Citec attitude 2 2009 by Citec Group

CITEC

NEWS AND STORIES WITH AN ATTITUDE FROM CITEC

2 • 2009

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CITEC!

How a small engineering company became a global group in 25 years.

CONTROLLED POWER Shot-putter Robert Häggblom aims for the Olympics. But every now and then he designs grounding plans at Citec. Page 12.

LET’S GET INNOVATIVE Wanted: more creative new ideas.

EDITORIAL

A passion for technology

can still remember the moment I became fascinated with technology. When I was 14 years old, a new subject was introduced at school – machine shop. My teacher was very inspiring and my interest was immediate. Until then I’d been mostly interested in pop music and had dreamt of a future in music. But it was during that class that I decided to work with technology. It was my passion for technology that led me to become an entrepreneur and make the decision to eventually start up Citec. It’s been 25 years since then, and on page 6 of this magazine you can read more about Citec’s history. When I was interviewed for the birthday article, I was asked about the best and worst experiences over the years. Since I’ve actively taken the chance to work with something I firmly believe in, most problems have been fun to solve. The toughest parts have been to handle the fast growth on the one hand, and the times of recession on the other. But even though Citec recently felt the effects of the financial crisis to some extent, I’m still optimistic about the long-term outlook. Citec provides services in industrial areas like energy, the environment, life sciences and other forms of useful advanced technology, and these areas carry the future with them. Today, I still believe in the importance and capabilities of technology just as much as I did as a teenager. Technology is an extension of evolution, not nature’s enemy. This is why the solution to the climate problem isn’t simply to give up all modern comforts and move back into the woods, it’s about finding new and smarter technologies to help us build a sustainable future. Today I can say that it was definitely a wise decision for me to choose technology instead of a career within music. I think that it’s as inspiring to develop new things today as it was 25 years ago. Finally, I want to use this opportunity to say a warm thank you to our excellent personnel, as well as to our customers and partners around the world. Citec has now been in business for 25 successful years, and there will be at least as many still to come. Pleasant reading! Rune Westergård

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

CONTENTS

14 11 CITEC

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

2.09 MER CITEC CUSTO

EDITORIAL BOARD Rune Westergård,

MAGA ZINE

Michael Smirnoff, Katriina Valli, Tom Eriksson, Peter Appel, Anna Jeanne Söderlund EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Smirnoff PROJECT MANAGEMENT Anna Jeanne Söderlund PRODUCTION Botnia Information and Citec

IN THIS ISSUE

LAYOUT Glenn Nylund, Annika Lillkvist, Janne Nylund COVER PHOTO Mikko Lehtimäki

6 Happy birthday, Citec!

12 Heavy shots

18 Let’s get creative

PRINT Fram 2009

Citec celebrates its 25th birthday. Read the story about how a one man engineering company became a global group.

Robert Häggblom is a world-class shot-putter. And a part-time engineer at Citec.

Innovations shouldn’t be outsourced to the R&D department. CEO:s Martin Strand and Kai Dahl want the whole organisation to come up with new ideas.

COMPANY KEY FACTS Citec Engineering offers multi-

11 The right feeling

Roger Sten from Citec Information gives his best tips on how to enhance technical documentation at power plants.

22 Fair play

related to technical communication.

Staff surveys show that our employees appreciate the open atmosphere and fair treatment at Citec.

is 1,100 and the turnover for 2008

KPA Engineering is now part of Citec. “It just felt right from the start with Citec”, explains Managing Director Hans Paulsson.

16 Improved plant documentation

discipline engineering solutions. Citec Information offers services The total number of employees was 60 million euros. Citec is headquartered in Vaasa, Finland and has offices in Finland, Sweden, the UK, France, Russia and India.

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CITEC STUNTS

New premises

Risky Business seminar

5 QUESTIONS

n The Risky Business theme day arranged by Citec Information was a success. The event was held this April in Stockholm, with the co-operation of Biotech Sweden. Many well recognised names were among the presenters, including Ewa Björling, Minister of Trade. The audience consisted of 140 decision makers within the life sciences industry, who returned home with new ideas on how to take advantage of the challenging times for future business opportunities.

RAPID GROWTH. 270 employees work at Citec Engineering India today.

Downhill medal n The Citec sponsored alpine skier Andreas Romar has a fine season behind him. The highlight was when the 19 year old came in third place in downhill racing in the junior World Championships. “Slalom is my first event, so the medal in the downhill race was a little bit of a surprise. But my goal was to bring home a medal and I knew that it was quite realistic with my times”, says Andreas, who, like Citec, comes from the Vaasa region. In any case, a medal in downhill racing fits Citec’s speedy marketing theme like a glove. During the winter Andreas spends a lot of his time in Central Europe. This year he still found time to take a side trip to Ruka in Lapland to host a very well received skiing school for Citec and their customers.

Keeping fit Voitto Riihiaho works as a supervisor and Design Manager in the Vehicles Business Area.

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New organisational model

SPONSORED. This summer Andreas Romar will start his military service at a sports school. The programme also includes bare-ground training as well as a glacer camp.

n The head office of Citec Engineering at Silmukkatie in Vaasa has been low on space for a long time. Because of this 60 employees working there will be moving to a new building beside the old office at the beginning of the summer. Citec is renting the new space from the information technology company Anvia, which has their head office in the same building. “A large share of the personnel will move; almost everybody except the business areas of Engine Power and Department Engineering”, says Rune Westergård, Chairman of the Board.

Fairs and events • Citec Information will arrange its traditional customer seminar ‘Citec Academy’ in Helsinki, June 11. The topic is how to turn documentation risks into business assets. • Citec will participate as a Silver Partner in the IPMA World Congress in Helsinki, June 15–17. Rune Westergård from Citec will give a speech at the event. • Citec Engineering will attend the Nordic Rail event on October 6–8, in Jönköping, Sweden.

n You’ve been designing trains almost your entire working career. What is so fascinating about trains? “When I was a kid, anything that moved was interesting. After I finished my studies, trains seemed cool from the environmental point of view too. For a designer, trains are challenging, because the space is limited and there are so many different sub-systems included. I’ve

mostly designed freight wagons, although our department is specialised in passenger coaches and entire trains.” How did you end up working at Citec? “In 1985 I started at Rautaruukki’s newly established train division, which was later sold to the Spanish company Talgo. The design department was outsourced to Citec in 2005. At the time I had

5 years of Citec Engineering India n Five years have now passed since Citec Engineering in Finland for training and work, and their Finnish colleagues are travelling to India. began operations in India. Since that beginning, Citec Information began operations in India one year growth has been rapid; starting with 12 employees earlier than Citec Engineering, i.e. in 2003. operating out of Wärtsilä India Ltd, Citec Engineering today has approximately 270 people in Mumbai and Chennai. “Most of the original core employees are still with the company, which is fitting testimony to the caring attitude of Citec and the ability to provide professional challenges. n Citec Information was one of the fastest growing The skills have grown from the ability to companies in Sweden in 2008. support engine plant engineering to multiAs a result of this, Citec was named as one of Sweden’s disciplinary engineering in all domain areas”, gazelle companies by the business magazine Dagens says Managing Director Mukul Bhatia. Industri. The title is awarded to companies possessing The co-operation between Finland and fast and organic growth. The idea behind the title is to India is very close. Many Indians have been provide inspiration to Swedish entrepreneurs.

An inspiring example

just left to work elsewhere, but I was called back. I find the effects of the outsourcing to be mostly positive: the workload is more even these days and the tasks more diverse. The working atmosphere is also motivational and it feels like we’re all pulling on the same rope.” What have been the highlights of your career? “Adjusting the Pendolino train to a northern

climate was an exciting project. I’m also proud of the double deck InterCity passenger coach. The design work was begun in 1996 and later it became an entire product family with sleeping and service coaches.” What’s your favourite mode of transportation, besides trains? “I often go to work on my bicycle and I can cycle as much as

130 km a week. I’m enthusiastic about exercise: I ski during the winter, in the summer I run, and I also play volleyball and go to the gym. I’d say I exercise about 8–10 hours a week at the moment. Now when my kids have grown up I have more time for it and the amount is about the same it used to be when I was younger.”

n Citec Information has implemented a new organisational model which will enable stronger growth and better profiling towards the different industry areas. From 1 May, 2009 these new global entities will take on sales and profit responsibilities. According to the new division, the company now has five industry areas: Energy Solutions; Telecom & IT; Device & Manufacturing; Life Science; Process, Marine & Defence. The Solutions & Products unit provides services to all industry areas. “As the business environment changes, we need to ensure that we are in the driver’s seat when it comes to fulfilling our business targets”, says Kai Dahl, CEO of Citec Information. “With the new organisation, our aim is to create truly global and business-driven industry areas.”

A spring of fairs n In April, Citec Engineering participated in the world’s largest showcase for industrial technology; Hannover Messe in Germany. Citec Engineering also attended another important German fair this spring; Power-Gen Europe.

Do you have time for any other hobbies, with exercising taking so much time? “Studying languages is another passion for me. During the Rautaruukki and Talgo days we were allowed to study English and Spanish on company time and I’ve continued studying Spanish after that. Swedish and English have come along quite smoothly with Citec.”

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COVER STORY: CITEC TURNS 25

7 mats sandström

W ITH STRONG ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT This summer, 25 years have passed since Citec was created. Starting as a small engineering company in 1984, Citec has now grown into a global group with over one thousand employees.

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COVER STORY: CITEC TURNS 25

Milestones in the past 25 years

“We had the right attitude – and a clear wish to grow” T

he year is 1989. Rune Westergård has recently decided to resign from his steady job at an established company in order to concentrate fully on the company he created a couple of years earlier with Rolf Berg. Rune has taken a management course in his old job and has learned that goals and a vision for the future are important things. So he decides to have a talk with the employees to explain that the company is going to grow. He presents an overhead slide where the goal is stated: the number of employees will double from seven to fourteen. “It was the right direction, but you could say that I failed completely in estimating the growth rate. We’ve doubled the number of employees not just once but quite a few times over the last twenty years”, Rune laughs about it today.

SO WHAT IS the secret behind Citec’s success story?

The two founders believe that it’s mostly about attitude – the courage to take risks and a clear wish to grow. The region where Citec was born has a strong entrepreneurial spirit and is home to a big energy cluster. But this is also a region where people are very down-to-earth and where it is not considered correct to brag about one’s success. Not wanting to take all the credit for the success, Rune and Rolf say that the growth after the turn of the century has relied on good customer partner agreements and the lucky recruitment of key people. Both founders have always had an uncomplicated open attitude to customers and to the work in general, and they’ve been able to see the possibilities instead of the problems. Just think about how Citec Information came to be. In 1992 a customer wondered if it would also be possible to get an instruction manual for the machine that had been designed for them. The engineering company had never done anything of the sort before, but took on the job without hesitation. “Whenever a customer has asked for something, we’ve said that we’ll do it. And if we didn’t know how to go about it right away, we learned. There’s never been anything wrong with our confidence”, says Rolf Berg.

ROLF AND RUNE met in the late 1970s when they

TRULY GLOBAL. Citec has been involved in projects in most countries in the world.

had already thought about creating a company of his own, and first and foremost he wanted to design machines. The groundwork for the company was laid during their studies when Rune worked as a freelance designer for a machine company during the summer. “I went over and asked if they had a job for me and they said sure, but we have no room for you and no drawing board. So I ended up doing the design work at home in the bedroom. I dragged a lot of oily machine parts in there. The next summer I had so much work that I asked Rolf if he could lend a hand and help me out. We rented a single-room apartment in Vaasa and spent the whole summer in there making designs.” After his studies were completed, Rune ended up taking a job in an established company after all, but the dream of a company of his own remained. In 1984 the old school friends decided to create a machine engineering company called Tri-Technic. At the beginning, Rolf was the only employee and Rune helped on the side. The first years were very difficult. “We made losses for three years and it was hard to make the working capital last. We were running to the bank all the time”, Rolf recollects. The company’s first office was an economic solution to their hardship: Rune owned an old unused summer cottage, which they decided to move to Korsholm near Vaasa. Then the first large order came from a company called KWH, and little by

2009 Citec Engineering acquires Swedish KPA Engineering Ab. Citec has operations in five countries and more than 1,100 employees in total.

What does ‘Citec’ mean? n Over the years, a lot of people have wondered whether the name Citec means something. The answer isn’t simple. When the company broke away from Avecon in 1994, a new name was needed. The old name Tri-Technic felt too long and old fashioned. A short and simple name that could be pronounced in Finnish, Swedish and English was needed. A number of different suggestions were made and Citec felt like the best one. “When we began to use the new name, people started asking what it meant and we didn’t have an answer. We picked the name because it sounded good. But afterwards we realised that it could be seen as an acronym for Creative and Intelligent Technology”, explains Rune Westergård.

GROWTH. The famous slide predicts that Citec, then TriTechnic, is going to grow from 7 to 14 employees.

COTTAGE OFFICE. The photo was taken in 1988 outside the summer cottage that housed the office in Citec’s infancy. In those days the company was called TriTechnic.

CORE COMPETENCE. Power plant engineering is one of the areas in which Citec has long and solid experience.

2008 Citec Information acquires Swedish MERK Ab. 2007 Citec Engineering is established in France and Russia. 2004 Citec Engineering is established in India. 2003 Citec Information is established in India. Wärtsilä outsources their power plant planning to Citec and Citec Engineering begins to grow strongly. 2002 Citec Information starts a subsidiary in Sweden. 2001 Citec Information becomes a separate company and grows rapidly. 2000 Nokia Networks outsources their technical writing to Citec. 1996 The company moves to the current head offices on Silmukkatie in Vaasa.

ALMOST ACCIDENTAL. Citec Information was created on the customer’s request.

FAST GROWTH. Citec established itself in India India only two years ago. Today 25% of the company’s employees work there.

1994 The company buys out from Avecon. Citec is chosen as the new name. The number of employees has grown to 50. 1992 The company branches off to a new area: technical writing. 1989 Rune Westergård starts working full time as the Managing Director. Tri-Technic is included in the Avecon group. The biogas business that later became Citec Environmental begins. The company employs eight people. 1987 The company office is moved to a cottage in Korsholm. 1985 The first big order from KWH. 1984 The mechanical engineering company Tri-Technic is created.

were both studying to be engineers in Vaasa. Rune

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COVER STORY: CITEC TURNS 25

ACQUISITION: KPA ENGINEERING

QUICK CONSOLIDATION IN SWEDEN

“We have not changed our progressive growth strategy” little it became possible to hire a few more people. One of the first to be hired was Jan-Ole Fagerström, who today works as Department Manager at Citec Engineering. He too was an old friend from school. “I was busy building a house for myself and Rolf came to the site to interview me for the job. I remember that I specifically wanted to work at a smaller company rather than a large one. Now I’ve done both without having to switch employers”, Fagerström says.

outsourcing, when Wärtsilä moved over 50 employees to Citec. The following year it was Citec Engineering’s turn for strong growth. Operations in India began in 2003 and today a quarter of Citec’s employees are based in India. “We’d thought about establishing ourselves in India before, but the final push to get going came from Nokia. They asked if we wanted to establish ourselves there and with a customer in the wings, we dared to take that step”, Rune explains. Half a year later it was time for Citec Engineering to establish itself in India, an operation that has succeeded beyond expectations.

1989 WAS THE starting shot for the fast growth Citec has experienced CELEBRATING. Rune Westergård (in the middle) and Rolf Berg (on the since then. When Rune decided to right) created the company that would later be known as Citec. Jan-Ole concentrate fully on the company, Fagerström (on the left) was one of the first employees. his biggest task was to take part in active selling. “Rolf had done a little sales work on the side, but we saw that if we IF WE LOOK back on the years that have gone by – what has been the wanted to grow, someone would have to do it full time”, Rune says. best and what has been the worst? At the same time it was decided to go along with Avecon, a company “The constant changes have been hard”, Jan-Ole says, but quickly which worked as an umbrella organisation and a common brand adds; “But on the other hand it has also been the most interesting part, for several smaller engineering firms in the area. During the time in to be able to constantly create something new.” Avecon, Citec grew so much that finally it was decided to buy the “The best part has been the team spirit and communality, which company out. have always been there, even through the hard times. We’ve always “The time in Avecon was a good thing in many ways, but in the end been able to trust each other and had all the cards on the table. Those we became bigger than all the other companies combined. It was a risk basic values about trust and openness are still there, even though we to begin working under our own new brand again, but we decided that are now a big company”, says Rolf, who today is the Project Manager we must take that risk”, Rune recollects. for Industry and R&D. So in 1994 the company was renamed Citec and a new era began. “I think the most challenging part has been to handle the very rapid The company Citec Environmental was created and the biogas and growth and tightened delivery times, and the opposite issue is to handle environmental business went into a dynamic phase (these days the times of recession. But then again; what industries do not have their business is a part of Citec Engineering). During this time, Citec specific challenges?”, says Rune Westergård, Chairman of the Board. developed new technology in the biogas area and got several patents. And the future? “In the 1990s we made 10 or so biogas plants in different countries, “We have not changed our progressive growth strategy”, says Rune. including Japan. Unfortunately, the environmental business began to “The society is in the middle of a recession, which will hopefully be decline around the turn of the century. We were ahead of our our time over relatively soon, and when the clouds disappear I am convinced then; these days there’s a great demand for biogas because of the climate that Citec will come out even stronger than before. Our focus is very debate”, Rune says. much on the energy and environmental sectors, and we see tremendous long-term business opportunities there”, concludes Rune. THE NUMBER OF employees grew steadily, but the real boom came in 2000, when Nokia Networks outsourced their technical information department to Citec. Technical information grew strongly and became a separate company in 2001. In 2003 it was time for the next big C I T E C AT T I T U D E 2•2 0 0 9

Several companies have shown interest in buying KPA Engineering before. “But it wasn’t until Citec that it felt right”, says Managing Director Hans Paulsson.

n January 2009 Citec announced the acquisition of Swedish company KPA Engineering, which sells consulting services on industrial engineering and employs 70 people at five sites in Sweden. Buying the company establishes Citec Engineering on the Swedish market in one swift move. Hans Paulsson, who previously worked as the Managing Director for KPA Engineering, will continue in the same position after the sale. “We were facing a change of generations and had made a list of requirements for a potential buyer. The most important requirement was that we could retain our individual self rather than just be an addition to a larger company”, Paulsson explains.

The companies complement each other from the know-how side as well, with KPA having a strong knowledge base, i.e. in the paper and pulp industries, which are new areas for Citec. “KPA’s customers will have a clear advantage due to the deal”, says Paulsson. “We can offer them a wider competence and accept larger projects than before. Our customers can also take advantage of Citec’s resources in India and we have access to a greater number of specialists.” During 2009 the company will be called Citec KPA Engineering. The KPA will be left out from the name starting year 2010.

ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH. “Things felt right with Citec from the first phone call. We share the same values”, says Hans Paulsson who will continue as the Managing Director of Citec KPA Engineering after the sale.

CO-OPERATION BETWEEN THE two companies began a few years back when Rune Westergård, Chairman of the Board at Citec, called one day to see if KPA had resources in PDMS that they could sell to Citec. Just at that time all of KPA’s resources were being utilised, but co-operation began later and ended with a partnership agreement. The idea of selling began to grow little by little. Several other potential buyers have indicated their interest in buying KPA Engineering during the past years, but none of the other candidates felt right. “With Citec things felt right from the beginning. That day when Rune first called, he and I talked for over an hour. The company culture in Citec and KPA is very similar; we share the same values and have similar ways of running the companies. Both companies are privately owned and have grown on their own merit”, Paulsson says. Even though KPA is an engineering company, they make sure not to focus on just the technical side of things. The company values a good working environment and was nominated as the best work place in Sweden in 2006.

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SPORTS: SHOT-PUTTING

TOP ATHLETE AND ENGINEER T

he first quality that probably springs to mind for most people when dealing with shot-putters is their large body size. Robert Häggblom certainly doesn’t disappoint on that account, even if at 183 cm and 120 kg he isn’t the biggest man in his field. “During the acceleration, the shot weighs 100 kg and you need mass behind it. The expression ‘You cannot fire a cannon from a canoe’ is a pretty good description of the situation”, says Robert, who mentions that he would weigh 25 kg less than he does, if he didn’t train as much. We met in the Botnia Hall outside Vaasa, which is pretty much Robert’s second home. During the most intensive training periods, he trains here as much as twice a day. During the past winter the training has been going at half speed though. Shot-putting is very taxing on the body and last summer Robert suffered a back injury and decided not to compete during the winter 2009. The doctors haven’t been able to determine what exactly is the matter with Robert’s back, but in order to strengthen it he has added Pilates to his already heavy training schedule. “I was quite skeptical since I thought my muscles were strong already. But Pilates trains the small inner muscles which support the spine and I was surprised by how effective the training is.”

putting is going to come first, at least until the next Olympic Games. “It is said that the years between 25 and 30 are the best for shot-putters; you’ve had time to build up strength and the technique starts to go as it should. When the next Olympics come around in three years, I’m going to be 30. I’ll have to see if I’m going to continue with shot-putting after that.”

A SHOT WEIGHS 7.25 kg and the circle the shot-

putter has to move in is 2.135 m in diameter. The throw itself can be done using either the gliding or the spinning (more or less the same way as throwing a discus) technique. For shorter shot-putters, the spinning technique works best and Robert has also used it since he turned 18. “I know if the throw is going to be good the moment the shot leaves my hand. The best throws are the ones where you’re relaxed.” When the photographer asks Robert to roar a little for a more dramatic picture, he’s a little sceptical: “A yell takes at least two metres off a throw. Sometimes I do yell without realising it, but usually that only happens after I’ve thrown.”

Robert Häggblom works part-time at Citec while competing on a professional level in shot-putting. His sights are centered on the Olympics, but every now and again he also has time for electrical planning.

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Mikko Lehtimäki

BESIDES TRAINING MORE than 25 hours a week,

Robert also tries to find time to study and dedicate himself to his work at Citec. He has almost finished his studies to become an electrical engineer, and since 2008 he has had a sponsor contract with Citec which includes two months of work at Citec Engineering in Vaasa every year. “It suites me very well, since I’m gaining work experience while also having time to train and compete. What I’ve mostly done at Citec so far has been grounding plans for power plants. The work has been interesting and I’ve learned much from it, and in the future it’s going to be exciting to be able to take on larger projects with more responsibility.” Robert feels that despite being a professional athlete, it is important not to let sports take life over totally. In the end, you spend only a rather short time at the top and you need to have something to fall back on once your career as an athlete is over. Exactly when Robert is going to start working fulltime as an engineer he doesn’t know yet. Shot-

ROBERT HÄGGBLOM Birth date: 9.8.1982 in Vaasa Profession: Shot-putter, engineer Record: 20.53 m (2007)

EVEN THOUGH ROBERT has a great passion for shot-putting, it can’t be called love at first throw. He began with track and field as a five-year-old and soon noted that the throwing sports always went best. But for many years swimming was his great hobby. “When I was 15, I got tired of counting tiles. I swam several kilometers a day and it became quite tedious. I decided to put my effort into shot-putting instead and have been among the top five in my age group in Finland ever since. You might think that shot-putting is tedious too, but the training is quite diverse. Only a third of it has to do with shot-putting directly. I also train a lot in the gym and so on.” What makes shot-putting so much fun? And how do you find the energy to keep up with the training day in and day out? “It’s difficult to explain. The training gives me a kick so it doesn’t feel hard most of the time. Also, even if I had to stop with my athletic career today, it wouldn’t feel like I hadn’t accomplished anything. The sport has given me a lot; I’ve had the chance to see the world and meet so many people.”

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CUSTOMER CASE: RUUKKI

Citec and Ruukki designed

A WORLD-CLASS FOOTBALL STADIUM

The Swedbank stadium, which was opened for use this spring in Malmö, Sweden, is one of the most advanced football arenas in the Nordic countries. The award-winning stadium was designed by Citec Engineering and Ruukki in an intensive project.

5 QUESTIONS

he main use of the Swedbank stadium will be as the home stadium of Malmö FF football club. However, the versatile 24 000 seat arena with its world-class services can also be used for concerts and large public events. A lot of consideration was given to audience comfort already at the design phase of the stadium. The stands are covered and excellent visibility to the field is guaranteed from every seat. The large restaurant and 55 boxed seats guarantee vital extra services. “The basic principle in the stadium is that the audience is as close to the field as possible. There are no running tracks and the audience will be able to

Going for growth

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follow the events at a considerably shorter distance when compared to the Olympic Stadium in Helsinki. In practice, the audience will be able to hear what the players on the field are saying”, Project Engineer Sampo Haapoja from Ruukki explains. In addition to the home games of the Malmö FF team, the next large event at the brand new arena will be the UEFA under 21 championships, to which the Finnish team was also able to fight their way.

THE STADIUM WAS designed in close co-operation between Ruukki Construction and Citec. This close working relationship between the Citec design team and the Ruukki building design led to a cost-effective solution which also gave the steel-structured arena a

Katriina Valli has been working at Citec Information for six years. Her latest position is as the Sales and Marketing Director as well as the Director for the Solutions and Products unit.

Swedbank Stadium Capacity: 21,000 seats (alternatively 18,000 seats and standing room for 4,000) Restaurant services: 2,000 customer seats Building costs: Approx. 50 million euros Height: 27 m Width: 150 m Length: 215 m Base material: 100% natural grass Source: Malmö FF

You originally studied languages and art history. How on earth did you end up as a business woman? “I started studying languages, because it was the area I was best at. At the time I had no definitive plans for the future. But after I entered working life, I noticed that development and leadership came naturally to me. My education left me with good English skills,

strong architectural character. Several models were on the table before building began. “During the tender phase we presented the architect with different alternatives and finally the seventh tender closed the deal. During the process Ruukki sold the steel structure of the stadium as a product part deal, for which the main designer had a strength calculation made. From Citec, the project ordered parts of the design, including structural modelling, detail design and the creation of the building plans”, explains Design Service Manager Timo Alanko from Ruukki.

ALANKO SAYS THAT the co-operation that has been existing between Citec and Ruukki for years is constantly being nurtured and developed. “We have a partnership agreement with Citec, which was signed in 2006, and we’ve had common

projects on other sites as well. Of course the main idea of it all is for Citec to learn our way of doing things. That way they will know what Ruukki wants from the designs and the sort of plans we need. Ruukki and Citec have also conducted joint training sessions where these things have been discussed”, Alanko says. He emphasises the know-how at Citec when it comes to designing large sites. “Part of Citec’s strength comes from the company’s experience of large projects and its ability to clearly define the needs from the start.” The partnership between Citec and Ruukki has already continued since the stadium project. Alanko believes that it is important to have a familiar partner who has already proven their worth when doing projects. “It makes a lot of the smaller things much easier and also guarantees a better end result.”

the readiness to find and use information and the ability to understand large information units.”

developing in leaps and bounds during the middle of the 1990’s, so I picked the right field almost by accident.”

How did you end up working in this field? “After I graduated, I started working at Nokia as a Technical Writer. The work itself didn’t quite suite me, but I found the field interesting. Technical writing was

You became the first woman in the Citec Information management team in 2004. How did that feel? “Sure it was a big thing and I was proud of it. I would encourage women to be more active in

seeking positions of authority – at Citec gender is not a hindrance.” What are the good and bad points about being a manager? “It’s naturally satisfying to be able to influence things and change them for the better. A downside is that the work can be quite lonely and that thoughts about work do intrude on your free time as well.”

AWARD WINNING. In 2009, the Swedbank Stadium was chosen as the best steel building of the year in Sweden, thanks to its innovative design.

What else do you do during your freetime? “I have a two-year-old daughter, so Playdough and Lego are the mainstay of my freetime at the moment. I’m also involved in a book circle and in the international Zonta organisation, which works for improving the position of women and girls.”

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EXPERT ARTICLE: NUCLEAR INDUSTRY

How to enhance PLA NT DOCUMENTATION A vast amount of documentation flows through a plant during its lifetime. Roger Sten, who has designed document management processes for nuclear power plants, describes how to avoid the most common pitfalls.

lants normally follow a common main life cycle, with iterations and relations between activities almost everywhere: from design and construction, operation and maintenance to final disassembly and destruction. If well managed, the documentation is a good measure of the total knowledge required to understand and run the plant and it’s surrounding processes. It is an enormously difficult task to take control of the document flows throughout the plant’s life time. Some failed documentation projects and many plants with inconsistent documentation are living proof of that. There are at least four major challenges related to plant documentation: information islands, supplier documentation, updates and the removal of outdated documentation.

INFORMATION ISLANDS. Information is bundled into several

types of systems (product configuration in PDMs, documents in Document Management systems, maintenance records in Maintenance Planning/Management systems etc). As long as the systems aren’t connected to each other and the information doesn’t flow freely between them, there is always a risk that the information becomes outdated or goes missing. Furthermore, it requires many more resources to keep information updated in several places than having it updated in only one place. Even more importantly, it is almost impossible to keep references between the information in different islands in sync.

SUPPLIER DOCUMENTATION. Suppliers of components, services or other goods have normally established their own codes of practice for documentation. When compiling documentation from a number of sources, this fact becomes obvious and may in some occasions also become a security risk. Common standards are important both from a quality point of view but also in direct cost reductions, since documentation management due to incompatible documentation structures is reduced. It is also much easier to implement new information, i.e. documentation updates, into an existing information base

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WELL DOCUMENTED. Forsmarks Kraftgrupp runs three nuclear powerplants in Sweden. Citec has created a new system for the company, which integrates documentation management with the plant configuration. This eliminates the problem with information islands.

if the information structure is known and the same for all suppliers. In recent times, we have seen standards within information exchange cropping up in different businesses. For several years now, the airline industry has agreed on standards (ATA/ASD) for information products, and so too has the shipping industry (ShipDEX).

DOCUMENTATION UPDATES. The problems with

documentation updates are often at least twofold. Firstly, we have the same problem as with different suppliers; new documentation doesn’t necessarily follow the same structure as the existing documentation. Secondly, documentation updates are not always as prioritised as the technical part of the plant update project. The final documentation is very often delivered late in the project and sometimes even after the project is closed or unmanned, which in turn might lead to a situation where the incoming updated final documentation doesn’t receive proper attention. Another important aspect is that the suppliers can rarely update the information directly in the customer’s systems due to technical or security issues. This may lead to a situation where people unfamiliar with the content of the documentation, update the plant documentation incorrectly.

DOCUMENTATION RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION. It is always

easy to decide to keep old documentation, just in case. But there might be safety aspects associated with keeping outdated information. Moreover, document management costs also tend to rise as a result. To keep a number of documents a while too long might not seem too expensive, but if you take the extra archive space (both physical and computer-based) into your calculations, and of course also costs associated with the misuse of equipment and production processes due to wrong documentation, the costs can quickly take on enormous proportions.

n The writer, Roger Sten, works as information architect at Citec Information, Sweden. He has wide experience of information management and information architecture and is a member of AIIM.

CORRECT DOCUMENTATION SAVES COSTS. Managing documentation correctly is almost always a cost saver in the long run and is often also an important quality factor. Not only does the documentation itself represent quality, so too do the management processes surrounding it. The roadmap for successful plant information management is to identify change, provide maintenance and implement operation management processes. This in turn includes a clear definition of the requirements towards suppliers regarding documentation and the implementation of integrated tools supporting the above processes. THE FORSMARKS KRAFTGRUPP CASE. By integrating document management processes as part of the plant configuration management process, document management will become easier and the documentation will be more accurate. A good example of this is the recently implemented integration of document management and product

configuration management into a common PLM system at Forsmarks Kraftgrupp AB (FKA). FKA runs three of the ten currently operational nuclear power plants in Sweden. Information islands within this environment have been eliminated by connecting all the important information systems, which in turn makes accurate information instantly available, irrespective of how the information is needed. However, interconnecting such information islands is a difficult task and requires well-defined configuration and document management processes. It may also be difficult from a security and safety aspect to allow suppliers into the systems to update plant configurations and related documentation. This in turn implies the establishment of a well-defined bidirectional transfer protocol between the customer and supplier. Such transfer protocols may be proprietary but upcoming business standards are probably the most efficient choice in the longer run.

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WORKING LIFE: CREATIVITY

KATJA LÖSÖNEN

DARE TO THINK IN NEW WAYS Anyone can be creative given the chance. And people are often more creative in a group than individually. Kai Dahl and Martin Strand want to encourage Citec employees to come up with more new ideas.

hen the American high jumper Richard Fosbury won Olympic gold in the high jump in 1968, he did it by using a completely new technique. Instead of diving or crossing over the crossbar like high jumpers had been doing until then, Fosbury went over the crossbar by running towards it diagonally and jumping over it with his back first. Today all high jumpers use that same technique. The Fosbury flip is a classic example of an innovation – a creative idea that dares to depart from customary thought patterns and leads to a better result. Of course not all innovations need be as revolutionary as Fosbury’s jumping style. Kai Dahl, CEO of Citec Information, is quick to point out that ideas leading to small improvements are also important. “Many think of the word innovation as meaning something quite big and radical, and because of that, they may think that their ideas aren’t revolutionary enough. But

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KATJA LÖSÖNEN

Innovation T h i n k i n g . . . To dok: t¯ hin ideas w e n ¯ test ¯

an innovation can also be something small and common. And it absolutely doesn’t have to be a product, it can also be a better way of working”, explains Dahl. If someone thinks of a way that lets you save five minutes of working time a day, over a year’s time it adds up to a lot of saved hours for all the Citec personnel. In order to create more ideas among the employees, a new innovation model has been created at Citec Information.

“OUR HOPE IS that a lot of new ideas will come forth, so that we can then pick out and develop the best ones”, Dahl says. The new innovation model will be taken into use this year and includes an element which helps shape the ideas from thoughts into action. The employees can place their ideas on an idea forum and then people will vote on the best ones. Specially trained innovation agents in each section will spread the ideas within the organisation. “An important point is that the ideas will be discussed among colleagues, since ideas can only be developed by

EVERYDAY JOY. If you wan’t to be happy, there’s a lot you can do to make it happen.

NEW ANGLE. “We can often see a customer’s operations with a new pair of eyes. We once created a documentation system for a customer that saved 75 per cent of costs in documentation”, says Kai Dahl (behind). Martin Strand in front.

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WORKING LIFE: CREATIVITY KATJA LÖSÖNEN

SMALL IDEAS. Many think of the word innovation as meaning something quite big and radical. But an innovation can also be something small. And it doesn’t have to be a product.

passing them back and forth. An idea is rarely ready the moment it’s born.” Martin Strand, CEO of Citec Engineering, has also realised how important it is to have a sounding board for new ideas. “It’s crucial that new ideas aren’t met with an attitude of ‘we tried that before and it didn’t work’”, says Strand. “The best ideas are created when people encourage each other and come up with new things together. It’s true that some individuals are more creative by nature than others, but anyone can be creative in the right circumstances.” Kai Dahl and Martin Strand are convinced that innovations often come from the lower tiers of the organisation. Creativity can’t be outsourced only to an R&D department. Rather, the people who do the everyday work have the best chances at having ideas about how to do things better.

ON THE OTHER hand, it can sometimes be a clear advantage to see things from an outsider’s view. After all, creativity means seeing things from a new point of view and when you’re too close to things, there’s always the risk of becoming overly nearsighted. “We can often see a customer’s operations with a new pair of eyes and this gives us the opportunity to offer them new ideas”, Strand says. “Sometimes it can be a case of needing to step back and see the process as a whole. For instance, instead of just following the costs of planning, you could follow up on how good

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planning can save costs for the entire project.” The employees at Citec Information are also used to coming up with smarter systems which will provide greater value to the customer. “We once created a documentation system for a customer that saved 75 per cent of costs in documentation. And our translation prices have gone down 60–70 per cent thanks to smarter systems. Of course it can seem a step backwards that we try to minimise the amount of work we do for our customers, but on the other hand I’ve learned that the only way to make profits is by making the customers happy”, Kai Dahl says. What can the management do to encourage creativity among the employees? “You can’t force someone to be creative. Innovations aren’t created on demand, they come spontaneously. But you should create processes and models that allow you to grab those ideas and take them further. That’s exactly what we’re trying to do with this new innovation model”, Dahl says. In today’s business world, innovations have a growing role. It pays to keep up with the trends and preferably be one step ahead. “We believe that Citec has the right prerequisites to be creative. We have well-educated personnel from a wide range of backgrounds and an open company culture. But in order to utilise these resources fully, we also need a system in place that will encourage and direct the good ideas.”

CONTROLLED CREATIVITY. Innovations aren’t created on demand, they come spontaneously. But you should create processes that allow you to grab those ideas and take them further.

KATJA LÖSÖNEN

When the problem became the solution:

NEW OIL SEPARATION METHOD FROM CITEC n Heavy fuel oil can cause problems during normal oil separation. But with a new separation method from Citec, it is possible to use this thicker oil while reducing costs. Section Manager Ted Bergman is the brains behind this new innovation. He works at Citec’s Turku office in Finland with process engineering. “Often people think of problems as obstacles that need to be overcome. But sometimes it can be more fruitful to see if the obstacle could be circumvented instead”, Bergman says. This is how he came up with the new separation method. Instead of seeing it as a problem that heavy fuel oil weighs more than water, he created a method that takes advantage of this fact. This means that thicker and cheaper oil can be used in power plants and motors, and the innovation therefore saves money. A patent application for the new method has now been filed. After someone has a good idea, there’s still a lot of work to be done. “First you need to to analyse and conclude that your idea is economically smart in the first place. When I had the idea, I told my superior about it and a year later we included Kristian Mäkelä, who tested and developed the separation method as a part of his thesis at Åbo Akademi.” What sort of good tips does a creative person like Bergman have then – how do you keep churning out good ideas? “There are no new ideas as long as you think that the world should look just the same as it always has. And when you do have an idea, you should discuss it with others. That’s when you can see if it’s really worth anything.”

STAFF: SURVEY RESULTS

CITEC’S STAFF APPRECIATE THE OPEN ATMOSPHERE Focusing on competence development

The latest staff survey reveals that the personnel at Citec Information in Sweden and India are very pleased with their work. In Finland, satisfaction has declined slightly, but the situation is already being rectified.

itec has a long history of taking staff surveys in order to improve the working environment of the company. Last year the steps taken towards a better working environment were centred on India and Sweden, which can clearly be seen from the survey results. The Swedish employees gave their employer a grade of 4.28 and the Indians a grade of 3.97 on a scale of 1–5. “This is a clear improvement when compared to last year. It’s nice to see that the work we’ve done in these countries has borne fruit”, HR Manager Timo Ylilauri says. In Finland on the other hand, satisfaction was slightly lower than last year, although it is still much higher than it was four years ago. “We haven’t found a clear reason for the decline. The recession is clearly a partial reason and growth always includes some growing pains”, says Ylilauri.

5 QUESTIONS

THE SATISFACTION OF the Finnish employees is now improving, for instance through the arrangement of training courses for the supervisors. A global business environment and the supervision of employees from other countries have brought plenty of new challenges to the people in managerial positions.

Determined both privately and professionally

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A lot has been done to raise the competence level at Citec Engineering in the last few years. Feedback from the latest employee survey made in spring 2008 gave support to the fact that this area was of importance.

Information distribution has also been improved by sending a monthly info letter to the Finnish personnel by email. A similar system has already been implemented in Sweden. In India employees receive the information face to face every week. Also the system for rewarding personnel is under development to make it more cohesive and transparent. Even though the Finnish employees are a little less satisfied than before, Timo Ylilauri is pleased that the most important factors are still in shape. “According to the survey, the personnel especially appreciate the open atmosphere and fair dealing at Citec. These are central issues in an expert organisation. The open exchange of information and a good working atmosphere are crucial for productivity.”

THE STAFF SURVEY was made for the fifth

time in Finland and for the second time in India and Sweden. Satisfaction had been rising every year until 2008. A key factor for the rise in satisfaction, according to Ylilauri, is the company-specific collective agreement, which came into force two and a half years ago. “It is rare for a company to have a specific collective agreement in Finland. The employees were active in creating the agreement and a

key point in it has been the flexible reconciliation of working life with personal life.” Ylilauri can’t say yet whether Citec employees are unusually satisfied with their employer in comparison to other companies. The intension is to research this area in the next staff survey next December.

Ben Power has been working at Citec Engineering in Helsinki since last autumn. Now, Ben is Sales & Marketing Director.

been around the whole globe? “I’m always eager to take on new challenges and never hesitate when I get the chance to experience something new. I always look forward rather than back.”

n You are originally from the UK and have previously worked in Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and Africa. How come you have

What were you working with in these countries? “In Saudi Arabia I was Construction Manager on the

SATISFYING JOB. The personnel at Citec Information especially appreciate the open atmosphere and fair dealing at the company. The picture is taken at the office in Tampere, Finland.

largest construction project in the world, where an industrial city was built. I worked on construction projects in the other countries too. Experiencing poor countries and seeing people who have nothing has made me want to give something back. When I was in the Philippines, there was an earthquake, and I participated in the emergency work, which was very rewarding.”

And now everybody wonders how on earth you ended up in Finland? “My wife is Finnish. We have been married for eight years and plan on staying in Finland. We have recently bought a house. This is a safe and wonderful country for children to grow up in. But having lived in Africa and Saudi Arabia I have a bit of a problem adjusting to the climate.”

n The development started off by concentrating on the strategy. “The global Extended Board of Management took part in deepening and clarifying the strategy. The end result was a type of strategic diamond, which included a shared understanding of direction, choices and content”, HR Manager Katarina WesterénHagnäs explains. In order for the strategy to be achieved, a great deal has been invested in different kinds of training: several trainings for project managers, a training programme for the management as well as an introduction for all new superiors. In 2009 the focus

What is your perception of Citec? “I hold this company in very high regard, it’s one of the best companies I’ve worked for in people management. The management really believes in people and will always listen to your ideas. My ambition is to participate in making Citec even more global and expanding.”

was transferred to training in technical areas. “In order to strengthen expertise within different areas, we’ve nominated and trained so-called Knowledge Responsible Persons, whose task is to develop and raise the level of know-how within their area. In practice, this is done by writing handbooks and guides and by developing the processes and working methods with the customers”, Westerén-Hagnäs explains. Besides this, competence has also been raised via recruitment. In 2008, 45% of new employees had over six years of work experience; some as many as 25 years. “Since raising the level of competence is long-term development work, activities continue, for example with a new Document Management System and building a reward strategy”, Westerén-Hagnäs adds. The next employee survey at Citec Engineering will take place in 2010.

What are you doing when you’re not working? “Then I’m thinking about work. In that sense, I guess I’m not very interesting.”

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Every star needs a stunt double. And with Citec your performance will be flawless. Behind the scenes, Citec’s experts will take full responsibility for tasks that are not your main activities. This leaves you free to take the leading role in your own field of expertise.

You are the star — we’ll do the stunts.

the one for the job 25 years of proven excellence in Multi-Discipline Engineering and Technical Communication www.citec.com