Normet On rock-solid ground with IBS Enterprise

Customer Story

Finland based Normet knows that a good information-management and forecasting system is the key to staying on top of the mining and tunneling industries’ needs.

Normet was founded in 1962 in Iisalmi, Finland, where two local farmers began developing implements for tractors. The men’s remarkable inventiveness and efficiancy quickly created an international demand for their products. Today, Normet’s net sales total 45 million euros, and its machines are used in mines and tunnels in 45 countries. The company is the global market leader in its field.

Exports to markets outside Finland account for more than 80 percent of Normet’s net sales. The biggest market is Europe, followed closely by the former CIS countries, Australia and Asia.

Supplying the mining and tunneling industries, Normet’s operations are highly subjected to the world economy and international politics. The United States and China in particular are active in the mining machinery market, and Normet closely monitors trends in these countries. In contrast, the tunneling business is controlled by politics – for example EU financing of various road, water and power projects.

New niche

Based in rural Finland, Normet specializes in carefully selected processes in mine and tunnel construction. These niche areas include explosive charges, rock removal or scaling, rock crushing, concrete spraying and haulage.

A new field of activity is vehicle leasing for underground work. The idea came from the company’s Central European customers, who often operate in unpredictable markets and in a line of business that is vulnerable to economic fluctuations.

Normet’s managing director, Jari Osmala, explains the advantages of the new focus. “By using leased machines, contractors can avoid heavy investments in machinery and stop worrying over the utilization rate of their own equipment. Thanks to the machinery leasing business, we are now present at all negotiating tables.”

Key factors

To succeed in this industry, companies will increasingly need to maintain great familiarity with their customers’ operating processes, and a sensitive ear to customer demands. This requires good management of customer-related information, from the earliest needs right down to the scrapping of used machinery.

Osmala knows that a good information-management and forecasting system is the key to staying on top of customers’ changing needs. “Our decisions are largely based on current order books, tenders and deliveries. That’s why a competitive information system is the cornerstone of our operations.”

Mauri Paloniemi, head of information management at Normet, points out the importance of a personal approach – business is conducted between people, not units. Human interaction has also played a crucial part in the development of the company’s information systems.

The combination of quality forecasting and personal customer relations is one that works well for Normet. “The past couple of years have shown an upward trend,” Osmala confirms, “and we see nothing on the horizon today that might change that.”

But even in this industry, worldwide disasters may lead to an unexpected slump. One example is the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States, which left a mark in Normet’s tender and order books by influencing the investment decisions made in the mining and tunneling sector. This shows the truly global nature of Normet’s operations.

System upgrade

Normet recently upgraded its massive ERP system, IBS Enterprise. The project required a large amount of work by IBS, which has worked with Normet since the 1980s.

The most important aspect of the project, heavily emphasized right from the start, was integration. “Throughout the project, properly performed integration was the strength that helped all the rest to be accomplished almost by itself,” Paloniemi reports. “Today, data flows smoothly right up to management level.” He is also pleased that the system maintains discipline, requiring specific procedures of users.

The system upgrade included a storage depot management project. Where previously two men worked full-time picking goods from tens of thousands of rows in a warehouse, radio terminals will carry out the same work in the future. As the terminals interact directly with the ERP system, machine parts and related information can be found quickly and easily.

Paloniemi has a clear vision of how future systems in the mining and tunneling sector will look. He believes the underground machine will be transformed into a genuine data-gathering terminal that communicates directly with the system in real time.

Osmala says, “The purpose of Normet’s information technology is to keep the customer processes up and running. Two key aspects are largely responsible for producing new business – reliability of deliveries and dependability. These two create a reputation, and we foster it very carefully”.

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