A new chapter in the KoVaSat and Finn Spring success story was recently written when the parties signed an agreement in March 2024 under which KoVaSat will supply Finn Spring with an automated high-bay warehouse with approximately 6 000 pallet positions. The delivery date to the customer is March 2025 and the package includes KoVaSat Agile cellular and transfer cars, 2 cranes and conveyors. Established in 2020, KoVaSat has supplied Finn Spring with automated high-bay warehouses for its Härkänevan and Lestijärvi factories and its Swedish subsidiary.
- All in all, KoVaSat already has a wealth of experience in automated warehouses, having completed several multi-million euro installations. As the projects that have been completed have also worked well, I can say with confidence that the whole thing is under control. At this stage, work is already scheduled until 2026. We will grow the organisation as new orders come in," says Hannu Ali-Haapala, Managing Director of Finn Spring, about the situation in spring 2024.

Finn Spring made it possible for KoVaSat to start, but Ali-Haapala says it was not a foregone conclusion that the company would start selling its expertise elsewhere.
- For many years, I wondered whether to take this forward and commercialise it. However, building customer relationships and all the other work required is a big project, and I have a lot of work to do on the Finn Spring side for quite some time. On the other hand, a new generation had grown up in Finn Spring, and the fact that we had a large number of really good people working for the new company was also very important," says Ali-Haapala about the start-up phase of KoVaSat.

Growth also from the Baltic and Nordic countries

The products and services provided by KoVaSat are suitable for a wide range of industries, wherever industry produces slightly larger batches and needs pallet storage and inward logistics. One of the company's strengths and competitive advantages is its comprehensive supply package. The customer gets the whole package, including design service, manufacturing, assembly and automated warehouse logic, from a single source, so to speak. The service and maintenance service has its own software and, for example, the robotic wagons are built at Härkäneva.
- Many customers have said that they have had to source from three or four places. In the case of KoVaSat, the customer only needs to do the groundwork and obtain the necessary permits, we do the rest. Thanks to our large-scale deliveries, it is easier for us to ensure that the customer gets a fully functional package," says Hannu Ali-Haapala.
KoVaSat's turnover is now in the region of EUR 1-2 million. According to Ali-Haapala, the aim is to increase turnover to EUR 5-8 million. In practice, this means looking to international markets, at this stage the Nordic and Baltic countries.

Growth will be supported by continuous product development.
- Of course, product development can sometimes be a challenge from a resource point of view, because we have delivery projects at the same time. For example, we have applied for a patent for our narrow gauge cranes and a related package. We expect a decision later this year.

One example of the results of our product development is the RFID tag designed for the systems supplied by KoVaSat, which replaces the traditional barcode and has already been implemented in the first sites. RFID can be used to reliably identify pallets and ensure, for example, that a driver does not pick up a pallet in the wrong place or that it is not going into the wrong car. The company's platform wagon, for its part, has EU-wide design protection.

"Customers have the option of forklift-free production"

KoVaSat's extensive delivery package is made possible by the company's strong expertise in various areas of in-house logistics.
- The KoVaSat team is knowledgeable, flexible and innovative. The solutions we deliver stand up to comparison in terms of cubic and energy efficiency as well as safety, accuracy and reliability," says Olli Ali-Haapala, who heads the company.

He says that one of KoVaSat's objectives is to enable its customers to produce without forklifts. This means that pallets move as automatically as possible from production to the warehouse and from the warehouse to the terminal. At the same time, it frees up staff for more productive tasks in a situation where labour shortages are affecting many sectors.
- We are able to implement high-bay warehouses in a very cost-efficient way, while optimising energy consumption during warehouse operation. For example, the annual electricity consumption of a 7 000-bay automated warehouse is lower than that of a detached house," says Olli Ali-Haapala, who also highlights the cubic efficiency of KoVaSat's automated high-bay warehouses compared to the surface area required.
- If you think that we can fit 7 000 pallets in a warehouse with a surface area of 1 450 square metres and a height of less than 20 metres, that's pretty impressive.

He sees the company's growth prospects as promising.
- Warehouse automation can significantly improve efficiency. There is plenty of potential in the market, as perhaps surprisingly much of industry still does these things manually.

Eemil Ali-Haapala (left), Hannu Ali-Haapala, Mika Krieger and Olli Ali-Haapala at the fair in Stuttgart.

KoVaSat's solutions also attracted interest at the LogiMat 2024 trade fair in Stuttgart.