Valmet Automation Inc.

Valmet’s DNA automation system is a platform, which can be modified to meet the requirements of even the most demanding of customers.  Its development has a long history in Sarankulma, Tampere: the first distributed digital control system deliveries to customers were developed back in the 70s. Valmet’s key customers include the paper, pulp, and energy industries. 

Industrial automation with a long life cycle

The product development of Valmet’s automation system is based on continuous development and

long-term goals. The key development themes of the latest product generation are security, user-friendliness, and Web-based features, which enable mobile work. At the moment, the 4th generation of the Valmet DNA automation system is under development. 

The product development of the DNA automation system has been organized into several application development teams working in parallel. The comprehensive product development of the DNA automation system is being implemented by approximately 150 professionals.

“Because the solutions have long life cycles, the design process has to be planned in such a way from beginning on

that there is a migration and update path from the previous versions to the new-generation solutions,” says Program Manager Ari Leppäniemi. 

Leppäniemi leads the product development team of 20 professionals in charge of the system configuration. The team is primarily based in Tampere. Monad has also contributed significantly to the team.

“Thanks to our partners, we have increased our scalability and added some strong development know-how,” says Leppäniemi.

Building long-term partnerships is especially important to Valmet as it takes some time for new professionals to learn the ins and outs of the large-scale development work, which has been going on for a long time.

“The system as a whole is relatively extensive and complex. It takes several months to learn it well enough to become productive. Our aim is to build long-term partnerships and invest in continuity, for example, through job rotation,” says Leppäniemi.

Several years of successful cooperation with Monad

The cooperation between Valmet and Monad is several years old. According to Leppäniemi, the competence provided by Monad has been very strong. In addition to solid application development know-how, the competence has also extended to the field of continuous integration, which has come as a nice surprise. The wide-ranging, multi-level know-how has energized and improved the efficiency of the whole team. Valmet is also full of praise for Monad’s ability to take control of challenging undertakings.

“I have been very pleased with our cooperation, and long may it continue,” says Leppäniemi.