Expertise and boldness are the keys to success

It was December 1988, an exciting time for Jari Salo. He was awaiting the birth of his first son when he received a phone call. It was from Timo Kääntee. 

“Timo called me and told me about his business idea. I was keen to get involved right away. Of course, I was a little concerned about the risks of going into business, but we were confident in our potential. We had good machines and a passion for our work,” Salo says. 

A lot of companies were being established in Finland at that time. Kääntee and R-Sarkon’s third founding member, Timo Hirvasnoro, worked at Oras, while Salo was studying at Rauma Technical School. 

“The economy was booming, and lots of companies were being set up in Finland. A large group of us were talking and we discussed going into business. Timo and I were the only ones in the group who were willing to set up our own business,” Kääntee explains. 

Both had robust knowledge of CNC machining. Salo had been Kääntee’s colleague and apprentice on the 6 spindle automatic bar machine. The pair also lived next door to each other at the time. 

“From the outset, we have kept our work and family lives separate. We don’t muddle them up – that’s probably why we still get on well after all these years,” Kääntee laughs. 

Production and jobs kept in Rauma 

The trio put their plans into action, and R-Sarkon Oy was established in July 1989. The employer of Kääntee and Hirvasnoro, Oras Oy, provided a major impetus for this. Turning was done on the production line at the Oras tap factory. However, the new strategy was to invest in product designs and frameworks, and machining for these. 

“The production manager at the time, Tauno Kavén, said that he expected the 6-spindle automatic bar machine area to be put to other uses. At the time, the metal industry in Finland was facing challenges of its own. The price of brass shavings was lower than in other European countries,” Kääntee recalls. 

“Despite this, we offered to buy the 6-spindle automatic bar machines from Oras. Naturally, we’d planned this together in advance. We reached a good agreement with Oras, and they understood that this was a way of carrying on operating in Rauma and retaining people’s jobs.” 

Finland’s first enterprise agency, Uusyritys Oy, organised in Rauma by Pekka Paasikivi, the managing director of Oras at the time, was a great help in getting the business off the ground. R-Sarkon was Uusyritys Oy’s first customer. 

“Their help was enormously important. Their support and the things they taught us significantly lowered the barrier to setting up the company. We knew how to do our own jobs, and they taught us about things like handling financial affairs,” Salo says. 

Skilled personnel are an important resource 

The letter R in the company’s name stands for Rauma. “Sarkon” is a combination of the Finnish words “sarja” and “koneistus”, which together mean “serial machining”. Quality and delivery reliability have guided R-Sarkon’s operations for 30 years now. This incredible story would not have been possible without great employees. 

“My wife, Merja, worked as an inspector at Oras. The three of us had strict quality standards, and we did our work with a good entrepreneurial attitude, but when she joined us, she brought the values of quality and efficient work with her. That culture is still very much alive in our everyday production work,” Kääntee says. 

In order to ensure good service at R-Sarkon, it was of paramount importance to maintain the blades and grind the forming blades. The first employee was Aki Halminen, who is still in R-Sarkon’s tool department. 

“All in all, our main resource has been and always will be our skilled and committed personnel. We encourage our employees to develop and attend training,” Hirvasnoro adds. 

R-Sarkon’s operations are also characterised by the courage to make big decisions. In the early days, a good example of this was that the company bought a CNC machine in addition to the 6-spindle automatic bar machines, just six months after the company was founded. 

“Boldness has been a big thing for us from the outset to today and into the future. When we started the company, we thought that if others could get by with the same machines, then surely we could too with some hard work and solid professionalism,” Kääntee says.