Customer Success Story
METSO
Metso Rolls Out e-Business Worldwide
Finland is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the world's major technology nations. Finnish companies increasingly are making their presence felt on the international stage both as technological innovators and as state-of-the-art technology users to create highly efficient business practices.
One such corporation is Metso, a company with over 23,000 employees and 150 operating units in nearly 40 countries. Metso, listed on both the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges (NYSE), operates in process industry machinery and systems, businesses involved in fibre and paper, rock and mineral processing, and automation and control technology. The company, already a global leader in its field, is on an aggressive development plan, and aims to maintain its leadership position by applying new technology to the manufacturing industry.
Metso was formed as the result of a merger between Rauma and Valmet. Post-merger, the new organisation found itself encumbered with a set of diverse systems. Yet Metso needed to ensure that its operational infrastructure would be able to support its strategic business aims as the company grew. To ensure success, they needed a single communications platform. Metso wanted to ensure that all of its personnel, operating on five different continents, could interact as one complete unit. Information exchange between all of the different outposts of Metso's operations needed to be seamless to enable effective communications. Like many companies operating on the global stage, Metso wanted to ensure the best possible support for its customers as well, with 24/7 support anywhere in the world. Managed communications was the answer - and Metso chose BT Infonet to develop, build and maintain a new global information network to facilitate its future growth plans.
For Metso, the new information network established by BT Infonet plays a critical role enabling the company to capitalise on the synergies between its business areas. The network also forms a platform to allow the company to quickly and efficiently introduce new business initiatives across its operations. E-business, for example, is an integral element of the company's growth strategy. Metso is therefore keen to ensure that its e-business activities can rely on secure, global data interchange to support its customer operations.
Successfully establishing this global network was the result of Metso and BT Infonet working together to understand Metso's global operational needs. BT Infonet's consultative approach provided the best solution to support the company's current position and future growth. Key to the solution was the capability to ensure that the global network would be stable and reliable enough to support operations.
BT Infonet's solution offers a strong, stable and proven technology which guarantees high levels of service across the world. More importantly Metso can now prioritise its network traffic to allow those applications which are most critical - such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or ordering systems - to take precedence over other mission support traffic.
The first of Metso's business units to implement e-applications was Metso Automation (in the area of automation and control technology) and Metso Paper Service group. Metso Automation has developed a solution called metsoDNA (Dynamic Network of Applications). This collects data from diverse customer applications (Lotus Notes, AutoCAD, Windows applications and production processes) and combines it with user input to develop a full, and completely up-to-date knowledge database. The information contained is not simply limited to what products a customer is using, but also shows how these products are working within the customer's environment. This information can then be shared across the globe via BT Infonet's managed network, ensuring that Metso can provide the most appropriate support for its customers with minimum delay.
For both Metso Automation and Metso Paper Service, the benefit of e-business and global networking has enabled improved customer service while also increasing operational efficiency. The customer has improved access and Metso is able to ensure that it continues to give all its customers the best possible support and advice long after the sale itself has been concluded.
Another example of how technology is helping the company improve its operations, is the establishment of Metso's Remote Diagnostics Centre in Finland. Operators at the centre access customer production systems online, follow operational activity and provide contract customers in the fibre and paper industry with maintenance and problem-solving services. Again, the key to the service is the interchange between the customer's knowledge of their own production processes, and Metso's expertise in machinery. Through BT Infonet's The World Network®, the diagnostic centre is able to communicate with local Metso support operations and with its customers all over the world. Most importantly, Metso's customers can rest assured that the high levels of security built into the system will not compromise their own (often highly commercially sensitive) operations as they connect to Metso. Metso therefore provides a real value-added service, which instantly benefits its customers operations.
For Metso, the implementation of its new BT Infonet network has helped to bring its own business operations closer to its customers, as well as providing a platform to facilitate its future growth as a global operation. As Metso grows, BT Infonet will continue to give support - both globally, through its advanced customer support service, and locally to Metso's local offices.
Senior Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, Antti Kaunonen of Metso Automation, puts it in perspective. "If the network does not function and e-mails do not fly, we are on our knees. We cannot start projects, and business suffers."
However, with The World Network in place, Metso can be assured that its customers will see the benefit of its own technology developments for many years to come.