Standards help promote corporate and social responsibility in equipment manufacturing
Manufacturer of grain-handling equipment, Arska Group has gained various benefits from using standards. Standards help set shared rules in the field, ensure high-quality products and services and build customer trust. Standards are also key in promoting corporate and social responsibility and environmental strategies.
Everybody at Arska Group’s manufacturing facility Arskametalli in Somero, Finland, is busy welding, edging, assembling and testing. The summer season is right behind the corner, but the grain-handling equipment manufacturer is prepared. Manufacturing progress is boding well for harvests both in Finland and across Europe.
Arska Group manufactures grain dryers, elevators, pre-cleaners, heaters, silos and dryer tubes. The Group’s three manufacturing facilities are located in Somero, Koski Tl. and Yläne, Finland. Around 40 per cent of the Group’s products are exported around Europe.
The family-run business also offers various service packages for farms and industrial operators. The demand for installation and maintenance services has increased significantly over the past years.
“A life-cycle approach is our number one selling point. We wish to offer our customers holistic solutions, from manufacturing and installation all the way to maintenance and after-sales services,” says Arska Group’s Account Manager and Head of HR Saija Pennanen.
There is a clear demand for individually tailored services. With the large production volumes of today’s grain farms, automation is essential for ensuring equipment’s ease of use.
“Drying equipment today is so massive that it can’t really be operated manually. Furthermore, few farmers have the time and skills to maintenance their grain-handling equipment. For this reason, our holistic solutions give us a clear competitive advantage,” says Arska Group’s Production and Design Manager Markku Kankare.
Grain-drying technology and the related automation are at the heart of Arska Group’s expertise. All of the Group’s products are designed and manufactured in Finland.
Standards provide a solid foundation for business activities
Arska Group first started using standards over ten years ago. Now the Group’s operations are guided by standards such as SFS-EN ISO 14001 on environmental management systems and SFS-EN ISO 45001 on occupational health and safety management systems.
Standards bring clear benefits throughout the Group’s operations. They help demonstrate the high quality of the Group’s products and services. It also helps build customer trust knowing that everything is done according to the relevant standards.
“Standards and the shared rules they set provide a solid foundation for our business activities. This is a huge benefit, especially in the export market,” Markku Kankare says.
Arska Group anticipates that in the future, many of its customers will require compliance with standards. While agricultural clients have not yet been asking about standards, industrial operators have. With growing emphasis on CSR and environmental aspects, it is clear that the importance of standards too will increase.
“Non-compliance with standards is not an option for us,” Saija Pennanen says.
Arska Group uses SFS Finland’s standard subscription service. The Group’s experience with the service has been positive, as it always allows access to the latest versions of standards. Viewing digital copies of publications in SFS Store is also very convenient.
In the future, Arska Group plans to employ even more standards. The Group is also planning to implement a quality system.
“Using standards, we aim to ensure all operations within the Group are of consistent quality,” Pennanen and Kankare say.
Standards guide CSR and environmental work in practice
Standards play a key role in Arska Group’s corporate and social responsibility and environmental strategy work. They help measure, monitor and understand the bigger picture.
“Standards form the foundation for our CSR operations. They help us manage environmental impacts, improve occupational safety and enhance the quality of our products and processes,” Pennanen says.
The standard SFS-EN ISO 14001 on environmental management systems guides Arska Group in the identification and management of environmental impacts and the improvement of energy efficiency.
“At the Somero facility, for instance, we have partially replaced fossil fuels with renewable energy sources. The facility roofs are fitted with solar panels and the walls with around a dozen air source heat pumps. At the Koski facility we updated the entire ventilation system and increased waste heat recovery,” Kankare says.
Demonstrating and advancing social responsibility is important to Arska Group. The Group’s employment relationships are long-term and employees are well cared for. The Group also offers young people opportunities for summer jobs and intern positions.
“As a business, we are part of the community. We want to keep all three of our facilities active and employing people. I think there is great value in that,” Pennanen says.
New version of ISO 14001 has sped up strategy work
A new version of the environmental management system standard SFS-EN ISO 14001 was published in April. The standard helps organisations integrate environmental aspects into their management and strategy.
Arska Group’s strategy is currently being updated. The timing is serendipitous, as environmental aspects are emphasised in the Group’s upcoming five-year plan.
“Going forward, we will increasingly focus on life-cycle thinking. Our products are designed to last from one generation to the next. The extended useful life and serviceability of our products as well as the availability of spare parts support a life-cycle approach,” Pennanen says.
The updated standard has also boosted risk management activities. Due to significant changes in its operating environment over recent years, Arska Group is updating its risk analyses throughout the Group.
“The key takeaway is that standards help us systematically develop and enhance our operations,” Kankare sums up.