Martela heightens its efficiency with a new assembly line

A new assembly line for Martela Oy, Finland's leading manufacturer of office furniture, had increased the effectiveness and improved the working environment at the factory in Nummela north of Helsingfors.

"The solution's flexibility allows us to make changes in the production in future," says Factory Manager Kai Uttu. The assembly line was developed and delivered by Ingenjörsfirma Evert Johansson AB an affiliated company in the Moving Group with headquarters in Tibro, a town with a longstanding furniture tradition. Stage two of the delivery was carried out in April. The order is the equivalent of some 12 million SEK and is Evert Johansson's largest single order in Finland to date.

Suppliers from several countries participated in the tendering. Kai Uttu explains why the choice fell on Evert Johansson:
"The company's representatives listened to and defined our needs before they proposed a modular solution that was adapted to our company. Besides, we have previously had good experiences with Evert Johansson, which installed an assembly line at our factory in the Swedish town of Bodafors."

Wide product line
Martela is a well-known trade mark, not only in Finland but in many European countries as well. The Nummela factory, which is one of two on the domestic market, produces seventy different kinds of cabinets and bookshelves, for example. These units can in turn be additionally combined in more than sixty variations. The production and assembly lines are controlled by data from the customer's order and thereby constitute a complex entity in which an integrated computer system is an important component.
The delivery from Evert Johansson includes a Windows-based system ­ Operator Interface Ewert ­ which controls the machines on the assembly line. The system retrieves and supplies data from Martela's own MPS system and if necessary it can also communicate with machines from other manufacturers.

Most of the assembly process is now automated. The line operators receive the necessary data on their computer screens. "The assembly line has increased our effectiveness and eliminated manual, heavy lifting. The staff appreciates this improvement," says Kai Uttu.

Years of experience
Guy Fagerström, Managing Director for Evert Johansson, states that the company has 45 years of experience in automatic handling and assembly in the wood furnishing and furniture industry.
"In 1984, we renewed our System Johansson concept, and we have been expanding on it ever since. Because it is a modular system, it can be adapted to every customer, product, capacity and need for automatisation. An integral part of our solutions is the application of modern information technology," explains Guy Fagerström.

The order from Martela is something of a breakthrough for Evert Johansson on the Finnish market. "That's right, and with the help of our new agent in the country, we believe that developments will continue to be positive," concludes Guy Fagerström.