Operations

Vaisala Operations cover the entire delivery chain, from procurement to the delivery of finished products and services.  Operations unit produces economies of scale and synergies which result in a cost-efficient and flexible delivery chain. Approximately 360 people work in Operations in Finland, Germany, 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.

Manufacturing and assembly

Vaisala’s manufacturing 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. In 2009, nearly 2 million sensors were manufactured in Finland.

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.

We had disruptions in the radiosonde production during the third quarter which affected the net sales of the review period. The problems were solved ,and during the last quarter, all radiosonde shipments were delivered on time.

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 both in Finland and the USA.

Project deliveries

The solutions business is one of Vaisala’s strategic growth areas. In order to produce solutions tailored to customers, i.e. ‘project deliveries', expertise is also required in production and assembly. Vaisala’s project delivery teams are based in Finland and the USA.
Year 2009 was a good year in Vaisala project deliveries. All deliveries were shipped as planned, by the end of the year, even though the share of the more demanding projects clearly increased.