Termorak 9/09

Managing Director, Mr. Vesa Lampinen

Termorak is situated in Sääksjärvi, Lempäälä, and is the leading company in Finland specialized in refractory and acid-resistant linings for more than 40 years. Mr. Kalervo Ahopelto and Mr. Börje Thorström started their business in 1970´s. In the beginning they concentrated making boilers and glass ovens.

Later, in the mid 70´s, the clientele expanded to steal and metal industry as well as petrochemistry. In this time they started manufacturing also linings for rotary kilns for pulp, cement and chaulk industry.

Termorak designs linings, modifications of linings and fittings, says managing director, Mr. Vesa Lampinen. The clientele includes power stations, pulp industry enterprises and chaulk and cement industry enterprises. Also chemistry and petrochemistry, as well as glass and steal industry, are clientele of Termorak.

Investing in the education

The business requires special know-how that the schools in Finland can not provide.
The company educates their own workers. Right now, there is an EU financed course, which deepens the theory knowledge of the personnel. The number of the people participating in the education is big because there are 85 mechanics in the company´s pay list. The company is required rapid reactions in case of immediate emergency. Pulp factory or other production station looses lots of money if the machines don’t work properly so the fixings must be rapid.

Majority of the mechanics of the company are working in Finland but some of them are working in the destinations abroad, where Termorak takes care of design, material purchase, and project management and supervising. Termorak has delivered linings for almost 300 power station boilers all over the world.

The base in Lempäälä

The company has focused its operations in Lempäälä. Earlier the company had facilities also in Kangasala. There was also a sales office in Helsinki, but from the year 2005 onwards they have focused all the functions in Lempäälä. This is logistically an ideal option according to Mr. Lampinen. The highway is an easy access to all over Finland.

Strong believe in the future

The signs of the recession have affected Termorak with delay and much more moderate than many other companies. They noticed the first signs of recession last spring when some of there clients stopped their investing plans, in order to wait for better times. The 90´s recession was growing time in Termorak, when many companies invested in the upcoming challenges. Now, e.g. pulp industry is not investing as the future is open in many ways. Mr. Lampinen still has strong faith in the future. Termorak is the biggest actor in this branch in Finland and it has steady foothold in the rest of the world. It has also new projects: four in South America and five in Europe.

The changing market situation must be answered quickly and carefully. The ongoing product development work is the key to access. In this the company is investing constantly. Although the traditional pulp industry doesn’t engage Termorak as much as before, new industries take place. Mr. Lampinen sees growing potential e.g. in bio fuel stations. Production development work is essential for ever developing process conditions.
The fuels are getting more exotic all the time, and e.g. incineration is challenging because of the unanticipated chemical reactions of the materials.

Termorak does product development in cooperation with the material deliverers. Their modern laboratories offer good testing conditions. Some cooperation has been done also with Technical University and Technical Research Centre of Finland.

Mr. Lampinen closes up the three triumphs of the company: quality, rapid reactions and security.

The children fulfil the spare time

The company occupies majority of Mr. Lampinen´s time and he has no time for hobbies.
Taking the sailboat from the backyard and sail it in the middle of the lake has been just another dream. However, next summer Mr. Lampinen locates his boat in Naistenlahti and sails away – at least a couple of times. He would also like to take it to the sea, but as a realistic man he knows that the hastiness is an obstacle. His spare time he likes to spend with his family. The children of 3, 5 and 7 years of age, fulfil their fathers every spare minute so that the life never really gets boring.


(Termorak was visited by Mrs. Päivi Nahkola)