Outotec’s Research Center and Leanware have collaborated to build and implement a management system for sample materials at Outotec’s Pori office. Co-operation started with a preliminary survey on the logistics of sample materials carried out back in 2016, which identified the main areas for development in the current operations. The areas for development were identified by defining, which resulted in a description of the new material processes and the material management system that supports them.
“The pre-survey and definition that were carried out were important milestones to understand the main areas for development and the steps for a new kind of operating model. Leanware’s experts succeeded well in breaking up our needs into a suitable and manageable totality, and further into a functional system,” says Kari Liinamaa, Director of Experimental Research at Outotec’s Research Center.
Outotec Research Center is a research and product development center focused on metals production and technology based in Pori, Finland. To support their operations, the company has metallurgical and analytics laboratories as well as a hydro and pyrometallurgical experimental factory. In Pori, there are a total of 150 employees. Every year, hundreds of very different types of sample materials arrive in Pori. Materials are received at different locations, stored in several different warehouses and processed and analyzed in many different ways. Materials received at the research center are then fragmented; annually they generate up to 15,000 partial samples. The storage times of these materials are long and it is important that their management and return or recovery are handled effectively and on time.
This system makes it much easier to store, process, remove and return sample materials. The system now implemented will save working hours for the research center’s employees, improve use of space and facilities and improve customer service since the system takes care of management of materials. The system is easy to use and it is designed to develop further flexibly to meet Outotec’s future needs.
“We have been looking forward to the system that has now been implemented with excitement. This system significantly changes our daily work,” says Kari Liinamaa.
“For Leanware, Outotec’s sample material management system has sincerely expanded our vision and expertise in materials logistics. We certainly are excited about this project and co-operation!” says Janne Viinikkala, Chief Executive Officer of Leanware.
