Meltex is one of Finland’s largest and most respected manufacturers of infrastructure products. They offer a comprehensive range of municipal engineering pipelines, wells, pumping stations, and geotextiles. The company’s mission is to responsibly manufacture durable products that build an infrastructure that serves the society for generations to come. Meltex’s vision is to be the leading player in the market with a service concept that best facilitates the daily life of the customer.
Meltex invests heavily in the occupational safety, training, and well-being of its personnel. In terms of environmental issues, the company has increased recycling, improved the energy efficiency of its processes as well as reduced the amount of waste it produces. “As a manufacturer of plastic products, we are aware of our responsibility to develop plastic recycling throughout society,” says Eemi Kotovaara, Pipe Production Manager. Meltex uses climate-neutral electricity and strives to minimize emissions from the transportation of its products by locating its production close to its markets. Transparency and openness are important to the company that wants to be a reliable and responsible partner to all its stakeholders.
Meltex decided to contact Extron’s team based on previous positive experiences with another pipe production line. They already had a similar automatic seal installation device for corrugated pipes in use, Mecaring DW. “It was already quite clear at that point that if we ever needed something similar for other lines, there would be no need to look for another supplier,” Kotovaara explains.
The company had expectations for the project, with hopes that suggestions for improvement would be listened to and that the cooperation would go smoothly. The design phase progressed efficiently and without communication problems. “The machine was designed to be narrower, which made it possible to change the handedness. The interaction was flexible on both sides,” Kotovaara describes. “Extron’s solutions met the original needs and objectives.”
As part of a larger automation project, Mecaring DW has enabled an increase in production speeds by about 30% while reducing the need for committed personnel capacity. “Job satisfaction has increased significantly, as small manual tasks have been eliminated while ergonomics has improved,” Kotovaara explains. The project has also made it possible to make changes to the entire organizational structure of the production, creating natural career paths for employees.
Meltex is happy to recommend Extron’s services. “The collaboration is really good. We can discuss things openly and honestly. Compared to other suppliers, they respond quickly, communication is easy, and it’s easier to deal with things face to face,” Kotovaara notes.
MECARING
Extron MECARING makes automatic seal inserting easy and effective. Our flexible design reduces human errors and provides you optimal tools for various types of plastic pipes and pipe fittings with all types of sealing rings.