Elisa Smart Factory and Innofactor Join the Intelligent Industry Ecosystem

The Intelligent Industry Ecosystem brings together the top players in Finnish industry to develop data-driven products and services.

The cooperation between Finnish industry’s leading companies takes a significant leap forward. ‘Elisa Smart Factory and Innofactor Plc bring a great deal of essential ICT and data expertise to our ecosystem. This is a step towards European leadership in utilizing the opportunities of digitalization’, evaluates Juha Pankakoski, the Chief Digital Officer of Konecranes and Chairman for the Intelligent Industry Ecosystem. Intelligent Industry brings together the top players in Finnish industry to develop data-driven products and services.

‘Our ecosystem is top-notch. Intelligent Industry has succeeded in creating awareness and appeal that continue bringing new world-class organizations on board. Elisa Smart Factory and Innofactor further strengthen the ecosystem’s digital expertise and therefore the future seems extremely promising’, rejoices Antti Karjaluoto, the ecosystem lead of Intelligent Industry.

Intelligent Industry’s key players are all leaders in their respective industries: Cargotec as developer of intelligent cargo handling solutions, Fastems as provider of robotics solutions, HT Laser aspioneer in component manufacturing, Konecranes as developer of material handling solutions, Nokia as developer of communication services, Ponsse as technology leader in harvesting solutions, Prima Power as innovator of laser and sheet metal working technology, Raute as technology leader in wood products, SSAB as digitizer of steel production and Tieto as data services provider.

The leader of Elisa’s Smart Factory solution Kari Terho is satisfied.

‘It is a great pleasure to join this group. We have sought top-class partners and we have now found them. We have unique expertise in forecasting and optimizing production processes, and we are already trusted by many global manufacturers. We are looking forward to working with our new Intelligent Industry partners, both providing value for them as well as learning from them. Win-win, as it needs to be in a partnership’, states Terho.

Elisa Smart Factory is already implemented in Aachen, Germany, where Elisa 3D Digital Factory accelerates the quality and efficiency of the production process of electric cars.

‘We are renewing the future of European industry with Artificial Intelligence, 3D and augmented reality. This, combined with the huge capabilities Intelligent Industry is providing for the manufacturing industry, will result in a leap to the forefront of Europe’, Terho sums up.

Regardless of the metrics, the potential of Intelligent Industry is tremendous. Business Finland finances the ecosystem’s operations together with the companies themselves.

Intelligent improvements with intelligent methods

Innofactor brings its own type of intelligent high-class expertise to the ecosystem. Different IoT solutions and machine learning are Innofactor’s greatest assets for developing the intelligence of the manufacturing industry.

‘For us this means three things in particular. First of all, we are now really focusing on the manufacturing industry. Secondly, we have a lot to learn from the Intelligent Industry’s founding companies. Third comes our own contribution. We believe that we have a lot to contribute in raising the entire ecosystem to the European top’, sums up Mikko Myllys, Vice President, Productized Solutions of Innofactor.

‘In our experience room we can simulate different kinds of operating models for our customers, for example in developing safety as realistically as possible. With a Microsoft HoloLens VR headset an expert can, for example, see a factory’s maintenance needs even if they were physically on the other side of the world. We know how to run data in order to obtain the maximum benefit for concrete improvements’, Myllys describes the tools developed for Microsoft-based solutions.

Intelligent Industry has its finger on the pulse

Intelligent Industry’s appeal to the key players in the manufacturing and digital industries is no coincidence.

‘Intelligent Industry is now leading the way for Finnish as well as European industry. DIMECC has already been the most important innovation ecosystem for the Finnish industry for over ten years, but now Intelligent Industry is focused on utilizing data. Thus, it is keeping its fingers on the pulse as much as possible. The billions being created in added value through the Intelligent Industry is very significant on the national level also’, states Pankakoski, the Chairman for the ecosystem.