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CASA NOVA…Finn-Power
Commissions New Facility in Italy
Finn-Power means high technology, and our automatic bending cells are at the top of that. “Now this technology has a home it truly deserves!” With this statement Erkki Kaijasilta, executive vice president
of the Finn-Power Group paid tribute both to the EB series of automatic bending solutions and the inauguration of Finn-Power Italia’s new manufacturing facility in Cologna Veneta (Verona).
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Finn-Power Italia S.r.l. expanded its Cologna Veneta facility fourfold.
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On November 16th, 150 customers witnessed Jorma Lillbacka cut in two a red silk ribbon, held by Martti Vesa, managing director of Finn-Power Italia Srl and Kaijasilta, symbolizing the
beginning of an entirely new era in Finn-Power’s Italian manufacturing operations.
Started in 1993 through a joint venture, and since 1998 handled by a fully owned subsidiary of Lillbacka Corporation, the manufacturing
of automatic bending cells in Italy has developed rapidly. Consequently the need for bigger, up-to-date and logistically functional premises has been pressing.
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Starting the new era. From left to right Erkki Kaijasilta, Jorma Lillbacka and Martti Vesa.
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Real Estate Becoming a Reality
After a painstaking search for the optimal location, the extension of the small manufacturing plant, originally constructed
by Lillbacka Corporation’s earlier joint venture partner, into a modern production and office facility was decided on. Despite the membership of both Italy and Finland in EC, it is no simple matter to acquire real
estate for development in northern Italy.
“We predicted the necessary red tape would take three months. It turned out to be thirteen”, recalls Eino Kyykkä, real estate manager of Lillbacka Corporation.
“These things are just not simple. Without the excellent support and attitude of Vedovato, Cologna Veneta’s new Mayor and his staff, we would still be far from the commissioning stage.”
In retrospect, Kyykkä sees the completed project as a real challenge: “There were other major projects simultaneously underway in Alahärmä and Kauhava, so
there was a lot of work to be done on sites separated by 1,500 miles of Europe.”
“Industrial architecture and construction methods are themselves universal, but naturally the cross-cultural aspects took some learning on both sides. I was
impressed by the high-quality workmanship of Italian contractors – professionals through and through.”
That the Cologna Veneta community gives a warm welcome to the new factory was evident in Vedovato’s speech at the inauguration ceremony, and also in the
town map. Whatever the street used to be called in the past, the Finn-Power factory is now on Viale Finlandia.
Italian Stone, Finnish Woodwork
With both nations having a renowned tradition in high-class architecture and design, it is only natural that
Italian as well as Finnish elements should catch the visitor’s eye in Cologna Veneta’s latest and most modern industrial premises. The elegant use of stone and steel
in interiors and modern office furniture definitely originates south of the Alps; again, woodwork and the glassed-in office block reveal touches of Finnish architecture and are reminiscent of Finn-Power’s Kauhava
and Vilppula works.
No compromise has been made in ergonomics. Unlike most engineering workshops in the region, the facilities are fully air-conditioned – a thing surely valued in a
climate which has its inclement months and days, too.
Expert Opinion
Jorma Lillbacka’s penchant for design management is well known, and has been visible in Finn-Power products
and premises since 1970’s, when even the very concept had probably not been invented yet.
Being congratulated on the completion of this latest Finn-Power material asset at the close of the party, his comment (accompanied, of course, by that gentle,
yet very definitive gesture of a hand so characteristic of him) was: “Yes, it’s very good now.”
It is difficult to see why anyone should judge differently.
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710 Remington Road