Harnessing the future PKC Group

HARNESSING THE FUTURE

PKC Group is a global leader in the design and manufacture of integrated electrical distribution systems and related architectural components for major global commercial vehicle brands. Philip Yorke talked to Jyrki Keronen, the company’s senior vice-president, about PKC’s unique product and service offering, and its strategic initiatives.

The Group’s roots go back to 1969, when Pohjolan Kaapeli Oy began by manufacturing wiring harnesses as a subcontractor to a new local car manufacturer. In 1994 PKC Cables Oy was established and in the spring of 1997 PK Cables Oyj became the first company in northern Finland to be listed on the Helsinki stock exchange. At the end of the 1990s, the group opened a factory in Brazil and acquired its electronics business. PKC saw strong international growth in the years 2000–2010 when it bought its Estonian and Russian subcontracting opera-

tions, acquired North American and Polish operations and opened a factory in China. In 2011, the acquisition of the AEES companies in the USA, Mexico, Brazil and Ireland along with the acquisition of the SEGU companies in central Europe strengthened PKC’s product and service portfolio and its market position, particularly in North America and central Europe.

Today the company is a global leader in its field with around 20,000 employees and a turnover close to €I billion. PKC Group Plc is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd and headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. Unique competences driving growth

PKC Group is a growth-driven company and has developed its business both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Today the company’s customers include all the main western truck manufacturers as well as makers of the world’s leading tractor brands, construction equipment and light commercial vehicles as well as recreational vehicles. In 2012, in addition to its traditional markets in Europe and the Americas, PKC expanded its operations in Asia to provide its customers with the same unique service and product portfolio it offers in the other regions. PKC offices and production facilities are also strategically located in order to be close proximity to its customers worldwide. Today the PKC Group has production facilities in China, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Finland, Estonia, Russia and the USA.

The added value that the company offers originates from its unique competence base which is composed of special processes, tools, expertise and advanced architecture components developed for the complex management of electrical distribution systems. This combination of skills enables

the company to mass produce high-quality, tailor-made products, with an infinite variety of options and performance potential.

Mr Keronen said, “The complexity of electrical systems within the commercial vehicle industry is increasing and we are applying our processes, technologies and IT tools to meet the more sophisticated challenges and features determined by increasing environmental legislation. We feel that the timing is right for expansion as awareness of the benefits of fuel efficiency and concern about pollution are growing, especially in the Asia Pacific area.

“We are pretty unique in that we know precisely the processes of our customers and develop IT systems accordingly. Our intellectual property enables us to offer greater customisation to our clients which include all the world’s biggest truck and commercial vehicle manufacturers. However, today it is China that is the biggest manufacturer of trucks and buses and we are looking at making significant investments in that country.

“Many of our customers involve us at an early stage in their product development programmes and we partner them in the creation of new system architecture which ensures the best outcomes and best-practice procedures. We assist them with the development of new designs but they remain the owners of the design itself. Whilst trucks and buses are our main markets we are also involved with other sectors such as light and recreational vehicles, construction equipment and agricultural and forestry machinery. New areas of opportunity for us are other major transportation sectors.

Mr Keronen added, “Our knowledge of complexity management decreases the costs of units and offers low cost start-ups. In addition, we can decentralise power distribution if desired. Our power distribution centres consist of modules that make them very adaptable when it comes to vehicles required to operate under very harsh climatic and operational conditions. Our unique know-how of managing complex processes of individually tailored products makes us an asset to our customers’ value chain.”

NPI centres enable continuous development

In order to develop still further its competitiveness and manufacturing capabilities, the PKC Group is establishing NPI centres (new programme Introduction-centres) in Keila, Estonia, and in Curitiba, Brazil. The company already has an NPI centre in North America in Acuna, Mexico. The objective of these new centres of creative excellence is to ensure seamless customer programme ramp-ups from the early product design phases to the final, full mass-production stage.

PKS’s core competence is to be able to mass produce high-quality, uniquely tailored products with very fast turn-around times. The company foresees increasing demand for its expertise in the fast-growing Asian markets. Asia, and in particular China is the world’s largest commercial vehicle market and is predicted to grow significantly in the years ahead. PKC’s customers have also placed extra emphasis on these markets by forming jointventures with leading Chinese and other Asian truck manufacturers. The company says that in addition to market growth, Asian vehicle markets are also subject to structural change with new emission standards being imposed and customers’ needs for uniquely optimised vehicles increasing. n

For further information about PKC uniqueness and managing the complexity in electrical distribution systems visit: www.pkcgroup.com