15 years of developing smart waste management products
Executive Vice President Timo Huhtala has been at the forefront of the waste management industry by introducing smart features to devices. The development of smart functions at Europress has been closely linked to other product development, ensuring that our equipment works optimally as a whole. In order to develop these advanced products, it has also been necessary to develop production facilities and production operations.
When Huhtala joined Europress as a project manager in 2007, the company’s waste compactors were manufactured in a traditional engineering workshop in Hakkila, Vantaa. The first smart features were only just being developed.
“First fill level monitoring features were already in use. These were quite innovative and ahead of their time even back then,” says Huhtala.
During product development, the mechanical features, hydraulics and electrical engineering of the equipment go hand in hand with its smart features. These smart features in turn include benefits that are directly visible to the user and the waste operator, as well as features that improve the service life and maintainability of the equipment. “In addition to automatic emptying calls, one of the first improvements enabled by smart technology was the soft turnaround of the ram. This has contributed to extending the service life of all the equipment we have manufactured since 2010.”
In 2009, Europress moved to new premises at Huhtimo in Kerava, which enabled the development of production automation. The factory currently has two welding robots and a surface treatment robot. These robots have taught Europress a lot about the requirements of automation while also contributing to improvements in product quality.
Once enough data has been collected, it is possible to develop a wide range of new services that can benefit Europress customers worldwide. For example, our Australian partner has succeeded in building a very effective service package for local customers. In addition to the SMARTportal, the SMARTwaste mobile app enables the direct exchange of information between the customer and Europress, which eliminates a lot of bureaucracy and improves the quality of service.
“This is a good time to thank all our customers who have wanted to play an active role in developing our services over the years,” Huhtala concludes.