Europe Outlook Issue 4

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Danfoss IXA

The Dane’s latest Dynamic Ventilation System and Marine Emission Sensor is making waves in the marine sector TSE 42 Sustainable heat and electricity solutions for Turku and beyond

TURKU

ENERGIA 50 Finnish energy specialists push towards 2020 targets

ORACLE 62 Cloud technologies take centre stage at Oracle OpenWorld 2014

INVESTING IN DENMARK 10

Northern Europe’s business hub, dissected

EUROPE OUTOOK ISSUE 04 A L S O T H I S I S S U E : O C E A N O P T I C S | K R A F T R I N G E N | L A N T E C H

NOTE is a leading Northern European manufacturing and logistics partner for high mix electronics production. In partnership with our customers, we turn their product ideas into reality, and safeguard their value chains.

We manufacture PCBAs, sub-assemblies and box build products on assignment from customers. Our services extend throughout the value chain, from design to aftermarket.

We add value at every link in the chain, reduce the overall cost, and create new opportunities for higher growth and better profitability for customers.

Our production units are located across Europe and Asia and provides electronics for more than 200 customers around the world.

Learn more about us, and find contact information to all our units, at www.note.eu.

W E L C O M E 2015 Sets Sail As we embark upon a new year, Europe’s leading industry heavyweights are carefully positioning themselves to make 2015 one to remember.

Europe Outlook is also looking to make waves over the next 12 months and is kicking off proceedings with a concerted focus on Scandinavia; a region well known for its innovation and ability to steer ahead of the industry curve.

Leading the way is maritime specialist Danfoss IXA whose groundbreaking technologies are revolutionising the way in which pollution and energy usage levels are being monitored aboard ships. We spoke to the company’s Sales and Marketing Director, Peter Hansen to discuss the company’s plans for 2015.

One of Danfoss IXA’s key business partners throughout its successful, technical development has been Ocean Optics, a company hot on the pulse of energy savings through its work in spectroscopy. OEM Business Director, Michael Matthews echoes Hansen’s sentiments as he casts an eye towards the future of this trend, and the relationship that both companies enjoy.

Within Finland, the same adherence to energy conservation is being made, with Turun Seuden Energiantuotanto Oy (TSE) and Turku Energia among the leading contingent building towards a more sustainable infrastructure in the country. We speak to both this month about their collaborative effort in the southwest region.

Denmark also weighs in, as we veer away from just energy to see how the country is evolving across a number of key sectors and how its economic future looks moving forward.

Elsewhere this issue, the rest of Europe has its say across the full array of the aforementioned sectors in our showcase section.

Pärnu Hospital bears the fruits of its 20 year healthcare progression in Estonia, Oracle OpenWorld shares its latest technological innovations, Lantech explains how its packaging operations are bringing peace of mind to its vast range of customers, and Kraftringen brings us full circle back to Scandinavia as it emphasises its commitment to developing the future of value-added energy solutions in Matthew Staff Sweden.

Editorial Director, Outlook Publishing Happy New Year and enjoy the issue!

EDITORIAL Editorial Director: Matthew Staff matthew.staff@outlookpublishing.com Sub-Editor: Emily Jarvis emily.jarvis@outlookpublishing.com

PRODUCTION Production Manager: Daniel George daniel.george@outlookpublishing.com Art Director: Stephen Giles steve.giles@outlookpublishing.com Advertising Designer: Mandy Farnell mandy.farnell@outlookpublishing.com

BUSINESS Sales Director: Nick Norris nick.norris@outlookpublishing.com Operations Director: James Mitchell james.mitchell@outlookpublishing.com Sales Manager: Ben Wigger ben.wigger@outlookpublishing.com Senior Project Manager: Donovan Smith donovan.smith@outlookpublishing.com Project Managers: Dave Alexander dave.alexander@outlookpublishing.com Dan Hester dan.hester@outlookpublishing.com Tom Cullum tom.cullum@outlookpublishing.com

ACCOUNTS Finance Director: Suzanne Welsh suzanne.welsh@outlookpublishing.com Office Administrator: Donna Redpath donna.redpath@outlookpublishing.com IMAGES: www.thinkstockphotos.co.uk DIGITAL & IT: Hamit Saka HELPDESK: James LeMay

OUTLOOK PUBLISHING Managing Director: Ben Weaver ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com Chairman: Mark Weaver

CONTACT

Europe Outlook / UK 22 Wensum Street, Norwich, UK, NR3 1HY Sales: +44 (0) 1603 559 551 Editorial: +44 (0) 1603 559 152 Fax: +44 (0) 1603 559 553 SUBSCRIPTIONS Tel: +44 (0)1603 559 152 matthew.staff@outlookpublishing.com

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In this issue of Europe Outlook...

REACH SUBSEA Industry Leading Subsea Engineers

Builders of state-of-the-art remotely operated underwater vessels (ROVs)

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ORACLE OpenWorld

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ISTONE Value-add, Long Term Sustainable Solutions in IT

We interview the company’s keynote speakers from Oracle OpenWorld 2014 who summarised the event

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NEWS

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DENMARK The Gateway to Northern Europe

All the latest top stories across the month from Europe

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DANFOSS IXA Sensing a Gap in the Market

Danfoss IXA is making waves in the marine sector

KRAFTRINGEN Striving to Achieve LongTerm Sustainability Leading the way in the development of future energy solutions

Europe Outlook takes a closer look at the key industries that make Denmark the hub of Northern Europe

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A dynamic IT consulting group working across 14 countries worldwide

COROMATIC The Evolution of Critical Facilities

What exactly are critical facilities and how do they affect everyday business? Coromatic, a Nordic leader in IT services, tell us more

MANUFACTURING

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OCEAN OPTICS Spectroscopy Made Faster, Cheaper and Smarter

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Bringing market leading systems out of the lab and into the field

SECTOR FOCUS Secure Power for a Sustainable Economy

The European power market reaches the vital nexus between renewable and traditional power

SHOWCASING LEADING COMPANIES Tell us your story and we’ll tell the world

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TSE (TURUN SEUDUN ENERGIANTUOTANTO OY) Experts in Energy The NA4 CHP project brings a revolutionary new method of heat and power generation to Finland

The world’s largest manufacturer of stretch wrapping equipment

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TURKU ENERGIA Energy for Life, Living and Entrepreneurship

TSE’s parent company continues to energise southwest Finland

STOCKHOLM VATTEN World-Class Drinking Water

Supplying water to more than one million people in Sweden

LANTECH The First Name in Secondary Packaging

FOUNDATION PARNU HOSPITAL A Cornerstone for Healthcare A regionally liable central hospital, operating to worldclass standards

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F O C U S

Europe Outlook highlights the forthcoming GREAT Festival of Creativity

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BT AGREES TO TALKS OVER $19.5 BILLION EE MOBILE DEAL BT, the UK telecoms giant, has announced that it has entered into exclusive talks with Deutsche Telekom and Orange to acquire their mobile business EE, a move which is set to spark a wave of consolidation in the UK telecoms market.

In December 2014, BT announced in a statement that key terms would include a purchase price of £12.5 billion ($19.5 billion).

“The proposed acquisition would enable BT to accelerate its existing mobility strategy whereby customers will benefit from innovative, seamless services that combine the power of fibre TECHNOLO GY

SIEMENS REPORTS 9% INCREASE IN PATENT FIRST FILINGS As a result of successful patent applications, Siemens will increase investment in research and development by €400.

In fiscal 2014, Siemens filed 4,300 patent applications – a yearover-year increase of nine percent.

In addition, the company intends to boost investments in research and development (R&D) by around €400 million.

2014 saw Siemens’ R&D expenditures total roughly €4 billion.

Twelve Siemens researchers and developers who together account for more than 900 inventions and 842 granted individual patents played a leading role in the company’s success.

They were honoured by Siemens as

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broadband, Wi-Fi and 4G,” the company said in a statement.

“BT would own the UK’s most advanced 4G network, giving it greater control in terms of future investment Inventors of the Year 2014 in Munich on December 3.

“Innovation is a cornerstone of our Siemens Vision 2020,” says Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens AG. “Valuable creative ideas are the basis for our innovations. With their ingenuity and their drive to create new technology solutions, these 12 inventors and their 30,000 colleagues worldwide have played a key role in safeguarding our company’s technological future and market success.”

Eight of the Siemens researchers honoured are from Germany; the others are from the US, Denmark and China.

Their inventions range from wireless sensors that monitor rail-car position on the track to a new

and product innovation.”

The exclusivity period would last several weeks, BT said in the statement, in which time the UK telecoms giant would complete due diligence and conclude negotiations.

BT was also in negotiations with Telefonica over its mobile arm O2, which may now become the focus of other takeover deals.

Consumers are increasingly interested in so-called “quad play” deals, offering television, internet, landline and mobile phone contracts in one package.

In the UK, Virgin is the only phone company currently offering these deals, but BT, the country’s biggest telecoms company, is expected to start following the deal with Deutsche Telekom and Orange. cooling system that enables wind power installations to generate more electricity to a gas turbine whose components have been recombined, thus making turbine production considerably more economical than in the past.

Siemens has been presenting the Inventors of the Year award annually since 1995 to honour the organisation’s outstanding researchers and developers whose inventions make major contributions to the company’s success.

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the ground, whilst senior officials have been cultivating relationships with Tier 1s and the big contractors responsible for delivering the wind farms.

Brown continued: “Another focus has been around building links with the organisations responsible for MANUFACTURERS LOOKING TO TAKE developing the supply chains.

ADVANTAGE OF THE GROWTH IN THE “We are starting to see a noticeable OFFSHORE WIND MARKET HAVE RECEIVED A change in Developers and Tier 1s £7M WINDFALL OF BUSINESS SUPPORT AND engaging with SMEs. There seems to CAPITAL FUNDING be a genuine commitment for local supply and, as a result, we are now Bosses at the GROW:OffshoreWind allocated will safeguard in excess putting on events that are bringing service made the announcement at of 1150 jobs and, importantly, could suppliers in direct contact with tier a recent supplier event to promote create nearly 2500 new ones.”

1s (A2Sea, Carillion and Sif Group for the £1.5bn Dudgeon Wind Farm GROW:OffshoreWind is delivered example) and operators, such as project in Norfolk and immediately

by Grant Thornton and programme Statoil and Siemens. pointed to further investment in partners the Manufacturing Advisory “It has taken a while for the Hornsea as a sign that the sector is Service (MAS), Renewable UK and the potential to turn into reality and finally maturing.

University of Sheffield. suppliers need to work hard to More than 900 companies have Working closely with Government prove themselves. However, with benefited from the assistance and industry leaders, the service has to date, which has helped firms been instrumental in raising the profile investment being seen in East Yorkshire and off the Norfolk Coast, bring new innovations to market, of offshore wind and how suppliers the appetite to be involved has purchase state-of-the-art machinery can tap into £bn of opportunities and explore crucial R&D. slowly coming to fruition in and around definitely grown.”

For further information, please The grants have also been used to the UK’s coasts. visit www.growoffshorewind.com or facilitate relocation to new purpose Eight dedicated GROW specialists built premises, an important feature have been working with companies on follow @grow_osw on Twitter. for suppliers looking to increase capacity and manufacture larger components than they’re normally used to.

“When we launched at the end of 2013 we had the single aim of getting more manufacturers and technology providers in a position where they could effectively supply into offshore wind,” explained Dominic Brown, Head of GROW:OffshoreWind.

“We feel we have achieved this, providing strategic advice and access to funding for more 900 companies, ranging from steel fabricators and composite specialists, to blade tip innovators and toughened glass specialists.”

He continued: “Early estimates suggest that the £7m we have

T E C H N O L O G Y OFFSHOREWIND DELIVERS £7M BOOST TO THE SECTOR

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M A N U F A C T U R I N G UNITED CAST BAR SETS YET ANOTHER WORLD RECORD nited Cast Bar has again taken the lead in the manufacture of large section continuously cast iron, increasing its already large portfolio of sizes

In December 2014, UCB successfully produced 150 tonne cast iron bar of 680mm diameter in flake and nodular grades, yet another world record, with much of it sold on pre orders. Material is available in the as cast / raw condition or can be lathe turned to meet specific demands.

A cast iron bar (Unibar) can be produced in a multitude of forms to meet customer design requirements. It is commonly used in general engineering applications, but primarily in hydraulic, fluid power and pneumatic equipment.

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Inspiring a generation

The metal’s manufacturing sector can sometimes carry a negative and industrialised image. UCB are trying to change this within the local community in Chesterfield; breaking down those barriers to the stereotypes our industry carries in the hopes to drive the business forward, whilst simultaneously helping the public form a better understanding of what they do. “I don’t believe in closing our doors to the local communities in which we operate,” says James Brand, Managing Director of UCB.

With support from the local government, UCB are on their way to breaking down these barriers, proud to be one of the best at what they do.

As a consequence, Brand sits on the local council project called Destination Chesterfield, as a representative for the manufacturing industry in Chesterfield, and there is a second reason for this: “Metallurgy skills are not something the youth of today make a conscious career decision to move into. Therefore, we want to inspire people to get excited about our industry by bringing them in and changing the perceptions of what we do.”

As part of the recent Made in Chesterfield event, United Cast Bar (UK) have been busy introducing the next generation of workers to a manufacturing environment.

The week-long event was designed to showcase the town’s successful manufacturing and engineering sector and ignite career interest in the sector from young people as well as bring together the business community.

No fewer than six local schools have taken time out of the classroom, bringing groups of students from year nine through to Sixth Form to be engaged with a business presentation and tour of the Spital Lane facility.

Brand comments: “While there are fewer jobs in the sector today, there is a wealth of undiscovered opportunities for young people and I urge schools to encourage young people to consider a career within it.

“If we are to develop our young people and retain their talent in the UK, schools must start bringing the manufacturing and engineering sector to their attention. Made in Chesterfield has made a fantastic start in doing this and I very much hope it continues.”

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M A N U F A C T U R I N G FALLING OIL PRICES AND RUSSIAN SANCTIONS HIT BUSINESS CONFIDENCE IN EUROPE uropean companies are under pressure as growth outlook drops 16% since Q1 2014

Executive confidence in Europe has dropped for the third consecutive quarter as expectations for company and industry growth continue to slide.

Fewer than six in 10 (58 percent) of business leaders are anticipating topline growth in the next 12 months, down from 74 percent in the first quarter of 2014, according to research among more than 1,000 executives by member-based advisory company CEB. There are a number of factors behind the drop in confidence, including the rouble collapse and the impact of sanctions imposed on Russia, particularly in countries like Germany which are dependent on Russian exports. Current EU sanctions include restrictions on trade with Russia’s energy, defence, financial sectors.

The energy sector has been the most badly affected, hit by investor uncertainty as oil prices continue to fall, while the telecoms and financial services sectors are close behind.

Companies are also putting the brakes on hiring new staff, with 24 percent of executives expecting total headcount to increase, compared to 30 percent last quarter.

This is significantly lower than in the US, where almost twice as many

executives (43 percent) expect to see more new hires in the next year.

Paul Dennis, Senior Director at CEB, said: “The start of last year was the most optimistic we have seen European business leaders for the last three years. However that confidence has been steadily eroded. This is partly as a result of geopolitical tensions and sanctions on Russia starting to take their toll.

“Companies that depend highly on Russian exports as well as those

which are directly dependent on the oil industry – such as petrol services - are going to find the 2015 planning processes particularly challenging.”

Finance departments are also expected to struggle with managing internal costs in this environment, especially as most overhead functional spend is currently growing faster than revenues.

Dennis continued: “It’s not just a case of a lack of confidence in one particular area - it’s really across the board. The outlook for new orders, production and capacity levels have all declined, while expectations for consumer confidence also deteriorated considerably this quarter.

“Today’s businesses are more nimble than ever when it comes to reacting quickly to wider economic signals. Agility is vital to success in these fast-paced times but we must hope a drop-off in confidence on this scale does not become a self-fulfilling prophecy, making a double or even triple-dip recession a reality for Europe.”

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Northern THE GATEWAY

Europe Outlook takes a closer look at the key industries that make Denmark the hub of Northern Europe Writer: Emily Jarvis Source: www.investindk.com

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he Danes have been named as some of the happiest people in the world in several surveys over the years. For instance, the capital Copenhagen has for two consecutive years been nominated as the most liveable city in the world by Monocle. This apparent satisfaction with life is often credited to ‘soft factors’ culture, leisure time and family life - as opposed to ‘hard values’ such as money or material wealth. A foothold in Denmark means a foothold in the vast interior EU-market with 490 million consumers. Geography and infrastructure makes Denmark the perfect hub for accessing the Nordics and the rest of Europe.

This should comes as no surprise when you consider the country’s

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access to universal welfare services including free healthcare and education, but also a result of being one of the most bicycle-friendly populations on the planet while wielding some impressive green energy targets among other advantages.

Alongside these ‘soft factors’ is a hard working society that represents some of Europe’s greatest innovations across various sectors including healthcare, technology, logistics, infrastructure and a comprehensive renewable energy strategy. With some of the world’s largest and most successful companies in their sectors based in Denmark, there is a long tradition for quality, innovation and efficiency. This provides reasons as to why many companies decide to invest in and establish themselves in Denmark.

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Europe TECHNOLOGY Big Data

Whether you represent a big enterprise or a small start-up, Denmark has something to offer within the area of Big Data. Denmark has the world’s most digitised public sector, an ambitious national strategy on Open Data and a number of world leading researchers giving a unique starting point for Big Data exploration.

Due to the richness of its data resources, Denmark is a global hotspot and experimental lab for developing new products and services. This development is accelerated by a national policy on Open Data, world-class research within Big Data and the emergence of a number of new enterprises that rely on access to public data.

The fact that Denmark is a small and highly interconnected society, with consumers who are quick at adapting new technologies, makes Denmark the world’s best test market.

Wireless and mobile technologies

The Danish wireless and mobile industry is among the world’s strongest in communication technology and software engineering. The first GSM phone was developed in Denmark, giving Denmark a historically strong position in international mobile communication research and development. Since then, Denmark has contributed considerably to international research and development - lately within advanced LTE research. Corporations such as Nokia, Motorola, Microsoft, Ericsson and Google have already chosen to benefit from this favourable location and invested in research and development facilities in Denmark.

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RENEWABLE ENERGY Denmark is a world leader when it comes to developing new technology.

More than 20 percent of Denmark’s energy already comes from renewable energy, and the goal is to reach 100 per cent by 2050.

The world’s wind power hub

With 28 percent wind power in the electricity system, Denmark is a nation that many others are looking to in order to discover sustainable energy solutions for the future. To date, Danish companies have installed more than 90 percent of the world’s offshore wind turbines. With a constant aim of bringing down the cost of energy, Denmark expects to remain the dominant player in the offshore wind turbine market for years to come. In this decade alone, Europe’s offshore wind power capacity is expected to see a tenfold increase. The world faces many obstacles in the battle against fossil fuels and climate change. Denmark sees many good reasons for continuing the development of wind power, and the government has set the target of 50 percent wind power in the electricity system by 2020.

Bioenergy

Danish competencies within bioenergy technologies are in demand and the country serves as a perfect industry hub and live testing ground for modern energy technologies on biofuels and biogas. Denmark is a leader in the development of combined heat and power plants (CHP) and Danish technology is among the world’s best when it comes to turning waste and biomass into energy in the form of CHPs.

OFFSHORE SECTOR The Danish offshore sector consists of more than 230 companies, several universities and organisations employing more than 13,000 people. The sector deals with oil and gas exploration, offshore wind power generation, wave energy development and various offshore support functions like engineering, material development, logistics, safety, facility management and training.

The construction of the €5 billion Femern Belt connection plans to connect with northern Germany through what will become the world’s longest combined road and train tunnel, which is due to be completed by 2021.

Jack up rig in Esbjerg oil harbour, Denmark

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logistics clusters in East and West Denmark each offering an extensive variety of logistics facilities, value added services and a large number of services providers.

A comprehensive port system

Øresund Bridge

LOGISTICS Since the opening of the Great Belt Bridge in 1998 and the Øresund Bridge between Denmark and Sweden in 2000, Denmark has been the natural and most efficient gateway to Northern Europe, Scandinavia, and the Baltic area.

There are also two interlinked and supplementing Danish

With 75 percent of its exports being shipped by sea, it is no surprise that Denmark has developed a comprehensive port system of approximately 25 ports with frequent international shipments. More than 64 million tonnes of international goods are loaded and unloaded at Danish ports every year.

The international port in Copenhagen has a 24-hour service and the shortest turnaround times plus some of the most competitive rates in Europe. Merged with the port of Malmö in Sweden in 2001, the port is one of the largest in Northern Europe and the gateway to the entire Baltic Region and the European continent.

Home to the world’s largest shipping company, A.P. Møller-Mærsk Group, and other major players, Denmark is a world-renowned and highly international hub for all types of shipping activities, transporting a staggering 10 percent of all globally traded goods.

TRANSPORTATION The best airport in Europe

Copenhagen Airport is the main hub to the Nordic and Baltic countries. Besides Copenhagen, Denmark has three other international airports in Aalborg, Aarhus and Billund, all located on the peninsula of Jutland.

In 2012, the Air Transport Research Society ranked Copenhagen Airport the best airport in Europe for the seventh time in nine years. More than 60 airlines operate from the airport and serve more than 100 destinations.

As Copenhagen SAS’ principal airport and DHL’s Northern European hub, the Airport handles approximately 350,000 tonnes of airfreight each year and has the shortest goods transit times of all European airports.

Extensive rail network

Denmark has frequent international cargo train departures through the European rail network from central Europe to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. The Danish rail network is undergoing a major upgrade which will make Denmark the first European country to deploy the future EU standard, ERTMS rail signalling system on a full national scale during 2009 - 2021.

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Stormwater analysis in the field

Spectrometer

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SPECTROSCOPY MADE FASTER

Cheaper &Smarter Ocean Optics has honed and developed its optical spectroscopy technology over 25 years to become the partner of choice for a range of sectors and companies, including maritime specialist, Danfoss Writer: Matthew Staff

Ocean Optics has been improving the functionality of optical spectroscopy for more than two decades and now has its eye firmly set on driving its market leading technology into a more diverse range of industries.

As part of the UK-based Halma Group, the company has developed over the years from its oceanography roots, to become a science, engineering and commerce organisation revolutionising the way in which spectroscopy is utilised.

A quarter of a century on, and its original miniature fibre optic spectrometer has been developed and honed to make Ocean Optics a key,

enabling business on an international scale.

“The original technology we developed was a miniature fibreoptic spectrometer, a device that measures light from which you gather information about the chemistry and physics of a material,” explains the company’s OEM Business Director, Michael Matthews.

“Spectroscopy is simply the collection and measurement of light.

As light interacts with material, it can be changed in some fashion; absorbed, reflected and so on.

What our instruments do is measure that interaction to derive certain characteristics of that material.”

The revolution that has subsequently

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occurred involves Ocean Optics reducing the size, weight and cost of spectrometers, taking the process out of the lab, and directly in to the field of usage across a range of applications.

Matthews adds: “Ocean Optics has developed devices to become something you can easily fit in the palm of your hand and that cost as low as a few hundred Euros, but that still maintain a high level of performance.”

Application focussed

Traditional lab devices providing the same functions were on the order of a cubic metre in size, weighing as much as 80 kilograms, and costing in the region of $100,000.

The significance of these reductions has therefore, inevitably not been lost on those companies standing to benefit most from such an offering, and it has subsequently provided the perfect platform for more collaborative partnerships to form.

“What we have is a basic technology which is applicable to any market and industry you can name, useful for anyone who wants to evaluate a sample and ask what it is or what is in it,” notes Matthews. “The basic

Test tube samples

Remote sensing from UAV

Materials identification

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Ocean Optics has developed devices to become something you can fit in the palm of your hand, that costs between one and five thousand dollars, and still maintains a lot of the same capabilities”

technology is the same, but how you apply it is very different in each case.

“This is where we focus. We’re an application focussed company and what we provide is support for our customers in how to apply and integrate this technology into their measurement systems and how to translate the information into real answers in their given application.”

The perfect balance of Ocean Optics providing the general knowhow and technology, with the partner company providing the industryspecific expertise, results in the potent combination that has been the differentiating factor in the company’s ongoing success.

Successful collaboration

Once such success story has manifested between Ocean Optics and Danish, maritime specialists, Danfoss over the years with the two working together in order to make the latter as efficient as possible.

“Danfoss comes to us with a great amount of market information

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and knowledge and has a specific environmental monitoring application they want to target,” Matthews continues. “In order to achieve their target, they need technologies that do the analysis for them; to take data, process it and then translate that into an answer.

“We partner with them to develop the system, and they then master the translation of the data into an answer to support and enable the application; which in this case is limiting, measuring and controlling the pollution output of a ship engine.”

Danfoss is the first of its kind to introduce this type of technology to the specific measurement challenge of monitoring pollution at the point of production, and it is this market advantage which makes Ocean Optic such an attractive proposition for potential business partners.

Matthews adds: “There are many sources of greenhouse emissions and across the globe there is increased legislation, and the public will have to measure and control those gasses.

That goes for factories, refineries, ships, cars, and even farms; all kinds of different sources in different environments.

“In each of those cases, there are companies targeting the measurements of greenhouse emissions. For us, it’s the same technology and basic measurement but the application and specific markets are very different.”

Strategic growth

Ocean Optics is striving to maintain this strategic approach moving forward, as it continues to optimise its technologies and expand upon the amount of applications the systems can cater for.

Over the past 25 years, the company has grown and saturated the research and development market to move applications away from the

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Whiskey distillery

laboratories and into the field, and Matthews and his team are now focussed on turning a ‘one of many approach’ into a ‘many of one’ ethos.

“Rather than making one lab system for a customer, we’re now making hundreds of handheld systems or sometimes thousands of integrated systems,” Matthews explains. “What we would expect and like to see in the next one to two years is the use of spectroscopy moving into daily, private use too.

“Our roadmap for further decreasing the size and cost of spectrometers, coupled with the increasingly available processing power and cloud computing, makes this eminently possible.”

The development of a small handheld spectrometer used in

everyday situations via mobile devices is becoming a rapidly evolving trend to be used for either educational or lifestyle purposes, and is again something that Ocean Optics is keeping ahead of and is working on with carefully chosen partners.

“We have a really cool technology that enables a different kind of measurement and methodology of measurement,” Matthews concludes.

“The question is: ‘How do you apply a new kind of technology?’, and this is where we’re focusing; getting information into the market about the power of spectroscopy, to answer those questions and help people.

“We will then help convert those answers into real products that you’ll see much more of, on a more regular basis.”

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Secure Power for a Sustainable Economy Technological and commercial innovation is accelerating as the European power market reaches the vital nexus between renewable and traditional power

By Nigel Blackaby, Conference Director of POWER-GEN Europe and Renewable Energy World Europe

Nigel Blackaby

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urope’s power sector is experiencing radical and permanent change with the conventional model of supplying electrical energy to customers from central power plants, via one-way systems, becoming increasingly challenged.

These challenges are arising as a direct result of policies to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and decrease the dependence on energy from fossil fuels. Europe’s power industry professionals are responding to this challenge to the status quo and will convene at the POWER-GEN Europe and Renewable Energy World Europe Conference to discuss the issue later this year.

The pace of change looks set to increase as the new package of climate and energy policies unveiled by the European Commission in early 2014 drives a fresh wave of clean tech investment.

Designed to cut GHGs by 40 percent against 1990 levels by 2030, the proposed framework includes a

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binding target for EU member states to source at least 27 percent of their energy from renewable sources by the same date. A non-binding target to encourage countries to improve their energy efficiency by 25 percent through the 2020s is also being considered.

The financial and operational implications of accommodating renewable energy and meeting emissions targets means utilities must become a lot smarter in the way that they operate. This has driven the development of innovative business models, new technologies, and a new range of services that are radically replacing the traditional way of simply selling kilowatt hours (kWh).

Utilities and investors are now focusing on smart meter rollouts and deployment of technology at a distributed local level rather than making 30-year commitments to large power plants. But there is life in conventional plants yet, as state-ofthe-art co-firing technologies allow biomass to be used as fuel alongside

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coal, with some plants now burning a mixture of both or even converting from coal to biomass completely.

Waste to energy

Biomass is derived from living or recently living organisms. It takes carbon out of the atmosphere while it is growing and returns it as it is burned, thus maintaining a closed carbon cycle with no net increase in atmospheric CO2 levels.

More importantly, it means that the by-products of industrial, commercial, and domestic consumption that would previously have been discarded as waste can now be reused as fuel for power. The use of biogas is rising, and technology manufacturers are responding accordingly with solutions around gasification and pyrolysis, where the fuel is heated with little or no oxygen to produce ‘syngas’.

The latter can be used to generate energy, or as a feedstock for producing methane, chemicals, biofuels, or hydrogen.

The significant carbon and energy

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global revenues in WtE plants will reach $29 billion by 2016.

Harnessing energy from waste has many benefits. It helps nations reduce their dependency on energy imports, and contributes towards reducing carbon emissions and meeting renewable energy targets. Crucially, these types of technologies have a steady and controllable output – i.e. ‘baseload’ power – when used for electricity generation.

Baseload power remains a necessity given that the energy derived from renewable, such as wind and solar radiation, shows a high degree of volatility. Moreover, full integration of renewable energy sources means not only wind, solar, hydro, biomass, and tidal power into Europe’s energy mix, but also the integration of energy supply for heating, chilling, and transportation.

Smarter cities

The significant carbon and energy benefits of converting waste to energy (WtE) has seen plants established as an essential part of both the waste management and energy supply network’

benefits of converting waste to energy (WtE) has seen plants established as an essential part of both the waste management and energy supply network. There are now more than 450 WtE plants in operation across Europe, with countries such as France, Germany, and Italy leading the way.

Frost & Sullivan analysts predict that

The need for a more sustainable approach to energy management and tighter integration is being driven by the global trend of urbanisation.

In 2010 more people lived in cities than in rural areas for the first time in history, and by 2025 it is estimated that about 60 percent of the world’s population (4.6 billion people) will live in urban areas. This poses serious challenges for city planners who will need to rethink how they provide basic city services to residents.

Municipalities across Europe are already developing district schemes to provide both heat and electricity to thousands of homes. This offers a diversity and independence of power generation rather than relying on national utilities.

Known as ‘urban energy integration’, this activity is underway within metropolitan areas in Genoa and Copenhagen for example, who are looking at their overall energy management and services to integrate

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S E C T O R

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electricity, heat, water, and waste water at city level.

According to Frost & Sullivan, there will be 26 smart cities and 90 sustainable cities globally by 2025, presenting market opportunities worth $1.5 trillion in areas such as infrastructure development, technology integration, and energy and security services.

Smart cities are cities built on ‘smart’ and ‘intelligent’ solutions that will lead to the adoption of at least five of the eight following smart parameters: buildings, citizens, energy, mobility, healthcare, infrastructure, technology, and education and governance.

With smart energy the fastest growing market segment, major cities such as Hamburg, Vienna, and Amsterdam are now starting to work with the energy sector and end users to co-ordinate the energy supply issues in their area by mapping local needs and finding optimum solutions.

They are developing smart grids by introducing smart meters that enable an overall improved service to their customers, and a more efficient grid operation which could eventually include the development

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According to Frost & Sullivan, there will be 26 smart cities and 90 sustainable cities globally by 2025, presenting market opportunities worth $1.5 trillion in areas such as infrastructure development, technology integration, and energy and security services’ of electric vehicle and energy storage infrastructure.

A successful rollout of electric vehicles depends on a responsive ‘smart grid’ to allow mobile charging facilities for these new modes of transport. Furthermore, the integration is cyclic: utilities manage waste collection which is then used to

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generate electricity, heating or chilling in combination with energy storage solutions.

Storage technologies

A viable and cost-effective energy storage mechanism would help manage the peaks and troughs of demand, and would therefore become a potential game changer in the integration of renewables. Although storage technologies are developing fast, they have yet to attain a level that would make them commercially viable.

Storing energy in the form of heat is one option that holds great potential. The concept is to store surplus electricity on a sunny or windy day by heating up water, and either storing it in that form or using it to heat or chill buildings. The latter can be achieved using thermally activated absorption chillers, adsorption chillers, or desiccant dehumidification systems.

Absorption chillers, for example, produce chilled water by separating two different substances that are in thermal equilibrium using heat, then reuniting them through heat removal.

Two substances that may be used for this process is water (acting as the

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refrigerant) and lithium bromide (the absorbent). This process is driven by heat from natural gas combustion or a waste-heat source.

Absorption chillers can be used in conjunction with combined heat and power (CHP) or cogeneration projects to provide tri-generation or combined heat power and cooling (CHPC) schemes that are typically embedded close to the end user. As such, they help reduce transportation and distribution losses to improve the overall performance of the grid.

The ability to store the electricity generated by renewable energy in sufficient quantities and at a cost that makes commercial sense would open the door to an even greater penetration of renewable energy sourced power than is currently technically feasible.

Much development and research is being undertaken in a variety of storage mechanisms such as lithiumion batteries, compressed air systems, and chemical and electrical energy storage. Projects incorporating largescale storage are starting to emerge but there remains some way to go before these technologies become widely used.

The carbon question

Carbon capture and storage (CCS) may have received a fair amount of negative press, but the fact remains it is a necessity, given that both coal and gas fired plants will be required for the foreseeable future to provide baseload or instant power when needed.

The European Commission sees CCS, or carbon capture and reuse (CCR), as an important tool for energy policy. In Europe, the UK has two pilot projects operating at commercial scale, while the ROAD project in the Netherlands is waiting for financing to be agreed.

As of November 2014, there were 14 CCS projects globally at the advanced planning stage, including nine in the

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JUNE 2015 The POWER-GEN Europe and Renewable Energy World Europe conference and exhibition is being held in Amsterdam between June 9th and 11th.

power sector, expected to be in a position to make a final investment decision in 2015, according to the Global CCS Institute. Certainly if stricter policy on carbon emissions is enforced for coal and gas fired plants as expected, it is a compelling driver for Europe’s power industry to bring CCS technology to fruition.

Adapting, modernising and optimising In the renewables arena, there is now greater attention being given to operating and managing renewable energy assets more efficiently. This will be essential as the technology matures and reaches a critical mass on the grid.

But while there has been a great deal of focus on renewables, it remains important for conventional power generators to continue advancing their efforts too.

Gas turbine manufacturers and operators are working closely with grid operators to make their equipment more flexible so that it is able to respond quickly to variations in demand. At the same time,

distributed generation via smaller gas turbines, diesel and gas engines is going to be increasingly employed in the infrastructure, and in cities in particular. Ultimately, the emphasis will be on clean and flexible power generation, and the efficient and optimised operation of plants.

Fortunately, the energy technology sector has always responded well to challenges, whether that be developing nuclear technology, designing highlyefficient gas turbine machinery, or harnessing renewable energy.

So while the current changes being brought about by Europe’s energy transition are disruptive, they also represent an opportunity to which the energy industry is responding.

With policy now such an important driver for technical decisions, regulation and investment also form a key part of the debate for plant operators, decision-makers and specifiers facing tough choices about when and how to adapt, modernise and optimise Europe’s energy infrastructure as advanced technology emerges.

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is a leading business-to-business publication promoting and showcasing the leading companies across an array of sectors on the continent.

Appearing in both digital and print, the publication is aimed at boardroom members and hands-on decision makers, reaching more than 195,000 business executives every month.

Every other month we feature leading companies and business executives by profiling their operations and success stories. Covering areas of best practice, capital investments, the supply chain, innovation and continuous improvement, we aim to promote all that is good about the industry and the region, with your company taking centre stage throughout it all.

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Matthew Staff, Editorial Director Tel: +44 (0) 1603 559152 matthew.staff@outlookpublishing.com

Sensing D A N F O S S

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A GAP IN THE MARKET

Danfoss IXA’s latest Dynamic Ventilation System and Marine Emission Sensor both contribute towards cost efficiency and energy saving in the maritime industry Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Dave Alexander

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has taken the Dynamic Ventilation System concept to new levels, and has complimented this product with a state-of-the-art emissions sensor; ensuring that the company is not only on the radar of the top five global shipping operators, but is also bringing innovative environmental and costeffective solutions to the maritime industry and beyond.

Dynamic Ventilation System

anfoss IXA has enhanced its product range and business networks to become one of the most innovative and forward-thinking players in the international maritime sector.

As a daughter company of Danfoss Group, which still maintains 60 percent ownership, Danfoss IXA has been able to capitalise on the extensive business networks enjoyed by the parent Group, who already has a reputable number of products on the market and an established customer base.

One such product stemming from the Group’s hard work in 2005 was a heating solution to innovate and measure air quality; a brainchild which developed even more prominently in 2008 under its Danfoss Ventures subsidiary.

“We started with the purpose of measuring the air quality inside office buildings and we formed the principals of what would become Danfoss IXA A/S,” explains Danfoss IXA’s Sales and Marketing Director, Peter Hansen.

“This progressed into a fully-fledged company by the following year on 1st April 2009.”

Five years on and the fully-fledged company

The inventive air quality innovation, the Dynamic Ventilation System, is enriched by its versatility towards other practices – not only in an office environment, as Hansen explains: “We began to think about the application of air quality and ventilation solutions in say, creating the correct temperature for chicken coops for efficient growth, but also monitoring CO2 levels in greenhouses.

“After developing a sensor, we took this concept to great heights and approached larger scale businesses,” he adds.

This concept then caught the eye of one of the largest cargo-movers in the world, Maersk, who initially required a CO2 emissions sensor for its cargo holds in 2009.

“Then we thought - why don’t we use this measurement to control the ventilation too? From this evolved our first Dynamic Ventilation system design for a cargo hold’s ventilation levels, saving shipping operators like Maersk

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Marine Emission Sensor

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Our emission sensor is designed as a low maintenance and easy to install solution, placed in-situ (measuring greenhouse gases directly from the exhaust pipe of a ship)”

money and energy,” notes Hansen.

After 18 months of complex testing of cargo ventilation systems a major Dynamic Ventilation System project has now been agreed, which will see more than 30 ships retrofitted with the system.

With the proven help of IXA, an 8,000 TEU ship is able to cut its combined kilowatt energy usage to reefer containers below deck and the cargo hold ventilation by up to 15 percent. “This is equal to some 130-140 metric tonnes of fuel in savings a year through the installation of Danfoss systems,” Hansen adds.

What’s more is that the system has an impressive payback time of approximately one year, compared to other maritime projects which normally take between two and 10 years.

Innovative emissions sensor

Danfoss IXA’s second key product is its emissions sensor which came as a result of building on core sensor competencies and identifying a gap in the market. “We discovered there were no emissions sensors developed specifically for the maritime industry.

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The current ones all originated from land-based solutions,” Hansen says.

Before IXA invented its unique NOx, SOx and ammonia sensor, the maritime industry had no choice but to use equipment for application on land, which has many disadvantages for use at sea. “Our emission sensor is designed as a low maintenance and easy to install solution, placed in-situ (measuring greenhouse gases directly from the exhaust pipe of a ship).”

Via UV-technology, Danfoss IXA’s product once again proved itself as a documented solution to energy efficiency, cost savings and ease of use.

“Moreover, by using UV over infrared, our measurements are not affected by humidity/water in the air, whereas other systems have this problem,” Hansen adds.

“The only part that the crew will need to periodically change is the UV bulb box, which minimises the amount of time needed to train the crews on board each ship.”

Fast update

Hansen identifies the emissions sensor as the main focal point for the future growth of Danfoss IXA as it is able to

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Peter Hansen - Sales & Marketing Director

fulfill three vital roles, the first being engine control: “By having a fast update rate on the emissions sensor and by placing it just outside the engine, an advanced engine control can continually tweak the parameters of the engine via updates every second in order to save fuel.”

As a ship’s engine can have between 50,000-100,000 of horsepower and an exhaust pipe between one and two metres in diameter, controlling emission levels can be a challenging

At Ocean Optics we believe in the power of spectroscopy to protect and improve the quality of life for people worldwide.

www.oceanoptics.com/application

info@oceanoptics.com

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ur company was founded 25 years ago in the field of environmental analysis; we originally developed the world’s first generation of miniature spectrometers to meet the demanding requirements of water pollution monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico. That application required taking the measurement to the sample, a spectrometer tiny and robust enough to operate in a small floating buoy for real-time data acquisition. The technology developed to meet that application captured the world’s imagination, and our ordersof-magnitude reduction in size, cost, and complexity of spectrometers enabled solutions that impact nearly every industry and market in the world.

Today, Ocean Optics is part of the global manufacturing group Halma plc, a FTSE 250 company for whom environmental monitoring and Health & Safety remains a strategic focus and constantly growing market. At the heart of Ocean Optics success is our catalog of marketleading miniature spectroscopy equipment - modular, highly customizable building blocks that offer a fundamental method of measuring and interpreting the interaction of light with matter. We combine these tools with the drive to make a difference, and the application and integration engineering expertise to assist our customers in utilizing spectroscopy in everexpanding ways.

This drive has led us on many journeys, always side-by-side with our R&D and commercial partners. We are proud to have

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supported NASA on its mission to verify water on the moon and undertake the same search on Mars, and Chalmers University in its analysis of volcanic emissions closer to home. We rest easier knowing the air we breathe is monitored for pollutants with Ocean Optics spectrometer systems, the water we drink and food we eat tested for contaminants, and the whisky we sip checked for brand authenticity and safety.

Ocean Optics characterizes the LEDs that light the modern home. The medical analysis that previously took weeks at a lab is now being done in seconds at the point-of-care, saving valuable diagnosis time. The medications then prescribed? Quality controlled and verified with spectroscopy in both manufacturing and distribution. These are just a sample of the applications we serve, applications that make a difference and lead to an engagement and passion in our people that you have to see to believe.

Yet what truly sets Ocean Optics apart, the key part of our business approach, is our partnership model to application development.

With dedicated Application and OEM integration teams across the globe, we deliver expertise in the field of spectroscopy and photonics. When coupled with the market and application needs of our customers, this sets the foundation for powerful development and research partnerships. How can we help you to overcome your own measurement challenge? This is a question we would love to answer, together.

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task. However, the fast update system makes this much easier to manage.

The second vital role of the sensor relates to complying with regulations.

When the engine is running, it is imperative that ships comply with international air pollution regulations which Hansen further explains: “Part of this procedure can be to implement after-treatment systems and regularly monitor the performance of these systems and whether they are cleaning the exhaust as they should,” Hansen continues.

Finally, these figures need to be efficiently documented and ready for authorities, both internal and external, to access. “For example, documenting every ship’s performance can tell you why two identical ships are performing slightly differently. The sensor information could even be used to pre-warn crews of a potential problem with the engine in advance and you could use the information created by

the fast update system to identify the issue.”

In the next twelve months, Danfoss IXA’s NOx, SOx and ammonia emissions sensor will be brought to market, allowing for on-board emissions testing. The marine emission sensor will also be officially launched this year.

Conservative industry

The maritime industry can be very cautious and conservative in their approach to trying new technologies.

“It takes time to change the market and perceptions of these big players,” Hansen explains. “Additionally, there are political processes to consider in terms of emissions. Authorities continually update their regulations which can slow progress.

“You have to be willing to make huge investments in order to test systems on ships, and to get this attention can be difficult.

KIRKHOLM MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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t Kirkholm Mechanical Engineering we aim to add value to your products.

As your engineering consulting partner we will happily take on the challenge of any mechanical development project you may have. Since 2000 Kirkholm has conducted more than 1700 projects with a wide variety of Danish and international industrial customers, Danfoss IXA being one of them.

Whether your business is within offshore, defense, medico, energy, or the food industry, we will be able to help you.

T +45 87 88 20 60

www.kirkholm.dk

KIRKHOLM AND DANFOSS IXA PARTNERSHIP BRINGS MARKET SUCCESS Kirkholm Mechanical Engineering’s commitment to providing the very best in engineering across its ever-expanding customer base requires high levels of mutual trust throughout its business partnerships.

The company’s relationship with Danfoss IXA has been built on this principle, with Kirkholm realising that “nobody knows as much about your products and your market as you”.

Probe measures gases directly in the exhaust pipe

Local access and easy direct control

Above: Dynamic Ventilation System Advanced digital signal processing

Easy connection through analogue and digital interfaces

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Left: Sensor functionality

Danfoss IXA is just one of the Danish businesses to have utilised and benefitted from this approach, testing a range of products on Kirkholm’s simulators, including the new NOx sensor, subsequently saving Danfoss IXA money and time in getting the product approved and into production.

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“However, we have made it through one-anda-half years of testing and have a proven product ready for market. Even if you have the best ideas and a good product, you need to understand that the whole process of getting accepted takes time.”

Five-year plan

In line with IXA’s ambitious goal to grow by a third each year comes an equally determined approach to securing and training the right experienced staff.

“We are building on each individual and how they see themselves. We are using both the extensive internal training programmes inside the group, but also specialised classes held at universities,” Hansen says.

Most importantly however, he says that nothing compares to seeing the size and scope of an engine with your own eyes: “We can create presentations, images and words, but it is totally different to seeing an engine in the flesh.”

Equipped with a five-year plan and progression from the testing phase and now into installation, Danfoss IXA has targeted a 200 DKK turnover by 2020. “This will allow us to stand on our own feet.

What’s more is that we can look at creating different

Top: Getting the optics right Middle: Sensor display Above: Laboratory

kinds of sensors or measuring a different type of gas. Supported by a versatile product, our platform is sure to grow,” states Hansen.

With a long term commitment to big name customers and fulfilling high expectations, Danfoss IXA is outfitted with an innovative technical team who conduct the right market research to make the right product for the market, at a competitive price. And, as regulations begin to change to match greener policies, the market for this maritime product grows every day.

“The maritime industry should not only be driven by air pollution regulations, but also see the cost-savings in reducing energy consumption. By being proactive, we can enable companies to think like this. A sensor by itself does not save energy, but it paves the way for the possibility to save energy,” concludes Hansen.

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STRIVING Sustainability TO ACHIEVE

Having listened to what customers want, Kraftringen is totally committed to its mission of generating and distributing carbon neutral energy across various regions in Sweden Writer: Christopher Davies Project Manager: Nick Norris

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LO N G -T E R M

oday, we live in a world where natural resources are running out. What’s more, fossil fuels are damaging the environment beyond repair, causing climate change and global warming along the way. For these reasons, an increasing number of people are pursuing a more eco-friendly existence.

This trend has not gone unnoticed

by Swedish energy group Kraftringen, who firmly believe the future will be both sustainable and carbon neutral.

Thanks to recent organisational changes and a customer-focused strategy, Kraftringen’s ambitious aspirations look like they will become a reality.

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Ownership and organisation

Kraftringen is owned by four municipalities in the region of Skåne; Lund, Eslöv, Hörby and Lomma.

Although the company was founded almost a century ago, its recent history is particularly interesting, mainly due to the changing face of Sweden’s energy sector. Before the market deregulation in 1996, energy companies were usually owned by the municipalities responsible for local areas and regions. But as the market was completely deregulated, international players started to enter the industry followed by a period of consolidation and buy-ups. Today there are 170 energy groups in Sweden and Kraftringen is around the fifth largest.

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However, as CEO Sylvia Michel reveals, the four municipalities that owned Kraftringen benefitted from keeping their ownership.

“We would like to highlight how wise their decision was,” says Ms Michel. “With ownership comes the right to steer a company. Our influential board consists of elected politicians with a mutual vision that Kraftringen should break new ground and drive development of new energy solutions for a sustainable society. An energy company can be an extremely potent instrument in the hands of somebody using power in the right way. This means you can manage a whole municipality and region’s production, and usage of energy into a smart consumption and sustainable business solution. The relationship between the board and the group’s management is based on good relations, trust and a set of clear targets.”

Kraftringen takes pride in being trusted to deliver according to the board’s vision and to serve society for the better. A democratic mix of political factions may well rule the municipalities, but with Kraftringen at the helm, everyone cooperates

Sylvia Michel, CEO, Kraftringen

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ENERGY FOR FUTURE

GENERATIONS

Working in cooperation with our partners and customers, Kraftringen strives to use natural resources as efficiently as possible.

We do this by creating unique energy solutions that deliver environmental advantages, as well as generating sustainable growth in the region.

That’s great sustainable news!

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in a harmonic way, setting aside differences to show the rest of Sweden and indeed the world how an energy group can work alongside local government for the greater good.

Kraftringen started a huge internal journey of change around two years ago as a response to changes within the industry, legislations and market demands. Previously known as Lunds Energikoncernen, the company used to consist of 17 smaller brands, which had several organisational and infrastructure problems. After these were merged into one under the name Kraftringen, the entire company changed its outlook, and went from a local player to a regional player. “The change of the brand was seen externally but also internally; we changed our vision, business ideas and the whole organisation in order to best reflect this, which was a huge transformation,” notes Ms Michel.

Added value for a unique selling point When asked about the company’s unique selling point, Ms Michel reveals that Kraftringen is not primarily driven

Customer support in action

We have started working on a methodology that monitors the customers’ shifting demands and needs”

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to generate profit: “Indeed, most companies have a minimum level of profit that should be generated or a kickback on all investments, but we need sustainable and sound economic development. That means we should generate a surplus in order to be able to invest in all our planned projects, partnerships and activities to develop sustainable energy solutions for the future.”

Kraftringen may well be a company that is managed and run effectively, but success should not be based on numbers, rather measured by its ability to be consistent in its unique business principles and service to customers.

Traditionally, the energy sector has suffered from a low level of public trust and has focused on the engineering

SEK 3 billion

The company’s turnover (approx. €320 million)

Kraftringen is an energy company owned by the four municipalities in Skåne Lund, Eslov, Hörby and Lomma.

Its activities include the production, distribution and sale of electricity, gas, heating and cooling, and energyrelated services in service, communication and contracts.

Kraftringen has around 400 employees and about 300,000 customers. The turnover amounts to approximately SEK 3 billion (approx. €320 million).

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and technical side of things rather than tending to the wants and needs of customers. But as part of its everchanging vision, Kraftringen sees itself as a more customer orientated, knowledge-based company, which is taking responsibility for future energy requirements.

However, Ms Michel acknowledges that all companies in the industry face similar problems. Along with low profit margins per customer, energy is an everyday commodity that people take for granted. So to gain a competitive advantage, Kraftringen must attract new customers with better products and added value, which can be achieved by simply listening to customer feedback. “We have started working on a methodology that monitors the customers’ shifting demands and needs,” notes Ms Michel. As well as being able to adapt to these requests, Ms Michel believes that Kraftringen’s sustainable approach also delivers added value to its customers which will differentiate Krafringen from its competitors.

Sustainable-conscious

When it comes to sustainability, Kraftringen takes on the leading role in driving the necessary changes.

However the whole energy industry plays an important role in the transition to a climate neutral and sustainable society.

Sustainability is primarily associated with environmental initiatives, but for Kraftringen there are two additional and equally important aspects that need to be balanced.

The first is economical sustainability returning a sound and healthy profit for greater investment. The second is social sustainability - developing a creative and friendly workplace where employees are recognised as a valuable asset. “This, together with our environmental perspectives, is how we interpret the word sustainability

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Jim Yeck, CEO, ESS

Partnership for success

Driving the development of a sustainable society requires cooperation between different organisations, authorities and businesses. For this reason, Kraftringen is involved in several collaborative partnerships, all of which share the goal of developing smarter and more efficient energy solutions. One example is Kraftringen’s participation in the development of the new North/East area of Lund.

Once completed, over 35,000 people will live and work in this area. Many of them will be researchers, since some of the world’s most advanced research facilities - the European Spallation Source (ESS) and Max IV Laboratory - are located here.

The combination of research facilities, businesses and residential homes will make Lund North/East a unique area for sustainable city development, and our joint ambition is to make it the world’s most sustainable neighbourhood.

ESS

When fully commissioned in 2025, ESS will be the most powerful neutron source in the world. Built in partnership with 17 European countries, the ESS facility is a complex project, requiring, for instance, the world’s most powerful linear proton accelerator. ESS will enable scientists to explore the atomic structures of compounds and reactions, and use this information to develop new materials for life science and energy applications, among others.

Neutrons are excellent for probing

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materials on the molecular level – everything from motors and medicine, to plastics and proteins. However, the level of detail in a study depends on how many neutrons can be produced by a neutron source. ESS will provide around 30 times brighter neutron beams than any existing facility. The difference between current neutron sources and ESS can be compared to the difference between taking a picture by candle light versus flash photography.

Since the start, ESS and Kraftringen have been working together to develop an energy strategy based on the principles: “Responsible, Renewable, Recyclable”.

Their goal is to provide energy efficiently, using renewable sources, and ensuring excess heat is recycled. Thanks to this strategy, ESS is now seen as a leading light in the development of sustainable research infrastructure.

“We are committed to our Responsible, Renewable and Recyclable energy strategy, and our partnership with Kraftringen has been essential to its implementation,” explains ESS CEO Jim Yeck.

Together, Kraftringen and ESS have developed a unique solution for recovering the waste heat that will be generated by the facility. This will enable 190 GWh of energy to be recovered by Kraftringen every year, and channelled through its district heating network to heat approximately 10,000 local homes.

In this way, energy that would otherwise have been wasted will be put to good use and 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be saved.

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and we need to weave it into all our efforts in the transition to a sustainable society,” adds Ms Michel.

Since 2011, Kraftringen has developed and produced an annual sustainability report, which the organisation works on all year round.

The report monitors key figures and developments as well as customer and partner needs in order to reach climate-orientated goals together.

Projects and investments

Even though Kraftringen’s annual turnover is around SEK 3 billion (approx. €320 million), it has reinvested the same amount of money back into the business via various projects over the past five years. Looking forward, it will continue at an investment pace of SEK 300 million per year (approx. €32 million). “These are ambitious numbers when you look at our annual turnover and profit,” cites Ms Michel.

Kraftringen’s biggest ongoing investment is to support its journey and vision of becoming climate neutral.

This is because the local government of Skåne wants the whole region to be completely free of fossil fuels by 2020, which Ms Michel describes as a “very challenging and ambitious target”.

However, Kraftringen has developed a declaration of intent in conjunction with the regional government, which is the first of its kind in Sweden, in the hope of achieving this challenging objective.

Regardless of whether the

Kraftringen: a creative and friendly workplace environment

This is where thinking globally, acting locally really makes sense because these carbon savings are not isolated to this region... something that Germany, England, France and the rest of the world will benefit from” Hot water storage tank, part of the district heating system

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SEK 2 billion Investment made towards its new biofuel CHP plant (approx. €212 million)

objective is attained, Ms Michel says that Kraftringen will have given a “tremendous effort of strength to pull together towards a mutual goal”.

While this will undoubtedly cost money, the owners are supporting the company’s dreams of sustainability.

As part of its declaration, Kraftringen is working hard on developing sustainable energy solutions, such as making sure the products it burns at power plants are recyclable bio fuels and not coal, natural gas or oil. What’s more, a regional district heating system, which consists of one power plant delivering boiling hot water via underground pipelines to entire cities, eradicates the need for household boilers and increases overall efficiency.

“This is one of our major products,” notes Ms Michel. “We develop and

Biofuel CHP Combined Heating and Power plant

Last year, Kraftringen witnessed the grand opening of its single biggest investment ever, which was a new SEK 2 billion (approx. €212 million), biofuel CHP (Combined Heating and Power plant)”

own district heating plants, the grid and pipelines.”

Last year, Kraftringen witnessed the grand opening of its single biggest investment ever, which was a new SEK 2 billion (approx. €212 million), biofuel CHP (Combined Heating and Power plant, where both heat and power is produced from boiling water and steam). The entire project took 10 years to complete, from eight initial years of permission, planning and development to two years of

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construction. Along with the delivery of raw materials via railroad, this new plant is saving more than 200,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum compared to the previous facility, something which Ms Michel believes can help the entire world, not just Sweden: “This is where thinking globally, acting locally really makes sense because these carbon savings are not isolated to this region,” she notes. “This is something that Germany, England, France and the rest of the world will benefit from.”

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Even though local and national governments are supporting Kraftringen’s vision of producing carbon neutral power, the energy sector is a heavily regulated industry with lots of political laws that must be adhered to. But what is more worrying is the risk of changes within the regulations as governments come and go. Ms Michel considers this a problem for every energy player, as there is little unity between different national factions and changing political agendas. However, Kraftringen boasts a strong management board consisting of elected politicians, which puts the company in a better and stronger position than others.

Since Kraftringen’s internal journey of change, Ms Michel says that the biggest driving forces behind success so far have been specific goals, a clear company structure, a forwardthinking vision and new business ideas, all of which emulate a focus on sustainability. “We have clear targets

for the organisation to rally around,” she says. “When we are talking about sustainable goals, the population is concerned and wants to develop a better society. This really does move you as a person. It would be more difficult to rally around a figure of profit.”

But despite Kraftringen’s progress, Ms Michel believes that the company still has a long way to go, especially when you consider the upcoming 2020 fossil fuel free target. She notes that there is no time to relax, as once one objective is complete, another will take its place.

“We don’t consider ourselves as successful yet. The journey we are on still continues and we need to keep focused so that we don’t fall back into old structures,” Ms Michel reveals.

“We still have much to do and the ambition to keep moving forward. This is part of our business model.”

However one thing looks set to continue for years to come for Kraftringen – a customer focussed approach that thinks global, but acts local. “Through all of our activities and investments, we will make a difference and attract the right competencies and customers from our competitors.

“We do not make houses warmer and lights do not shine more brightly.

Our product is the same as our competitors’, but we want to make a difference through our unique valueadded sustainability strategy,” Ms Michel signs off.

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Experts IN ENERGY

By using the most advanced technology available, TSE strives to produce sustainable and cost effective heat and electricity solutions for Turku and the surrounding areas Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Dave Alexander

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urun Seudun Energiantuotanto Oy (TSE) was founded in 2001 with the sole purpose of building a new CCGT power plant in Naantali for the district heat production to service the Finnish city of Turku and the surrounding municipalities.

TSE combines local expertise in the energy sector and expert knowledge from the Nordic energy industry to ensure that the Turku region receives its basic heating systems in an economic, efficient and sustainable way.

In 2001, Finnish NG company Gasum had a plan to construct a

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natural gas pipeline from central Finland to the Turku area, designed mainly for industrial use and energy production. However, the plan was never realised at this time. In 2011, the decision was then made to merge base energy production of Turku Energia Oy and Fortum’s local power plant into one company - TSE Oy where these production assets were transferred, and the dream of creating a sustainable way to meet the heating requirements of the Turku area were born.

Today, TSE has an annual turnover of €150 million, which promises to remain steady into the future. “The

existing CHP-capacity at the Naantali coal fired power plant will be replaced with more sustainable forms of energy generation in the form of the new NA4 CHP project. This project has reached the engineering phase with process and layout design nearing completion.

The project is running on schedule and we are due to start work on the site this year,” says TSE Managing Director Tapani Bastman.

The turnover becomes even more impressive when considering there are only two people who work for TSE, making the company one of the most outsourced in the world.

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Varied climate

Finland is a country of contrasts, not just in the geographical sense, but also in its climate. Temperatures during the year vary considerably from -30°C in winter and +30°C in the summer. This has a considerable impact upon the country’s energy usage. By using the most advanced technology available, the country and energy companies like TSE strive to produce as much electricity as possible while also generating heat for the population of Finland.

Even though the population density is low, Finland’s share of CHPproduction is among the highest in Europe; last year reaching 28 percent of the total electricity consumption in the country and accounting for one third of power production. As a result, another of TSE’s goals is to commit to the use of local and other sustainable sources of energy as required by the changing market conditions and the growing concern for the environment.

Fuel flexibility through circulating fluidised bed technology

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The intensive energy usage is backed by a large share of renewable based energies including biofuels used for heating purposes. “The country has a long tradition of utilising wood as an energy resource. The share of hydro power is not as high as the neighbouring countries Sweden and Norway, which is just one of the reasons why CHP-production technology has been developed successfully for decades here,” comments Bastman.

Unique alliance model

In order to complete the NA4 CHP project, TSE has opted to use an alliance model for all civil work and HVAC installations, which is a relatively new concept in Finland. “Our project is the first on an industrial scale in the country to be utilising this new approach for civil works,” says Bastman.

In an alliance contract model, a set of providers enters into a single arrangement with a CCG to deliver services. Commissioners and providers are legally bound together to deliver the specific contracted service, and to share risk and responsibility for meeting the agreed outcomes. As such, they should be incentivised to innovate and identify efficiencies across the system, rather than solely within their organisation.

Subsequently, the alliance is reliant on high levels of trust across its relationships. Members collectively govern the alliance through a leadership board with an agreed term of reference.

Accompanying this new way of managing services is TSE’s unique commitment to shareholders via an ‘open book plus fee’ principle.

Bastman explains how this has a strong impact on the annual average prices of TSE’s products: “This requires a careful balance between prices and

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VALMET

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aantali, Finland to get Valmet’s multifuel CFB boiler

High combustion efficiency, low emissions and the combustion of biofuels are among the main characteristics of Valmet’s power generation solutions.

Fuel flexibility “Valmet’s fluidised bed boiler technology improves fuel independence through the utilisation of local biofuels”, says Jouni Kinni, Senior Sales Manager at Valmet. “This also applies to high humidity-content fuels and varying fuel proportions.

Demanding fuels, such as refusederived fuel and agro biomass, can be used in the same unit.”

A large-scale power plant The Finnish energy supplier Turun Seudun Energiantuotanto has chosen Valmet as the boiler supplier for their upcoming power plant in Naantali. The start-up is scheduled for the autumn of 2017.

The investment enables an increase in renewable fuels in power generation and the fulfilment of the new IEA emissions directive, which will come into effect in the EU at the beginning of 2016.

The power plant represents everything that Valmet stands for. “It is designed to generate power by using biofuels at high efficiency,” says Jouni Kinni.

“The loop seal superheater is external from the furnace, taking heat only from the circulating material returning from the cyclone. This enables the use of corrosive fuels in a high-steam temperature boiler.”

Read more

www.valmet.com www.twitter.com/valmetglobal

Move your business forward with improved fuel flexibility

A boiler with multifuel capability gives you the flexibility to choose the most economic fuel based on availability and price. Our HYBEX and CYMIC boilers using bubbling and circulating fluidized bed technology are known for their high efficiency and reliability, excellent controllability and low emissions even with the most challenging fuel combinations.

Read more at valmet.com/cymic valmet.com/hybex

Learn more about Valmet’s CYMIC boilers and watch the Naantali project presentation

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profit. A certain level of annual profit or EBIT- can be estimated and agreed beforehand by owners during the budgeting procedure.�

About biofuel

In essence, Biofuel is created based on different fractions of harvested wood (timber and fibrewood) which is chipped before transportation to a power plant, such as Naantali. TSE plan to use different wood residuals from saw mills and a small amount of straw from nearby farmers.

Percentage of energy generated by biofuels at the plant

60 - 70%

30 - 40%

future plan

initial plan

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Tapani Bastman, Managing Director, TSE

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As a consequence of the NA4 CHP project, we decided to modernise the youngest of the blocks at Naantali coal fired power plant to fulfil the all new IE-directive (emissions to air), and to continue to operate this part of the plant each winter up to the year 2025.

This project is called NA3 retrofit and one part of this investment is adding a new SCR-system to the boiler”

NA4 CHP Project In spring 2014, shareholders made the decision to construct a new multi-fuel CHP-power plant to replace two of the three existing coal-fired power blocks of the Naantali power plant. This environmentally-friendly combined heat and power facility will utilise various forms of biofuels.

Relationship with Turku Energia Turku Energia is the second biggest owner and biggest client of TSE in terms of supply of energy. “We enjoy a prosperous partnership with Turku Energia. By cooperating on a daily basis - which is a must when optimising the production on hourly basis to DH-consumption - we demonstrate a high level of commitment to our partners.” Tapani Bastman, MD, TSE “When the plant is fully operational, the percentage generated by biofuels will be between 30-40 percent, however we hope to increase the share of biofuels to 60-70 percent. The remaining share will be generated by coal or peat,” says Bastman.

The CFB-boiler (Circulating Fluidised Bed) itself has been designed to convert 100 percent biodegradable materials. Fuel oil (or later LNG as an option) will be the starting fuel for the boiler.

“The advantages of the CFB technology certainly outweigh its limitations. The process is very flexible for multi-fuel purposes and

with the right investment in R&D, the technology is predicted to bring further benefits through economical usage of even more challenging forms of biofuels,” Bastman surmises.

• Total capacity: 200MW district head, 50 MW process steam and 150 MW co-generation power • Estimated cost: €260 million • Outsourced project managers: EPCM-Consultant Pöyry Finland Oy • Manufacturing partners: Valmet Power Oy, Siemens Oy and Raumaster Oy • Operation date: Autumn 2017

Optimisation

Key to TSE’s success in the last year has been optimising its current production capacities rather than competing and increasing capacity. “By this I mean we have to ensure that products are fully optimised and are able to cope with a variable heat load, while also taking into consideration the price of power and the competitiveness of our product on the open market.

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TSE headquarters

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GWh/a Amount of process steam energy Fortum receives for local industries

“Our Naantali power plant, Oriketo bioboiler, waste boiler and heat pump units are a complex system for heat production and are challenging to optimise. We have developed our own program to optimise our systems on an hourly basis, taking into consideration estimated heat load, estimated fuel prices, estimated power price and energy taxation. Calculations are made each day and we found the most important areas to be the hourly DH-consumption and power price. However, fixed costs are an important issue too and a strict balance of tight cost control versus streamlining the O&M services is therefore another key component to our success,” Bastman states.

Not only have the facilities been optimised, but the company has found the strong support of its shareholders to be a big contributor to the HR and training side of the business. Due to the company’s role as a base energy producer for the local area, it is not possible for TSE to have any expansion plans. However, this results in a stronger focus on the timely delivery of projects while remaining within the budgeted cost.

This strategy is supported by TSE’s healthy relationship with Fortum Power and Heat, who own 49.5 percent of the company. The two companies work harmoniously together to agree targets for the coming year and TSE also outsources training via Fortum. “In my opinion, a long term partnership with yearly targets agreed upon together is vital to developing O&M functions and is a learning process in itself,” Bastman adds.

With a target to boost the share of renewables from 12 percent up to 50 percent via its projects, TSE is on target to boost the total fuel consumption to 4,250 GWh at the Naantali power plant this year.

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2050

GWh/a Current amount of DH-supplied energy to Turku Energia

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RAUMASTER

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aumaster Oy, founded in 1984, is a renowned supplier of advanced material handling systems and equipment and today the company is regarded as a global leader in its line of business.

Raumaster continually strives to ensure the utmost reliability and quality of its products and after sales services. With a turnover of approximately 100 MEUR, the company employs nearly 300 professionals to ensure that the highest standards are maintained.

Raumaster’s success stems from its ability to supply complete deliveries.

We deliver material handling systems for the wood processing industry and power plants and our primary objective is customer satisfaction in life long standing customer relationships.

For more information about Raumaster, please visit

www.raumaster.fi

SOLID PERFORMANCE When it comes to material handling in the energy industry, we know how to deliver the best possible systems for your individual needs. As the world leader in our line of business, we at Raumaster are able to combine our special knowledge, expertise and experience to boost your performance.

• • • • • • • • • •

www.raumaster.fi

Receiving systems Screening and crushing Storages and reclaiming Fuel feeding systems Ash handling systems Pneumatic conveying systems Additive and bed material feeding systems Conveyors for causticizing and lime kilns Conveyors for recovery boilers Dust and concentrate handling in smelting plants

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Energy for Life,

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LIVING AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP Turku Energia aims to be recognised as one of the industry’s leading heat and electricity producers in Finland as it pushes towards its 2020 green energy goal Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Dave Alexander

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urku Energia is already the leading power supplier in southwest Finland but refuses to rest on its laurels as it looks to leverage its competitive prices, competent personnel, service reliability, profitability and environmental friendliness to increase the usage of green energy in the region by 50 percent over the next five years.

As one of the oldest energy companies in the country, Turku Energia has honed its core businesses over more than a century in areas of procurement, distribution and sales of electricity and heat, as well as the development, construction and maintenance of power plants and distribution networks.

It is this influence that the company has on the wider industry and communities in Finland which Turku has become renowned for, and the business’s Vice President of Heat, Jari Kuivanen is optimistic about capitalising on this reputation moving forward.

“We are known as a reliable and customer-oriented power company that sells energy mainly generated from renewable energy sources,” he explains. “The company started in 1898 and some other company milestones include 1976 when district heating started in the Turku area, and 2012 when local energy solutions for the Turk region started.”

These developments proved to be the platform for an extremely successful 2013 which saw the company employ 300 people within its workforce, and enjoy investments in the region of €13 million; culminating in turnover figures of €269 million and operating profits of €26.8 million.

2014 investments

Progress in 2014 proved to be similarly proactive from Turku Energia, as it

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once again involved itself in some of the most significant energy projects in the region, partnering with some of the industry’s leading players in the process.

Kuivanen says: “The biggest investment decision was taken in the spring of 2014 when Turku Energia decided to join a new multi-fuel plant - NA4 CHP project - construction in the city of Naantali.

“Turun Seudun Energiatuotanto Oy (TSE Ltd) is responsible for the power plant design and construction, and the new power plant will start commercial operations in December 2017.”

Turku Energia will use all of the new plant’s district heating capacity once it is fully functional, with NA4 CHP project producing heat and electricity at the same time.

Towards the end of the 2014, the

The biggest investment decision was taken in the spring of 2014 when Turku Energia decided to join a new multi-fuel plant NA4 CHP project construction in the city of Naantali”

company also made the decision to acquire a 40MW peak power plant which uses wood pellets as a fuel source, once again emphasising Turku’s flexibility in being able to quickly capitalise on opportunities, as well as its adherence to present and future trends.

Skanssi project

Arguably the most significant project being undertaken by Turku at present revolves around a more general operation occurring in the city.

“The city of Turku is planning a new neighbourhood in Skanssi,” Kuivanen explains.

“Skanssi is 85 hectares in area and is characterised by a varied terrain consisting of a gravel ridge, forested hills and open fields. The area has nature and sports trails, existing building stock and a welldesigned, large shopping centre.

“The main themes for the area are ecofriendliness, diversity and a pleasant and comfortable neighbourhood. To achieve a dense, ecological and urban-like structure and make a functioning public transport system possible, it is necessary to raise the population from 2,500 inhabitants to 8,000 inhabitants.”

In order to achieve the project’s primary goals, key challenges such as transport will have to be taken into account, but Turku Energia is playing its

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part in regards to energy and technical solutions.

“Traditionally, electricity and heat are produced in large plants and transferred to consumers,” Kuivanen continues. “In the future, property and energy consumers will also produce and store electricity and heat as energy production becomes wider and more diverse due to new technical solutions.

“Turku Energy believes the change will be based on the needs of consumers when buildings take into use the new technologies and energy solutions available for them.

Skanssi will not have a purpose-built new system, but in the new area and the new buildings there will be the opportunity to put into use existing modern technologies.”

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Customer service at the Turku Fair in 2013

Collaboration and competition

High levels of industry collaboration is becoming the norm for the good of the industry moving forward, with regional cooperation incorporating the neighbouring municipalities of Raisio, Kaarina and Naantali, as well as Finnish energy heavyweights, Fortum Ltd and TSE. Partnerships are key in promoting long-term and innovative energy business development; a drive which Turku Energia has always been at the forefront of in offering new solutions to its customers, putting the company in a prime position to capitalise on the latest industry and regional trends.

“Electricity is produced in Finland in a versatile way with various different energy sources and production methods,” Kuivanen explains. “The most important energy sources for electricity generation are nuclear power, hydropower, coal, natural gas, wood fuels and peat. The share of wind power is small, but growing.

“In Finland, there are approximately 120 companies producing electricity and about 400 power plants, more than half of which are hydroelectric

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power plants. Finland’s electricity generation is fairly distributed compared with many other European countries, but our diverse and distributed structure of electricity generation increases the security of electricity supply.”

Running parallel to the industry collaboration occurring in the Turku region at present is also a healthy level of competition which is becoming tougher all the time, with the price of electricity, especially, making it impossible for companies to invest in its production without significant financial support given by the government.

“New heating solutions are coming onto the market all the time, and competition will be hard in future.

We must be able to respond to the competition by developing our own products,” Kuivanen emphasises.

2020 target

In line with both electricity and heating trends, Turku Energia is currently monitoring the development of combined heat and power generation

(CHP), from which almost one-third of electricity is now produced. This allows for the content of the fuel to be utilised almost to its full potential, with 90 percent of it being converted into either power source.

Continuing in this vein, the company has set a goal for 2020 to produce more than 50 percent of electricity and heat production via renewable and carbon dioxide-free production methods, subsequently making it one of Finland’s best energy companies.

Working alongside groups such as TSE will further enable this development of large scale production to enable investments into new lowemission production solutions.

“New investments will support our policy, meaning we remain a provider of customer-oriented service solutions and a producer of environmentally friendly energy,” Kuivanen concludes.

“We also carry out developmentoriented work within a community of experts as we continue to improve the efficiency of operational structures and processes.”

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WORLD-CLASS

Drinking Water Sweden has some of the world’s best drinking water. Stockholm Vatten, a water and waste water management company, is responsible for its delivery to more than one million people Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Dave Alexander

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tockholm Vatten AB (the Stockholm Water Company) is an environmental and engineering company that produces and supplies drinking water to more than one million people in Stockholm and Huddinge, and to a further nine neighbouring local councils. The company is characterised by its holistic approach and the desire to create the necessary conditions for adequate delivery of water and an improved waste environment, not only in the Baltic region, but also through its cooperation with other local councils in the Stockholm region and through international joint projects.

“We have some of the world’s best drinking water, which is always carefully controlled and purified in several stages. This gives us drinking water of the highest quality, according to the Swedish National Food Administration,” says the company.

As a municipally-owned organisation, Stockholm Vatten houses two divisions, one which handles the operations of water and wastewater treatment, and the second running other business operations such as the selling of biogas back to industry.

The company own and operate the Norsborg and Lovö waterworks and the two sewage treatment plants at Henriksdal and Bromma, as well as the tap water and sewage mains networks, pumping stations and water reservoirs in Stockholm and Huddinge.

“We take care of and purify our sewage water in the most advantageous way possible from an environmental point of view,” says the water company.

This eco-cycle concept involves resource recycling where waste products are recycled into usable biproducts that assist in creating a more sustainable society.

Further, the company’s operations are wholly financed by water and

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The Henriksdal waste water treatment plant

sewerage rates and charges, and some of this finance goes towards the organisation’s responsibilities in water conservation and restoration of local lakes.

Norsborg Water Works

FACT1 Stockholm Water produces enough water to fulfil the Globe Arena more than four times a week

Norsborg’s waterworks is one of the largest in the Nordic countries and has been supplying drinking water to Stockholmers since the early 20th century. Over the years, Norsborg Water Works has been rebuilt and improved. Although much of the technology used today is not much different from when the waterworks was first built, one thing that has always remained the same is where it came from – Lake Mälaren.

“We keep careful watch over the health of our lakes in the Stockholm region. Not only this, we are responsible for the many kilometres of pipes that carry sewage water to sewage treatment works, where the water is purified before being discharged into the Baltic Sea,” highlights the company.

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ur vision is to become the best construction company in Stockholm. Today, we are Stockholm´s, if not Sweden’s, best contractor in the area of pipe laying. We’ve been in a partnership agreement with Stockholm Vatten since 1998. In this cooperation we are involved in the entire chain, from identifying whether action is needed to planning, execution and assuring the quality of the work.

“So if you are in a search for a partner who is great at pipes, call me!” – Edmund, Key Account Manager, JVAB.

T +46 (0)8-584 909 00

www.jvab.se

parts of Stockholm. Lovö waterworks, supplying water to the northern and western districts of Stockholm, lies beside Lake Mälaren a little further north. Together the waterworks distribute good, clean drinking water to over one million people every day. Additionally, several neighbouring municipalities and nearby districts enjoy Stockholm’s excellent tap water.

Henriksdal Waste Water Treatment Plant

The Henriksdal waste water treatment plant, which serves Stockholm, Huddinge, Haninge, Nacka and Tyresö, is today one of the largest and most modern in Europe. Opened in 1941, the Henriksdal plant is just one of two treatment facilities servicing Stockholm, Huddinge and six other neighbouring local countries.

“We work have to ensure your sewage water is made as clean as possible. Our top position in surveys conducted by international trade organisations is testament to this goal,” emphasises the company.

Located two kilometres from Slussen on the boundary between Stockholm and Nacka, Henriksdal is one of the world’s largest underground treatment plants. It covers approximately 300,000m2, and it

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FACT 2 It takes approximately 12 hours to process water from Lake Mälaren into drinking water

has around 18 kilometres of tunnels.

The whole of the basin block lies inside chambers blasted into the rock. The surface facilities include the control centre building, mechanical treatment, the sludge tanks, the upper parts of the sludge thickeners, the digesters, gas holder, the gas collection plant and gas storage. The ventilation chimney is 80 metres tall and seven metres in diameter. Sludge treatment takes place in a separate facility at Sickla, located about two kilometres from Henriksdal.

Quality monitoring

With a team of leading experts across the water and sewage sectors, the Stockholm Water Company has successfully developed efficient and careful methods to ensure the provision of the highest quality drinking water. On the flipside, the company continuously innovate in order to use 100 percent of all waste

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IN A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH STOCKHOLM VATTEN AB SINCE 1998 CONTRACTOR WITHIN THE AREAS OF INFRASTRUCTURE, GROUND WORKS, WATER AND SEWAGE SYSTEM. Järfälla VA- & Byggentreprenad AB Skarprättarvägen 14, 176 77 Järfälla, Sweden.

Tel. +46 (0)8-584 909 00 www.jvab.se

The infrastructure here in Sweden enables us to work with world-class water systems in an efficient manner that benefits Stockholm and the surrounding areas”

FACT 3 We use approximately 200 litres of water per day through drinking, showering, washing up, doing the washing, flushing the toilet, making food, etc.

materials in what the business calls “maintaining a functional ecological cycle”, which is a vital aspect of the production process: “Many of these bi-products are able to make a useful contribution to our society such as agricultural fertilisers, biogas for buses and district heating for households,” the company says.

As a city grows and lifestyles change, little thought is given to the water supply which is built into our infrastructure and a crucial part of everyday life. Therefore, it is Stockholm Vatten’s responsibility to keep up with these trends in growth and take the measures necessary to ensure the effective treatment of both drinking water and sewage water.

“People living here have almost unlimited access to clean drinking water. When we turn on the tap we pour a world-class provision directly into our glasses.

“We are expected to keep on providing this same high quality service to the local people now and into the future. The infrastructure here in Sweden enables us to work with world-class water systems in an efficient manner that benefits Stockholm and the surrounding areas,” concludes the company.

For more information, visit: www.stockholmvatten.se

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INDUSTRY LEADING

Subsea Engineers With a vision to be the preferred operator by those who need the best possible subsea partner, Reach Subsea strive to be a business that will always perform above expectation Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Scott Hay

Kystdesign Constructor WROV

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ounded in 2008, Reach Subsea ASA is an integrated offshore service company, providing subsea services in Norway. Headquartered in Haugesund, it offers construction and installation; inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR); survey and pipeline inspection; and decommissioning services to the oil industry. The company operates construction and multipurpose support vessels with remotely operated vehicles (ROV); and a survey ROV for high speed acoustic

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pipeline surveys.

Prior to December 2012, the company was formerly known as Transit Invest ASA and since this time, Reach Subsea has gained an expansive knowledge of subsea operations which it is known and respected for in the offshore industry.

Boasting world-class engineering status and state-of-the-art remotely operated underwater vessels (ROVs), Reach Subsea proudly provide comprehensive services to the oil industry with both a flexible team of staff and competitive products in hand. “Our human resources are first class and contribute towards the impressive reputation of the business,� says the company.

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Normandy Reach ALL IMAGES: REACH SUBSEA

HSEQ measures

Reach Subsea has a strong belief in the systematical implementation of HSEQ measures (health, safety, environment and quality), evolving from an early project risk assessment and continuous risk assessment processes.

“We in Reach Subsea believe that a good HSEQ culture arises from a respectful and positive dialogue in between people. Our leaders shall not only be technically qualified, but also have high interpersonal skills,” the company comments.

Subsequently, it is vital that each employee understands the company’s health and safety measures, implementing them in

We in Reach Subsea believe that a good HSEQ culture arises from a respectful and positive dialogue in between people. Our leaders shall not only be technically qualified, but also have high interpersonal skills”

every day practices. “We therefore demand the adequate and necessary information from clients, third parties and subcontractors provided to the workforce planning or performing a subsea operation involving risks,” states the company.

The safe delivery of subsea services starts with active involvement of Reach Subsea’s offshore workforce during the planning phases. This means that the competence of each individual approved to work for the company has to represent the technical integrity needed to operate safely as an organisation.

Reach Subsea therefore safeguard its people, and provide them with all the

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necessary support in their search for the safest and most optimal solutions.

The Technip contract

In November 2014, Eidesvik Offshore and Reach Subsea entered into a firm contract with Technip in Norway. “This is a historic milestone for Eidesvik, and we are proud that Technip, a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry, has showed us such trust. This is consolidating the business cooperation between our companies,” Jan Fredrik Meling, CEO in Eidesvik said.

Reach Subsea is in charge of executing the contract using Eidesvik Offshore’s new build TBN Viking Neptun, equipped with Reach ROVs and manned by Eidesvik marine personnel and Reach ROV personnel and engineers.

TBN Viking Neptun is a state-of-theart vessel, and represents the largest investment Eidesvik has done in the

Reach Subsea staff

We are pleased to see that the collaboration agreement with Eidesvik has already resulted in contract awards. This is a testament to our ambition of finding solutions for our clients combining the right assets, the right equipment, and all engineered together by our highly competent staff”

subsea segment. The vessel is well positioned for future environmental requirements in vulnerable areas like the Arctic, through high focus on environment-friendly solutions in the development process of the vessel.

Reach Subsea CEO, Jostein Alendal provided comment on the new partnership: “We are pleased to see that the collaboration agreement with Eidesvik has already resulted in contract awards. This is a testament to our ambition of finding solutions for our clients combining the right assets, the right equipment, and all engineered together by our highly competent staff.”

Edda Fonn

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The Survey Interceptor

In December 2014, Reach Subsea reported on the successful testing of a previous invention, an innovative survey ROV called the Surveyor Interceptor, currently being tested on the Edda Fonn vessel. Together with survey partner MMT Sweden AB (MMT) and manufacturer Kystdesign, the Surveyor Interceptor is designed to carry survey instrumentation to perform pipe line inspection, route surveys, subsea installation surveys and environmental surveys down to 2,000 metres water depth.

“Given the vehicle’s features, including the hydradynamic shape, it is intended to deliver ultra highresolution data at a substantially lower cost per kilometre compared with today’s assets,” comments the company.

The Surveyor Interceptor is performing according to expectations, both on speed and the survey data quality on the Edda Fonn vessel.

“We are so far very pleased with the results and the data quality and performance is within or above expectations. The Surveyor Interceptor will be ready for commercial work this year and we are looking forward to presenting this innovative ROV to our clients,” says Jostein Alendal (CEO, Reach Subsea) and Ola Oskarsson (Founder and Project Leader, MMT).

We’ll find a way or make a way!

Aut viam inveniam aut faciam

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Subsea experts With a vision to be the preferred operator by those who need the best possible subsea partner, Reach Subsea strive to be a business that will always perform above expectation. As an advanced provider in the subsea market, the company is highly regarded by all its stakeholders as “a flexible, competent and top performer with a world class status in engineering, delivering advanced solutions to technologically demanding customers in need for engineering and equipment/spreads related to subsea operations”.

For more information, visit: www.reachsubsea.com Dina Star

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OPEN WORLD Oracle OpenWorld San Francisco is the most important annual business and technology conference for Oracle customers, prospective customers, and partners. It offers thousands of educational sessions, hundreds of demos and hands-on labs and exhibitions from more than 450 partners and customers from around the world showcasing applications, middleware, database, server and storage systems, industries, management, cloud, and infrastructure solutions-all engineered for innovation. In 2014, there were 60,000 attendees (and more than 7 million online) from 145 countries. This supplement gives an outline of the major Oracle news announced at the event. Cloud was the main focus – read on to get detailed insights into the stories from the show.

Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Donovan Smith

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CLOUD Larry Ellison Executive Chairman & Chief Technology Officer (Courtesy of Hartmann Studios)

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capabilities, especially for social networking and mobile computing.

For example, when it comes to providing customers with a cloudbased application development environment-what’s known as platform as a service (PaaS)- Ellison What new perspectives on was enthusiastic about his company’s Cloud Computing came out progress in building up its platform. of OpenWorld?

Larry Ellison, Oracle’s co-founder and technology He pointed to multitenancy, highvisionary, gave a capacity crowd plenty to get excited speed analytics, and social and mobile about at his opening keynote of Oracle OpenWorld capabilities that “endow apps with 2014. 2014 marked “an inflection point” for Oracle, modernity”, which customers will make he told the standing-room only group of more than use of automatically when they employ 11,000, “a turning point, really” in terms of the the cloud service. company’s delivery on its promise to innovate in As expected, Oracle is making every aspect of cloud computing. available its flagship Oracle Database Ellison, who recently stepped down as Oracle’s 12c as a cloud service, which Ellison CEO to become Executive Chairman and Chief predicts will become the company’s Technology Officer, began his session by alluding most significant cloud offering. “Our to Oracle’s decades-long commitment to allowing ISVs have been waiting for this, our customers to update their applications to nextcustomers have been waiting for this,” generation platforms without having to rewrite a he said. single line of code. He closed by saying that ensuring The enterprise database as a cloud the security of new and future cloud services will be service means customers can migrate “job one here at Oracle, and that’s the promise we any of their Oracle applications and make you for the next 30 years”. databases to its cloud “with the push In 2014, in particular, “we’ve been very, very of a button”, Ellison said. That, and busy”, Ellison said, pointing to three areas of cloud “Not only does it get moved but it gets services where Oracle has expended considerable modernised”, he said. effort and investment.

Ellison also talked about a third In terms of cloud applications, or SaaS (Software area of enterprise cloud services, as a Service), Oracle has “the largest portfolio of infrastructure as a service (IaaS), which applications [in the cloud] of anybody”, Ellison said. gives customers access to compute He discussed the company’s work moving industrialresources (including virtualisation) and strength ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) data storage capacity over the Internet. applications to the cloud, claiming the technology high Ellison said Oracle would make its IaaS ground there. “We are the first mover in this space, and as low-cost as any of its competitors. we are continually adding products,” he said.

“Our job is to do [IaaS] with better Oracle has been catching up to rival Salesforce.com security and better reliability at the in sales cloud applications-despite its rival’s 15-year same price,” Ellison said. head start, he said. At the same time, Oracle’s human Ellison emphasised the extent of capital management suite, which incorporates “core Oracle’s cloud infrastructure, which HR”, or enterprise-level human resources capabilities, includes 30,000 computers and 400 is an industry leader, Ellison said, in particular because petabytes of data supporting 62 million “our HCM is tightly coupled with our social tools.” users a day. “Our cloud is bigger than Throughout his speech Ellison drove home that point, people think, and it’s going to get a lot that Oracle’s cloud offerings incorporate advanced bigger,” Ellison predicted.

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HOW IS CLOUD COMPUTING CHANGING THE FACE OF ORACLE? HOW IS ORACLE CHANGING THE FACE OF CLOUD? Mark Hurd Oracle CEO (Courtesy of Hartmann Studios) Mark Hurd, Oracle CEO, gave a comprehensive and wide-ranging briefing to journalists at Oracle OpenWorld, covering several important aspects of Oracle’s view of the Cloud.

On the cloud potentially cutting into Oracle’s enterprise software business:

budgets and they’ve got to go to standard capabilities. And that’s why you see them transforming, in many cases, one app and one process at a time. But make no mistake, they will transform, and when they do they will bring the whole market with them.”

decisions being made as a result of that data,” Hurd said.

To what extent do customers need to move workloads back and forth between the cloud and on premises, as enabled by Oracle Cloud platform?

Building applications involves several stages, at least one of whichdevelopment and testing- lends itself to the cloud, while the actual production In many cases, SaaS cloud providers are environment may or may not be in the narrowly focused vertical suppliers. “But cloud. “It’s very likely that you may still companies not only work vertically, they have that production capability onpremise, and for compelling reasons,” have to work horizontally,” Hurd said.

Hurd said, including regulatory issues So instead of a plethora of niche cloud providers, savvy companies are realising and data privacy. “The ability now to they need to “pick a couple of really key build and move those applications across dev test and across production is partners,” he said. “And we’re the only one today that comes with the breadth going to be very cool.” and depth of capability that can provide that kind of support.”

On Oracle’s expanding

Are businesses looking to Oracle to become their primary or even their only cloud service provider?

“If we were concerned about that, we wouldn’t have the incredible speed of releases of new products in SaaS (software as a service) and PaaS (platform as a service) that we do,” Hurd said. “We’re focused on going where the customers are going and where we think IT is headed.” Oracle generates considerable revenue with its on-premise apps, Hurd pointed out, and will continue to do so. Nonetheless, Oracle’s role in the Internet of Things: technology transformation cannot be “You’re going to see more and more denied. “We think that the growth for us in the future is [in] driving the cloud,” things hooked to the Internet that are data driven but that aren’t driven by Hurd said. humans,” Hurd said. “And now the economics are such that people can Are large enterprises really look for these granular connections of moving to Software as a Service in the same way that smaller data points to make better decisions faster.” Oracle offers capability at every companies are? level of the Internet of Things- the When it comes to technology embedded-device level, with Java, and transformation, big companies are in something of a bind, Hurd noted. Many at the analytics level, with its Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine, and depend on aging, highly customised everywhere in between. “We can help applications that are difficult to swap automate from the point of contact out. “This is a big transformation for all the way through the control and these big companies,” he said. “The analysis of that data, and [in] different problem is, they don’t have bigger

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offerings:

Oracle is providing low-cost compute resources and storage capacity as part of its “complete cloud” strategy. “Our view is to allow our customers to scale compute, to scale storage, within the context of our platform and our SaaS capability,” Hurd said. And because Oracle will make it easy to employ those resources, customers will take advantage. “I don’t think they’re going to want to build out an application, get Java, and get Oracle, and then go to Amazon for some compute and storage. Some may, and if they do, that’s great. But we want to make it easy for them- that’s why we’re doing this.”

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WHAT ARE THE LATEST EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENTS IN CLOUD COMPUTING FOR ORACLE?

Loïc le Guisquet Executive Vice President, EMEA Region

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Oracle has opened two new data as close to the customer as possible. centres in Germany to meet customer The new German data centres requirements for cloud security and are covering a very wide range of privacy. Loïc Le Guisquet, Oracle Oracle’s cloud solutions, including Executive Vice President for the Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning EMEA region, announced this Cloud, Oracle Human Capital during his press conference at Management Cloud, and Oracle Oracle OpenWorld.

Customer Experience Cloud.

One of those data centres will be Several factors play a role in located in Frankfurt and the other data security and privacy, including in Munich. This is a response to the very strong who has access to the data and demand in Germany for this type of service as well operational processes. “The location as to customer questions surrounding security and of the data is only one factor in that proximity. Le Guisquet said: “I want to make sure whole conversation,” commented Le we are able to respond to that level of demand.”

Guisquet. “It’s an important one-one While many cloud that people focus technology vendors on, and one that are tiptoeing around is relevant. the question of data We opened privacy in the wake data centres in of ex-CIA contractor Germany because Edward Snowden’s we feel that’s going revelations, Oracle is to help respond willing to discuss the to customers Several question openly in in Germany.” factors play order to serve It may be precisely a role in data the best interests because of this security and of its customers. close attention to Oracle runs 19 data customer needs that privacy, including centres around the Oracle’s EMEA region who has access globe, including (now) was able to achieve to the data and six in the European an astounding nine Union. The investment percent growth operational in this expansion of with cloud growing processes” Oracle’s data centre more than 80 footprint is part of a percent in the fiscal growing investment in quarter ending cloud. Oracle continues September 2014, expanding its focus despite a challenging on this area, and its geopolitical climate ongoing investments throughout are about getting cloud the region.

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WHAT WAS THE KEY NEWS AT OPENWORLD FOR ORACLE’S CLOUD PLATFORM? Discovery lets users profile, explore, Kurian referenced several other technology developments and analyse Hadoop data, and do

by Oracle: prediction and correlation. “With Oracle Big Data Discovery, you will be New cloud services: Oracle Integration able to explore and find patterns and Cloud Service, which enables SaaSproblems with your data,” Kurian said. to-SaaS and SaaS-to-on-premises Oracle Big Data Discovery combined integration, and Oracle Process with Oracle Big Data SQL- a recently Cloud Service, which provides introduced toolset for working with cloud-based business process data across relational and big data management (BPM) capabilities. systems using Structured Query Oracle’s high-performance inThomas Kurian Language- represents a powerful memory database and Oracle Executive Vice President, combination of technologies for Business Intelligence Suite are now Product Development supporting a truly effective big available on Oracle Exalytics. data strategy.

A new interface for Oracle Business (Courtesy of Hartmann Studios) Kurian also introduced an important Intelligence Suite that enables addition to Oracle’s cloud services, users to “mash up” personal data Oracle Mobile Cloud. The service with corporate data for improved The key cloud platform enables the development and visual analysis. announcements were covered by Kurian closed the show by Thomas Kurian, Oracle’s Executive Vice deployment of mobile applications on multiple operating systems and device reiterating details of Oracle’s President of product development, platforms, Kurian explained. momentum in cloud computing: in his keynote speech. He began Oracle Mobile Cloud is composed 19 tier-4 data centres, 30,000 devices, by discussing three major trends in business and culture- big data, mobility, of three sophisticated parts: a mobile 62 million people a day, 23 billion application framework, a single transactions a day, and close to 400 and the cloud. He then detailed and sign-on capability, and a security petabytes of data under management. demoed new products and services container, which protects corporate “More people want to use Oracle from Oracle that enhance customers’ data running on mobile devices. “The software without having to run Oracle ability to make use of all three. value that we offer our customers is software,” Kurian said in reference to Kurian introduced a new set of Oracle’s expanding line of SaaS, PaaS, tools called Oracle Big Data Discovery, an end-to-end mobile development platform,” Kurian said. and IaaS cloud services. which allows database managers and engineers to work more effectively with Hadoop, a data management platform for the structured and unstructured data generally referred to as big data. “It’s the visual face of With Oracle Big Data Discovery, Hadoop,” Kurian said. you will be able to explore and find Hadoop is a big data platform for many companies, but can be patterns and problems with your data” problematic because it requires expertise in a programming model called MapReduce. Oracle Big Data

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WHAT SaaS ANNOUNCEMENTS CAME OUT OF THE SHOW? Ian Tickle Vice President EMEA, SaaS Solutions In today’s modern, digital world, businesses and organisations rely on technology to help them run their backoffice operations, as well as customerfacing functions such as sales and marketing. To help them remain truly competitive, Oracle offers a complete portfolio of Oracle Applications Cloud that provides modern business practices for virtually every function in the enterprise. Oracle Applications Cloud Release 9, which is our most recent, is personalised, connected, and secure, designed to help our customers achieve their most critical business goals”, says Ian Tickle, Vice President EMEA, SaaS Solutions . Oracle Applications Cloud Release 9, includes significant additions and updates to its full portfolio of software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings: Oracle HCM Cloud – the latest version delivers a single and simplified HCM cloud experience for all employees and managers.

Oracle Analytics Cloud – a new offering, available now, combining business intelligence, big data analytics, and embedded SaaS analytics.

Oracle Sales Cloud Enhancements – Release 9, which is optimised for mobile devices, helps organisations increase sales and optimise efficiency though enhanced mobility, analytics, partner relationship management, and industry-specific solutions.

Oracle Data as a Service for Sales, a new component of the Oracle Data Cloud. Through a recently announced

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partnership with Dun & Bradstreet, the world’s leading source of commercial data and business insights, Oracle Cloud customers will have access to the world’s largest source of trusted B2B decision-maker data - with unmatched profile granularity- for prospecting, database validation and competitive insights.

Oracle also announced enhancements to Oracle ERP Cloud, Oracle CX Cloud and Oracle SCM Cloud offerings.

Business technology research and advisory services firm Ventana Research awarded Oracle with the 2014 Technology Innovation Award for Business Innovation in the category of Cloud Computing, recognising the company as a pioneer that drives change and increased value for organisations.

The Ventana Technology Innovation Awards, presented annually, identify the technologies that have had or have the potential to have the most striking positive impact on business and honour their providers. More information on this prestigious award can be found at http://www.ventanaresearch.com/ innovationawards.

Another key announcement at the show was the Oracle Analytics Cloud, which was referred to by Thomas Kurian in his keynote. With rapid adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, accumulation of data at unprecedented rates, and growing preference for cloud-based IT deployments, data gravity is moving to the cloud. With that shift, cloud-based analytics has become paramount. Until now, however, analytics technology in the cloud and analytics for cloud-based data have been delivered

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piecemeal, with significant gaps. Oracle closed those gaps by announcing Oracle Analytics Cloud, a comprehensive portfolio of analytics offerings built for the cloud; deployed in the cloud; and enabling data analysis for cloud, on-premises, traditional, and big data sources.

Oracle Analytics Cloud is a comprehensive offering that delivers business intelligence and analytics for traditional data and big data. Cloudresident technologies enable the collection, storage, preparation, and analysis of all the data assets of an organisation. Prebuilt analytic applications provide embedded real-time reporting and deep cross-functional analysis for a range of SaaS applications. Finally, mobile access and analysis is provided out of the box, so customers can access and analyse insights anytime, anywhere, with no additional development required.

Oracle also eased the journey to Cloud, with an expanded Customer 2 Cloud program, which now includes Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (Oracle ERP) and Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (Oracle EPM) customers. Oracle customers using ERP applications from Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle’s PeopleSoft, Oracle’s JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, Oracle’s JD Edwards World ERP and Oracle Hyperion EPM can now join Oracle Human Capital Management (Oracle HCM) and Oracle CRM customers to take advantage of the innovative program’s flexible financial models, rapid startup services, and packaged cloud integrations to confidently embrace the cloud and use it to support business transformation initiatives.

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ENGINEERED SYSTEMS What’s the significance to Oracle of Engineered Systems?

replacing the IBM AIX platform with Oracle SuperCluster. At the same time they reduced their monthly Oracle has now sold its 10,000th spending on power, cooling, and space engineered system. This is very by 75 percent, replacing standalone significant because it means that servers with Oracle SuperCluster at a you’ve crossed over from being an ratio of 4:1 to run customer databases, early adopter product to a mainstream middleware, and applications. product in people’s infrastructure.

Or in Turkey, Turkcell manages I think for most products, you can 100 terabytes of compressed data always find your early adopters. that’s one petabyte of uncompressed raw data - on But it’s a much bigger thing to build Oracle Exadata. This means it can analyse large something that a volumes of customer broad population will data and call-data records take advantage of. easier and faster than Engineered With 10,000 systems, with any other tool and we are moving from rapidly detect and combat Systems are the technically astute fraudulent something that early adopter to the phone use. business and IT broader population.

We have lots of leaders can use to The primary examples like that where customer appeal of people are using the help them turn up Oracle’s Engineered extraordinary efficiency the dial on Systems approach and performance to innovation” really starts with change their businesses. economics. In the Engineered Systems are very beginning of something that business Oracle Engineered and IT leaders can use to Systems, the first adopters were help them turn up the dial on innovation. I think it’s people looking to solve a very, very an interesting change in the industry because, for difficult technical problem. Nowadays, decades now, companies purchased infrastructure adopters include people solving an from a collection of vendors, and then had to put it economic problem which is, you know, together themselves. What we’re providing is a way I want to run things more efficiently. to buy something that’s already integrated and that And so, we now have both kinds of comes from one vendor. And by the way, I can run adopters - those who want to change your businesses process at least 10 to 15 or 20 times the way they do their business and more effectively than you do today. other ones who want to save money.

I have a lot of meetings with customers where Let me just give you an example. they now think of different ways of doing things Atos in Austria increased batch by virtue of being able to use Oracle Engineered processing power with 10x more Systems. And that’s what we’re excited about. input/output operations a second by That’s why we build these things.

John Abel Senior Director, Business Development

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SYSTEMS AND ENGINEERED SYSTEMS John Abel Senior Director,

What Systems announcements came out of OpenWorld?

In his opening keynote, Larry Ellison talked about several new and upcoming products from Oracle, including an automated real-time data backup system called Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance (Ellison joked that he’s particularly happy with that product name, having coined it himself and made it stick before his job change), an enterprise flashstorage network device called FS1 Flash Storage System, and the latest version of Oracle’s SPARC chip, the M7.

Oracle inherited the SPARC processor when it acquired Sun Microsystems in 2010, and Ellison pointed with pride to the specific innovations incorporated in the most recent iteration of the chip. Enhancements include what Oracle calls “software in silicon”, software functionality that is hardwired into the processor, such as database query acceleration and data decompression, both of which serve to speed up application processing significantly.

Another “software in silicon” innovation is known as memory protection, a security feature in the Software processor that prevents unknown in silicon malware from wreaking havoc.

Ellison referred to it as “the most is the most important piece of engineering important piece we’ve done in security in a very, of engineering very long time”. we’ve done That feature is so important because security is a priority for for a very customers as they move their long time” applications and data to the cloud.

“Security has been in our blood for a very, very long time,” Ellison said, referring to the company’s early history working with the CIA and the NSA. “It’s very important we have that heritage moving into the cloud.”

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S Y S T E M S ROOKERY SOFTWARE Rookery Software’s ConfigSnapshot product is the most comprehensive and flexible configuration and lifecycle management software available for the Oracle® E-Business Suite.

Covering all versions of the E-Business Suite from 11.0.3 to the latest 12.2.4 across more than 130 modules and technical areas, ConfigSnapshot assists end users, implementers and managed service organisations worldwide.

By automating many of the processes that previously required significant manual effort, were prone to human error and increased risks in managing the E-Business Suite, ConfigSnapshot is enabling organizations to deliver better solutions for reduced costs.

At all stages of the application lifecycle ConfigSnapshot becomes an integral part of delivering successful projects. From producing automatic documentation of application setups and comparing across environments to ensure accuracy and consistency to enabling planning and migration of setups and tracking change over time.

ConfigSnapshot also provides in depth investigation including impact analysis for both application patching and upgrades. Organizations are able to focus their testing on affected areas and manage the effects on their customisations.

Effective security is a key focus for our customers. ConfigSnapshot enables them to understand access controls, implement segregation of duties reporting as well as full audit tracking for their most sensitive data.

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COMPLEX BUSINESS CHALLENGES REQUIRE SIMPLE TECH SOLUTIONS

John Fowler Executive Vice President, Systems

The words “commodity system hardware” should describe something very simple. Being a commodity, system hardware should be easy to fit to a system design, source, assemble, configure, run, and manage. Based only on the words “commodity system hardware”, that’s what the experience should be.

As a commodity, commodity system hardware should deliver optimal or near-optimal performance to the business quickly and easily, and that performance should improve in a linear fashion for every additional gigabyte or gigahertz or other measure of improvement in that new hardware.

After all, commodity hardware is sold based on clearly enumerated specifications, and an increase in hardware capability should map simply and easily to business application performance improvements.

But as businesses struggle to integrate commodity system hardware into their data centres now, the reality of “commodity” is not simple. The reality of sourcing, assembling, configuring, running, managing, and optimising a collection of bestof-breed or any less-than-best mix of different commodity system hardware is complexity.

Get real

In his “The Real-Time Enterprise” keynote at Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle Executive Vice President of Systems John Fowler opened with a reference to a quote from Oracle Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison: “…the cardinal sin of the computing industry is the creation of complexity.”

Fowler talked about the complex competitive challenges that businesses face today, and offered a statement of support for Oracle customers.

“We want to make it simpler to tackle complex problems,” said Fowler.

The road to simple solutions to complex business problems does not go through what Fowler called

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generic technologies from a range of vendors. “In order to get at truly simplifying large-scale business problems, you have to both improve the underlying technologies to have better than generic underlying technologies, but also aggregate these things,” said Fowler.

Underlying hardware technologies, and technologies that make revolutionary use of underlying hardware technologies, are a critical part of the Oracle strategy for simplifying large-scale business problems.

Get specific

In Fowler’s keynote and in other sessions at Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle executives described key Oracle hardware technologies and technologies that use hardware in revolutionary ways, including Oracle Exadata, Oracle Big Data SQL, Oracle FS1, Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine, Oracle Database In-Memory, Oracle’s Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance, and SPARC M7.

The original engineered system, Oracle Exadata, pioneered the idea of “smart storage”—storage server hardware enabled and optimised for database queries by smart storage software. Oracle Exadata’s smart storage supports the concept of smart scans, which moves significant volumes of query processing from system servers to storage servers and improves Oracle Database query processing time by orders of magnitude. The recently announced Oracle Big Data SQL also uses the

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technology pioneered in Oracle Exadata smart scans to move query processing to storage servers, delivering fast and integrated big data query processing across Oracle Database, Hadoop, and NoSQL data.

Oracle Exadata also blazed a trail with the addition of a different type of physical storage: fast PCI-based flash storage.

Oracle’s commitment to flash is evident in the increased flash storage in each new generation of Oracle Exadata.

That commitment is also clear in the new Oracle FS1 Series flash storage system, announced September 29, 2014. More than a flash storage array, Oracle FS1 Series is co-engineered with Oracle servers, operating systems, applications, and databases for maximum operational efficiency.

As the price of system memory, DRAM, has fallen, the demand for faster answers from faster, inmemory computing has increased. The Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine was introduced in 2012 to deliver faster answers for business intelligence and enterprise performance management.

In 2014, Oracle introduced Oracle Database In-Memory, which loads a database table column-store format into system memory for faster Oracle Database 12c queries and transactions—much, much faster queries and much faster transactions.

And announced September 29, 2014, the updated Oracle Exalytics InMemory Machine X4-4 added support for Oracle Database In-Memory.

Most general backup and recovery systems look at storage locations and files and not the type of content. On September 29, 2014, Oracle announced

its Zero Data Loss Recovery Appliance, the world’s first and only engineered system designed specifically for Oracle Database protection.

Currently under development, the SPARC M7 processor is a CPU, not a system or an engineered system. But it is much more than a collection of the fastest SPARC cores to date. The software in Silicon technology in the SPARC M7 processor delivers revolutionary hardware features designed to provide better performance and reliability for software.

Application data integrity stops memory corruption As the price caused by coding of system errors and some attempted memory, DRAM, security exploits. has fallen, the Acceleration units demand for faster offload and process some database answers from (SQL) instructions, faster, in-memory speeding up incomputing has memory database queries, and freeing increased” the SPARC M7 cores for other tasks. Real-time decompression of compressed data will enable large inmemory databases to run on smaller machines, without compromising performance. The combination of the silicon and the software will enable the SPARC M7 to scan up to 170 billion database rows per second. Yes, that’s a lot of rows.

Get converged

Delivering powerful, high-volume, high-speed, business solutions from a collection of generic, commodity infrastructure hardware is not simple or easy. A combination of engineered solutions - prebuilt integrations of hardware and software as well as software solutions purpose-built and optimised to make better use of hardware- is the key to simple and powerful business solutions.

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P A R T N E R N E T W O R K

OR ACLE PARTNERNETWORK

David Callaghan Senior Vice President, Alliances & Channels, EMEA, Oracle

A dedicated event for Oracle Partners, OPN Central @ OpenWorld provided a full week of partner programming, networking, and new growth opportunities. Partners gathered at the OPN Central keynote to learn about Oracle’s strategic plans for FY2015 and hear how they can leverage innovations in Oracle technology to disrupt the status quo, expand their business, and grow revenue opportunities with Oracle.

The event provided insight into new OPN programs designed to help partners adopt and benefit from Oracle Cloud, Engineered Systems, and the Oracle-on-Oracle strategy.

In addition, Oracle announced new resources available to help partners make the transition to the cloud, including the Oracle Cloud Referral program, the addition of Oracle Cloud services to Oracle’s Value Added Distributor (VAD) distribution offerings and OPN Cloud Connection, an open community where partners can explore the Oracle Cloud, access cloud resources and best practices, learn about innovative new business models, and engage with Oracle Cloud experts and other partners to develop their cloud strategy. OPN Cloud Connection is available to Oracle partners, as well as non-Oracle members.

THE ORACLE PARTNERNETWORK PROGRAM

Oracle continues to enhance and evolve the OPN program, giving partners at every level new opportunities to excel and grow in their respective markets. Enhancements and additions to the OPN program include:

Systems Integrators (SIs)

OPN is evolving its Diamond-level benefits with enhanced enablement offerings and priority access to demonstration equipment and environments,

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especially as they work with Oracle to drive Oracle Cloud, Engineered Systems, and Oracle-on-Oracle business.

Diamond-level OPN members will also receive increased benefits with marketing engagement, visibility, and promotional opportunities.

Resale and distribution partners

Oracle is committed to continuing the strong growth of our cloud resale and distribution partners, which grew 300 percent in the past fiscal year.

In addition to offering partners the most comprehensive platform to develop, resell, build, or embed their own solutions with Oracle Cloud technologies, Oracle will also allow partners to capitalise on service opportunities related to those deployments.

Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) Oracle continues to offer ISVs - from startup to mainstream - a one-step technology stop for their entire infrastructure.

With Oracle Database 12c, including Oracle Database In-Memory and Oracle Multitenant options, ISVs can bring innovative new capabilities to their applications without code changes. To help ISVs take full advantage of this new offering, Oracle Database Ready certification now includes both Oracle Multitenant and Oracle Database InMemory options.

Oracle Database Appliance and Oracle Big Data Appliance have been added to the Oracle Exastack program.

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P A R T N E R N E T W O R K By using Oracle engineered systems as the foundation for their applications, ISVs are able to deliver unprecedented levels of performance, scalability and reliability to their customers, both on premises and in the cloud, without code changes.

OPN will also continue to extend partner rebates for investing in areas strategic to Oracle through the OPN Incentive program. In addition, Oracle is expanding our Oracle Customer 2 Cloud program, enabling ERP customers to shelve or cancel on-premises support if they move to a similar Oracle Cloud solution.

Oracle will support partners in helping customers successfully transition their business practices to the cloud.

Many partner Customer 2 Cloud solutions will soon be available on Oracle Cloud Marketplace.

Oracle’s partners continue to find success and marketplace differentiation through the OPN Specialised program.

In FY2014, more than 4,600 new partners joined OPN. Today, more than 5,000 partners have obtained OPN Specialised status, representing 47,000 Specialisations. Partners now have the ability to become OPN Specialised in more than 200 Oracle technology, application, and industry solution areas.

More than 15,000 individuals have achieved Oracle Cloud Specialist certifications and 700 partners have achieved cloud Specialisations.

In addition to strong cloud momentum, more than 1,700 ISV

applications support Oracle’s engineered systems and have achieved Oracle Exastack Ready status.

More than 240 ISV applications have been tested and tuned for extreme performance and have achieved Oracle Exastack Optimised status.

OPN’s Oracle Validated Integration program continues to reach unprecedented levels.

Currently, 247 participating partners worldwide have 352 integrations across more than 20 Oracle Applications. Oracle Validated Integration is Oracle’s go-to-market program for partners with repeatable integration for solutions that extend and enhance Oracle Applications.

“Our partner community is essential to Oracle’s success in EMEA,” says David Callaghan. “Oracle is committed to providing the resources, tools, and technology our partners need to succeed and grow and fully capitalise on new market opportunities, such as the cloud. The evolution we continue to make in the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) program is geared to help partners accelerate their expertise in new technologies and better serve joint customers around the globe.”

Oracle is committed to continuing the strong growth of our cloud resale and distribution partners, which grew 300 percent in the past fiscal year”

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VALUE-ADD, LONG TERM

Sustainable

IT consultancy iStone strive to be the partner of choice for clients who want to increase the value of their business critical systems Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Dan Hester

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Stone is a Swedish business and IT consulting group working primarily with business systems Infor M3, Microsoft Dynamics AX and SAP ERP. With approximately 525 employees in more than 14 countries worldwide, iStone offers marketleading best of breed solutions in Business Intelligence, CRM and ecommerce. A wide selection of products, specialist expertise in every product and service offered, and transparency and responsibility in its relationships with clients allows the

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company to provide long-term and sustainable IT solutions.

Formed in 2006 by “Rego Konsulter”, this international business and IT consultancy is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. iStone guides its clients to the best business support through its in-depth knowledge of clients, sectors and systems. With its best-of-breed solutions and accountable approach, iStone offers a constructive partnership and high service levels.

A history of commitment

Since its beginnings, iStone’s stated

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Solutions in IT policy – the customer in focus – has been central to the company’s operations. When CEO & President Markus Jakobson took the company reins in 2007, it was with a clear mission to offer clients comprehensive solutions comprised of the best products on the market.

“We supplement the market’s leading ERP systems with cutting-edge solutions in Business Intelligence, CRM, ecommerce and more. The goal was to form a group that compiles the best business solution for each client through our extensive client, sector and system expertise. As a result, we

offer our clients a business partner that is transparent and responsible in our relationships with clients in order to provide long-term and sustainable solutions,” said the company.

After the main offices in Stockholm opened in 2007, seven more offices opened nationwide. The company’s offering was developed in line with the original mission, and iStone brought in additional consultants and expertise in several solution areas.

Expansion continued beyond Sweden’s borders, beginning in Norway and continuing onward into the rest of Europe. Step by step, iStone

evolved into an international Group in business system solutions, building both structure and operations around its commitment to meeting its clients’ every need. iStone soon had offices in Germany, France, England, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. The first office outside Europe was opened in Chile, and since 2010, iStone has also been represented in China and the US. The company has grown its offering and has also evolved, both in breadth and depth. “iStone continues to show strong growth. Our goal is to deliver the best solutions in all areas we operate in. We

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i S T O N E

HYBRIS SOFTWARE

Our goal is to deliver the best solutions in all areas we operate in. We will do this by becoming even better at collaborating and utilising each other’s skills and expertise within the Group” President & CEO Markus Jakobson

will do this by becoming even better at collaborating and utilising each other’s skills and expertise within the Group,” President & CEO Markus Jakobson said in a statement.

Skilled specialists

Today, iStone is one of Europe’s leading business systems trading houses and a rapidly growing IT group.

During its eight years in business, the company has grown from just 25 employees to more than 500, working together to ensure that its clients are always in focus and they get absolute maximum benefit from their business systems. Quality solutions and a secure delivery of services and products is something that is highly valued at the company. iStone has expertise in nine solution areas that provide efficiency and ease of use in the daily business of clients: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP); Cross Commerce; Business Intelligence (BI); Customer Relationship Management (CRM); User Experience; Integration; Supply Chain Management (SCM); Supply Relationship Management (SRM); and Application Management and Support.

Within these solutions, the company has 11 comprehensive services divided under the fields of business consulting, application consulting and application

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management. “The services and solutions we offer expertise in are all connected to products that are in turn based on ERP systems that our clients have. Through cooperation with the leading suppliers in the market, we promise our customers a thoroughly innovative solution tailored to their needs,” said the company.

“In all of these areas, we are implementing wide-scale development projects, all under the air of delivering even greater value to our clients,” President & CEO Markus Jakobson said.

With the desire to be the partner of choice for clients who want to increase the value of their businesscritical systems, iStone strive to continually work on its core values - Respect, Commitment, Focus and Cooperation - and their integration within the organisation. These values permeate through the entire company and all its business activities whilst simultaneously describing how staff at iStone should treat one another and its clients.

“We work hard and consistently to develop methods and educate accordingly, in order to deliver the best solution for each and every product.

We are constantly expanding on our offer of best-of-breed solutions,” the company said.

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ybris Software helps businesses around the globe sell more goods, services and digital content through every touch point, channel and device. Hybris delivers omni-channel commerce solutions: state-of-the-art master data management for commerce and unified commerce processes that give a business a single view of its customers, products and orders, and its customers a single view of the business.

Hybris has helped some of the world’s leading organisations including A.S. Watson, ASICS, Bridgestone, EE, Galeries Lafayette, Medtronic, Nestlé, Nespresso, Nikon, Rexel, Samsung Electronics, Ted Baker, Toys “R” Us UK and W.W. Grainger, to attract, retain, and grow a profitable customer base.

Hybris sits at the heart of SAP’s Customer Engagement and Commerce suite of solutions, providing the foundation, framework and business tools to create a holistic customer view across channels, simplify customer engagement and solve complex business problems. In Sweden, Hybris works closely with iStone, the international business and IT consultancy.

With more than 500 employees, iStone offers market-leading best of breed solutions in Business Intelligence, CRM and e-commerce.

With specialist expertise, transparency and responsibility in their product and service offerings, iStone provides their clients with long-term and sustainable solutions.

www.hybris.com

THE LAST COMMERCE PLATFORM YOU WILL EVER NEED! hybris software, an SAP company, helps businesses around the globe sell more goods, services and digital content through every touchpoint, channel and device. hybris delivers OmniCommerce™: state-of-the-art master data management for commerce and unified commerce processes that give a business a single view of its customers, products and orders, and its customers a single view of the business. hybris’ omnichannel software is built on a single platform,

based on open standards, that is agile to support limitless innovation, efficient to drive the best TCO, and scalable and extensible to be the last commerce platform companies will ever need. Both principal industry analyst firms rank hybris as a “leader” and list its commerce platform among the top two or three in the market.

More information on www.hybris.com

C O R O M A T I C

The Evolution of

CRITICAL FACILITIES

Coromatic Group is the Nordic market leader safeguarding business continuity and providing robust critical facilities centred on a simple concept: what does the customer need and how can we meet that need?

Writer: Matt Bone Project Manager: Dan Hester

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ith an interconnected society that is built on reliable access to online services and power, the solutions for meeting such demand in buildings 24 hours a day, seven days a week have become critical to companies. Add the increase in businesses using cloud services and requiring larger data storage locations, The Nordic region has seen itself become the new hotbed for data centre and cloud solutions. With an abundance of land available for building upon and temperatures perfectly suited to running thermally dependant hardware, Sweden is the perfect backdrop for Coromatic’s burgeoning services.

Established back in 1992, Coromatic has been at the forefront of delivering reliable power and critical facilities in the Nordic region, thanks to the entrepreneurial mind set and family oriented values of managers and employees alike.

Anders Tollsten, CEO of Coromatic, believes that being an early adopter of security and critical facilities put them in a strong position when the world kept getting more reliant on IT: “Back when the company was set up, the founders wanted to ensure that they offered customers in the IT sector something new and something that would really benefit the client’s company. The emphasis was always on customer needs and addressing them. We quickly saw that designing and building secure data centres and other critical facilities for businesses was going to be big business before our competitors began to take notice of the way the market was changing.

This gave us a huge advantage in the field to hone our craft and start offering companies the use of our services.”

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Services to suit needs

Having established themselves as an early adapter and market leader of mission critical infrastructure solutions, Coromatic has built up around a simple concept: what does the customer need and how can we facilitate that need? More and more clients have turned to service providers to run their increasingly demanding data and IT needs and to lessen the need for inhouse servers and racks and the costs associated with them. Pay as you go services (PAYG) in the data industry now account for a large portion due to the ease of Service Level Agreementbased services (SLA-based services) from a provider on simple terms and only having to pay for what you use.

Companies now look at the total lifecycle costs of designing, building, operating and decommissioning of the critical infrastructure required for robust and reliable power and communications and then weighing this up against a service provider who can do all of that for them and with specialists on hand to oversee all aspects of the service, including continuous improvements.

Banks and financial institutions have been the biggest adapters to

cloud computing for all but their most sensitive of processes. With thousands of transactions being made every minute and countless gigabytes of data being transferred throughout the day, the need for huge banks of data storage and server space for the sector is apparent. When you then couple this with the need for a reliable power supply and network access, the need arises for a dedicated solution that will not only encompass the banks needs, but to also ensure if something was to go wrong, that it can be fixed swiftly.

“When it comes to financial businesses and bank transactions happening around the clock, if a problem was to occur at 2.30am there would be no-one on hand to directly work on that fault.

By letting us take responsibility for meeting their requirements, we have a dedicated team on hand 24-seven to ensure that if something goes wrong it can be fixed there and then without the business having to endure periods of downtime,” highlights Tollsten.

Growing with the market

When a market such as the cloud technologies one grows at a rapid rate, it is in the best interests of a service provider to also grow and branch

ELICOM AB

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licom AB has evolved to become one of the leading manufacturers of low voltage switchgear, distribution boards, panel boards and control panels.

Through our focus on safety, quality and functionality, we have established a trust with our clients that we are proud of.

Our dedicated and creative staff have extensive industry experience which gives us the combined expertise to make us a stable and reliable partner.

The customer’s needs and interests are central, and always the starting point of our business.

Our goal is that through constructive cooperation to build long term customer and supplier relationships.

T +46 506-199 00 F +46 506-199 19

www.elicom.se

SOCOMEC

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ince its foundation more than 90 years ago, SOCOMEC continues to design and manufacture its core

products in Europe.

Notably solutions for its primary mission: the availability, control and safety of low voltage electrical networks.

“Optimising the performance of your system throughout its life cycle” - this is our commitment which is supported every day by SOCOMEC teams around the world, wherever your business is located SOCOMEC is proud to be a strategic partner of COROMATIC to support its company growth ambitions, providing expert solutions for power conversion.

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t: +46 506-199 00 | F: +46 506-199 19

Elicom is a supplier of complete solutions for power distribution, both AC and DC. Combining our own capability with close cooperation with well-known established suppliers makes us a strong partner in your business.

We design, build, test and deliver both standard and customized low voltage switchgear and switchboards for data centers, telecom sites, industry and public buildings.

expert !

www.elicom.se

Meeting the challenge of power and energy performance The supply of reliable, cost-effective power which can be scaled to meet the rapidly changing demands of the data center are your major challenges.

SOCOMEC, an independent French manufacturer, offers you its expertise and innovative solutions for: • Guaranteeing the continuity and safety of your electrical power supply • Minimizing energy consumption and operating expenditure to maximise your investment • Future proofing your critical power facility • Managing the maximum capacity of your electrical infrastructure • Minimizing your environmental impact

PUB 1018013

Discover the full range on our website: www.socomec.com/ en/data-center

Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), Static Transfer Systems (STS), Branch Circuit Monitoring System (BCMS), changeover switches, network analysers, measurement and monitoring system

Tel. +33 3 88 57 45 45 · e-mail: info.ups.europe@socomec.com

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out. Coromatic has ensured it stays ahead of the curve by expanding its technical expertise and services in operating countries. It is the strong understanding of market changes and service requirements that have enabled the company to understand its customers’ different security needs

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regardless of geographical location and then work with them to design and create a package perfectly suited to their needs. This is shown by the fact that more than half of the 100 top global companies from the Nordics rely on Coromatic for their critical infrastructure needs and that the

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company has a proven track record of delivering across EMEA and Asia.

Over the next 12 months, the company will look at expanding its Nordic footprint to enable the company to build up a stronger market share in the region. The main goal of the expansion is to ensure its market leading position across all four home markets; Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Of course there are many options open across Europe as well and with data being big business in Germany and Holland, Coromatic see this as a good time to begin to venture south into mainland Europe. “There is always the potential for expansion in the Nordic regions and we are already looking at doing this over the next year. Although being a market leader in your own country is one thing, but to be able to branch out and become a market leader in another country is something else. I believe that the time is right for us to look at the potential markets in mainland Europe with a

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view to entering them in due course.

Germany and Holland are two of the biggest IT service countries and with the backing of our vast experience and industry knowledge, I think we can really set up a strong business there,” cites Tollsten.

Evolving the service

Having been in the sector for more than 20 years, Coromatic know how to offer clients exactly the services that will benefit them. With a strong portfolio of services and options, the Nordic services provider has been swift to adopt new and innovative technologies. Alongside the innovation of Coromatic is the intrinsic need to show potential and existing customers that trust is paramount to them. Each and every industry has different standards and guidelines that need to be adhered to during the process. That’s why Coromatic work with the organisations that set the standards for security and environmental aspects. Coromatic deliver and operate critical facilities according to ISO27001, LEED, Uptime Tier standard, The European Code of Conduct for Energy Efficiency in Data Centre, ISAE4302 and PCI Security Standards.

With a current market share of 20 percent in the Nordic market, Coromatic has set its sights on gaining an even bigger share. By offering solutions to customers for optimisation of performance and cost, Tollsten is confident customers

will soon be looking to offload a large part of their total critical facility solutions to companies in order to concentrate on running the business and when they do, Coromatic will be there to help them: “More and more companies, especially SME’s, are looking at offloading their complex but critical infrastructure in buildings, regardless if those are hospitals, corporate headquarters, industrial plants or data centres, to providers in order to concentrate on the core business. We offer them specialist knowledge and expertise in running and maintaining systems and doing so without the customer ever having to worry about what is being done. It is peace of mind we give the clients as well as services,” remarks Tollsten.

Another 20 years By building a strong foundation from which to grow a company on is always going to benefit you in the long run. For Coromatic, the foundation was set 22 years ago and has remained solid ever since.

Critical facilities requirements will continue to grow and demand more of service providers and Tollsten is confident that Coromatic have all the right tools and expertise to ensure that the company remains one of the Nordic’s strongest players in the market. “Watching Coromatic grow is something that I am very much looking forward to. We have already seen our user base grow strongly with more and more companies bringing their data requirements to us. Of course a lot of this has come from word of mouth and that it is very important for us to remain loyal to our core value of always focusing on what the customer needs as opposed to what the customer should have. We will never push a product on a client but rather show them the options open and let them make an informed decision, this is what Coromatic is all about,” concludes Tollsten.

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Secondary Packaging THE FIRST NAME IN

Lantech has customer uptime, accessible customer support and the highest machine performance right at the heart of all it does Writer: Emily Jarvis Project Manager: Tom Cullum

Q-250 Semi-automatic Stretch Wrapping System

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hen purchasing a product from your local supermarket or retail outlet, we as consumers rarely give a thought to how it got there safely. From its manufacture to logistical operations, companies have to create balance between timely arrival in-store and the adequate packaging involved to get there with as little chance of damage to the product as possible. Lantech play an integral part in the design, assembly, installation, shipping and service on machines globally in the end of the line packing industry.

As a serious contender in secondary packaging solutions, stretch wrappers, case erectors, shrink wrap machinery

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and palletload conveyors, Lantech remain unmatched when it comes to quality standards. Part of Lantech’s prosperity today can be attributed to its 43 year-long history. Founded in 1972, Lantech now has more than 65,000 machine placements worldwide and more than 150 US and foreign patents for its innovations.

Its global network of 175 sales offices and Technical Packaging Centre can provide the stretch wrapping, case equipment, shrink packaging and conveying solutions to improve productivity and reduce packaging costs.

Global expansion

Through the fast expansion of its customer base, the Lantech name has become known as a trademark for quality solutions in packing and stretch wrapping solutions. “We believe that service is key. If we go to a new country for example, we try to provide a service and after service akin to world class standards,” Managing Director of Lantech Europe,

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Frank Wijers explains. Boasting a stretch wrap throughput speed of 60-160 pallets an hour, Lantech’s wide product portfolio is testament to its years of devotion and knowledge in how best to serve the customer.

With the belief that there is always room for improvement, Wijers says that there is a fine balance between producing the best packaging combined with the best value for the customer to make the perfect packaging: “Lantech look into each customer’s product line and take the time to study what packing method would be an adequate solution that causes as little damage as possible.

“The cost of damage during shipping can be enormous, having

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inadequate packaging solutions can cost companies billions in lost revenue a year. Therefore it is vital we design our packaging solutions to meet the exact criteria of the product we are wrapping,” he says.

The machines behind the people

The Q Series semi-automatic and automatic turntable stretch wrappers wrap the majority of all pallet load sizes and shapes. S Series semiautomatic and automatic straddle stretch wrappers wrap lightweight unstable pallet loads. Whereas Lantech’s Lan-ringer stretch wrapping systems wrap long products that will not fit on turntable stretch wrappers or wrap products that require banding,

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EMPLOYEES WORLDWIDE

We have a presence in every EU country, whether it is in the form of a sales and service office, distribution agents, OEM’s. Furthermore, we are currently targeting expansion across Asia including Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, China and Indonesia”

compression or extra packaging for shipment.

Lantech automatic case erectors eliminate machine jams with positive case control and are designed to boost productivity and efficiency case erecting applications. Versatile case sealers handle all types of flutes, double wall and single wall and most common sizes. With no scheduled maintenance or periodic lubrication required, this means there is next to no downtime for this machine.

Lantech shrink tunnels revolutionise the way you think about making great looking packages. Dog-ears, wrinkles, conveyor marking and burn-outs are all eliminated with Lantech’s “soft convection” shrink tunnel process. The shrink wrappers are simple to set-up and operate at fast speeds.

Adapting solutions

Backed by a team of 500 + employees worldwide and a whole host of indirect employees, Lantech grows its experience levels every day via continuous reassessment of machine design, ploughing its innovation back through the ranks in order to provide a return back to the customer to provide a cost return.

As a worldwide operator, Lantech adapts its learnings across Australia, China, the Netherlands and US. “We have a presence in every EU country, whether it is in the form of a sales and service office, distribution agents, OEM’s. Furthermore, we are

Tray erector lines

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NORDSON

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s a global company Nordson is able to serve the customers of Lantech around the world, being present in more than 70 countries where we offer direct service.

It’s our goal to improve efficiency for packaging solutions and provide innovative and durable products.

As a result of this, we have now introduced Tankless hotmelt units with an integrated fill system based on a melt-on-demand technology. It saves time and money from your operator and reduces downtime.

Optimise your adhesive application and invest for success.

www.nordson.nl currently targeting expansion across Asia including Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines, China and Indonesia; and we are taking the same approach in the upcoming African economies such as Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa,” highlights Wijers.

“Our plan is to increase our presence in these countries where consumer spending is on the rise. This is where typically the retail outlet grows and major production plants arise. As such, we wish to expand our sales and services here over the next few years.”

Maintaining consistency

Automation in the industry is something that has become a necessity due to the demands of modern life. The industry has become a 24 hour machine to cater for the needs of multinational companies. As a result of this, Lantech have to make sure that their

M A N U F A C T U R I N G

Nordson Tankless systems are named Freedom and Liberty for a reason They give you the liberty to melt only what you need and freedom from downtime

Freedom™

Tankless melter with MiniBlue II applicator minimize char and reduces downtime.

ANY Adhesive

To learn more, contact us: T +31 (0) 43 352 6006 benelux.info@nordson.com www.nordson.nl

ProBlue Liberty™

Tankless melter design with a ProBlue footprint melts only what you need when you need it.

SOLUTIONS FOR EVERYONE ANY Application ANY Time

ANY Where

Heurkens & van Veluw is a supplier specializing in producing sheet-metal parts and frame constructions using pipe and tube. We can laser-cut sheet-metal up to 8x2.5 meters & tube up to 256mm. We have 9 bending machines up to 6 meters long, 3 welding robots, 30 manual welders and have possibilities for ceramic blasting of stainless steel parts. We process material in stainless steel, aluminium & steel. For more details, visit our website www.heurkens-veluw.nl

Heur kens & van Veluw Metaal i ndustrie

“for a stainless performance”

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packages will always be the same all year-round.

“People cannot work 24 hours a day, which means inevitably they cost us money. The industry has been forced to focus its efforts on automation in order to become more efficient and be in constant operation,” says Wijers.

The sheer quantity of product that needs stretch wrapping will always remain a long term challenge for Lantech, however it is one that continues to reach beyond expectation as the company is able to diversify when it comes to different size orders, combinations and packaging options.

“Automation allows us to handle a huge amount of goods, and ensures consistency no matter the product. Convenience and speed for our customers is of paramount importance,” affirms Wijers.

Tray Erector Line

Staying ahead of the curve

As an industry driven by worldgrowth, Lantech promises stand firm in the packing industry. Backed by an intuitive research and development team, the company constantly innovates to stay ahead of the curve.

“We re-apply our learnings back into the design of the equipment.

Plus, with sustainability Q-300 is perfect for wrapping 5 to 10 loads per day.

• Safe and easy to use.

• Load with fork truck or use optional ramp to load with pallet jack.

• Roller Stretch Plus film delivery system outperforms core brake film delivery systems.

• No scheduled preventative maintenance.

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policies increasing their emphasis on environmental impacts, we have to continuously develop our machinery and products in a way that works in tandem with this,” says Wijers.

This change is reflected in the products themselves that Lantech have to create a packaging solution for. “One example of this is the use of lightweight materials such as bottles means that adjustments need to be made to correctly apply the stretch film around them; otherwise you risk destroying the pallet while wrapping, instead of stabilising it.

“Also, we have to consider new trends in the industry such as pallets being displayed on the shop floor of a supermarket or shelf-ready packaging, and so design has had to change for this customer facing environment,” he adds.

...with sustainability policies increasing their emphasis on environmental impacts, we have to continuously develop our machinery and products in a way that works in tandem with this”

Additionally, it is important for Lantech to adapt its own packaging to recycle-friendly corrugated cardboard and wrapping materials and make sure that the equipment is able to handle these thinner, greener materials.

Wijers believes that the flat organisational structure at Lantech assists the company not only in its vision to operate as one, but its rapid response to industry changes: “By working closely with our partners, I feel we can operate as one. Above all else, we are here to help our customers and our continuous improvement strategy runs through every level of our organisation to give them an optimal packaging solution.

Lantech has a lot of energy still to give,” Wijers concludes.

Below: Lantech Europe Team

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FOUNDATION PÄRNU HOSPITAL

PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDRES PUTTING

PHOTOGRAPHY: OLEV MIHKELMAA

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A Cornerstone for Healthcare Pärnu County has seen the rise of its primary healthcare centre over the past two decades, and can now boast one of the most significant hospitals in Estonia Writer: Matthew Staff Project Manager: Eddie Clinton ärnu Hospital has realised the development goal it set for itself at the end of the previous millennia to become an important centre of competence in the network of Estonian healthcare, as a regionally liable central hospital.

Responsible for providing high quality and round-the clock assistance to all those in need, the Hospital achieves its obligations through a team of 1,297 qualified, motivated and collaboratively oriented people; incorporating doctors, nurses, care workers, healthcare associates and support workers.

The rise of Pärnu Hospital is a success story significant beyond the individual successes seen daily within the institution though, as Chief Executive Officer, Urmas Sule explains: “Hospitals with national significance and strategic goals must ensure

the availability of quality medical assistance, 24-seven, to everyone in need, and have been established pursuant to a resolution of the Government.

“Foundation Pärnu Hospital fulfils the role of a central hospital with regional liability in the West and SouthWest Estonian region.”

Comprehensive healthcare

Over the past two decades, the Hospital has strived to introduce a work culture arising from the needs of the patient; a development which has only been able to manifest in parallel to the necessary infrastructural changes that have also occurred.

That period of development and construction is now completed however, and Pärnu Hospital is now capitalising on the opportunities created for it to translate its vast potential into a more comprehensive range of care for its patients.

“Pärnu Hospital has developed a technological basis for providing contemporary active treatment in 31 fields and the best opportunities for offering nursing-care service in Estonia,” Sule notes. “There are a total of eight ambulance brigades, while the Hospital also includes a blood bank; the objective of which is to promote blood donation and to ensure round-the-clock availability of blood components.

“This enables offering-integrated services for ambulatory, stationary, acute and chronic psychiatry patients with unstable remission; patients suffering from depression and anxiety; and day care patients.

“At the same time, the Hospital also offers psychological support, activity therapy and rehabilitation, and accommodation services; combining these, in turn, with somatic active treatment, rehabilitation and various social services.”

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Parallel to the new construction, the surgery unit also now hosts a hybrid surgery theatre equipped with a universal angiographic device, while, as of 2013, the Hospital has introduced radiological procedures on peripheral vessels and expanded tests and procedures, assisted by X-ray technology in the conditions of the surgery theatre.

Sule continues: “In August of last year, a cooperation agreement was also entered into with the North Estonia Medical Centre (PERH) for providing chemotherapy treatments in Pärnu Hospital.

“Actual work began in October and the objective of the project is to relieve the physically and psychologically difficult treatment process for patients

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and their loved ones by bringing the high-quality treatment as close to the residence of the patients as possible.”

As a result of these internal developments and the continuous drive towards making the experience as comforting and conducive to recovery as possible, the number of procedures that can now take place across the board has increased dramatically, making the Hospital an all-encompassing site for treatment within the region.

The revolution

The current situation has not always been enjoyed by the Hospital, with the Pärnu Hospital of today a far cry from that of the mid-1990s, as Sule recalls: “In the mid-1990s, Pärnu Hospital

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After more than two decades of development, Pärnu’s day to day operations have evolved and expanded to include an unrivaled range of patient procedures and services to the region

PHOTOGRAPHY: OLEV MIHKELMAA

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worked with two stationary units housed in depreciated buildings, which included more than 500 beds.

“At the same time, accommodating patients was a big problem. The rest of the healthcare field, including the polyclinic system, was fractured and separate from the Hospital. This caused a lot of unhealthy tension between people and institutions, and it was, of course, a cause for a massive amount of duplication and unhealthy competition.

“There was no functional cooperation network. In a way, it was a revolutionary situation, in which people no longer could, nor wanted, to continue working the same way.

“By the start of 1994, it was clear in Pärnu that the situation could no longer continue as it had done.

Pärnu Hospital faced two options: either develop into an active teaching hospital at the level of the republic or disappear as a long-term care nursing

Foundation Pärnu Hospital fulfils the role of a central hospital with regional liability in the West and South-West Estonian region”

hospital.”

With the former option chosen, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Affairs and the World Bank, the new development plan for the Hospital was put into place, and following an extensive and construction phase, the new building was put into commission at the start of 2005.

Sule adds: “In 2008, the Hospital began realising the second stage of its development plan, the concept of two health campuses. As a result, the whole special medical care unit together with rehabilitation and psychiatry moved into the building complex, and a contemporary centre for nursing-care services was established in the former internal disease hospital.”

Collaborative development

Seven years on and Pärnu Hospital is reaping the rewards of this 20-plus year project, and is now in a prime

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position to aid the general state of healthcare in the region through numerous, strategic corporate social responsibility and collaborative industry initiatives.

As recently as September 2014, the ‘School in Hospital’ project was launched, providing numerous sites for basic nursing training at Tallinn Health Care College, Pärnu Hospital, the Estonian Association of Nurses, and Pärnu College of the University of Tartu.

More than 30 nursing students have already begun their training within Pärnu Hospital itself, while new contemporary health campuses have complemented the Hospital in meeting the growing expectations of people in Estonia when it comes to healthcare standards.

This includes a contribution towards monitoring treatment strategies of cancer, vascular disease and preventable fatalities, as well as helping to provide legal protection of persons receiving psychiatric treatment.

“The future of developing medical services is in a more comprehensive cooperation between medical institutions with clear roles,” Sule explains. “Pärnu Hospital has not and is not planning to compete with specialised hospitals in developing new technologies and treatment methods.

“Our position in dealing with complex surgeries and treatment processes is a joint performance PHOTOGRAPHY: OLEV MIHKELMAA

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together with medical institutions who are experts in the field. By acting in such a way, we have been able to effectively engage specialists with narrow fields of expertise together with the so-called export of trainingdevelopment between medical institutions.”

Pärnu Hospital’s cooperation model does not rely solely on the partnership between hospitals but also comprises the development of electronic data exchanges and e-services to adhere to its commitment towards continuous treatment and patient-friendliness.

Personnel development

Moving forward and Pärnu Hospital’s next stage of development largely revolves around investments into human resources and skills development; both within the institution itself and across the wider healthcare sector in Estonia.

“Motivated, qualified and development-oriented employees who value cooperation and human relationships are the best resource that the Hospital has,” Sule says.

“The personnel policy of Pärnu Hospital includes contributing to the development of employees for the performance of the Hospital’s goals towards required professionals and associated knowledge and skills.

“As a result of which, the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for effectively performing one’s duties improve. This means that training and developing people is a very important activity for the Hospital.”

Improving the internal structures available to this skills development has been a core focus within Pärnu in recent years, and 70 percent of the total number of training sessions organised now take place within the confines of the Hospital. In total, as of 2013, Pärnu Hospital recorded 5,247 training sessions, of which 3,851 were in-house.

Pärnu has recruited the best qualified doctors, nurses and other medical professionals in order to ensure delivery of the best support possible in healthcare

Motivated, qualified and development-oriented employees who value cooperation and human relationships are the best resource that the Hospital has”

These sessions incorporate weekly conferences for doctors introducing new treatments; monthly training for nurses; weekly vocational training in affiliation with leading institutions; IT training; communication and services training; and safety and hygiene awareness courses for all healthcare employees working on site.

Maintaining an insular, wholesome approach to the Hospital’s ongoing progression has been pivotal to Pärnu’s subsequent success, and this is epitomised by the fact that 90 percent of all employees live in either Pärnu City or Pärnu County.

With ongoing efforts to improving the final 10 percent in the form of overseas hiring initiatives, Pärnu Hospital is well on its way to achieving its personnel goals, adding the final piece to a jigsaw which has been constructed, honed and optimised over the past two decades.

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THE GREAT FESTIVAL OF CREATIVITY is a unique international festival set to celebrate British business creativity and innovation in Shanghai.

Britain is known as a world leader in commercial creativity. The GREAT Festival of Creativity promises to showcase the best of British talent and expertise, which will inspire, stimulate and fascinate a high-level business audience from the UK, China and beyond.

The Festival, based at Shanghai’s Long Museum, West Bund, will be led

by His Royal Highness The Duke of Cambridge. It will show UK innovation at its very best with live talks, panel debates and one-to-one networking in sectors such as fashion, luxury retail, health, technology and entertainment, demonstrating the UK’s track record in bringing competitive advantage through commercial creativity and will create opportunities for UK companies to break into one of the world’s fastest growing markets.

A unique partnership between the British Government and major private sector organisations, HSBC, BBC Worldwide, BFI, Jaguar Land Rover, PWC, IHG, British Airways, De Montfort University - the Festival is part of the GREAT British campaign which promotes the UK as a world-class destination for trade, tourism, investment and education to generate jobs and growth.

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INFORMATION WHEN: 2nd - 4th March 2015 WHERE: The Long Museum, West Bund, 3398 Longteng Avenue, Xuhui District, Shanghai REGISTER: greatfestival@uktieventspecialist.com