By subscribing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Two studios have come together to create a one-of-a-kind lounge chair inspired by the natural world. Furniture maker Made By Choice runs its studio out of Halikko, a small municipality in Finland. The New York-based Snarkitecture is a fluid design and product firm that espouses an ethos of “not art Designed by Snarkitecture and produced by Made By Choice the LIEKSA chair is named after the city in Finland from which Snarkitecture designer Alex Mustonen hails You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience and security 30/04/2025  IFS Ultimo Software Solutions 11/10/2023  OMRON Industrial Automation Moving from manual labour to collaborative automation frees up operators for creative work The number of potential uses for collaborative robots (cobots) in production processes continues to grow where OMRON cobots are being used to speed up and improve the production capacity of the laser marking machines at Laser Quality Markings Laser Quality Markings provides permanent markings and colour patterns on a range of different surfaces - from wood and leather through to metal and plastic artists and consumers) expect the highest standards of accuracy unique colour laser marking technology that creates precise permanent markings that make use of the object material itself the company decided to upgrade and automate one of its key production processes due to a shortage of manual labour explains: “We wanted to improve our production capacity and reduce waiting times while also being able to assign more business-critical tasks to our operators they had to endure long waiting periods while operating the laser machine manually.” The company started looking for a suitable robot to carry out the task instead Heina Ltd mainly develops innovative testing devices for the electronic industry Managing Director at Heina Ltd comments: “We at the company of Heina Ltd have noted how collaborative robots have gotten a more important role in mass production We have been cooperating with OMRON for more than 20 years our role was to supply a full solution to automatize the Cajo laser marking device.” The OEM firm has worked with OMRON many times before in the past so the two companies worked closely together again Heina Ltd led the development of a suitable cobot solution that would meet Laser Quality Markings’ specific needs using OMRON’s automation products and platform Ilkka Heinä adds: “We made sure that the system was safe for the human labor by doing a safety risk assessment and by using an OMRON safety scanner The OMRON cobot picks up the parts from the feeder station and places them in the Cajo laser marking station to be laser marked.” The main need for the cobot was to provide automated machine tending for the laser marking machine The cobot would pick up the raw material that required marking and feed the items into the machine - and then pick them out again after the process The cobot can alarm the operator if the feeder station is empty the system can run longer time periods on its own The solution centres around the OMRON TM5-900 cobot This is a collaborative robot that is specifically designed for assembly One of its many functions is machine tending for CNC machines This type of use reduces the need for workers to carry out repetitive and potentially dangerous work various OMRON products were used to build the complete solution including an NX1P2 central processing unit; an NA5 machine interface; and an OS32C safety scanner that ensures safety for operating also at higher speeds says: “This is one of the first examples of the OMRON TM cobots being used in production processes in Finland The laser marking machine tending application is very interesting and represents a perfect use of the many benefits of our cobot.” Kim Nivalinna concludes: The OMRON cobot application has effectively fulfilled our goals of enhancing production capacity and minimizing waiting times it allows our operators to dedicate more time to design tasks instead of repetitive machine tending An extra benefit is that production can now continue uninterrupted even if operators are on sick leave or away on holiday and attained a higher level of operational efficiency we envision great potential in expanding our capacity by building additional automated cells enabling us to increase production and serve more customers." 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Click here to email us about any errors or omissions contained within this article View our eNewsletter Archive Sign-up for our weekly eNewsletter Advertise with us | Media pack © Copyright 1999-2025 Process and Control Today LtdRegistered in England No. 3733110 - studio44 HELSINKI FINLAND The Finnish design company Space of Mind is behind the sauna Turku's Market Square is set to host a unique Christmas Sauna this holiday season a novel addition to the city's festive celebrations will open alongside the much-anticipated lighting of Christmas lights along the Aura River on Saturday The "Kauppatori Christmas Sauna," a collaboration between five Finnish companies aims to provide visitors with joyous and unforgettable experiences throughout the duration of the Christmas Market Designed by Space of Mind in partnership with Studio Puisto Architects and Protos Demos the sauna is a testament to exquisite design and craftsmanship hand-built in Halikko using untreated solid wood which aligns with the company's award-winning Lepotilank "Our new sauna brings users closer to nature without burdening the environment whether in the archipelago or Turku's market square," he says The sauna's wood-fired stove is provided by Juup a company cherishing Finnish sauna traditions through generations Its aesthetic appeal is enhanced by a chimney from Härmä Air designated as the official chimney of Santa Claus with water heated on the stove and mixed in basins complemented by natural bath products from the local brand HETKINEN observing the bustling Christmas Market while savoring warm glögg or a refreshing sauna beer courtesy of Kakola Brewing Company The Christmas Sauna is open for bookings throughout the Christmas Market until December 22 Since the opening of the booking calendar in mid-November Alexander Törnroth from Kakola Brewing Company responsible for managing the Christmas Sauna expresses his delight at the enthusiastic response "It's fantastic to see how quickly people have embraced the idea of a sauna at the Market Square and experiencing it in this unique setting is something special We're pleasantly surprised by the number of bookings in just the first week," he remarks Reservations for the Kauppatori Christmas Sauna can be made for the period of November 25 to December 22 via the Christmas Market's website The identity of the first distinguished guest to grace the sauna's benches remains a secret set to be unveiled at a press conference in Turku Cathedral on Wednesday Advertisement inquiries and other after-sales issues: info@helsinkitimes.fi Helsinki Times is the first and only English language newspaper providing news about Finland in English A weekly print edition of Helsinki Times was published from March 2007 up until Feb Helsinki Times is an online-only publication and other groups and individuals interested in Finland from all around the world © Helsinki Times All rights reserved.  Terms of Use | Privacy Policy one-euro face masks and the mental loadThe reality of farm work is capturing Finland's attention Open image viewerA Ukrainian worker preparing strawberries for sale on a Finnish farm. Image: Roni Rekomaa / LehtikuvaYle News25.5.2020 9:22•Updated 25.5.2020 10:24Why don’t Finns make up for the foreign seasonal labour shortfall caused by coronavirus? A Helsingin Sanomat Opens an external websitereporter took up work on one of Finland’s largest strawberry farms in Halikko Working alongside seasonal workers from Ukraine the reporter found that while spring is theoretically well on its way in May HS reported that workers at the southwestern farm covered strawberry plants with fleece until 1am one night to protect against frost the farm's seasonal helpers take home around 1,000 euros per month after accounting for travel "People’s masks," simple nose-and-mouth coverings, are set to arrive on store shelves next week, reports newsstand tabloid Ilta-SanomatOpens an external website The S and K grocery giants said they will stock the basic fibre cloth masks that will cost about a euro apiece K-Group chief executive Mikko Helander told IS its domestic subsidiary could deliver 1.2 million face masks in June Ville Vahla,a selection manager at S-Group meanwhile said demand for face masks could still explode "Demand will jump to a totally different level if the authorities recommend using masks on public transport," he explained A story about private daycare that promises to ease the load of overburdened parents has people flocking to a story on business magazine Talouselämä’sOpens an external website site as well as schedule haircuts and flu shots the company said it will chip away at some of the hands-on chores and mental loads families with young children often struggle to manage Initial results from a recent Jyväskylä University study suggested that parental exhaustion had increased during the coronavirus crisis Open image viewerClimate change means that the a commercially-sold wine produced from Finnish grapes could come to fruition Image: Jari Pussinen / YleYle News8.10.2022 13:49•Updated 8.10.2022 13:52Finland could very well see its very own vineyards in the coming years depending on if it is able to tackle EU regulations Wine made from grapes grown in Finland cannot be labelled as "wine" on the label because Finland is not a wine producing country under EU regulations the bottle label can say "mild alcoholic beverage produced from grapes by fermentation" proprietor of the Brinkhall Sparkling cider house in Halikko told Yle that if Finland were to officially become a wine country At the moment Halmetoja specialises in a sparkling apple cider-like drink that resembles sparkling wine but claimed he could produce a sparkling wine using similar methods to champagne production Climate change has lengthened the growing season and raised the average temperature in Finland This has increased the willingness of many vineyards to grow grapes and make wine from their harvest "There are already grape varieties that can withstand Finland's climate conditions The Finnish soil is also favourable for cultivation," Halmetoja shared with Yle Climate change predictions are not so favourable for Southern Europe where in the next century it is likely to be too hot to produce wine Dryness has already been a problem for many Mediterranean vineyards "Northern regions may become more profitable areas for wine production Most Finnish wineries currently make wine from berries or fruit wines made from anything other than grapes are not considered authentic wines and they capture only a small share of the market An EU member state may only produce wine for commercial purposes if it is listed as a wine country That would be easy if Finland could declare itself a wine country but must be applied for within the European Union "Before the actual application process must submit an initiative to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry," said Leena Seppä an advisory official at the agricultural ministry "A careful survey of vineyards should also be carried out to determine the potential production volumes of grape wine and the conditions for producing grape wine in line with EU requirements This could then be followed by an application to the EU," Seppä noted EU wine legislation is very precise in defining wine-making practices and product labelling grape wines should be produced in Finland according to the same methods as in Spain wine production is studied at universities," Seppä clarified it is possible to apply for wine country status if various stakeholders stores and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry The actual wine country title would be approved in the EU by regulation the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) would supervise wineries that produce wine from grapes This would ensure that farms comply with the EU's strict and complex grape wine regulations "I don't think there will be any obstacles to the status in the end if we just want it together," Seppä said