Top six proposals are selected: Industry’s great idea competition MPIDEA received high-quality proposals from bioenergy to information management

PRESS RELEASE 28.5.2017

The competition culminates on Tuesday the 30^th of May, when Minister of Labor Jari Lindström hands out the Main Prize to the Winner in the Manufacturing Performance Days 2017 (MPD) industrial event at the Tampere Hall. MPD 2017 is the official digitizing industry celebration event in the ”Finland 100 years” program. The Main Prize is access to 6 months of sparring in the growth accelerator ReNew Growth of the world’s leading consultancy, McKinsey & Company.

’We are very pleased that the proposals represent such a variety of different sectors and perspectives’, thanks Harri Kulmala, the CEO of DIMECC Ltd, the launcher of MPIDEA. Strongly involved with the idea competition have been also the first initiator Siemens, McKinsey, the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, Tieto and Fastems.

The Jury includes: Chair, Minister of Labor Jari Lindström, Director General of Enterprise and Innovation Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment Ilona Lundström; Professor of Aalto University Yrjö Neuvo; Chairman of the Trade Union Pro Jorma Malinen; CEO of Finnish Software Entrepreneurs Association Rasmus Roiha; Research Director of the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) Mika Maliranta; and Partner of McKinsey Jussi Hiltunen.

The Jury’s next decision is the selection of the finalists for the climax of the competition at the Tampere Hall.

A presentation of the Top Six of the MPIDEA competition proposals:

M-Files platform - Joona Heikkinen, M-Files Corporation, Tampere

The M-Files platform improves and simplifies how businesses manage documents and other information productively and efficiently. M-Files eliminates information silos and provides quick and easy access to the right content from any core business system and device. An intuitive approach based on managing information by “what” it is versus “where” it’s stored promotes the use of the platform. M-Files enables users closest to the business need to access and control content based on their requirements. For instance, by leveraging the M-Files platform, Booth & Associates, a U.S. based electrical engineering firm gained nearly a 400% ROI on their M-Files implementation with a payback period of only four months.

Adaptos, bone graft substitute - Kaarlo Paakinaho, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere

Adaptos has developed innovative technologies for strong and compatible manufacturing of synthetic bone grafts. Previous materials have not been suitable to be used in the same way as human bone tissue. Adaptos has encountered the problem with synthetic bone graft substitutes and developed a composite material that has similar or better activity compared to the existing synthetic bone graft materials, but has the same modifiability and ductility than human bone. It is the only bone graft substitute the surgeon can cut, shape or squeeze into place. It may be used alone or with patient’s own bone or cells. The versatility of Adaptos increases the performance of the surgeon and saves time and money. At the moment Adaptos is advancing to clinical trials with human patients. There is an immense need for bone transplants in the world; Adaptos can be stored and shipped anywhere in the world, without high costs.

eQL -electric meter- Tiina Vehviläinen, MX Electrix Oy, Pälkäne

MX Electrix has developed an electric meter (eQL), which is able to identify the electric signature of each appliance connected to the meter. This information is then immediately digitally forwarded, so information can be utilized in manifold needs. The application possibilities are endless. The technology has already been successfully applied in senior care, where it enables the personnel to focus their attention to precisely the people who need it most. The eQL is a crucial enabling tool for a variety of business models. For instance, with the eQL power distribution companies can offer better service to their clients, and consumers can observe the usage of electricity of their every appliance. The eQL has a global potential for smart buildings, where it provides several benefits for the apartments and whole buildings in terms of energy savings and new service possibilities, without attaching separate sensors to sockets. The eQL transforms apartments smart, instantly.

Fixteri harvesting technology - Minna Lappalainen, Fixteri Group Oy, Kannonkoski

Finland has around 1.000.000 hectars of unmanaged, young forests, where trees hinder each other’s growth. They are in danger of becoming unused, as because of their small-size, they are not an interesting raw material source for the pulp industry. With the Fixteri harvesting technology supply chain costs of small diameter wood can be cut up to 30 % and a 1.000.000 hectar raw material base for new wood based industries can be created. The forests can be fixed into well growing forests by thinning them with Fixteri harvesters, which support the long-term goals of traditional forest industry. Fixteri creates a basis for more profitable forestry and for new wood based industries and for a CO2 neutral society. Thanks to this game-changing Fixteri Productivity Leap, the forest owners who have had to pay for the first thinning can now turn this expense into profits.

ModHeat, industrial dryer - Juha Roininen, SFTec Oy, Oulu

ModHeat (Modular Heating) is a modular and mobile industrial dryer, which enables economical and efficient utilization of unused industrial waste heat to dry bioenergy materials. Several pilots have shown that the dryer is capable of handling many different types of materials that have been difficult to dry using traditional technologies. With the innovation, new kind of business models can be utilized in the bioenergy sector, because an easy-to-use dryer system can make a real difference in the production chain. The innovation lowers major costs of material handling and transportation, and at the same time the environmental aspects will be positive. Drying improves the efficiency of bioenergy. Saved energy and increased capacity could be used to dry material all over Finland. Bioenergy could be further developed locally to change oil burners to use pellets.

PlantSteps - Jouni Spets, Kasviportaat Oy, Vantaa

Patented, modular Plantsteps is a garden system, which can be easily attached to each other and with them gardens can be assembled in many sizes and shapes. The transparent and light structure of the product enables its use by the window and on the walls, as a new kind of curtain, as a space divider, or around a pillar. The entity includes also a light system and it can be used to clear indoor air with the same technique as the competitors. The use of hydroponics in greenhouses also at home or in the office is advocated by its easy care, 3-times faster growth, and its ability to increase water-saving up to 70 % compared to traditional soil growing.

 

For more information:

www.mpdays.com/mpidea #MPIDEA #MPDAYS

Harri Kulmala, CEO, DIMECC Oy, +358 40 840 6380, harri.kulmala@dimecc.com        

 

Competitors:

Joona Heikkinen, M-Files Corporation, Tampere, +358 50 342 3691, joona.heikkinen@m-files.com

Kaarlo Paakinaho, Adaptos, Tampere, +358 40 849 0975, kaarlo.paakinaho@tut.fi

Tiina Vehviläinen, MX Electrix Oy, Pälkäne, +358 40 579 7833, tiina.vehvilainen@electrix.fi

Minna Lappalainen, Fixteri Group Oy, Kannonkoski, +358 40 705 4395, minna.lappalainen@fixteri.fi

Juha Roininen, SFTec Oy, Oulu, +358 40 444 1539, juha.roininen@sftec.fi

Jouni Spets,Kasviportaat Oy / PlantSteps Ltd, Vantaa, +358 40 592 7320, jouni.spets@plantsteps.com