Finnos creates the future (again)

A twinkle of vision in its eyes, Finnos developed and launched measurement systems, first for log sorting, for which it developed the Fusion log scanner based on sensor fusion. The benefits of the technology-packed Fusion proved substantial and indisputable, and market demand grew as fast as the word spread. Production capacity was increased to meet demand, which also accelerated the development and commercialisation of new products. 

COVID hit like a sledgehammer and enormously accelerated the digitalisation of companies around the world. Digitalisation made communication more efficient and faster, and at practically laser speed everyone was just a click away. Significant resources were freed up for the developers, and at the same time, in the COVID year, the number of projects collapsed as installations and decisions were postponed, which freed up even more time. We focused on development, heads buzzing with ideas. It was also an opportunity to look around and study calmly how technology had developed alongside Finnos, where it was heading and what that direction meant within the framework of the Finnos vision. In the COVID year, the hot centre of development was Optimizer, Setup Control, Fingerprint and AI Planner. The use of neural networks raised its super-brained head, and particularly promising things were happening in research on GAN networks. The idea was born for a system at the core of the vision that would tie everything together. It was a tantalising but distant idea. A bit like having an itch on your back a kilometre away. Yet shaping the system added detail to the vision and gave product development a clearer strategic direction. 

Unexpectedly, COVID drove up demand for sawn timber enormously, also pushing up prices so that sawmills were enjoying the busiest and most profitable years in their history. Carried by the market, Finnos' turnover multiplied as sawmills finally had the opportunity to clear their accumulated investment backlog and modernise their production. Bold decisions were made in the market: the world's most modern sawmills were built one after another, and companies invested fearlessly in the future. The Finnos vision was easy to tackle, like a delicious baklava: piece by piece. Each piece was a profitable investment in itself and significantly increased future potential. The growth in turnover gave development the financial resources it needed, and the company's headcount grew rapidly. More than ten products were developed, and Finnos spread its tentacles, conquering markets. Our own board scanner was a huge effort, but also an incredible success. As it captured market share at an accelerating pace, the vision drew closer at breakneck speed. In strategy workshops there was even discussion of what kind of vision it is when it has already been partly achieved. 

Finnos's continuous innovations are also taking brisk strides in the OptiForValue and WoodCircle projects, which examine the future of the industry in the light of EU-level legislation and link sawmill data to the stand of origin and the growth coordinates of the stem. Through these projects, Finnos is preparing to bring to market the traceability solutions required by legislation. The company continues to move strongly forward (and, in timber tracing, backwards), harnessing technological development and creating solutions that help the entire sawmill industry adapt to new challenges and opportunities.

Finnos has now reached a point where the pieces needed to develop the system at the core of its vision are in place and have been sufficiently deployed in the market. The system has been granted a strong method patent. Under the protection of the patent, Finnos has decided to invest significant resources in developing the system by setting up a non-operational strategy team reporting to the Board. Alongside strategic topics, the team's main task is to plan and launch a development project called "Neuro CT". The strategy team consists of the company's founding members Jere Heikkinen and Juha Alatalo, who will hand over their operational responsibilities to their chosen successors, Jyri Smagin and Tapio Leppälampi, on 1.11.2024.

Jyri Smagin holds a Master of Science in wood processing technology from Otaniemi and has almost 15 years of experience with machine vision systems in the sawmill industry. His experience has been built working with customers, starting with training and later moving to more commercial and management roles. Jyri joined Finnos in 2020 from his role as CEO of what was then FinScan Oy to lead Finnos's commercial operations as Chief Sales Officer. "Filling big shoes as CEO is a big step, but I am sure that with the support of a skilled and committed organisation we can take Finnos on an even more soaring journey!"

Tapio Leppälampi holds a Master of Science in applied mathematics from LUT University. Around the time he graduated, he joined Bintec as a development engineer, creating calculation algorithms and computing various indicators from X-ray images as well as working on hardware interfaces and installations. In other words, hands-on with a bit of everything. After moving to Tampere, Tapio worked as a developer of product development and training simulators at Creanex Oy. There he gained experience of EU projects and of working with customers, and of course knowledge of simulator development for everything from forest machines to combine harvesters and trams, and everything in between. Tapio "returned" to Finnos in 2021 and has led AI development ever since. "I have now been looking at X-ray images of logs in three different decades. The development of calculation methods has been tremendous in recent years. It has been really interesting to help develop the calculations with new flavours and to see the great potential they bring to the sawmill industry. And to continue this development for the current products and so support Neuro CT's breakthrough to the market. Juha's mantle is heavy, and carrying it is a great vote of confidence. With our talented and skilled teams, we will turn it into a sail as Finnos continues its journey on the crest of the newest technology."

Juha Alatalo is an applied mathematician and computer scientist who has wrestled with the problems of the sawmill industry for a decade and a half, with experience of measuring wood all the way from whole stems to packages of sawn timber. Alatalo has led customer-focused development teams at Bintec and at Finnos, which he co-founded. His tireless work was recognised with a top-three placing at the CTO of the Year Awards 2021. "We have seen thousands upon thousands of logs and boards, and solutions have been thought through, developed, tested and maintained. Tremendous steps together with amazing teams. Exactly the right people are continuing the work, and I feel confident leaving my own duties in the hands of top experts. Tapio and Jani are diamonds. Neuro CT is the next big step for sawmills. With it, solutions become more efficient but also more visual. With these decisions, from these logs, in this sawmill, you get this sawn timber. Challenging, but extremely interesting!"

Jere Heikkinen is a mathematician with a long history in the sawmill industry. Over a total of more than 17 years, he has been concretely involved in every phase of the design, development, delivery and commercialisation of measurement systems at Bintec and at Finnos, which he co-founded and has led for the past 8.5 years. In 2019, Heikkinen was named Young Research Entrepreneur of the Year, and he has won numerous awards for Finnos worldwide. "I am really excited to focus on strategic topics and especially to be involved in bringing the long-awaited Neuro CT to market. I am truly proud to hand over operational responsibility to the highly experienced Jyri and an outstanding management team, who have the solid support of the whole organisation."

Jani Alatalo holds a Master of Theology and has been preaching the gospel of data-driven management for over 20 years. Jani has improved productivity, data quality and the use of data in grocery retail, banking, the paper industry, the municipal sector, telecom operators and the forest sector. He has worked as a management consultant at Deloitte and as director of data services business and product development at CGI. In projects and programmes, Jani has always sought concrete results and smooth cooperation with customers. Jani joined Finnos in spring 2023, having followed the company's development since its beginning. "It is wonderful to see in data how the saw sings, the chips fly and logs turn into boards. Better and better all the time. In Finnos Neuro CT, my love of wood and computers wonderfully find each other."

Neuro CT is an innovative new approach that uses neural networks in computed tomography (CT). Conventional CT imaging is based on images taken from several different angles, which are combined by reconstructing a three-dimensional image of the scanned object. Neuro CT differs from this by using neural networks to complement and replace certain stages of conventional CT.

From the outset, the design of Finnos log scanners has adhered to commensurability, which means that all systems delivered by Finnos have identical measurement geometry. In the future, Neuro CT can therefore be deployed with backward and forward compatibility on all Fusion and Optimizer X-ray log scanners through a straightforward software update. 

The systems delivered by Finnos generate data on more than one hundred million individual logs every year, with an annual growth rate of about 15-20%. Neuro CT is trained on tens of millions of individual logs selected according to specific criteria. Neuro CT can be tuned to the raw material of the sawmill's own procurement area by investing in advance more broadly in the Finnos product ecosystem, where each investment is highly profitable in its own planned purpose. At the same time, these investments enable a future turbocharged version of Neuro CT. Finnos intends to bring the solution to market in stages during 2025-2028.