Behind the gaskets | Expert interview: Developer of digital services and smart solutions

August 13, 2021

Jaakko Niukkala started at TT Gaskets as a summer employee in 2010. After working alongside his studies for several summers, he did his diploma thesis for TT Gaskets on radio frequency identification (RFID) and the use of sensors in gaskets. After completing the Master of Science degree in electrical engineering, he started working for the company permanently.

– My title is Smart Engineer, which in brief is about developing product and service innovations. We produce smart solutions, the future of our customers in our minds. My job is to bring innovations to the traditional field, such as solutions that increase safety by identifying and measuring gaskets at the site, says Jaakko Niukkala.

Under construction: a tool for material selection

Ideas for innovations come either from the wishes of customers, from other TT Gaskets’ employees or from Jaakko himself. The development and implementation of solutions requires active networking and finding suitable partners.

– We are currently developing, for example, a material selection tool, about which we are discussing with an IT service provider and seeking perspectives from various companies. The idea is to help in the selection of the material of the gaskets via the internet, so that the customer gets an answer when needed, taking into account the conditions and the medium substance of the process. The tool is scheduled to be launched at Subcontracting Trade Fair in the autumn.

TT Gaskets’ goals are abroad, but for pilot projects, we are primarily seeking partners from Finland. The material selection tool enables low-threshold to contact us and at the same time it’s a step towards e-commerce-type thinking.

– We will develop the tool further so that we could recommend a product directly according to the specks. Innovation typically progresses step-by-step. Small but sure steps forward, without biting off more than we can chew at once. First, we collaborate with smaller customers, then bigger ones and finally we aim abroad, Jaakko describes the development work.

Long-term work requires restraint

Jaakko tends to think about the goals for the next day in advance. His versatile work includes among other things making documents, test reports and funding applications, meeting with clients or partners, monitoring projects and producing content for the intranet and writing a blog for TT Gasket’s website.

– We have new, great TT Lab facilities where I sometimes physically test the functionality of the samples with a test flange or a hydraulic press. I’m also involved as an expert in internal projects, such as our solar power plant project, which makes us the first in the world to manufacture gaskets by using solar power.

– Sometimes I join customer meetings with the salesperson in charge, to talk about the more technical side of our new services. TTG Smart Gasket is a service for identifying, monitoring, and measuring gaskets, and TTG Smart Tracking prevents counterfeiting through spare parts tracking. My work is motivated by solving problems and developing something new. My long-term goal is to revolutionize the entire world of gaskets.

As a fun fact, Jaakko says his mother started working for the same company when Jaakko was only five years old.

– My mom retired when I was doing my thesis. As a child, I didn’t know one end of the gasket from the other, and now I’m trying to reduce the recurrence in her work by automating what she once did.

Work and leisure in harmony

The people at TT Gaskets are in the same boat, the work is done in good spirit and with the right attitude and good humor.

– We know each other, and we know who’s responsible for what. We have been successful in recruiting, and employees are trusted by giving us freedom and responsibility. I myself have discussed with my supervisor that I could advance my career to the position of supervisor. As innovations expand, we may sooner or later need helping hands. We also have positive experiences with, for example, trainees from Tampere University of Applied Sciences.

– In addition to work, I’m also active in my free time. I’ve been involved in various roles in scouts for about twenty years. Football is another hobby of mine in many forms, on the field, on the sidelines, and in the stands.

– A house we bought at the end of last year keeps me busy at home too. The upstairs surface and kitchen renovation was completed at the beginning of the year, except for the toilet. Underdrain renovation is completed and next we will move downstairs to the sauna-washroom-fireplace department, where preparations have already been made. The summer includes, for example, a scout camp in Lapland as well as renovations and football of course. While hiking in Lapland last summer, I thought it was raining when mosquitoes hit the tent cloth, Jaakko laughs.

We asked our customers for their opinion: TT Gaskets is responsible, friendly, and honest

August 9, 2021

TT Gaskets’ customer satisfaction is really good. This was revealed in a ValueScout survey conducted in April–May 2021. We received nearly 100 responses to the survey from our customers, which we are glad about since the responses will help us improve our operations.

About 60 % of the respondents were from Finland and the remaining about 40 % from several different countries. Almost all our Finnish customers were quite satisfied (47 %) or very satisfied (47 %) with us. In other countries, respondents were mostly quite satisfied (50 %) and almost as many said they were very satisfied (43 %). The proportion of neutral respondents in both groups was a few percent.

Most of the respondents are our long-term customers, so we were interested in their willingness to recommend TT Gaskets to others. In this respect, too, the results of the survey were excellent: in terms of the NPS indicator, the willingness of our Finnish customers to recommend us was 60 and that of foreign customers 64.

Developing in desired direction

We conducted our first ValueScout survey in 2018. With a comparable survey in 2021, we found out what changes have taken place in recent years. Eezy Flow Oy was responsible for carrying out the research.

The ValueScout method is used to find out customers’ experiences and expectations. TT Gaskets’ customer experience has developed both in Finland and abroad in accordance with customer wishes.

Based on the results of 2018, we set our goal that the experience of Finnish customers would develop even more towards active, proactive, innovative, and fast as well as positive. Based on the recent results, we have succeeded well and the experience with TT Gaskets has gone in the desired direction. According to Finnish customers, such qualities as responsible, friendly, direct, honest, and careful have been strengthened. They have an even more confident, safer, and more comfortable feeling about doing business with us than before.

Respondents from other countries said that their customer experience has developed very close to the ideal. In addition to the features that Finnish customers associated with TT Gaskets, other countries highlighted, among other things, openness, initiative, and innovation.

Collection of our customers’ comments

”TT Gaskets is already good, definitely one of the best, hard to come up with anything that could be greatly improved.”

”I’m satisfied with TTG’s service, quality, and smooth cooperation as a whole. And the staff is nice, business with them is pleasant.”

”TT Gasket is pretty close to ideal. Admittedly, an ideal doesn’t even exist, but you have a lot of good elements in your package!”

Our staff thinks we are more courageous than before

On both occasions, our staff also participated in the ValueScout survey. Between 2018 and 2021, the employees’ experience with TT Gaskets became clearly bolder: the pioneer and the innovative were associated with the nature of the company, and the most important features were responsibility and activity.

A confident and comfortable and warm-hearted feeling were new adjectives in the emotional experience. The staff perceives TT Gaskets as a confident player and appreciates it.

TT Gaskets takes part in the Subcontracting Fair this autumn – Welcome!

August 6, 2021

The Subcontracting Fair will be held at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Center from 21 to 23 September 2021, if the pandemic situation allows. Let’s meet each other face-to-face after a long time and exchange news!

Finland’s leading industrial fair will provide a comprehensive overview of the industry’s outlook. TT Gaskets presents its new development projects from a material selection tool to a solar power plant.

The main theme of TT Gaskets at the fair is responsibility and related intelligent solutions. The world’s first solar-produced gaskets were completed at our factory in Tampere, and we are innovating intelligent gasket solutions for future needs. For example, TTG Smart Gasket is a service for identifying, monitoring, and measuring gaskets, and TTG Smart Tracking prevents counterfeiting through spare parts tracking.

Welcome to the fair to hear more – see you in our stand A1103!

TT Gaskets in the museum as part of the story of Tampere’s industry

August 3, 2021

The new Industrial Museum at Tampere’s Finlayson tells the 200-year-old story of the city’s industry and the present day. The exhibition presents different periods of the factories, products made in Tampere and people employed by the industry. The showcases include products of TT Gaskets (Tampereen Tiivisteteollisuus Oy). In addition, you can listen to stories from the early 19th century to today’s corporate world. One of the recordings tells the story of our company.

It’s absolutely wonderful for us to be elected to the small group with which the Industrial Museum tells how Tampere grew and developed to be Finland’s Manchester. Tampere is a dear home for the company. My grandfather Jussi Arpiainen and his two business partners founded Tampereen Tiivisteteollisuus Oy in 1943 in the garage of the Aaltonen shoe factory, on the outskirts of Tammela’s market square.

The roles and the main focus of production changed

During the war, almost no raw materials were available. Innovation and courage to try were the only medicine to cope with the time of scarcity. Working on behalf of the motherland brought real meaning and motivation to work. Years and decades rolled forward. TT Gaskets has developed an automated its production and internationalized its business. The roles changed, and the Aaltonen shoe factory became our tenant in our empty factory in the 1990’s. Textiles and shoes were replaced by machines and components.

Today, Tampere has a remarkable group of large and medium-sized machine workshops and other industrial companies, at the international top of their fields. Tampere is still the home base of TT Gaskets, which continues to give us many opportunities to try and delight our customers around the world and to offer quality working conditions with good transport connections. We are proud of the fact we are part of Tampere’s unparalleled industrial history. At the same time, we are humbly building a more environmentally friendly future for Tampere for the benefit of us all.

I warmly invite everyone to get acquainted with the history of Tampere’s industry and wish you a rewarding museum visit!

The Industrial Museum was opened to public on Friday, June 11th, 2021. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday at Väinö Linnan Aukio 8, Tampere. www.tyovaenmuseo.fi

Admission to the exhibition is free. The exhibition, co-produced by the Finnish Labour Museum Werstas and the museum centre Vapriikki, tells the 200-year-old story of Tampere’s industry as part of global industrialization. The implementation has been made possible by the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Museum Vision grant of EUR 250,000.

Aleksi Arpiainen

Aleksi Arpiainen is the CEO of TT Gaskets in the third generation. According to him, the success of a family business is fueled by continuous development and innovation. In the blog, Aleksi sheds light on his thoughts on where the world of gaskets is going.

TT Gaskets has summer jobs for young people who are willing to learn and interested in technology

July 15, 2021

TT Gaskets usually has about a dozen summer employees, this year as well. Hiring summer workers and authors of graduate diplomas are an excellent recruitment channel for us. Over the years, the career of many current employees has begun with summer jobs in manufacturing or the office. We hope that some of our current summer help would work for us in the autumn in addition to their studies.

– During the summers, we have implemented various projects to develop production efficiency, safety, or comfort. We get fresh ideas from young people, and a real dose of new energy for what we do every day – and often also for creating something new. In turn, as summer workers the students get to see how a modern machine shop works. This will certainly make it easier to put the theory taught in school into practice, says CEO Aleksi Arpiainen.

– Samuli is an excellent example. He has already progressed quite a bit in his studies, and he has an excellent ability to quickly perceive the development needs that are important to us, as well as to come up with new ways of implementation together with the management. He has been very cooperative and quickly became acquainted with the employees of different departments, Aleksi says.

He refers to a mechanical engineering student, Samuli Piispanen, who just completed an internship as part of his studies by working with us for 8 weeks. In the Autumn, Samuli will start his 4th year of studying at Tampere University of Applied Sciences.

What is it like to work for us as a summer employee?

– I noticed that TT Gaskets is a family business because the atmosphere was warm, and the employees’ opinions were really taken into account. I felt like everyone got heard and ideas were gladly received. I could see that a lot is invested in production and its management, and that sustainable development is considered important. TT Gaskets is clearly aiming to be in this decade, and the company has a lot of growth potential, Samuli says.

In his opinion, TT Gaskets is suitable as a summer job for young people who are interested in technology, want to constantly develop themselves and dare to take on challenges.

– I have always been interested in technology – especially production and process control. At TT Gaskets, my tasks were varied, and I got a good introduction to them. The experience reinforced the idea that I want to work with technology in the future.

We wish a great summer for everyone! Stay tuned as we may have even more need for summer workers this summer as well. Our sales are currently pulling very well as we develop our future capabilities in many ways.

We manufactured gaskets by solar power – first in the world

June 23, 2021

State-of-the-art technology and determination shook hands, and now the historical act is true: the first gaskets produced by solar power come from Tampere, Finland.

Launched in June, the TT Gaskets’ solar power plant comprises nearly 500 solar panels and has a peak power of about 200kWp. We considered different options and concluded that the one best for us is self-sufficient production of solar electricity with roof-mounted solar panels and implementation of building automation with a modern system that utilizes machine learning.

Building a solar power plant is one way to reduce carbon emissions and ultimately achieve carbon neutrality. We want to be a pioneer in energy and climate solutions and move towards our broader responsibility goals. Renewable energy is important so that one day we can leave the world in better shape for future generations – the underlying idea is fundamentally the same in family businesses in terms of ownership. The wonderful world around us is just a loan, so we should do everything we can to preserve its uniqueness.

Smartly invested and planned, renewable energy projects are also common-sense investments. We have already prepared so that we can double the power of the solar power plant in the coming years.

Our environmentally friendly gasket solutions also help our customers to reduce and monitor their own CO2 emissions. We are always looking for energy-efficient building solutions, environmentally friendly product and service solutions, and partners who share these views with us. It’s a value-based decision from us as owners.

Let’s hope for as sunny summer as possible, both for the holidays and for manufacturing gaskets!

Aleksi Arpiainen

Aleksi Arpiainen is the CEO of TT Gaskets in the third generation. According to him, the success of a family business is fueled by continuous development and innovation. In the blog, Aleksi sheds light on his thoughts on where the world of gaskets is going.

Introducing our new finance manager Emilia Malm

June 1, 2021

”I have started my job with excellent feelings. It’s been great to see that there’s a positive vibe of getting things done. The company’s values are visible and realized in everyday life: family, courage, expertise, creativity and delighting the customers”, says Emilia.

She has a master’s degree in political science and has held various positions in financial administration and management for about twenty years. At TT Gasket’s Emilia is responsible for financial and human resource management. In her diverse work, she is able to use her expertise and long experience to the benefit of the company and to help others.

We are sure that Emilia will catch just the right amount of the wind to our sails!

TT Gaskets is renewing and investing boldly even during exceptional times

May 18, 2021

Never waste a good crisis. By learning from crises and investing boldly during them, we build future capabilities and the path to success. This is how we have been thinking and operating in our family company TT Gaskets for three generations.

In the midst of the corona pandemic, the faith of many and my own optimism have been tested many times. However, the extensive strategy work carried out in our company two years ago has acted as a compass and encouraged us to continue on the path of development and investment.

In fact, now has been a better time than usual for our own brilliant team to think about the future needs of our customers and, on the other hand, what kind of workplace we want to be in the future. We strive to ensure that we create a next generation gasket factory, innovate intelligent gasket solutions and act as a designer of the future of our industry.

The world’s first gaskets manufactured by using solar power

In our extensive investment program, our resources include our skilled and highly motivated work team as well as our long-term construction, equipment supply and consulting partners. No-one is capable of far-reaching reforms alone, but with a good team, even the impossible becomes possible. Investments in our smart lab in particular will enable something that customers don’t yet know they need…!

The biggest challenges have been caused by corona restrictions, the timely arrival of new machines and equipment, their start-up and the training of the personnel in the new manufacturing processes. In retrospect, the delays were fortunately quite moderate.

One of the largest investments already made is a 3,000 m2 factory extension. The facilities ensure efficient manufacturing and a good framework for product development and quality assurance. They give us room for growth and improve job satisfaction and safety. We have been able to advance to the next phase of the lean program and reinforce it with day-to-day management. The development of operations is supported by the Academy of Modern Supervision, from which the first production supervisors will be graduated in June 2021.

We have increased our cutting capacity and further improved our ability to meet fast 24-hour needs by strengthening our FastTrack service. We have automated processes and expanded our product range with spiral gaskets. In addition, a solar power plant is currently being built on the roof of the TT Gaskets plant. Who would have thought that the world’s first gaskets manufactured by solar power would be made in Tampere, Finland?

Time and conversations are needed for innovating

As you innovate and develop, you learn new things about yourself, others and the company as a whole. At the same time, the company’s strategy is being put to practice and a culture that binds everyone together is being strengthened. Disagreements and challenging situations cannot, of course, be avoided, but they increase and bring perspective to reflection. As long as the common direction is clear, these will also be clarified and we will come out even stronger.

Innovating new is hard work. However, it cannot be forced, but time must be allowed for the perception of the dependencies and influences of separate things and the wholes. Discussions and sparring moments withing the company between your own team and the owners, with clients, and with various mentors and consultants are important to be able to build a snapshot of the present and a goal picture of the future.

Finding good and reliable partners around you can help you succeed in your investment. Careful preparation and planning are important to avoid the worst pitfalls. New processes for construction, machine and system purchases and their procurement, inspection and monitoring processes are very important in order to get what has been purchased.

Our latest coverage on LinkedIn and the newsletter

We monitor the profitability of investments through various efficiency indicators of the project. In this way, we are able to analyze what has happened and the impact of development investments. In addition, we can consider in more detail how and in what way we can best influence the achievement of goals.

Our own courage to innovate and develop reflects the design projects of our customers in 40 countries, in which we are allowed to be involved. Thank you all for your good cooperation! I hope that our ongoing development program will be reflected in the expansion of our offering to our customers, increased flexibility and the ability to better serve as a design and innovation partner.

In the future, we will communicate more often about innovations related to gaskets and our own development projects. Stay tuned and follow us on LinkedIn and our website. We hope you also enjoy reading the new TT Gaskets’ newsletter!

Aleksi Arpiainen is the CEO of TT Gaskets in the third generation. According to him, the success of a family business is fueled by continuous development and innovation. In the blog, Aleksi sheds light on his thoughts on where the world of gaskets is going.

Behind the gaskets | Expert interview: ”Awesome viewpoint on domestic industry”

May 7, 2021

Petri Lehtinen joined TT Gaskets as early as 1998. The journey from sales engineer to product innovation director has taught him to guide others and adjust schedules. Everyday life includes challenges, joy of success, as well as fun coincidences.

– During my first year at TT Gaskets, I took part in a price list discussion at a nuclear power plant. There were at least 600 different gaskets in the price list, added and calculated here and there by different people over time. The partner suddenly asked if I had a raw material price list in my briefcase. He made me calculate the prices of different gaskets based on the list. Fortunately, my calculations were about the same as in our price list. The experienced professional put the young man in a hard place, laughs Petri Lehtinen, recalling that day.

Experienced expert support sales and innovation

Petri started as a young summer worker in Sweden, planting trees to his uncle’s forest. A young man studying to be an HVAC technician also did property maintenance work from lawn mowing to painting carpet racks.

– Then I got a job at TT Gaskets as a sales engineer and I’m still on that path. In addition to my work, I have completed several vocational trainings. Little by little, I got more responsibility when I was assigned as a sales manager. Today, I’m responsible for domestic sales and leading the sales team.

In the role of product innovation director, Petri steers innovations in the right direction.

– We think creatively about what’s needed in the market and how to renew ourselves innovatively as a company. Our latest new service is TTG Smart Tracking, which allows the customer to easily track the location and authenticity of spare parts worldwide. At the moment we are working on a prototype called TTG Smart Gasket, which is related to increased safety, reveals Petri.

– The challenge but also the richness of my work is the diversity of tasks. Fitting all the meetings on the calendar and at the same time supporting the sales and innovation teams in the best way possible requires prioritization. I’m involved in many projects, from the development of sales functions to production machinery investment. I also do operational work whenever I have time to retain my touch, so that I can help others during peak or holiday time.

”TT Gaskets appreciates employees”

In everyday life, Petri enjoys most of all working with people, preferably face to face.

– My job has changed a lot over the years, but I still enjoy being with people. All I can say is that my employer is excellent. The generational change that took place in the family business made Aleksi Arpiainen, the son of Matti Arpiainen, the CEO. Fine, traditional values were passed from father to son. Common values are important factors in how good a spirit our team has.

Although Petri manages domestic sales, he also has his own customers in Central Europe and United States. From America, there are quite a few memories including food poisoning just before the flight and even meeting the local police.

– Once I was driving in a hurry to a customer’s factory in South Carolina. I followed the navigator’s instructions, even though the road was quite small, and the factory was not visible. I noticed a traffic sign saying the road was ending. I didn’t want to be late, and therefore didn’t look for a new route. In the middle of nowhere, there were suddenly boom barriers in front of me. I saw cops eating in their car. They stopped me like in the movies, sirens and flashing lights and all. The story ended happily, but I’ll never forget that little stretch of road.

Nature helps to relax

Petri’s hobbies are close to nature. Hiking in Lapland, boating, and jogging with the Bernese mountain dog Väinö are close to his heart, as are trips together with his family.

– Our children have already moved from home, but we used to travel abroad. The most recent experience was a campervan we rented last summer. We toured Finland for 3,000 kilometers. However, I couldn’t justify myself buying a motor home. I might get a new boat instead.

– I would recommend TT Gaskets as a workplace, if you are at all interested in technology. My own responsibilities have increased over the years and I get to develop myself in a respected position. Our gaskets are used all over the world in all kinds of industry, and although we are a smaller player, we trade with the world’s largest companies, in Finland and abroad, Petri sums up.

We modernized our waterjet cutting with the latest technology in the industry

April 23, 2021

TT Gaskets is currently seeking momentum for international growth. We are determined to create new capabilities. Our production is undergoing a wide variety of changes as we take small and big steps toward our goals. Among other things, we modernized our waterjet cutter as part of our overall development.

Our comprehensive reform program began in 2020 and will continue until the end of year 2022. In particular, our aim is to accelerate lean production, efficient plant flow and improve our manufacturing efficiency. An important part of the reform program is raising the level of product automation and therefore modernizing one of our waterjet cutters. Most of our machinery is modern but the FinJet 6 waterjet machine needed significant changes.

– Now the machine is easier and more comfortable to use, since the manual adjustments were replaced by automated ones. When the cutting settings were adjusted manually, we couldn’t always execute exactly what we wanted. Thanks to the modernization the drawing became easier, the risk of errors has been minimized and the material can be utilized with less loss, says Jenni Virta, Work Planner at TT Gaskets.

– The modernization of the waterjet cutter also improved work safety and environment. It’s no longer necessary to climb on the machine, which had to be done several times a day. Also the noise in the production facilities was clearly reduced by placing the machine in a sound-proof booth.

Long cooperation in the development of water cutting

The modernization was carried out by Muototerä, who manufactured the waterjet cutter and has been a partner of TT Gaskets since the 1980s. Cooperation in water cutting technology and its development has continued for more than 30 years.

– We have a good relationship where the best thing is strong trust on both sides. We are two family-owned companies that share similar values, such as long-term business development. As a system supplier, we offer TT Gaskets the latest technology and know-how. Thanks to their wishes we develop and stretch to even better implementations in return. Among other things during the cooperation, we have thought about how to combine high-pressure technology and automation, says Risto Kallio, Managing Director of Muototerä.

– In the modernization of the waterjet cutter 6, TT Gaskets had a clear vision, for example on of how quickly and accurately the machine should operate. The project proceeded with determination, and the old technology was update to this day. Now the waterjet cutter can be worked for several more years or even decades, he estimates.