Ardor moved to paperless production

Digitalization has elevated Ardor’s competitiveness and service capability to a new level.

n 2016, Ardor decided to develop and implement a paperless production system at its prefabrication plant in Raisio. The company’s employees adopted the digital production management system PipeCloud, which immediately led to a significant improvement in productivity and competitiveness. Production efficiency was estimated to increase by as much as 30–40%.

“All drawings, cutting lists, and welding work orders are delivered to tablets installed at workstations on the shop floor,” says Kari Hyvärinen, Ardor’s Production and Quality Manager.

“Our professionals confirm completed tasks there and record key parameters of each work phase into the system. Management can see the situation in real time and later drill down into any detail of the work. Digitalization is a superior tool when it comes to traceability.”

According to Hyvärinen, the SaaS-based PipeCloud also improves Ardor’s service capability. Quotes can be calculated faster and more accurately. Smaller batches can be delivered more quickly, as PipeCloud optimizes their production alongside or between larger jobs. Material waste is also reduced.

The digitalization of production has enabled Ardor to offer competitive pricing to its customers, even though, as a Finland-based company, it pays higher wages than its Eastern European competitors.

“We’ve already improved production efficiency by around 10–20% with PipeCloud, and I believe we can reach a 30–40% productivity gain with reasonable effort,” Hyvärinen says.

“Shorter lead times will bring an additional boost. PipeCloud is a major leap forward, and our employees adopted it quickly. It only took a day or two before everyone was using the system smoothly. If someone suggested we go back to paper-based processes now, I’d consider that black humor.”

A striking transformation

Ardor’s competitors still operate in more or less analog environments. Many of the tasks automated by PipeCloud are still done manually. Work progresses more slowly, and human errors occur more frequently, even though everyone is doing their best.

“Many visitors to Ardor’s workshop have been genuinely surprised when they see PipeCloud in action.”

Factory management can see at a glance what is happening on the shop floor and continuously learn from the collected data. Material waste can be reduced by up to 50% when AI optimizes pipe cutting.

If all pipes in the world were cut using AI-driven optimization, it would save an amount of steel equivalent to 760 Eiffel Towers every year.

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