FACE TO FACE
Scenes from Pivatic ’ s Open House in October / November . ISMR : How have you embraced sustainability / energy efficiency in your products , processes and operations ? hence an increasing need for HVAC systems . Many of our biggest customers are working with air- conditioning systems and that market is really growing .
When the Russia-Ukraine war started , gas prices went up and we found ourselves selling lines to boiler manufacturers ( which heat water when electricity is cheap ). This business has been substantially growing and we see many more opportunities in this market .
A third example is the steel furniture sector . Although you would think that this industry sector is reducing ( with more ‘ work from home ’ and fewer offices in operation ), we have seen a rise in this market mainly due to more postal pick-up services at shops / malls etc . Large steel lockers , which can be made on our lines , installed in certain buildings or shops are used to store post for individuals to collect . This market is growing steadily .
JT : We have been developing servo-electric punching and bending systems since 2000 . Hydraulic machines with hybrid servo technology significantly reduce energy consumption . Servo-electric technology lowers energy costs in Pivatic machines by 40-60 % and minimises environmental impact .
On our lines , we also prioritise reducing waste as much as possible . Working with coil means significantly reduced or no waste ; no over-processing ; minimised defects ; no waiting ; no need for stock / inventory and minimised need for transportation etc . We are pioneers in using coil ( and pre-painted material ) to optimise material usage on our lines . Technology should support environmental goals and we try to tackle all these things . This is what we call our ‘ Green Leap ’ in technology .
In our forthcoming building project , we are planning to install solar panels alongside our very effective heating system . We believe that we can significantly cut 80 % of our energy consumption with solar energy which is significant in a climate of high energy costs .
A true ‘ green ’ definition is our modernisation and retrofit activities on machines to extend their lifetimes . We can integrate , for example , new software ; new console systems , electrification and automation into used Pivatic machinery . Customers can then recycle these machines at the end of their lifetimes ( which is typically more than 25 years ).
ISMR : Thank you for your time . n
ISMR : What is your approach to Industry 4.0 and enabling technologies such as Artificial Intelligence ( AI ), Virtual Reality ( VR ) and Augmented Reality ( AR )?
Metal shelving parts from a Pivatic line . https :// pivatic . com / en /
JT : We write and develop our own software ; it is a key part of our business . We are therefore very comfortable with digital technologies , Industry 4.0 and digitalisation in general . We use offline programming and Digital Twins regularly to simulate our lines . We also continuously test technologies on the line to make sure they work correctly i . e . checking how rapidly parts can be produced and testing for problems etc . In the engineering phase , we test the software that we develop in Virtual Machines . Visual camera inspection systems are also used to check the quality of parts and profiles .
Artificial intelligence ( AI ) is an interesting technology that , I am sure , will soon have many applications in manufacturing ( e . g . machine programming and MESH systems etc .).
Mika Virtanen , CTO , Pivatic Oy .
ISMR November 2023 | ismr . net | 27