Education – Learning is the key to success

January 19, 2023

There are plenty of cliché-sounding quotes about learning such as “anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty” and “education is what is left after you forget everything you learned in school” that are probably not said by Henry Ford or Albert Einstein.

Nevertheless, there is a pinch of truth in these statements.

The actual learning starts when you thought it would end

At least from my experience, it is quite common to hear promises about never studying again once you graduate. Expectations such as knowing enough on the day you graduate and being ready for everything are unfortunately not true.

The wisest of us know that we know nothing. And I know from my studies that electricity is blue, it hurts, and you should put the wires with the same color together and the rest to ground.

Learning by doing works if nothing else helps

But enough rambling, let’s get to the point. I graduated some four years ago and noticed during my first working months that there’s still a lot to learn. I barely even knew what I was supposed to do, so I just started doing something. It was and still is a great method for starting the journey of learning by doing – and it proved to be quite effective as along the way we also met some people who probably knew what they were doing.

During our expedition to the sea of possibilities we came up with great and not-that-great ideas on how to develop our business opportunities. But as a medium-sized company in a niche market, we unfortunately don’t have the resources to do everything we want like some tech giants. As the ideas have matured over the years and we have made more or less successful pilots and launches with them, I now have a better understanding of what I am supposed to do.

Getting qualification is better late than never

And as any sensible person would do, I’m also climbing trees backwards by getting a formal degree in R&D only now, after several years of practicing my informal trial and error method. The vocational qualification studies started in November 2022 and last one year.

My target is to create a uniform procedure for our potential R&D&I cases and find suitable tools for evaluating them. And above all, to have a traditional Finnish cake and coffee session upon graduation.

Open attitude towards learning and teaching

In all, we at TT Gaskets are very open to learning as an organization and as individuals. Many of us, myself included, have started our careers in the company by doing a thesis (and you can too by contacting us).

In the past couple of years, I have mentored half a dozen thesis workers or trainees and at least twice as many have been in other departments. I have given several brief flange assembly training courses to our stakeholders, and we also offer the possibility for certified training together with TAKK.

And the list goes on for a reason, as educated employees are the key to a successful business that supplies you with Smarter Sealing for a Safer Tomorrow.

Sustainability – Doing things the right way requires commitment and investments

December 13, 2022

For the past year or so we have been working on the TT Gaskets sustainable development program that targets our overall sustainability. Its focus areas are the environmental, commercial, and social sustainability of our company.

We have interviewed our employees and stakeholders regarding the importance of sustainability and conducted research to assess our impact on the environment.

Through our findings, we have made a plan on how to improve our operations in the coming years. We are also working on a Code of Conduct for our suppliers to participate in this important mission. One of the key aspects of this program is our Carbon Neutral TTG 2027 goal which is already being implemented with good momentum. We have pieced together our greenhouse gas emission sources and calculated the overall CO₂ equivalent emissions of our manufacturing and administration.

Avoiding false greenwashing

Of our direct emissions, 100 % come from energy: the electricity and heat needed to run our production and keep our facilities warm. Our emissions could be easily (and falsely) “compensated” by spending a couple of thousand euros towards a tree planting organization. After a swift greenwashing cycle, we could claim our company “carbon-neutral”.

There’s nothing bad about planting trees, but taking the easy way out is just not how we are used to doing things.

We like to do things the right way from start to finish which means not spending our money on a dubious forestation program to alleviate our guilty conscience. Instead, we are making actual progress in our green energy investments and spending hundreds of thousands in the process.

Investments for the future

We have already invested in a solar power plant that covers 20–25 % of our annual electricity consumption, and plans are in place to expand the plant to cover the remaining roof area next year. This would increase our solar energy production to roughly a third of our consumption. The rest of the electricity will be sourced from a certified green energy supplier. We are also reducing our emissions by reducing electricity consumption through investments in LED lighting and taking energy efficiency into account in new machinery investments.

Our facilities are currently heated through traditional district heating from the local CHP plant. Naturally, this means high efficiency, but unfortunately the plant uses mostly natural gas for production which is not compliant with our sustainability targets. Therefore, our plan is to invest in geothermal energy and air-water heat pumps to compensate at least some of the need for district heating. And again, the rest of our heat is sustainably sourced from the soon-to-be finished local bio energy CHP plant.

These major energy investments together with all other smaller actions such as reducing unnecessary business trips, electrifying our vehicles and joining a circular economy program ensure that we are well on our way towards a truly Carbon Neutral TTG in 2027. Of course, the journey doesn’t end there, but instead has just started as we are designing Smarter Sealing for a Sustainable Future.

Data – To secure business, we must prepare for crisis

November 11, 2022

The coronavirus crisis, crisis in Ukraine, energy crisis, climate crisis… And the list of crises doesn’t end here. When facing a crisis, like we are unfortunately almost used to by now, it is crucial to be prepared. Like I mentioned in my last blog, our conception in the 1940s wasn’t an easy time period. Starting a business during a war leaves a mark on the DNA of the company, and one of its traits is being prepared.

Our motto is old but gold

An example on how this is illustrated in our daily tasks is a motto we use to define requirements for a project: a good man always wears a belt and suspenders – if the other fails, you’ll still have your pants on. This means that we always think of an alternative method for succeeding if something fails. And we are not caught with our pants down.

Impressive, controversial, yet beneficial stock

Another tangible method for being prepared is the raw material stock we keep. According to modern business principles, maintaining a warehouse is always unwanted and wastes resources, but still, we do it.  And due to recent events in the global supply chain we are not getting rid of it anytime soon.

Stocking over 3000 materials of course places a burden on our business but also has its benefits. We can almost always respond to the urgent needs of our customers, within 24 hours if needed. And when the order backlog is measured in weeks and the lead time for materials in months, it is practically impossible to operate without buffer.

Optimizing stock in the long-term with data

Our long-term goal is of course to reduce and optimize our stock levels, but due to the supply problems we have had to make strategic purchases to secure our operations. This has led to an increase in stock value, contrary to our goal, but has given us more opportunities in the short term. Despite recent events, we are continuously developing our purchasing procedures to increase efficiency.

The latest development project that was finished in the beginning of November 2022 researched the possibilities of data-based decision making in our purchasing. The limited PoC project dived into our existing data from different sources and produced a forecasting model of material usage and customer behavior. The results were promising considering the missing links in data and rough estimates we had to make to get things going.

Unexpected useful results that need refining

We also found unexpected results such as a data-based model of the similarities and correlations between different customers. This can be utilized for the mutual benefit of both us and our customers by streamlining our sales and production processes for better service and reliability. The shortcomings in the data are also taken into account in the specification of the approaching business software updates.

In the short term, I don’t expect anything disrupting from the model, as it is a common GiGo (garbage in, garbage out) model. We must work on our historical data and try to enhance and enrich it before we can move forwards with a production version. The opportunities of data-based estimates are nevertheless endless and therefore I am eagerly waiting for the long-term benefits of data in supplying you Smarter Sealing for a Safer Tomorrow more reliably.

Innovations – 80 Years of Courageous Pioneering

October 7, 2022

For the past 80 years we have survived and thrived thanks to persistent innovating and continuous development at TT Gaskets. In the 1940s our customers’ needs were urgent and resources scarce, due to the dire wartime circumstances during that period. We are unfortunately facing similar circumstances again in Europe and are forced to operate accordingly in a changing world. But as we have tackled such situations in the past, we can do it again in the present.

Resource scarcity in the worst form

During those years of war and uncertainty, our early innovations stemmed from resource scarcity as we couldn’t procure materials from the outside world – we had to use locally available materials. For example, we did a disservice to the Finnish movie industry by melting hundreds of rolls of film to produce gasket material from the cellulose nitrate they contained.

Standing out from the mass

I believe that the hardships gave birth to the idea of expanding our horizons from local resources, which truly came to life in the following decades. We were pioneers in the still very much introverted Finland by fearlessly entering global trade in the 1960s and expanding our exports heavily in the 1970s and especially 1980s.

Some of our still-ongoing global partnerships started in the 1960s. During that time, it wasn’t uncommon for Finnish companies to abstain from foreign trade and outright decline offers that came from abroad.

Trial and error lead to success

We have always been open for new technologies and implementing them. For instance, in the 1980s waterjet cutting was an emerging technology that was doubted by many, but not us.

As was the case with global trade, we were pioneers in waterjet cutting as well. It took time before it replaced traditional punching and die cutting of gaskets, but nowadays waterjet cutting is one of our key production methods. Manual punching and die cutting are slowly being phased out thanks to investments in knife cutting and traveling head die cutting.

Ideas leaning towards the future

These success stories are examples of the gradual development we achieve by courageous trial and error, and the story continues with accelerating pace towards the future of static sealing.

There are currently several ongoing projects including Smart Gaskets, anti-counterfeiting technology, new production methods, design and simulation, ICT and AI, green energy investments and many more. Any of this wouldn’t be possible without the work done in the past and without our current collaborations with different partners such as universities, research institutions and technology companies.

Some of the ideas we have are so groundbreaking that we can’t reveal them before possible patenting – but I’m pretty sure that you’ll hear about them later as we are progressing towards Smarter Sealing for a Safer Tomorrow.

Smarter sealing for a safer tomorrow – now in series

June 3, 2022

It’s no big secret that large series are not our cup of tea. We usually produce between 1 and 1,000 pieces and rarely series of over 10,000. By automatic pressing we can do up to 100,000 pieces, but those are usually small products. But as we are targeting larger global markets, we are facing more and more requests for large annual quantities.

Answering the demand with technology

As per usual, we at TT Gaskets rarely say no to potential or existing customers, so we are already working to meet this demand. Last time I wrote about the automatic turning cell, and we have also made another investment in automated production. Before the end of this year, we should have a new traveling head die cutter that has cobots as coworkers. The new cutter replaces our old traveling head cutter that has well deserved its retirement.

Leaning the process

The new production cell is beneficial especially for cutting large quantities of metal reinforced materials. For large series our manual die cutting or even knife cutting can’t compete with the automated traveling head die cutter. The use of cobots streamlines the process substantially as they can pick the finished product from the conveyor belt and perform after treatments such as marking in the same cell. Before the incoming investment we had to pick the products manually and do after treatment separately.

Collaborative coworkers of the future

Such as in the case of the turning cell with robots, the die cutter cell will be the first time we utilize cobots for our production. To put it shortly, they are more versatile and easier to program than “hard” robots but of course have some weaknesses such as strength. We hope that we gain good experiences from them, and they could be used in other tasks in our production as well. The silly, repetitive tasks are unfortunately not going anywhere when products are manufactured, so any help from machines is welcome – from both the perspective of management and employees.

So, in case you need large batches of gaskets or other components, don’t be afraid to ask us for help. Soon we’ll provide Smarter sealing for a safer tomorrow also in series.

Investments – Turning the decade (literally) with automation

May 4, 2022

Whether it’s intentional or not, we have noticed that some of our customers have tightened their quality requirements during the last couple of years. The reason why we have questioned this is that gaskets rarely must feature tight tolerances in certain dimensions. Still, we have sometimes received offer requests with puzzling tolerance specifications. 

Outsourcing design has its downsides 

This might result at least partially from the trend of outsourcing design services. Outsourced designers are of course qualified professionals, but they might be lacking some form of “workshop wisdom”. This means that they are not that familiar with the applications and components they are designing, and they are especially unfamiliar with the manufacturing process.

Before the age of outsourcing, the designers and manufacturers usually worked in the same building and knew what could and could not be done – or at least the manufacturers gave direct feedback to the design team if the tolerances were irrational. 

Taking action in quality and efficiency as usual 

Despite the possibility of having to follow over-strict tolerances, we at TT Gaskets take quality measures seriously. Currently we lack some competence in our machining department and have made a new investment to meet these customer requirements. If everything goes according to plan, in late 2022 we will have an automated turning cell up and running. 

The lathe has two revolvers allowing us to work on both sides of the component simultaneously, thus halving the manufacturing time. The quality is monitored continuously with a feedback loop from the 3D coordinate measuring system. Aftertreatments such as laser marking, rust protection and cleaning are also done automatically with the robot arm. Automation of this level has not been seen in our production yet and is the first step towards further robotization. 

Positive attitude towards industry automation 

As I have mentioned earlier, we perceive automation as a positive phenomenon which does not make humans obsolete, but instead frees our resources to the tasks we are better at than machines. Handling heavy or delicate pieces of metal is something robots are superior in, but we are good at handling various tasks – and giving orders to the machine.

This investment is a good example of how we will automate our processes in the (near) future. We have already made decisions concerning the next implementations of robots in our production. And from there on, we hope that the snowball will truly start rolling, as providing you with Smarter sealing for a safer tomorrow requires investments in automation and robotics. 

Services – Kanban and why we can’t ban it

March 28, 2022

You probably didn’t know that TT Gaskets also provides sign/billboard services, literally. This doesn’t mean that we are an advertising agency, just that the Japanese word “kanban” meaning sign or billboard has got a new meaning in manufacturing context. The Kanban concept was developed in the 1940s and 50s and has eventually reached us in Tampere, Finland as well.

Simple but effective

Just like the best ideas in life, the concept of Kanban is simple yet elegant. Simply put, you are reminded to order more before you run out of supplies. There are a couple of methods of implementing Kanban, of which the best known is to have two boxes in stock. When the other box is empty, you order more and use the other one.

The two-box method is something we already do for our customers and are of course interested in finding new markets for it. But we have thought about other possibilities we could implement in a similar fashion. Despite the setbacks caused by COVID and the ongoing war in Ukraine, a larger trend has been to minimize stock levels. In some customer meetings we have even heard of plans to get rid of large warehouses completely.

Warehouses are becoming location-independent

Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight but is something we have considered with our Smart Container service I wrote about previously. We are also considering to pilot a virtual warehouse or e-kanban service in which the customer has a reduced access to our stock. This would mean that our customer wouldn’t need to stock an item at all, and orders are supplied from our warehouse instead. This idea has gathered attention from several industries, and we hope we would be ready for a small-scale pilot in the autumn of 2022.

Business technology updating soon

This idea intertwines strongly with our ongoing business technology updates where one of the core ideas is to increase transparency both internally and externally. In the near future we will be able to utilize our data better and make (internal and external) system integrations actually feasible with a platform.

Virtual warehouses also confluence with our TTG Material Tool that has been waiting for the pilot to start. Our vision for the future is that our customer could select a gasket from our portfolio with the help of the tool we provide and order it from the same interface. This could either be part of the virtual warehouse or our possible e-commerce solution.

But only time and customer interest will tell which of these ideas will be implemented when we provide you Smarter sealing for a safer tomorrow, just in time.

Services – Compressing the design of gaskets

March 2, 2022

In June 2021, I wrote about the hydraulic press we have invested in. As expected, things have progressed a lot since then, because we are used to continuous developing. Currently I’m mentoring a Master’s thesis regarding the testing and analysis of gasket materials with the hydraulic press.

Modeling gaskets is not trivial

What makes the thesis meaningful is the fact that gaskets and gasket materials are not widely available in simulation software. Their non-linear behavior under compression and temperature makes them difficult to model digitally. This often puzzles designers, and they are forced to either cut corners or to humbly ask for our help.

Taking shortcuts leads to trouble

Cutting corners in the design phase is of course a tempting option as deadlines are pressing on and projects need to progress. This usually backfires at some point, at the latest in the testing phase or even worse, during production. Gaskets per se are often negligible components pricewise but a leaking connection is multiple times more costly than any gasket.

Humbly asking for our help after a sloppy design phase is a good alternative, but the best option is to let us help right from the start. When elements are still on the computer screen, it is possible to make changes and test what works in simulations. Our Design Board has decades of experience in different sealing challenges and they usually come up with a solution that suits your needs best.

Gasket library under construction

We are currently developing our testing process to make it is as efficient as possible by gathering and analyzing data. We are collecting a baseline library of different materials and gasket types to provide off-the-shelf answers for common cases. This library has loading-unloading curves for materials in standard sizes needed for example in FEM analysis.

For customer specific cases we’ll use the same process with tailored procedures if needed. We can suggest different solutions for your case and make prototypes of them. We can also provide more complex testing setups and design required tooling for it. With our skill set, equipment and material selection, no connection is left to leak. And remember, digitalizing gaskets is just one of our steps towards Smarter sealing for a safer tomorrow.

Services – Gaskets from a container

January 24, 2022

In the 1990s we started to move gradually from landlines to mobile phones. Since then, most of our daily lives have become mobile in one way or another. This is one of the reasons we at TT Gaskets thought that why shouldn’t gaskets become mobile as well. That is how we came up with shutdown service containers.

Seamless service during turnarounds

Since 2015 we have served in three major turnarounds and several smaller ones with our concept. The idea is to supply and manufacture gaskets in the premises of the facility they are needed in. We deliver a shipping container to our customer designed to function as a warehouse or a mobile factory. The containers are naturally equipped with the gaskets and materials agreed with the customer.

The stock container can be delivered for a set period of time, e.g., during a turnaround, or with an open-ended agreement as we have done with one of our customers. As well as turnarounds, the container can also be used to supply projects and maintenance. During turnarounds we can provide a customer servant in the container, but we preferably offer the container with self-service. The stock management is easy to use and is operated with RFID tags and a handheld reader. The operator can also access the stock from a browser-based interface to see the stock levels in real-time.

Becoming even better

Currently, we are upgrading our service to become even more carefree. The stock levels will be monitored automatically and if an alarm limit is reached, the system will order a refill without a user input. The refills are delivered with an agreed interval and shelved by our delivery partner. If a deviant refill is needed, it can be ordered from the interface with a couple of clicks.

Gaskets made as take-away

Unlike the stock container, the mobile gasket factory is provided only for turnarounds. The container has manufacturing equipment for spiral wound and flat gaskets. It also includes a skilled customer servant and a professional manufacturing worker. The gaskets can be made according to a model or a drawing. Usually, the order is completed meanwhile, or in a few hours, but larger quantities are ordered from our factory as a 24 h Fast Track delivery.

Saving time and money, for real

Both the container services save time and money during critical turnarounds, where a minor delay may cost 10s or 100s of thousands. At first, one of our customers was a bit skeptical about the concept and pricing, but after a successful turnaround, they wanted to make sure that we’ll be there each time.

The time and money savings don’t end in just the turnarounds, as a permanent stock container saves both throughout the organization. The procurement team doesn’t have to worry about gasket orders, the gaskets don’t need to be stocked in the customer’s warehouse and no capital is bound to the stocked gaskets as they are invoiced according to consumption. And the maintenance team doesn’t have to pick up the gaskets from the other end of the facility several kilometers away as the container can be placed near the operation and can easily be moved to another location.

If these arguments didn’t assure you, don’t hesitate to contact us and ask for more information. Or anything else regarding Smarter sealing for a safer tomorrow.

Lean – What time is it?

December 22, 2021

We are used to ask what time is it, but we rarely ask what time is. Some say it was invented so wristwatches could be sold. It is something that we can measure and see the effect of, but we can’t grasp. It is said to be the most valuable thing we possess, but we can’t preserve it. 

Doing things right saves time

That is why we at TT Gaskets are continuously improving and Leaning our processes both in production and office. Saving time in the routine tasks we do daily allow us to do more productive tasks and improve. And usually, less repetitive tasks lead to better job satisfaction and performance.
We have also noticed throughout the years that doing things right the first time is the best way to save time. The number of claims we face is decreasing intentionally and for a reason. Resolving claims waste time in our whole process, from office to production. And although we can refund the customer and send new products, the time wasted in their process can’t be compensated

Process before measurement

Therefore, both the reliability of delivery and quality control are our top priorities among safety. These are the business cards we leave to our customers on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. And these are achieved with the persistent improvement we do.
And as we like to say again and again, the quality doesn’t improve with measuring. Although we can measure things with high precision, doing so in the final phase doesn’t solve the errors we made during the manufacturing process. Thus, we again make sure that we make everything according to our quality standards and measure only if it is a new product. Or our customer requires a measuring report.

Investments ahead

Throughout the next year, we are making timesaving and quality ensuring investments. In production we are investing in fully automated production and machine monitoring system to reduce bottlenecks. In office, RPA and system updates are in our Christmas wish list.
With these teachings in mind, we want to wish you a Lean Christmas and a productive New Year 2022!