the number of subcontractors to save on costs and make coordination easier. In the future, they will only use subcontractors with whom they have a framework agreement, and to be considered, you have to be big enough. We have received very positive feedback from the customers regarding the integration with Citec,” explains Wülfken.

He is looking to the future with confidence.

“We see good growth potential in Germany. One of Citec’s strengths is the partnership concept.”

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LIFESTYLE: NATURE Mikko Lehtimäki

RELAXATION. According to Kai Dahl, being outside in the nature is by far the best way to recharge your batteries.

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LIFESTYLE: NATURE

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PASSION FOR NATURE Almost every evening, Business Development Director Kai Dahl heads to the woods. Neither snow storms nor winter darkness stop him.

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or hundreds of thousands of years, humans were hunters and gatherers.

Genetically, we are still just that. So, it’s not surprising that many today still enjoy picking mushrooms or hunting.

However, few do it with the same passion as Kai Dahl, Business Development Director at Citec. He goes to his summer cottage on the island of Replot, which is about 25 km from Vaasa, nearly every day after work. And after swapping his business suit to outdoor clothing, Kai heads for the woods.

“My wife and I have an apartment in Vaasa too, but I sleep there maybe ten times in a year, maximum. Otherwise, I want to get out here, and it doesn’t matter what the weather is. The only thing that can stop me is if I’m travelling” There’s a proverb in Finnish that says that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. This is a philosophy that is close to Kai’s heart. Not even the pitch black autumn nights stop him from going outside. And if there’s lots of snow in the woods, then he uses his wide, short skis to allow him to move around.

Mikko Lehtimäki

OUTDOORS. “We have an apartment in Vaasa, but I sleep there maybe ten times a year. Otherwise, I want to get out here.”

KAI DAHL’S PASSION for nature derives from his childhood.

His father travelled a lot because of work, but whenever he came home, he would take Kai with him to the wilderness.

“I was only a few years old whenEVERYDAY I started to JOY. go on fishing and hunting trips with my father. IIfrecall that I’ve always been you wan’t happy when out in the nature.” to be happy, As a grownup, Kai moved to Sweden to awork, there’s lot and later to Helsinki. However, it was a strong youlonging can do to be back in the nature that lay behind his decision to move to make it back to his childhood hometown of Vaasa in 1998. happen.

“In a big city, it is difficult to get into the nature on a weekday. For me, it is not enough to be outdoors only on weekends; I want to get out every day. I have also wanted to pass on the interest in nature to my own children, who are adults now.”

THE COTTAGE WHERE Kai lives is actually a well equipped house by the water. Although the land was already owned by his grandfather, the house itself is new. Kai began to build it in 2002 and has done most of the construction work himself. It 1•2 01 2 C I T E C AT T I T U D E

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LIFESTYLE: NATURE Mikko Lehtimäki

NATURAL WORKOUT. With the lifestyle he has, Kai doesn’t need any training at the gym.

was at the time that the building began that Kai got a golden retriever called Indy, who accompanies him in the woods.

“Although I like being outdoors in the nature it’s nothing compared to how much Indy enjoys it. He gets so incredibly happy every time we get out.”

The biggest reason for getting a dog was to help with the hunting. Dogs are significantly better than people at finding shot birds among the reeds. And Indy is a great help for Kai in this respect. Together with Indy he hunts birds, hare and elk, which Kai insist is healthy, pure and natural food.

“I eat a whole lot of slow food; fish I’ve caught myself and berries and mushrooms I’ve picked. I have not bought minced meat in 20 years; I always have the freezer full of game meat.

It is much more flavoursome than the meat of raised animals.

Besides, it’s pure and free from antibiotics. I also believe that wild animals live a better life than animals that have been raised in captivity.”

Kai fishes all year round. Once he invited the management team at Citec to his cottage and taught them how to gut and fillet perches before making a delicious dinner. In the late summer Kai picks berries, and in the autumn he picks mushrooms. Nature not only provides an unlimited number of tasks that are fun, they are healthy and delicious too.

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ACCORDING TO KAI DAHL, the most important thing with

nature is the mental relaxation it provides.

“This is by far the best way to ‘recharge your batteries’ and wind down,” Kai says. “To be able to work effectively for the day you need to give your brain a rest in the evening. But the best way to rest is not to sit still; it is to be active in something other than work. I have had many discussions with colleagues who are about to burnout, and I always try to help them find a way to wind down. Some begin to exercise or engage in cultural activities. For me though, the best way is to go to the woods.”

With the lifestyle he has, Kai does not need to find any extra time for physical training either. Ploughing through the woods is as good a training as going to the gym.

“One time my daughter called me when I was felling trees in the woods. She asked me where I was and I was kidding her that I was at the gym. I don’t use modern machines when working in the woods; everything is done mainly with muscle power.”

LIFESTYLE: NATURE Mikko Lehtimäki

HAPPY DOG. Indy loves being outdoors even more than Kai does.

Fried whitefish á la Mannerheim This is one of Kai’s favourite recipes, which he has served to many of his co-workers.

4 whitefish fillets Salt and white pepper Breadcrumbs Butter Season and bread the whitefish. Fry in plenty of butter until cooked through.

Horseradish butter 4 tbsp grated horseradish 4 tbsp butter Allow the grated horseradish to simmer in butter until soft.

Mushroom sauce 100 g fresh button mushrooms 2 tbsp butter 2 tbsp flour 8 dl whipping cream Salt and white pepper Slice the mushrooms and fry them in hot butter until the liquid has evaporated.

Sprinkle with flour and stir. Add the cream to the pan and cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Serving: Top each piece of fried fish with a heaped spoonful of horseradish butter. Serve with mushroom sauce and boiled potatoes.

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Mikko Lehtimäki

BEAUTY. Not even pitch black autumn nights stop Kai from going out.

“ I eat a whole lot of slow food; fish I’ve caught myself and berries and mushrooms I’ve picked.”

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NEW BRAND THEME: EXPERTISE WITH PASSION

PASSIONATE EXPERTS Citec’s new brand theme is “Expertise with passion”. The idea is to promote the employees’ strong skills and experience, combined with a large dose of the human touch.

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itec has used stunts as a marketing theme for many years. But as the company has grown and begun to offer larger service entities, the stunt theme has become outdated. Citec therefore turned to brand agency Daddy Finland to create a new theme, and after an internal survey, a brand workshop and a customer survey, the results are now showing.

“We chose ‘Expertise with passion’ not only because it portrays us well but also because we want to challenge ourselves,” says Marketing and Communications Director Michael Smirnoff. “We have a lot of people with cutting edge skills working for us, but we will be even better at promoting our know-how; we won’t keep our passion to ourselves.”

In the future, Citec employees will be speaking more than before at seminars, writing scientific articles and creating proactive solutions for customers.

IN ADDITION TO the new theme, Citec’s marketing and

5 QUESTIONS

recruitment images are renewed. The new images will project humour in combination with deep know-how.

“I showed a draft of the images to a group of new employees on their induction day, and they had very positive

Open for new proposals Rémy Jeandemange is General Manager at Citec France.

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reactions,” Smirnoff says.

The new branding theme will be launched throughout all materials, both on the web, in advertisements and at exhibitions. Depending on the context, either the humour or the expertise can be highlighted. Humour can play a bigger role in recruitment materials, while a more serious tone can be used at trade exhibitions.

MICHAEL SMIRNOFF IS careful to point out that the new marketing theme doesn’t mean a complete brand makeover.

“It isn’t so much a revolution as an evolution. We want to position ourselves clearly and define where we stand in terms of customers and potential new employees.”

Smirnoff believes that the new theme will be well received.

“This theme is intimately linked with our business idea, which says that we secure our customers’ success with high performance, expertise and passion.”

PLAYTIME. Citec’s new brand images communicate humour in combination with deep know-how and commitment for technologies. The first photos are mainly related to recruitment needs and the energy and power sector, other sectors will follow.

n Tell us a bit about your background?

“I came to Citec four years ago to start the French office. Prior to that I ran my own consultancy company, where I already did some co-operation with Citec.

And before that I worked at the Wärtsilä power division, for three years in France and for 2.5 years in Vaasa, Finland.”

What was it like to live in Finland?

“Both my wife and me enjoyed the experience. There are lots of features in the Finnish culture that I like, for example the way of communicating where you go straight to the essentials and really listen to what other people have to say. Getting to know new cultures is enriching. I also

NEW BRAND THEME: EXPERTISE WITH PASSION

like the Finnish nature, there are lots of marvellous secret lakes and other places that aren’t mentioned in any tourist guides that we loved to discover.”

How do you like your present work?

“I’m very keen on it, otherwise I wouldn’t do it. The best thing about Citec is the enthusiastic atmosphere. People who work

here are very open minded, customer orientated and open for new proposals. In France it is not that common that the employees come up with new ideas and initiatives, but at Citec it is encouraged. ” There are 15 people working at Citec France. What are the pros and cons of being a small office in a bigger company?

“Actually it doesn’t feel like we are a separate part of Citec. We don’t feel isolated at all from the mother company since we share common values, targets and ways of working. So I wouldn’t say there are any drawbacks. The good thing is that you have quite diversified tasks in a small office compared to a big one. We have just entered an area of strong growth at Citec France, and I think the number of

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employees will probably double within a few years.”

What do you like to do when you are not working?

“One of my favourite hobbies is cooking. Typical French dishes are a bit heavy to my taste, but I like, for example, Indian, Thai, Italian and Mexican food.”

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Expertise with Passion.

We believe business success is a combination of knowledge, expertise and passion.

These attributes are our driving forces, as we tirelessly work to find the optimal solutions that meet your goals. We deliver complete outsourcing services for your engineering and information management needs, making us a powerful and effective partner for you.

www.citec.com