Spartathlon is one of the most challenging ultra-distance foot races in the world. Event is 246km long, and it takes places annually in historic landscapes of Greece. The challenge of the competition is not just about length, but huge differences in altitude, weather conditions and time pressure. If you exceed strict maximum time limit at the check points, you will be disqualified and get a bus ride to the finish line. Only a selected number of top runners can enter the competition, and only some of them will survive to the finish, depending on the circumstances. In the “easy” year, 68% of the competitors reached the finish line, in difficult year only 23% made it to the end.
Timo Tuominen, CEO of Paramet Konepaja Oy, is one of the few Finns who has realized this dream of ultra-runners. Timo has succeeded in combining long-term training with the successful leading of a significant machine workshop.
The workshop it is located in the Finnish archipelago, in the city of Parainen, and has been operating for more than 30 years. The special expertise of the workshop includes the manufacturing of heavy and medium-heavy steel structures. The used material is really thick plate and to be able to bend them into the correct shapes, separate test profiles are required to ensure exactly the right shape. “The production of customer structures is not limited by the facilities, as there are 16,000 m2 of high production halls available,” says Timo. The production facilities are so huge that the easiest way to get an overall idea of them is the miniature model.
There are 100 t lifting capacity available, and as a special feature, the company has its own seaport, which enables sea transport directly from its own yard. Paramet’s long-term customer base includes many well-known international companies that value cooperation, success and delivery reliability.
The plates and pieces to be handled are all so large and heavy, that lifting aids, mainly magnets, are required for all lifting and transfer. The facilities are designed for material flow and the production process begins when large plates are brought in to the building. In the next step, the plates will be lifted onto the table of the plasma cutting machine. In order to use the cutting machine as efficiently as possible, the cutting table must be emptied quickly and the cut parts transferred to the next work steps, machining, bending, etc. For this initial stage of the process, Paramet has used Skanveir’s Norsu Magnetic lifter for decades. The magnetic lifting is safe and fast for moving large plates. The cutting table can be emptied in one lift thanks to the large coverage of the magnets. “Over the years there have been no problems with the operation,” says Timo with satisfaction. “Maybe they could be washed sometimes 😄.”
In the long run, the most important things are reliability and the ability to survive in difficult conditions. Timo, Paramet Konepaja and Skanveir’s Norsu Magnetic lifter have shown that they can do these.