EUROPRESS SMART SUPPORTS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AT TAMRO

The story of Tamro, Finland’s leading distributor and service provider of pharmaceuticals and health products, dates back as far as 1895. Tamro supplies high-quality and safe medicines and health products to consumers throughout Finland. Tamro is part of the PHOENIX Group, Europe’s leading provider of health services.

In an industry critical to security of supply, it is essential that all support functions are absolutely reliable and that all equipment is in good condition and functions properly. Critical security of supply also places special demands on suppliers of waste management equipment. Service resources must be properly dimensioned to ensure that waste compactors can be made operational again quickly in the event of a failure.

“In the worst case scenario, non-functioning waste management equipment or a remote alarm could slow down our production process and even have an indirect effect on national healthcare, especially in emergency situations,” says Mika Marttinen, Real Estate Manager at Tamro.

The cooperation between Tamro and Europress that began more than ten years ago has since expanded, and waste management services have been digitalised as Tamro’s needs have grown. Tamro currently uses seven Europress CombiMax waste compactors at its facilities in Vantaa, while its logistics centre in Tampere, which distributes medicines, has one Europress DuoMax waste compactor for plastic and two Europress H&G screw waste compactors for cardboard.

In Tampere, cardboard accounts for the largest share of waste fractions, while the share of plastics has decreased significantly at both Tamro sites. Europress SMART digital services automatically send emptying requests to the waste transport operator and allow Tamro to monitor that the filling weights are optimal.

Pirjo Lappalainen, Real Estate Assistant at Tamro in Vantaa, describes the SMART FullService system: “The service works so easily and effortlessly that you don’t notice it.” The system is both accurate and “invisible”, and remote monitoring has enabled filling weights to be optimised.

Photo: Juha Isojärvi, Area Manager at Europress, with Mika Marttinen and Pirjo Lappalainen from Tamro

Tamro and Europress are both market leaders in their fields who also share in common a tradition of being forerunners and continuously developing their own operations. “Demanding service promises must be met in all our support functions.” Pirjo Lappalainen and Sari Ylimäki-Pajunen, Process Coordinator at Tamro in Tampere, agree with Mika Marttinen that support functions have to work.

Mika, Pirjo and Sari are all active users of Europress SMART, and they also monitor filling weights. Redundant waste transports have been eliminated as filling weights have been optimised, resulting in cost savings and reduced CO2 emissions from operations. “Data from Europress SMART helps in decision-making and supports knowledge management,” says Mika Marttinen.

Pirjo Lappalainen adds that the SMARTwaste app has been easy to use, enabling simple and precise monitoring of waste management processes. The app makes it possible to respond rapidly to possible fault situations, and Europress’s customer service reacts actively by anticipating needs. This is a big help in day-to-day work.