TINE AS’s dairy plant in Southern Norway is the first Norwegian project for Peikko acid proof TERA Joints. In addition to almost 4,000 metres of acid proof TERA Joint, Peikko’s delivery to Kruse Smith, which ordered the products via distributor Norsk Stål, included also 140 pieces of TFX-installation devices and various other products, such as reinforcement fixing products, fastening plates, PD ties, and KK lifting anchors. The total budget for the dairy plant in Kviamarka Nærbø, outside Stavanger, was approximately EUR 180 million. Kruse Smith is the largest privately owned construction, renovation, housing and property firm in Norway, which was established in 1953 and today has a turnover of some EUR 350 million.
The birth of a new product
Gunnar Moen, sales engineer at Peikko Norway, said Peikko’s involvement in the project began with a telephone inquiry from an architect who had discovered TERA Joints. “He asked me about the product and its benefits, differences from LS joints and, most importantly, if it was possible to have TERA Joints made of acid proof material,” Moen said. “I thought about it for it a few seconds before I said yes, of course we could deliver acid proof TERA Joints. We should just get the raw material and that should be possible because we are already a large consumer of all kinds of steel. The architect thanked and said we might get an order for the kind of a product in the future. I never expected that the conversation would lead to an order of this magnitude,” Moen explained.
Delivery from Finland to Norway
The order for the dairy items was made by Norsk Stål, which is a leading steel and metal distributor in Norway, and has been cooperating with Peikko already for a decade. Norsk Stål ordered 3,852 metres acid proof TERA Joints and 140 pieces of TFX installation devices from Peikko. Peikko’s delivery also included 20,000 pieces of reinforcement fixing products of different types. A Norwegian precast factory Block Berge Bygg delivered 1,200 pieces of concrete elements including hundreds of fastening plates, PD ties, KK lifting anchors to the site. In addition, Arkitekturbetong AS, a company managed by Peikko Norway, delivered casting matrix that gives aesthetically pleasing looks for the concrete wall elements of the building.
All TERA Joints for the project were manufactured at Peikko Finland’s production site in Lahti where a team of up to 15 people worked to complete the delivery.
TERA Joint enters the Norwegian market
The project is particularly important for Peikko as it was the first one where Peikko has delivered acid proof TERA Joints for a customer in Norway, said Moen. However, Peikko previously delivered 750 metres of TERA Joints and 70 pieces of X-junctions made in weather-resistant corten steel for BI Marineparken in Bergen. “Marineparken is a new part of Bergen. It has an outdoor area where corten steel TERA Joints create an aesthetically pleasing environment. The same kind of project was done also in another part of Norway, at a small village square near Geiranger Fjord. There we delivered 250 metres of TERA Joints and X-junctions with special angles, all in corten steel,” Moen said.
Constructor praises saved working hours
Steinar Gåsland, construction manager at Kruse Smith, expressed his enthusiasm about the TERA Joints and the TFX-installation device. He said using Peikko’s products has been a great success and saved a lot of working hours for the firm. “The quality of the TERA Joint, its function and the end results are, without doubt, very good. And the TFX-installation device is one of the keys to success as it enables easy installation and adjustment,” he said.
Large delivery comes with challenges
Moen noted in the beginning Peikko Norway faced a set of challenges on the delivery side of the order. “We got a large order of almost 3,000 metres for acid proof TERA Joints and were faced with some unexpected problems regarding the raw materials and the production line in our factory” Moen said. “Our sub-supplier was also under pressure to deliver the high quality materials in the quantities involved in such a short timescale. Tuomo Karttunen, Sales Manager at Peikko Finland, who was already involved in the project, tackled the problem and found a new sub-supplier who was able to supply the materials to such a high quality standard within a shorter timeframe.
“We are very grateful to the end customer for their patience, Karttunen for his efforts as well as Peikko’s production team in Finland, which worked in two shifts seven days a week to catch up with the timetable,” Moen said.
Gåsland noted that overall he is very satisfied with the hard work Peikko Norway’s and Peikko Finland’s teams made in order to minimize delays. “TERA Joints are of much higher quality than the products we have used before so Kruse Smith will continue to use them in the future as well,” Gåsland said, smiling.