Collaboration – Earning trust to join the club

maj 3, 2023

Ever since our humble beginnings in the 1940s, TT Gaskets has been a key player in the field of engine sealing. Our first collaborations started in the 1960s and are still going strong today. We have gradually gained trust from our partners and became valued globally. Respect can easily be lost with one major failure which we luckily have avoided, and we are doing our best to never make one.

Trust is gained F2F, not B2B

Our gained trust was personified by the late sales legend Jukka Sunila who travelled the globe for decades and was known worldwide. He always put the benefit of the client first and the company and himself second. We are trying our best to embrace this legacy in upcoming years, and Jukka’s name is also commemorated in our new mica material Micaseal Suniflex.

An unexpected but welcome invitation to join the club

One fine example of Jukka’s efforts was the invitation to join CIMAC, the International Council on Combustion Engines, the big boy club for large engine manufacturers and research entities. Its purpose is to discuss technical and regulatory development of the engine industry. 

We are currently the only gasket manufacturer in the council and one of the few SMEs alongside the global enterprises. The first congress we joined was held in 2019 in Vancouver, Canada, and the next one is this summer in Busan, South Korea.

Last time I wrote two articles for the congress, one about the history of gaskets and the other about our early development with Smart Gaskets. Alas, I was still a junior in the company and wasn’t invited to join the event myself – all I got was a T-shirt, but that was better than nothing.

Climbing the ladder and providing input

This time around I have climbed the ladder enough to be able to join the congress with a few colleagues. Again, I’ve written an article and am giving a presentation regarding the current state of Smart Gasket development (which, by the way, looks promising after a longer backwater period). 

We hope that the event provides valuable insight into the upcoming development of the industry regarding, for example, alternative fuels. Of course, we also hope to make TT Gaskets and our competence more known to other members and participants.

In addition to the congresses, CIMAC also facilitates working groups that address different topics regarding the industry. Currently, we are part of the emission regulation working group but are hoping to migrate to the gas engine group instead. We don’t have too much to say about emissions other than less is more, but gas engines are something we have been working with for decades and definitely have something to contribute in. In any case, we’ll get to know people from the technical departments of our current and potential clients and may find something to work on in the meantime.

If you’re interested in learning more about our input within the large engine industry, I believe there’s still room in the congress. And if you’re not able to participate, we are always at your disposal to provide Smarter Sealing for a Safer Tomorrow.

Shutdowns – Saving time means saving money

mars 29, 2023

We have all heard the phrase “time is money”. It originates from the 1700s and has since become a guiding force in our economy. Everything we do is measured in either time or money which (according to the saying) essentially mean the same thing.

In the long run, more time means more money. This is true in investing where compound interest is said to be the 8th wonder of the world. In our daily lives though, less time means more money, as time saved in a task can be used for something else, preferably something productive.

Lost production is lost in the short and long run

From the TT Gaskets perspective, the effect of saving time is clearly visible in process industry shutdowns.

Whether the shutdowns are planned or unexpected, an hour of lost production in a plant may cost hundreds of thousands of euros. This then affects both short-term and long-term finances, as well as the number of emails and phone calls received. It also highlights the importance of gaskets as a missing gasket worth a couple euros may delay the ramp-up of an entire production line.

Be prepared for the unexpected

To reduce the number of unnecessary emails and phone calls during a shutdown, we have noticed that planning and preparation are key. This also includes preparing for the unexpected.

A scheduled maintenance is naturally the preferred option for all parties, and this is something we have had great experiences with since 2015. Over the years our service and readiness for shutdowns have developed and are still improving.

Gaskets on hand 24/7

Our TTG Smart Container service has proven to be an effective solution for pre-planned gasket needs. It is a mobile gasket stock inside a 20-foot sea container that can be delivered wherever needed. The items and stock levels are planned together with the customer, preferably a year or so in advance to ensure cost-effectiveness of the items, but in some urgent cases we have set up a Smart Container in only a matter of weeks.

After delivery, the stock is available 24/7 with self-service and the items are invoiced and restocked according to consumption. In major shutdown cases a customer servant is also available. The longest period of use for the stock was over 2 years and the shortest so far has been 4 weeks.

On-site gasket manufacturing

We also have a couple tricks up our sleeve for responding to unwanted but unavoidable surprise needs. Our recommended option is the TTG Mobile Factory, a movable small-scale gasket manufacturing unit built in a 40-foot container.

The unit can cut flat gaskets from sheets and refurbish camprofile and spiral wound gaskets according to dimensions, drawings and models. This capability has proven its worth repeatedly as a single gasket can be manufactured in a matter of mere minutes. The service has been carried out in co-operation with our partner, but in a couple of months we’ll also have a manufacturing unit of our own.

Speed is of the essence

In addition to the Mobile Factory, we also offer a Fast Track service for 24-hour express deliveries. In shutdown cases this is especially helpful if more than just a few gaskets are needed, or the geometry is difficult to recreate on-site. We can, for example, reverse engineer a model with our measuring devices easily and manufacture as many items as needed with precision and efficiency. Our record time is 38 minutes from the customer call to delivery, but unfortunately this is not always possible.

To ensure hassle-free shutdowns, at least gasketwise, we at TT Gaskets warmly recommend considering and trying our services. Let us take care of the gaskets and provide you with Smarter Sealing for a Safer Tomorrow so you can concentrate on saving time and money somewhere else.

Standards, at Your Service

februari 21, 2023

If you’ve walked through a door, used a water faucet, or scrolled on your phone today, there’s a high chance that you have encountered standards without even realizing it. Standards are much like gaskets: they are everywhere but we don’t even realize their importance until they cause trouble. They are still very much one of the backbones in our modern society and have been around at least since the building of the Cheops pyramid. 

Time for practicality

An excellent example of the practicality of standards is the creation of standard time in the late 1800s. The need for a standardized reference of time arose as railroads developed and enabled fast travel between cities. Before, traveling took several hours or days so a few minutes’ difference between the solar time in each city caused very few issues. As hardly anybody wants to be on a train on the same track as a train moving in the opposite direction, standardizing came into play. 

Less hassle, more efficiency 

In addition to preventing railroad accidents, standards have been very useful in enhancing industrial efficiency. A world without standards would be even more of a hassle the one we have today. Barely anything fits together these days, but through standardization at least something fits and the need to start everything from scratch is reduced.

You may remember that two decades ago each mobile phone had its own charger cable, and if you were running low on battery, borrowing the correct charger from a friend was not a trivial task. Nokia’s de facto standards of course ruled by market share but were not adopted by other manufacturers. 

Standards for abstract concepts

Today, thanks to the persistent work of standardizing groups (and some EU bureaucracy), we finally have only two different charging cables, and in 2024 mobile phones and electronics will all start using USB-C exclusively.

But again, the power of standardizing reaches beyond the component level. It helps us compare different entities in more abstract terms as well. An example of this are the different system-level standards for business management. It’s one thing to say that we take care of quality than to say that we are ISO 9001 certified in our quality management. Globally acknowledged preconditions make it easier to identify potentially trustworthy partners without months of auditing. 

Standardized partnership

This is one of the reasons why TT Gaskets is certified in quality management (ISO 9001), environmental management (ISO 14001) as well as in occupational health and safety (ISO 45001). The certificates speak for themselves as we (sometimes timid) Finns try to relay to our large global customers that we have everything under control. And the standards are merely a baseline for our operations that is in most often exceeded by a wide margin.

We at TT Gaskets are not just utilizing the standards for our own benefit – we are also doing tedious standardizing work behind the scenes. We have decades of experience in standardizing especially on a national process industry level at PSK. I am currently a part of an expert group working on a standard for installing flange gaskets, and I’m trying to infiltrate other working groups as well.

If you’ve ever come across a standard document, you might agree that it is almost unbelievable that someone has written the things out in such detail – no wonder it takes years to complete a standard. Still, it’s a gift that keeps on giving because you always find something new to standardize. But somebody must do it and we are happy to do so to provide Smarter Sealing for a Standardized Tomorrow. 

Education – Learning is the key to success

januari 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.

AI – There is nothing permanent except change

december 2, 2020

In my earlier blogs I have covered how technology could change the world we live in. Some technologies, such as P2X make our economy more sustainable. Some may lead to revolutionary changes in our living in the long run. One of these is Artificial Intelligence, that I talked about a long while ago.

Rapid AI development in short time

You have probably already heard the promises of AI, seen the Terminator movie saga and cringed at stumbling robots. Imitating human thinking and physiology isn’t easy, and we don’t have millions of years to develop our technology. Still the progress in the last 20 years has been rapid and is probably accelerating towards the future.

Machines replacing humans

As AI based applications develop, more human labor can be replaced by machines. Or actually will be, as companies search the best bang for their buck. Machines don’t need rest or salary as we humans do. This then raises the question that if the amount of work available declines over time, should all of us still find something to do as a living?

Work life in the future

The discussion of this topic often gets political, as it in practice requires policy making. But objectively speaking, it is about how we redistribute the work. Distributing the workload evenly and shortening the hours gets some to rise to their hind legs. Dealing with up to 75 % unemployment rate would also get things heated in the society. 

Some proposals include the use of basic income with a separate currency that devalues with every transaction to avoid over inflation. Allowing employees to invest in the machinery that replaces them could also be part of the solution. 

Solutions require open discussion

Finding a solution isn’t going to be easy, as it requires open discussion in all the levels of society. Open discussion seems to be hard to find these days as people are yelling to each other from their own standpoints in social media. And this type of culture has gradually moved to politics as well. 

As the world is changing at an accelerating rate, we need to find ways to negotiate and co-operate on a local and global scale to tackle the challenges we face. Rooting deeper into our positions and (blindly) nostalgizing the past don’t help when we are moving forward.  

As Heraclitus put it a couple millennia ago: “There is nothing permanent except change”, and that’s one of the principles we at TT Gaskets obey. If you want to know more about the change we are planning and implementing, you can meet us at virtual Alihankinta from December 8^th to 10^th. We are happy to open discussion about your needs. 

Sustainability – Has the pandemic taught us anything?

september 4, 2020

Among all this hassle with the pandemic, we have had time to think about what’s important and what could be done differently. Reduced need for commuting and working remotely has given us more free time ¹. Facilities and businesses around the world have been closed due to health reasons ². Radical decline in air traffic has caused the popular tourist attractions to be abandoned ³. And the list goes on.

Fragile economy and reduced emissions

Of course, this has not been a good thing for individuals who have lost their jobs (or lives/health for that matter) or for companies who have gone bankrupt. But in a larger scale, this has shown the fragility of our economy and that our actions can make a difference in a global scale. During the peak lockdown a couple of months ago, the daily global CO₂ emissions were reduced by 17 % ⁴. Although this change was not permanent, and the emissions are likely to grow back, it showed us how large an impact we have on our planet. 

Magical resources

And to go even further, this lockdown leads us to think how we can ensure resources for our local economy in the future, if our global suppliers are out of the equation. Before the lockdown we were nearly blind to the fact that stuff doesn’t just magically appear in our warehouses. Someone actually manufactures it, and it requires resources such as energy, raw materials and elbow grease. If these aren’t available, stuff can’t be done, no matter how many emails we send to them.

Closing the loop

One essential way to ensure resources for the future is to take care of materials we have available, not to consider them as junk after a while. Recycling is important of course, but things should be stepped up to create a circular economy model, where materials cycle in a closed loop as long as possible. Instead of our current linear model, where products are mostly landfilled after use, the products are either renewed or recycled to create new products.

Giving example

Doing a major change like this isn’t easy but taking small steps towards the goal of a more sustainable and stable future is beneficial. We at TT Gaskets are also concerned of the environment and are planning to start a sustainable development program that can be taken into action in other companies as well. The actions include for example investing in solar energy, enhancing material use and recycling as well as finding biobased alternatives for fossil materials. First steps towards a greener, smarter and safer future has already been taken, and we hope that you join us in this journey.

Sensors – Trouble or Peacemakers?

augusti 4, 2020

You have probably come across with sensors at some point in life. At least if you are reading this, I’m pretty sure that you have, knowingly or not. Car owners, especially the ones that own a car manufactured in Southern Europe, probably know the trouble sensor issues can cause. Particularly, when you are in a hurry and your car won’t start.

Crank windows and a hammer

Whether we liked it or not, sensors are a fundamental part of modern technology ¹. And automobiles are not an exception to this ². Personally, I don’t remember the times when you could repair all cars with a hammer and a wrench, but some say that those were the days. Manually choking the carburetor and using crank windows as air conditioning had character. No sensors at sight to ruin the genuine automotive experience. 

But very few of us are actually willing to drive a car without functions that were considered luxury a few decades ago. The same goes with another devices. Who would want to have a smart phone that does not automatically switch between portrait and landscape view? Or use a paper map instead of GPS while driving?

Or elegant but simple technology?

Dozens of incomprehensibly small sensors make our lives easier on a daily basis. And the number of sensors in devices is certainly not decreasing as we are moving towards IoT environments ³. 

And even though the size of sensors may be difficult to perceive, the functioning of them is not that complex. They are simply components that sense physical phenomena and transmit the information forward ¹. If you know how to wash your hands, which is especially important nowadays, you know how sensor circuits function. If the water is too hot, the “sensors” in your hands tell us so and we adjust the temperature from the tap. 

So, remember to wash your hands thoroughly and think about sensors when the water temperature feels pleasant. We at TT Gaskets are also doing so to stay safe and provide Smarter Sealing for a Safer Future with sensors. 

Services – Problem or solution-based selling?

juni 2, 2020

My latest blog talked about how manufacturing companies are gradually transforming into service businesses. Let’s continue around this topic by concentrating on sales.

Transformation from a manufacturer to a service provider doesn’t happen overnight. It requires a change of heart throughout the company, a new way of thinking. Traditionally manufacturing businesses have sold products and services have been a separate branch of economy. Sales in these traditional companies have been product oriented.

Catalog prices or solution selling

But in order to sell products as services or to create a combination of both, the sales process requires more than just technical details and knowing catalog prices by heart. Instead of selling a product as such, you need to understand the needs of a customer and their business. Traditionally this is known as solution selling which has been around since the 1980s. 

In solution selling, the sales process is problem based instead of product based and the salesperson tries to provide a solution. This is usually a better sales strategy than just providing technical details and list prices. Depending on the customer needs of course. But selling solutions is not enough as so many are doing it, at least on their marketing materials.

Understanding business instead of problems 

Creating ad hoc solutions for certain issues the customer has is usually not productive, at least in the long run. Usually we know the problems we have, but we are not sure how to fix them. Knowing the business of the customer on the other hand creates fruitful possibilities for co-operation. Instead of asking “What keeps you up at night?” you should ask “How do you make money?” from your customer, figuratively speaking. 

Understanding the logic behind the business (or anything else, for that matter) allows you to create solutions that truly create value throughout the chain, instead of fixing issues here and there. And that’s what TTG Smart Lab is all about. We want to create ideas that are gradually formed into solutions. We also want to truly understand our customers to enable co-operation. 

The best solutions are created when an idea is shaped in different minds, gradually developed and agilely tested before bringing a solution to the market. That’s what solution selling should be and that’s what we at TT Gaskets want to be, bringing Smarter Sealing for a Safer Tomorrow.

Services – Why XaaS is a thing?

maj 1, 2020

XaaS seems to be a hype term used by many instances and in different contexts. It has gradually moved from the original meaning of cloud computing services to a much wider use¹. Different branches of industry have begun to offer traditional commodities as a service. There must be a catch in offering services.

Mostly services, less products

If you check the annual reports and financial statements of large global companies that are considered as conventional equipment manufacturers, you notice a common trend.  A noticeable share of the revenue come from services, in some companies up to 50 %.  Some of these companies have already stated themselves as service providers instead of manufacturers. 

The first impressions to these statements were a bit suspicious, but over the years, attitudes have changed.  Now there probably isn’t a manufacturing company that doesn’t mention services in their websites. What makes service providing so attractive then?

Steady cash flow and less care of expenses

I think that the most important factor is the continuous cash flow that services offer. Most of the equipment manufacturers offer for example maintenance with a monthly or annual charge that acts as an insurance. If something unexpected happens, the company promises to offer maintenance without separate expenses to the customer. The same applies to scheduled maintenance and other fixed costs. 

This is at least in my opinion a win-win situation as the service provider gets a steady cash flow and the customer is carefree from any unexpected maintenance costs. Carefree use of products is probably a crucial factor for many and the companies offering services are trying to fill this need.

New services in progress

We at TT Gaskets are also considering service providing as a potential way to improve our business. Many of our current development projects are related to new services in one way or another. The use of novel technology and new business models open possibilities for our products that seem simple to untrained eyes.  

But there’s more to the life cycle of gaskets than expected. Gaskets as a service or GaaS may one day be realistic. At least that is our target for the future of Smarter Sealing. 

¹ https://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/XaaS-anything-as-a-service

2020 – 2010s at a Glance

april 1, 2020

The start of the new numerical decade 2020 hasn’t been optimal by any means. Things have gone off the track at the very start of the year and continued doing so throughout the first quarter. Let’s see if this year has anything good to offer. We probably just have to wait patiently.

Nokia forecast the future

In the meantime, we could look back how things were ten years ago and see how technology has developed in a decade. Back in 2010 one of the biggest releases was the first iPad that started the era of large screen handheld devices. Now most of the tablets lie in our cupboards as we are used to mobile phones and only a few of us need a larger screen to play Angry Birds.  

Stranger still, Nokia actually had a tablet nine years before the release of iPad, the Nokia M510¹. It was never commercialized, but a prototype series of 1 000 pieces was made. It seems like Nokia had a crooked crystal ball, as this wasn’t their only project that got shelved and years later some other company did a breakthrough with the idea.

3D printing and fancy eyewear

2011 had nothing mentionable to offer in this context, but in 2012 the first commercially available 3D-printer for consumers was released². It started a boom of 3D printing back then and the swell has continued to this day. The materials and equipment developed throughout the decade, but it is still one of the technologies that hasn’t lived up just yet. Hopefully this decade will be a breakthrough for 3D printing, and we can harvest the crops in our business. 

The year 2013 was a year of eyewear. Both Google Glass³ and Oculus Rift (DK1)⁴ were introduced to the audience. Google Glass has remained as promising technology for years, but Oculus Rift is still de facto standard in the VR industry. For true commercialization of VR technology, we probably need another decade.

The last half flew by 

Back in 2014 the must have technology for all was the selfie stick and in 2015 it was the hoverboard. Both of them now lying in the cupboard with the tablet. In 2016 the trendsetters had AirPods and in 2017 Tesla Model 3. 2018 and 2019 offered a few mobile phone releases, but nothing groundbreaking. And I’m forecasting that the hit gadget of 2020 will be a cure/vaccine for COVID-19. But due to the clinical trials, it probably won’t come out until late 2021 or early 2022.

Still and all, we at TT Gaskets have a few tricks up our sleeves. In the best case, our inventions will be in Time magazine’s best of 2020 list of gadgets. But we’ll see. If you are interested, feel free to ask for more. We are here to help you also during these harsh times. 

¹ http://www.youmobile.org/blogs/entry/Meet-the-Nokia-M510-tablet-that-Never-saw-the-light-since-2001-Photos 

² https://www.3dsystems.com/press-releases/3d-systems-debuts-first-consumer-3d-printer 

³ http://glassalmanac.com/history-google-glass/2/ 

⁴ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oculus_Rift