Norrhydro blog

The Norrhydro Product Development Team in Tampere was reinforced in June as an Italian mechanical engineer Ashley Delizzos started working for us.

Having recently graduated from the University of Parma (Italy), Ashley's first contact with Finland was while he completed an internship at Tampere University and Aalto University for his master's thesis. His interest in hydraulics increased after doing a thesis on the hydraulic model of an excavator. “I am amazed how only by moving fluid in a timely manner it is possible to move a complex machine like an excavator”, explains Ashley.

Norrhydro Oy will start a factory project worth approx. 15 million euro, which will enable doubling the current production capacity, once all the investments have been completed. In the first step the production capacity will be increased with 30% and CO2 emissions will be reduced even with 20% annually, compared to current factory. The new production facility will be built in the new industry area of Rovaniemi and the site will enable nearly 4 times higher capacity in long term than the current capacity. The construction work is supposed to start in May 2021 and the relocation of the production into the new facility will happen during the year 2022. Within the next years Norrhydro will create over 100 new industrial jobs in Rovaniemi along the new production facility and increased capacity in Rovaniemi within the next years.

Volvo Construction Equipment and Finland’s Norrhydro have developed a digital hydraulic actuator that increases productivity while radically cutting fuel bills and CO₂ emissions in construction applications. If widely adopted, it could help the industry meet its sustainability ambitions while at the same time improving machine performance.

For the Purchasing Manager, success in supplier onboarding most often comes down to four important areas:

• ramp-up time
• product quality
• price
• the potential for long-term supplier partnership

The keys to successful supplier onboarding are partnership and cooperation. To truly help you reach your goals, the supplier needs to be able to demonstrate, not only the capability to deliver the specified level of quality in set schedule, but also their commitment to building long-term partnerships.

For the Purchasing Manager, quick and efficient supplier onboarding most often comes down to succeeding in four important areas:

• ramp-up time
• product quality
• price
• the potential for long-term partnership

Kemi and Tornio are known as strong industrial regions, but there are notable industrial companies and extensive expertise to be found elsewhere in Lapland as well. Based in Rovaniemi, Norrhydro has become one of the top companies in Finland in the production of hydraulic cylinders, and is now gearing up to respond to growing demand with major investments.

Our story began in 1985 when a group of fifteen hydraulics professionals acquired a local hydraulic cylinder manufacturer’s business operations and machinery, and founded a new company. This was the beginning of Norrhydro.

As part of the acquisition, the new company gained the long-standing customer relationships of the previous company. This gave the company a smooth start. 

Selecting new strategic suppliers for mission-critical technology, such as hydraulic cylinders in demanding environments, is a challenging and time-consuming process.

When a suitable cylinder supplier is found, the partnership is typically formed for the long term, as anything less could mean considerable costs as well as risks. So how to best identify the right kind of supplier for long-term partnership early on in the process?

Our team is getting stronger. Anniina Piira-Wendeler has started at Norrhydro as our new Director of Sales & Marketing. She has almost 20 years’ experience from automotive industry in Germany. Most of the time she spent in Sales but also in other areas, e.g. in Program Management. ”Which gives a good mix to have a complete picture of the business and processes related to it”, Anniina says.

Due Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation some companies have closed factories in Europe. This has had negative effect to availability of components and this has caused difficulties for some Finnish companies. For us availability of materials and components has been good. So far our production line has been producing normally without any effect of COVID-19. We have made availability of components sure by machine investments and buffering raw materials during this spring. In addition, our supplier network has reported that so far there are no problems considering availability of materials that are needed.