Operations

Group’s operations centralized under one unit

From the beginning of 2008, Vaisala’s operations were centralized in one Group level unit. The new Operations unit was made up of the procurement, production, assembly and delivery units of the former divisions.
Operations cover the entire delivery chain, from procurement to the delivery of finished products and services. During its first year, the Operations unit concentrated on the creation of the new organization and on the harmonization of operations. A Group level Operations unit produces economies of scale and synergies which result in a cost-efficient and flexible delivery chain.

A total of 315 people work in operations in Finland, the USA and China.

Procurement

Vaisala’s procurement activities cover the purchase of materials and services required in the delivery chain. The unit also takes care of the company’s network of subcontractors. Regional purchasing activities are conducted by procurement teams in Finland, the USA and China. During its first year the integration of procurement has already resulted in significant cost savings for the company.

Manufacturing and assembly

Vaisala’s manufactring and assembly covers the production and delivery of products and systems for customers. Manufacturing is categorized according to different production techniques: clean room, sensor factory, mass produced products, and mass customized products, systems and solutions, i.e. project deliveries.
The humidity and pressure sensors produced at the clean room and the sensor factory are used in almost all of the products in Vaisala’s offering. Almost 2 million sensors were produced in 2008. This figure grew almost 30 percent on the previous year.
The Vaisala radiosonde is the most important mass manufactured product. Its measurement unit and other core components are manufactured at our own factory in Finland. A European partner in Malaysia is responsible for the final assembly of the product.
Mass customized products include all instruments for measuring humidity, dewpoint, pressure, carbon dioxide and oxygen.
Sounding equipment, radars, lightning detection systems, wind profilers and various road weather stations are categorized as systems. These systems are assembled in both Finland and the USA.

Project deliveries

The solutions business is one of Vaisala’s areas of strategic growth. In order to produce solutions tailored to customers, i.e. ‘project deliveries', expertise is also required in production and assembly. In its first year of operations, the unit responsible for Vaisala’s project deliveries concentrated on the standardization of project operations and on capacity management. Vaisala’s project delivery teams are based in Finland and the USA.