The measurement of success Lahti Precision

THE MEASUREMENT OF SUCCESS

Weighing and measuring machinery and control systems expert, Lahti Precision, has a technical know-how that reaches back more than 100 years. Emma-Jane Batey spoke to their vice-president of glass technology, Jarmo Nappi, to learn how this extensive knowledge is being utilised.

Founded in Lahti, Finland in, 1914, weighing and measuring machinery and control systems company, Lahti Precision, is still located in the same town, where it is an important local employer with a reputation for loyalty and professionalism. These qualities are passed on to its customers too, with the Lahti Precision brand synonymous with performance and reliability.

Jarmo Nappi appreciates that this brand awareness and solid reputation is worth upholding. He told Industry Europe, “A good reputation has to be valued and protected, and we are proud to do both. Our core competency is our impressive understanding of developing and manufacturing weighing and measuring machinery and equipment; our core products are our machinery and control systems for dosing and weighing applications for bulk materials. We also offer electrical products that relate to scales in order to ensure that we can provide a complete service to our customers and meet all their weighing, dosing and mixing requirements.”

Long history, modern approach

With around 170 employees, Lahti Precision has a tight-knit team of professionals that enables the company to maintain its marketleading position in Finland, with a strong hold across Europe. The company’s geographical expansion plans are focused on Arabic countries in the near East and Middle East, with both Russia and South America also representing interesting growth potential. With nearly a century in business, Lahti has achieved its strong reputation through a continuous reliable service and a developmentdriven product portfolio that is both proactive and reactive to the needs of its local, national and international customers. A resolutely global company, Lahti Precision is committed to following its customers wherever they go in the world, providing a seamless service that meets the globally continuous requirements of multinational machinery companies and glass production companies, both of which represent major growth markets.

The company’s customer-focused provision is centred around the process industry, with all of its systems, plants and machines designed to offer the best possible accuracy, with ease of maintenance a practical benefit.

As the biggest-scale company in both its domestic and Scandinavian markets, Lahti Precision is a well-respected brand for all bulk material weighing applications. Mr Nappi continued, “We provide weighing, mixing and dosing systems and equipment for sectors such as food, steel, chemical, plastics and steel. Lahti Precision is active in three main markets, with each market seeing its own potential for growth in the coming years. Our main market is the glass industry, with our weighing, dosing and mixing systems particularly appreciated for demanding applications. A typical customer in this market would be Sisecam Group, the Turkish glass producer for whom Lahti Precision has worked over many years on a number of significant projects across their different European plants. For the raw materials market, we can provide complete dosing, weighing and mixing plants, and within the dry mix sector we offer complete plaster and mortar facilities.” Introducing innovative products

Lahti Precision is committed to new product development in order to continually add value to its customers, with the extensive knowledge of its teams neatly complemented by the forward-thinking vision of the R&D teams. One such development is its fluid bed dryer for bulk material which is already gaining fans in the dry mix sector, particularly as it is both high-performance and energy-efficient. Lahti Precision’s new weighing electronics device is also an important addition to its portfolio, with plans to introduce the product at industryrelated exhibitions in late 2011.

As one of the world’s leading suppliers of glass batch plants and mortar plants, as well as being the market leader in the weighing business in Finland, Lahti Precision is a technology-based company. Its weighing and dosing systems and plants are renowned for their accuracy, ease of maintenance and the support offered to the process industry across a range of sectors. Mr Nappi is dedicated to continuing in this positive vein for the next long chapter in the company’s history, with the specific aim to achieve market-leading status in the dry mix sector across Europe as well as being one of the top three suppliers to the glass industry.

Ready for growth

He concluded, “We will also continue to be the primary supplier of accurate weighing and dosing machinery and equipment to the steel industry, with a growing presence in Arabic countries, Russia and North America sitting closely alongside our already-successful achievements throughout Europe. We will keep following our customers wherever they need weighing and dosing equipment, and providing high-quality, performance-driven scales in the precise locations they are required. With accurate, reliable weighing and dosing machinery able to save wastage, reduce transportation costs and improve process efficiency, we know that Lahti Precision is a valuable partner for customers across sectors such as glass, steel and dry mix wherever they are in the world, so we are confident that our second century in business will be even more successful than the first.” n