Outsourcing

Dinolift has traditionally done a lot of manufacturing in–house –notably of the 10000 or sohydraulic rams that it still makes internally. However, the company is now restructuring itsproduction operation, investing in its own facilities and also outsourcing more of its activities.

Last year it opened a boom welding facility, called Powerbeam, at Hamko in the south ofFinland. That is where the main booms are welded before transport to Dino's two facilities inLoimaa, north of Helsinki.

At Loimaa itself, a small facility previously used by Dino to built attachments for agriculturaltractors is now also carrying out welding work on the chassis to its trailer platforms, and thisfacility will eventually become Dino's aerial platform welding centre as it scales down on thetractor attachment activities.

At the main office and production facility, meanwhile, a new 3500 m2 factory extension iscurrently being built and should be open by the summer. In addition, the work flow through thefactory will be changed –switching from an arrangement of assembly stations to assembly lines– which Dino hopes will increase capacity by 15–20%. The manufacturing of cylinders will, meanwhile, remainlargely in–house, although as capacity rises furtherthe additional cylinders required will be outsourced. Increasingly, this main facility will be an assemblyoperation.

Automation has also played a part in increasingproduction, with €2 million spent last year on bigcutting and welding machines both at Loimaa and thePowerbeam facility.

Of course one other way to grow is to acquireadditional capacity. Lars–Petter Godenhielm, Dinoloft'sexecutive chairman, says acquisitions are part of thestrategy, although adds quickly that “we don't have anyactual plans for this at the moment.”