From mechanical scales to an international expert of dosing systems
Dosetec Exact Oy customizes dosing and weighing systems for various industries. While celebrating its 60th anniversary today, the story of this family-owned company began with an invention made by grandfather Vihtori in the 1950s.
It’s been decades since Vihtori Koskinen invented his sliding poise scale operated by transfer weights, obtained a patent for it and started a successful career as entrepreneur.
The invention was a rather simple but ingenious way for farmhouses to meet their weighing needs in the 1950s. There was no
need for separate loose weights anymore, as the weights could now be transferred conveniently on a rail. Eventually, Vihtori’s sliding poise scale was used in virtually all farmhouses throughout Finland.
Naturally, the company was passed on to the second generation and into the hands of Esko Koskinen, who had been part of the company since the very beginning. Within twenty years, he made the company a major Finnish expert in weighing technology.
Export Comprises Over Half the Turnover
In 1981, Jari Koskinen was only 26 when he became his father Esko’s successor in the company. It was a time of new trends in weighing technology, as mechanical weighing made room for electrical scales. With an expert eye, Jari Koskinen made a major change within the business to industrial dosing, and through this truly hit the bull’s eye. The company name, Vaakakoskinen Oy, was changed to a more export-driven one, Dosetec Exact Oy, some ten years ago.
– Today, well above half of our turnover comes from the export that takes place mainly in the Nordic and Baltic countries as well as Russia. For example, we have delivered sizeable systems to our Norwegian customers, such as Goman Bakeriet, which is one of the country’s largest bakeries, and to food manufacturer Orkla Foods Norge. We have designed and manufactured several customized systems for both of them for many years, states the current Managing Director Olli-Pekka Rihu.
Top-Notch Automation for Accuracy and Quality
A pioneer in the Russian bread market, OJSC Fazer in Saint Petersburg invests in scalded bread produced with Dosetec automation. In the scalding process, flour is mixed into hot water. When the dosing to the mixer takes place, the temperature of the dough is correctly adjusted with the help of an on-line cooling system.
– The demand for this bread type has grown in Russia, so now the bakery wants to boost production by automating their dosing and weighing operations, Olli-Pekka Rihu states.
Scalding raises the moisture content of the dough to a normally higher level, and bread becomes softer and lasts longer without additives. Furthermore, scalding enhances the bread’s aroma.
– We have had some major opportunities in Russia in recent years, when companies like Fazer have expanded their Eastern businesses, says Jari Koskinen, Chairman of the Board of Dosetec.