Life in Estonia (issue Fall/Winter 2014-2015)

FALL / WINTER I 2014-2015
SPECIAL!
Smart
Industry
land & people I state & society I economy & business I technology & innovation I culture & entertainment I tourism
Industrial
Revolution
4.0
Laurentsius Inside
And Outside The Frame
Anne Sulling
Estonia Is
A Smart Hub
Success
Found
In Niche
Products
Estonia
Contributes
To Automotive
And Offshore
Industry

COVER
Anne Sulling
Photo by
Margus Johanson
Executive publisher
Positive Projects
Pärnu mnt 69, 10134 Tallinn, Estonia
think@positive.ee
Editor
Reet Grosberg
reet.grosberg@ambassador.ee
Translation
Ingrid Hübscher
Ambassador Translation Agency
Language editor
Richard Adang
Design & Layout
Positive Design
Partner
FALL/WINTER 2014-2015 I LIFE IN ESTONIA 3
Ambitious Estonians
Estonia is a small country, with a population of about 1.3 million people. At the same time, there
are more than 110,000 enterprises in Estonia and about 65,000 of them are profitable.
We keep hearing that Estonians are not entrepreneurial, that only about 20% of us would like to
start companies. That’s a lot less than in most advanced countries with much bigger economies.
Yet, wherever you go, you’ll find Estonians who against the odds have pursued their dreams of
becoming successful entrepreneurs.
For example, the machinery manufacturing company Palmse Mehaanikakoda LCC produces forest
trailers and cranes under the trademark Palms. They are one of the biggest producers of this type of
forest machinery in Europe, with sales representations in sixteen EU countries. Their success is based
on specialisation and finding the niche in the market that suits them best. Today their average salary
is about 2,600 euros a month, more than twice as high as the Estonian average. There are several
similar niche products created here that have helped small Estonia stand out among big players,
from special life jackets made by Lade and footwear by Samelin to Meiren snowploughs, which are
a necessity in the Nordics.
Manufacturing is on its way to a new industrial revolution. The Germans have named it Industry 4.0,
Smart Factory development, where intelligent cells inside a company and between companies are
integrated through the Internet, and they are able
to communicate and make necessary decisions.
This is also the direction modern manufacturing is
moving in Estonia.
We’ve seen a great trend growing out of Smart
Industry. There are several successfully operating
industrial parks in Estonia, with remarkable syn-
ergy in different companies, accomplishing things
together like a family.
Those are only a few examples of the entrepreneur-
ship Estonia provides. Flexibility has definitely be-
come a new norm in business, where technologies
and new business fields open up very quickly. In
order to succeed, Estonia has to maintain the speed
it has gathered so far with the help of its ambitious
entrepreneurs.
Hanno Tomberg
Chairman of the Management Board
Enterprise Estonia

6 Where To Go This Season?
Life In Estonia Recommends
10 Events
16 Anne Sulling: Estonia is
an Attractive Hub for
Testing New Technologies
In spring 2014, Estonia introduced a ministerial portfolio with a brand
new focus. The country now has a minister with specific responsibil-
ity for foreign trade and entrepreneurship, Anne Sulling. How does the
new minister see her main purpose and what are the main challenges of
the Estonian economy?
22 Industrial Revolution 4.0
Industry 4.0 is Cyber-Physical Systems and the Internet of Things. This
new paradigm has led to an industrial revolution, known as Industry 4.0,
which was publicly announced by Angela Merkel at the opening of the
Hanover Industrial Exhibition in 2013. Read about Estonia’s efforts to
implement Industry 4.0.
24 Small Company Set to
Conquer the World
Skeleton Technologies, a Tallinn-based company which develops and pro-
duces ultracapacitors - extremely powerful energy storage devices - aims
to become the leading ultracapacitor manufacturer within five years.
26 Stoneridge – American
Dream In Tänassilma Village
When Stoneridge Electronics in Estonia started work in 1998 under the
name Berifors, it was a small production unit which serviced one cus-
tomer in one product group. Today Stoneridge Estonia employs 270 peo-
ple. The factory in Estonia concentrates on the production of electronic
control units, telematics, switch modules, fuses and relay modules.
28 IPA Helps
to Make Comfortable Trains
Hundreds of trains around the world have roofs and cooling systems
made in the Interconnect Product Assembly (IPA). One of the products
that IPA manufactures is an HVAC (Heating Air Conditioning and Venti-
lation) unit for train manufacturers.
30 MS Balti Trafo
Exports Millions of
Transformers Annually
Jaanus Luberg started producing transformers in the small town of Vän-
dra in central Estonia back in 1996. The small business has now grown
into MS Balti Trafo, a private limited company employing 150 workers.
As one of the biggest employers in Vändra, it collaborates closely with
educational institutions.
31 Norma’s Safety
Systems for Cars
Help Save 30,000 Lives a Year
Norma was the first company in the Soviet Union to launch the first
industrial lot of car safety belts in 1973. Forty years on, the famous com-
pany in Estonia has grown into a valued unit of the Swedish corporation
Autoliv. It employs over 750 staff and its product range has grown far
beyond seat belts.
32 PKC
Eesti AS
Produces Nervous Systems
for the Automotive Industry
It is highly likely that whichever commercial vehicle manufacturer you
ask, this particular wiring system has arrived from two small Estonian
towns where the factories of the international corporation PKC Group
have been in operation for years.
33 Pärnu-based Company
Produces Lighting Equipment
for Luxury Vehicles
When you sit behind the steering wheel of a BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar
Audi, Porsche or Land Rover, it is highly likely that a small part of your
car has been made in Estonia: these brands use glove box or door han-
dle lighting, number plate lighting or side markers produced by Oshino.
34 Estonia is a Good Place
to Establish a Company
In order to keep the company’s costs down, Christian Testman, CEO of
Norway-based ICD Industries, decided to locate some of the operations
overseas. After some research and considering number of countries, Es-
tonia became that location for ICD in 2012.
I CONTENT
FALL/WINTER_2014-2015
LIFE IN ESTONIA I 2014-2015 FALL/WINTER4

51 Portfolio. Laurentsius:
Inside and Outside the Frame
There is a certain dreamlike quality to the work of the artist known as
Laurentsius. His works leave us with fleeting impressions, dispersing in
the air like smoke. According to Laurentsius himself, “Art is a serious
thing, but not deadly serious”.
63 Kristiina
Poska Turns Disadvantages
into Advantages
A decade ago Kristiina Poska, from the small Estonian town of Türi, went
to study in Berlin. Today she has risen to the position of Kapellmeister of
the Komische Oper Berlin - the first woman to do so in the history of the
opera house. Last year she won the most reputable conducting prize in
Germany - also the first woman to ever do so.
69 Annely Köster - Shaking the
Foundations of Art Education
Annely Köster is living her dream as an art teacher and the creator of
the first international youth contemporary art triennial Eksperimenta!,
whose mission is to nurture creativity, free thinking, caring and content.
72 Suur Tõll Opened Again!
Welcome Aboard!
The icebreaker Suur Tõll is the oldest steam-powered ship in the Baltic
states. It is Estonia’s oldest and most dignified museum ship, whose
century-long story reflects the entire time-line of the fragile history of
the republic. During its 100-year history, it has sailed under five different
flags and four different names.
74 Lotte Village Theme
Park – A Load of
Goodness
The theme park dedicated to the girl puppy Lotte
and her family and friends is situated on twelve hec-
tares of land by the seaside near the summer resort
of Pärnu. The girl puppy Lotte is an unprecedented
phenomenon amongst Estonian children, and the
character created by the Estonian film-makers Janno Põldma
and Heiki Ernits has also won fans abroad.
78 Practical Information
For Visitors
36 LDI Targets the Water
Protection Market,
Worth Billions of Dollars
Laser Diagnostic Instruments (LDI), an Estonian R&D company with a
long history, has developed the world’s most flexible and effective oil
spill detection sensor. The whole world is a potential market.
38 A Small Village Turned into
a World Class Industrial Park
Together is better than alone, an old saying goes. Bestra Engineering
has proven that even in the most remote village it is possible to create
an industrial park which produces complex appliances for very demand-
ing customers, a place where a group of companies accomplish things
together like a family.
41 Creativity and Trust are
a Family Firm’s Capital
Ensto, a cleantech company in the electrical sector that has gone inter-
national in small steps, is one of the best-known family firms in Finland.
Marjo Miettinen belongs to the second generation of the company’s
owning family. Ensto came to Estonia in 1993 and today has three fac-
tories here.
44 Skype Founders
in the Process of
“Replacing” e-mail
The cream of the crop of former Skype employers are in the process of
developing Fleep, a brand new messaging system. Their aim? To make
traditional e-mail a thing of the past.
46 The Importance of
Finding the Right Niche
There are several stories of companies in Estonia which have found suc-
cess on the international market. Often it has been due to finding their
own niche, to effective branding, smart marketing and active commu-
nication. Get acquainted with Trimtex, the Lappset Group, Samelin.
Fors MW, Lade and Meiren who have all successfully found their niche.

I WHERE TO GO THIS SEASON
Season opening concert
ISRAEL PHILHARMONIC
ORCHESTRA
Conductor
ZUBIN MEHTA
Piotr Tchaikovsky
Symphony No. 6 B-minor, Op. 74 “Pathetique”
Richard Strauss
Symphonic poem A Hero’s Life Op. 40
Sat. 20. Sept 20.00, Estonia Concert Hall
Symphony No. 6 B-minor, Op. 74 “Pathetique”
Symphonic poem A Hero’s Life Op. 40
Sat. 20. Sept 20.00, Estonia Concert Hall
RINALDO
William Relton:
“When I first saw “Rinaldo”, nothing had prepared me for
the delight which I felt while watching this masterpiece for
the first time. It was his first opera written for London, not
only that, it was the first opera in the Italian language to be
written for the London stage. The premiere of “Rinaldo”,
loosely based on Tasso’s epic poem “Gerusalemme libera-
ta” (Jerusalem delivered), took place at the Queen’s Theatre
in the Haymarket in early 1711 and was a huge hit. Gor-
geous arias, a fabulous, extravagant plot, dramatic charac-
ters - all that one could wish for - were present. Conquest,
magic, deception, thwarted love, betrayal, sex, violence,
abduction, an heroic quest, battles; it seemed as if Händel
had thrown every single theatrical device in the book at it.
“Rinaldo” went on to be the most performed of Händel’s
operas during his lifetime. The opera was so successful that
it was given in a fairly extensively revised version in 1731,
however we are basing our performing edition on the origi-
nal 1711 score. And what of the music? Even for Händel
this opera has a large number of “hit” arias that leaves
one gasping. And then there is of course the incomparable
“Lascia ch’io pianga” sung by Almirena in the middle of
Act 2. One of Händel’s most beautiful and celebrated arias.
A treat indeed!”

Huunnnddreeeds
oooff ccooonnceeertsss
allll oovveeerr Essstonnnia!
SSee thee prograrammmme!e!
coooncncerert.eeee
Seeasoonn
200144-22001155
VANA TALLINN GALA
On 25 September at the Estonian National Opera
Conductor: Vello Pähn
Soloists: Dmitry Galikhin (tenor, Russia), Kurt Rydl (bass, Austria),
Rauno Elp (baritone), Juuli Lill (mezzo-soprano), Kristel Pärtna
(coloratura soprano), Heli Veskus (soprano) and others.
Estonian National Opera Chorus and Orchestra
The concert includes the most beautiful arias and ensembles from the
treasury of Verdi, Tchaikovsky, Puccini, Mozart, Offenbach, Korngold,
Donizetti, Wagner, Richard Strauss, etc.
The gala features two guest soloists – one of the greatest bass singers
of our time, Kurt Rydl, nicknamed “The Mega Bass” and “The Bass”,
and a prolific tenor from Russia, Dmitry Galikhin, whose original inter-
pretation and particularly emphatic rendition has received worldwide
recognition.
Andres Mustonen

On 20 June, President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves
announced the winners of the contest for the architectural
design of the Arvo Pärt Centre (APC) building. In the unanimous
assessment of the jury, the first prize was awarded to
the contest entry “Tabula” by Fuensanta Nieto and Enrique
Sobejano from Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos, S.L.P. (Spain).
The first prize is 10,000 euros.
The objective of the two-stage international design contest was to find
the best architectural design for the creation of a building for the new
Arvo Pärt Centre outside Tallinn. The jury assessed the conceptual and
formal quality of the contest entries, whether they met the require-
ments of the centre, how well they would fit into the surroundings, and
the feasibility of the architectural designs.
According to Michael Pärt, the chairman of the jury and Arvo Pärt’s
son, the winning design is conceptually and architecturally fresh, and
best met the jury’s expectations: “‘Tabula’ creates a harmonious and
flexible environment for Arvo Pärt’s music. What deserves to be singled
out in particular about this contest entry is its spatial arrangement and
thoroughly considered thematic lighting.”
The architectural design contest was announced on 25 November 2013.
The objective for the first stage was to identify architects whose creative
output to date best fits with the concept and requirements of the APC.
Seventy-one applications for entry to the contest were received from all
over the world, with 20 entrants invited by the jury to the second round
of the design contest according to their rankings based on the results
of the assessment. In the second stage, the jury picked three main prize
recipients and three special prize recipients.
The APC was founded in 2010 by Arvo Pärt and his family with the aim
of creating opportunities to preserve and research the creative heritage
of the composer in his native land, Estonia, and in the context of the
Estonian language. The centre is situated in Laulasmaa, 35 km from
Tallinn, on a peninsula with magnificent natural surroundings: within a
pine forest near the sea. The new building of the Arvo Pärt Centre will
open its doors to the public at Kellasalu in 2018.
Architectural design contest for the Arvo Pärt Centre
building won by Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos
Fuensanta Nieto and the winning entry
"Tabula Rasa" named after Arvo Pärt's
famous piece.
I NEWS
Maestro Arvo Pärt together with Nora Pärt and Fuensanta Nieto … and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Fortum planning 30 MEUR
bio-oil plant in Estonia
The inauguration of the Finnish energy group Fortum’s combined heat
and power plant (CHP) was held in January 2011 in Pärnu, Estonia. The
new CHP plant in Pärnu uses such local fuels as wood chips, wood resi-
dues from industry and milled peat as fuels. “The production capacity of
the CHP plant is 24 megawatts (MW) of electricity and 50 MW of heat.
Its annual sales volume will be 110 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity
and 220 GWh of heat, which covers the district heating needs of all
Pärnu,” says Sulev Alajõe, from the Pärnu Business and Development
Centre. The new Pärnu CHP plant is highly efficient and environmentally
friendly. The environmental impact from the production process of heat
and electricity at the plant has been reduced to a minimum thanks to
its fluidized bed technology boiler and local bio fuels. The new plant
has created 16 new workplaces in the operation of the plant and about
300 indirect workplaces around Pärnu in the fuel purchase chain and in
other services for the plant.
The Estonian unit of Fortum plans to build a bio-oil plant in Pärnu by
2016. The annual capacity of the plant is projected to be 50,000 tons
of bio-oil. Bio-oil can be used at heating plants or in industrial steam
production as a replacement for fossil fuels. In the more distant future,
the production of bio-oil could be raised to the level where produc-
ing motor fuel becomes possible. “The new plant will provide work to
about 10 people but, considering that the raw material will be sourced
from Pärnu County, the launch of production might indirectly result in
300 new jobs,” says Alajõe. “That makes Fortum the top investor in the
Pärnu region, and we are happy to assist the company in finding both
skilled labour and subcontracting partners. The latest developments of
Fortum fit well with the county’s plan to establish an eco-innovative
Green Economy Competence Centre. Those developments will hope-
fully enable to find investors, willing to establish energy consuming pro-
duction, taking advantage from closeness of Fortum plants,” he adds.
The European Commission has approved 6.9 million euros for the con-
struction of a bio-oil plant using fast pyrolysis technology in the frame-
work of the second round of the NER300 funding programme. In fast
pyrolysis, biomass is decomposed in an oxygen-free atmosphere by
heat, and the produced gas is condensed to bio-oil. The side products,
coke and non-condensible gas, can be utilised fully and energy effi-
ciently in the boiler of the power plant.
BBC named Estonian handcrafted
bike as one of the most beautiful
bicycles in the world
BBC listed the ten most beautiful bicycles in the world. Among
them was the handcrafted Estonian bike called Viks.
According to the Earth Policy Institute, a US-based environmental ad-
vocacy group, bicycle production quadrupled between 1950 and 2007.
During the same period, car production merely doubled. It’s a trend that
continues to this day, accelerated by rising fuel prices and urban conges-
tion. Small manufacturers, custom shops and independent designers
are reinventing the humble two-wheeler with cutting-edge shapes and
technologies. “It was just a matter of time. Given single-speed cyclists’ pathological
fixation with minimalism, Estonia’s Velonia – a boutique studio founded
and manned by Indrek Narusk – has lopped off the seat tube right
where it stood,” states BBC. “The resulting bicycle, the Viks, is a noodly
abstraction fashioned from just two steel tubes, joined at the head tube
below the handlebar. Shown above in “Lamborghini Orange” powder-
coat, a Viks can be configured for either fixed or freewheel riding, al-
though Narusk cautions that handlebar-mounted brakes are a tricky fit,
given the bar’s unusual 30mm diameter. Best to go brakeless, in other
words,” maintain BBC editors.
Other bicycles listed by BBC were made in
Great Britain, France, Singapore and Japan.
Designboom chose Viks to be among the world’s
top 10 bicycle designs in 2013.
Indrek Narusk

This spring the University of Tartu
opened a world class centre for
translational medicine (SIME), which
takes medical research to the next level
with its research activity and millions of
euros worth of scientific equipment.
According to Eero Vasar, Head of the UT’s In-
stitute of Biomedicine and Translational Medi-
cine, opening SIME creates completely new op-
portunities for medical research. “SIME, with
its carefully designed utility systems, is situated
in the Maarjamõisa campus, allowing people
working in the field of medicine to gather
under the same roof and conduct research in
high-tech laboratories, which will one day lead
to benefits via drug development.”
The building is divided into medical laborato-
ries and an animal research centre, holding up
to 30,000 mice and 5,000 rats. There are labo-
ratories for physiological and pharmacological
studies and core facilities for the production
of transgenic animals and modern imaging
technologies. Physiological and pharmacologi-
cal laboratories are equipped with computer-
aided systems allowing for comprehensive
phenotyping of transgenic animals, as well as
preclinical screening of drug candidates. The
animal research facility allows for the handling
of infectious material at the BSL3 biosafety
level, including such dangerous viruses as HIV
and hepatitis C. The cornerstone of the imag-
ing facility is a 9.4 T magnetic resonance to-
mograph, making in vivo imaging studies on
laboratory rodents possible.
The research has been mainly focused on
neuropsychiatric and endocrine disorders,
as well as cancer biology and autoimmune
disorders, using a high number of differ-
ent transgenic disease models, involving
both mice and rats. Transgenic technology
is very instrumental for understanding the
role of genes with unknown functions, and
for the generation of animal models for pre-
clinical drug research. In terms of personal
medicine, the transgenic approach is highly
complementary with GWAS, adding func-
tional meaning to genetic findings. This is
an important step in the translation of ge-
netic data to human studies.
The centre is also open for study and research
activity for students, including genetic en-
gineers, veterinarians, medical doctors and
many others.
The University of Tartu is developing trans-
lational medicine and clinical research as a
member of the EATRIS consortium. EATRIS is
a consortium uniting 70 scientific research es-
tablishments across Europe, with the mission
of implementing scientific discoveries more ef-
ficiently in practical medicine.
The area of SIME is 4,790 square meters and
the total cost of the construction was 8.7 mil-
lion euros, of which 3.5 million euros was al-
located by SA Archimedes from the finances of
the European Union.
Centre for Translational
Medicine Opened in Tartu
Mohamed Djemni
Technology Sourcing Specialist
/ Europe IPC German Branch
LIFE IN ESTONIA I 2014-2015 FALL/WINTER
I EVENTS
10
At the end of August the Estonian Investment Agency and the Samsung
Electronics hosted the pitching event “Get Global with Samsung“ in
Tallinn to connect tech companies from the Baltic-Nordic region with
the global player Samsung. It was a unique opportunity for local com-
panies, as such an event had never happened before in the region.
Samsung Sourcing
in the Nordics
Samsung came to search for certain technologies in areas such as sensor
technology, material processing, battery & energy, security, healthcare
and artificial intelligence. Any market-ready technology that could be
integrated into Samsung’s future products was taken into consideration.
Altogether 14 tech companies from Estonia, Finland and Norway were
pre-selected by Samsung and got a chance to introduce their technol-
ogy. As a result, Samsung asked eight of them to discuss business in
one-to-one meetings: DigiFLAK, NUTITEQ, ELIKO Competence Centre,
YOGA AS, FlyDog Solutions, Canatu, Scannanotek and Navionics.
Samsung representatives were pleasantly surprised by the good match
with local companies. They particularly mentioned that they saw a lot
of great innovation happening in Europe and that they would take the
message to Samsung Headquarters in Korea.
In October 2014 there will be a Samsung Electronics Sourcing Exhibition
(SESE) in South Korea, for which only 30 companies from all around the
world will be chosen to discuss business opportunities with key decision
makers of Samsung and to have one-to-one meetings with Samsung
R&D engineers.

The thoroughly renovated Energy Discovery Centre, with its
brand new exhibition, has become a popular family leisure
centre. During the first month after re-opening, more than
15,000 people visited the educational entertainment centre.
On 13 June the Energy Discovery Centre re-opened its doors to the pub-
lic in the Tallinn electricity plant, which has over a hundred-year history.
The building was renovated to restore its 1930s glory and today the
science centre offers entertainment for children and adults in its unique
industrial heritage building.
The star exhibit of the centre is the Tesla Generator in a Faraday cage,
unique in the Baltic states, which makes it possible to demonstrate up
to three-metre lightning bolts. “Regardless of the weather outside, we
see lightning strike here every day at 2pm,” Kertu Saks, Manager of
the Energy Discovery Centre, says to tempt visitors.
There are 130 “hands-on” exhibits at the Energy Discovery Centre, of-
fering activities and joy of discovery mostly to children. The seven per-
manent exhibitions introduce the history of energetics, the discovery of
electricity, electricity production, renewable energy sources and nuclear
energy, optics, voice and sound. In addition, there is an exhibition on
mathematics in the area for temporary exhibitions, with the possibility
of organising a 4D Frame geometry workshop. In October, a new exhibi-
tion, “Mission Possible”, will open, and will include interactive exhibits,
where people, young and old, can learn about the bioeconomy in a
simple way. The main areas of interest are agriculture and fisheries,
food and well-being, biotechnology and life science.
The centre’s virtual planetarium, introducing the science of stars with
the most up-to-date astronomy software Starry Night Pro Plus 7, is very
popular with visitors. Travelling over a billion light years, it is possible to
see thousands of expo-planets, millions of stars and 200,000 galaxies in
the planetarium. The programme is constantly being updated according
to new developments in knowledge about the universe.
The Energy Discovery Centre offers interactive science learning to chil-
dren and adult science fans. The founders of the centre are Eesti En-
ergia, Tallinn University of Technology, the City of Tallinn and Tallinna
Soojus. According to Kertu Saks, visitors have responded to the new
centre with great enthusiasm: “Both kids and adults will find hours
of activity here and the feedback from visitors on the exhibits and the
renovated building has been extremely positive.”
www.energiakeskus.ee
More than 15,000 People Have
Seen Lightning At The Energy
Discovery Centre Photos by Energy Discovery Centre

12 LIFE IN ESTONIA I 2014-2015 FALL/WINTER
I EVENTS
Estonia is exhibiting at several international trade fairs in Germany this
season: at the international trade fair of electronics Electronica in Mu-
nich, at the international boat show Hanseboot in Hamburg and at the
watersports trade fair Boot Düsseldorf 2015. The participation of Es-
tonian entrepreneurs in German trade fairs is supported by Enterprise
Estonia through the European Regional Development Fund.
The close economic and cultural ties between Estonia and Germany
date back to the high period of the Hanseatic League, the medieval
political and trading alliance. However, Estonia and Germany are con-
nected by more than the historical union of the Hanseatic League.
Centuries of shared history and cultural exchange have left their mark:
Estonians are renowned for their exemplary work culture and “German
punctuality”. These Prussian virtues are not considered old-fashioned
in northern Europe. Indeed, they have transformed the country in the
brief period since the collapse of the Soviet Union and made it what
it is today: a small but strong and reliable partner, as well as a trusted
member of NATO, the EU and the Eurozone.
Estonian business culture is thoroughly Hanseatic: calmness, reliability
and trust are the highest virtues, a strong work ethic commands great
respect and the payment culture is considered exemplary. Estonians do
not see this as fusty: it has simply always been the right and proper way
of doing things. Keeping promises is a matter of honour: a handshake
is considered at least as binding as a contract, and content is more
important than form.
Estonia –
Innovation Drives Us.
Tradition Binds Us

Meet Estonian shipbuilders at German boat shows
The northern European boat construction industry will be showcas-
ing itself in Hamburg from 25 October to 2 November. At the 55th
International Boat Show Hanseboot 2014, seven Estonian compa-
nies will be presenting their new products. Estonia will be attending
the show for the third time with a joint booth. Last year exhibitors
at the 700-square-metre national pavilion of the partner country Es-
tonia featured innovative, high-quality boat building. The exhibition
space can be found at Hall B6, Stands B.120 and B.122.
Estonia is also, for the first time, participating with its joint stand
at the world‘s largest watersports trade fair Boot Düsseldorf 2015
from 17-25 January. A total of nine Estonian companies will be ex-
hibiting together at the joint stand. Everything from innovative pad-
dle boats to luxury yachts and various shipping products and services
will be demonstrated.
As a maritime country with plenty of good berths, Estonia has been
renowned throughout history as a builder of small and big ships.
Long-term experience means that the quality of Estonian recreational
craft is high and the product range is diverse, from row boats to
luxury yachts and service crafts.
Estonia’s approximately 4,000-km coastline offers not only sailing
trips but also endless opportunities for surfing, water jetting, kayak
and canoe tours and diving. Being near and on the sea has become
a lifestyle for tens of thousands of Estonians, and for some tourism
enterprises it is their main business pillar.
Additional information:
Mrs. Riina Leminsky
/ Enterprise Estonia Hamburg
riina.leminsky@eas.ee
Art lies in innovative electronics
For the first time, Estonia is participating with a joint stand at the world’s
leading trade fair for components, systems and applications Electronica
2015, which takes place 11-14 November in Munich. Everything from
engineering and electronics manufacturing services to PCB production,
cables and radio frequency electronic devices will be displayed.
Electronica is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2014. As in the past,
it will showcase the electronics trends of the future and give visitors a
comprehensive look at the international electronics industry. This unique
industry event presents the state of the art in innovative electronics – a
diverse range of components, pioneering hardware and software solu-
tions and complete systems and applications – in 143,000 m² of exhibi-
tion space. It all revolves around the latest hot topics, such as electromo-
bility, energy efﬁciency and sustainability.
At the fair, Artec Design will introduce, among other things, a validator,
ticket-system equipment for public transport, which has been their big-
gest project in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, where public transport is
free for citizens. It’s worth noting that a bus ticketing system with 2000
NFC/RFID Validators was developed and installed in only nine months.
The Estonian electronics sector has been powered from the very begin-
ning by the need to communicate and get connected. In 1907 the first
telephone factory was founded in Estonia. Electronics is one of the fast-
est growing sectors in Estonia, with 200 companies and about 11,000
employees. A number of large international corporations produce
mostly for export, while smaller local companies develop innovative
products and solutions. The sector is dominated by industrial electronics
and electronic manufacturing services. 95% of the Estonian electronics
industry’s output is exported.
A total of nine Estonian companies, along with the Estonian Electronics
Industries Association, will be exhibiting together at the Munich elec-
tronics fair. The exhibition space can be found at Hall A3, Booth A3.270.
Additional information:
Mrs. Tiina Kivikas / Enterprise Estonia,
Export Advisor in Germany
tiina.kivikas@eas.ee
See the video “Land of Resourceful People“

I EVENTS
Come for
Nordic-Baltic
innovation
@Latitude59
The 24th
Subcontracting Trade Fair Alihankinta 2014 will take place
16-18 September in the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre, in Fin-
land. Alihankinta, which has the largest attendance in the Nordic coun-
tries, presents the key areas of industrial subcontracting, namely the
metal, electronics, plastics and rubber industries, as well as industrial ICT
solutions and consulting services.
Alihankinta will feature approximately 1,000 exhibitors from 20 coun-
tries. Every year some 17,000 industrial specialists visit the event to ex-
plore the latest products, services and innovations. For companies, the
event offers a unique opportunity to build networks and customer rela-
tionships. The three-day event will include interesting seminars focusing
on a wide range of topics related to industrial activities, economics, the
future of subcontracting and factors leading to success in the subcon-
tracting business.
Explore
the Industry
of the Baltic
Sea Region
Ruth Vahtras, FDI project manager, and Irene Surva-Lehtonen, Export Advisor in Finland,
standing by Estonia's stand at Alihankinta 2013.
The speakers and panelists are all leaders in their fields, with long ex-
perience and insight into the chasm facing young companies, which
must look beyond their local markets if they are to fulfil their dreams
and ambitions of providing sustainable solutions to business “pain
points” and consumer demands.
Last year’s Latitude59 was bigger and better than ever, with a full house,
several demo rooms and such keynote speakers as the legendary Vice
President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google Vint Cerf, the found-
er and MD at Draper Fisher Jurvetson Tim Draper, the founder and
Operational Chairman at Kiosked Micke Paqvalen, the IBM Venture
Capital Group member Deborah Magid and many others.
The Latitude59 conference is happening again this spring, from
14-15 May 2015 in Tallinn. The networking conference is a perfect
meeting place for innovators, entrepreneurs, venture capital partners,
angel investors and others who support the global expansion of inno-
vative companies.
Vint Cerf

FOLLOW ON
#latitude59 @latitude59 Latitude59
Latitude59 is a partner of Estonian ICT Week, the single
most eventful week at the centre of the sizzling Nordic-Baltic
ICT powerhouse, illuminating innovative ideas that connect
the brightest minds. This year it takes place from 8 to 15 May.
You are very welcome to join!
estonia.eu/ictweek/
On 15 September, one day before Alihankinta, Enterprise Estonia
Helsinki is organising a high level Estonia-Finland business seminar
in Tampere. The seminar will be attended by the Minister of Foreign
Trade and Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Estonia, Anne Sulling.
“Although cooperation between Finland and Estonia is remarkably
lively, there is still room for new opportunities: for example, the Tal-
sinki Bay Area. There is a natural economic zone on the shores of the
Gulf of Finland. We have to prove that we can be better together
than separately, and this cooperation can be extended to the whole
Baltic Sea Region, ” says Valdar Liive, the moderator and man behind
the seminar. The partners of the seminar are the Estonian Embassy
in Helsinki, Business Region South-Estonia, the Finnish-Estonian Trade
Association and the foundation Ida-Virumaa Industrial Areas Develop-
ment (IVIA).
This year, electronics, machinery and metal, and plastics companies
from Estonia will participate in the Alihankinta Trade Fair. These fields
of industry all share an orientation towards export markets and open-
ness to comprehensive cooperation with the leaders of their respective
fields all over the world. Estonian companies participating: Plastone OÜ,
Hissmekano Estonia OÜ, Tech Group AS, Eolane Tallinn AS, Konesko AS,
Radius Machining OÜ, Frog Plastic OÜ, Greenforce OÜ, Efekt AS, Metre
OÜ, Aamex OÜ and BHC AS.
Welcome to meet Estonian companies in hall D, stand D220!
www.alihankinta.fi
Gil Dibner, Partner at DFJ Esprit, London tweeted his appreciation:
“Amazed, not surprised, by the strength of tech and talent in Tallinn,
Latitude59. Looks like I’ll be back!”
One highlight of Latitude59 is the start-up pitch contest Silicon Val-
ley Style, introducing the most promising start-ups from the Nordic
and Baltic region to well-known investors from around the globe. Last
year there were over a hundred applicants, surprisingly many of whom
were hardware start-ups.
The topics for 2015 are Fintech, Medtech and the Internet of Things.
And, as a proper networking conference, every year Latitude59 pro-
vides reasons to celebrate. There will be a vibrant start-up party on the
eve of 14 May. Stay tuned!
latitude59.ee
Micke Paqvalen
Taavet Hinrikus
Richard Allan Homing

I COVER STORY
Anne Sulling:
Estonia is an Attractive
Hub for Testing New
Technologies By Holger Roonemaa
Photos by Margus Johanson and Meeli Küttim

During the change of government which took place in spring 2014,
Estonia introduced a ministerial portfolio with a brand new focus.
The country now has a minister with specific responsibility for
foreign trade and entrepreneurship. The person who took up
the position is even more interesting: Anne Sulling did not have
any previous experience in politics.
Before entering the political arena, it was Sull-
ing’s job to sell Estonia’s “emission allowanc-
es”, aimed at achieving reduced carbon emis-
sions as part of the Kyoto Protocol. To a great
extent, it is thanks to her work that Estonia can
boast the world’s first nationwide network of
electric car charging stations, that more than a
thousand electric cars are now driving on the
roads of Estonia, that hundreds of public build-
ings have been renovated to become energy
efficient, that outdated public lighting systems
are being replaced with energy efficient light-
ing in seven towns, that theatres have been
equipped with modern energy-efficient stage
lighting systems, that more than a hundred
new efficient public transport buses have been
procured and that the capital Tallinn will soon
receive new trams.
You have now been a minister
for half a year. How would you
characterise the field you are
responsible for?
Estonia has a small open economy with ex-
ports of goods and services constituting more
than 80% of its GDP. The main purpose of the
Minister of Foreign Trade and Entrepreneur-
ship is to help support Estonia’s exporters at
home and abroad and help attract foreign in-
vestors to Estonia.
What is Estonia’s export
portfolio like?
Estonia’s export portfolio is very diverse. We
have a number of large multinational com-
panies that make up the largest share of our
export portfolio, the main articles being ma-
chinery and equipment, electronics, and in-
formation and communication technologies.
We build sea vessels, from kayaks to yachts
to large ships. We stand out for our excel-
lence in IT. Everybody probably already knows
that Skype was developed in Estonia, but
now many new interesting companies have
spun off in the IT sector that are aiming to go
global: Transferwise, GrabCAD, Erply, Signwise
and Fortumo, to name only a few of them.
We have a strong wood sector—which is no
wonder as more than half of our territory is
covered by forests--producing everything from
paper pulp to furniture to log-houses, which
are all exported. We boast a large variety of
high quality foodstuffs, a result of Estonia’s
clean nature and environment.
During your time in office you
have already received many
foreign delegations and also
made various business trips
abroad to promote Estonia.
How do foreign entrepreneurs
perceive Estonia?
I have asked many foreign investors who have
already settled here why they chose Estonia to
be their production base. They all usually an-
swer that it is because we have a very trans-
parent and efficient business environment, a
low level of corruption and a simple tax sys-
tem. It is easy to file one’s taxes oneself. Our
e-government solutions make communication
with the state very simple and extremely ef-
ficient; this all saves businesses a great deal of
time and money. We have a qualified, reliable
and competitive workforce. We are logistically
well-connected by sea and are working to im-
prove our air connections, and of course being
an electronic hub we are very well connected
to the world.

I COVER STORY
It seems that we have come to a
crossroads; the cost of our labour
force has risen, yet we still have
a competitive advantage over
Western Europe when it comes to
labour costs. What is your opinion?
Estonia’s challenge is to continue to climb up
the value chain and that means over time lower
skilled and lower paid jobs will be replaced by
higher skilled and higher paid jobs. Indeed, we
have seen some jobs on the lowest end of the
wage scale leave the market and jobs requiring
higher skills and qualifications replace them. Es-
tonia’s average wage level is currently still only
about 40% of the EU average. In the long term,
it is important that the price/quality relationship
offered in the labour market remains attractive.
That means we need to keep investing in our
people’s education and skills.
One of the greatest assets Estonia has is its very
good education system. According to the PISA
tests carried out by the OECD, the results of
Estonian primary school students rank among
the best in the world, along with Finland, the
Netherlands and Japan. Our universities also of-
fer very high quality education. Different multi-
national companies make use of the fact that
our universities have world-class scientists in the
fields of biochemistry, IT, material sciences and
electrical engineering, and they cooperate on
projects of research and development. In recent
years, our universities have been working with
such well-known companies as Ericsson, Mit-
subishi, Mercedes and Nestlé, among others.
In addition, Estonia remains an excellent and
attractive manufacturing location; we have a
skilled and committed workforce that can pro-
duce quality goods at very competitive costs,
with easy access to large markets. That is why
such large multinationals as ABB and Ericsson
have set up their manufacturing facilities in
Estonia.
Let’s talk about the business en-
vironment of Estonia. How do you
explain to Norwegian or German
entrepreneurs what it is and why
it is so incredibly simple for us to
communicate with the state?
It is our e-government solutions which have
helped to shape our simple business environ-
ment. Our communications with the state are
online and this guarantees a high degree of
efficiency and transparency. This efficiency
allows companies to get on with their core
business without incurring high administrative
costs. In addition to e-government, we benefit
from the small size of our country: everybody
knows everybody, which makes business deal-
ings simple and fast. The cooperation between
ministries and the government is very fast and
efficient. Let me give the example of selling
emission allowances to other countries: we
clearly stood out from competing countries
because all of our processes were much faster.
Whenever there was a need to put together a
programme within a limited time frame, they
came knocking at our door, as they knew that
no other country would be able to react as
fast. Governmental decisions which may take
months somewhere else took just a week or
two in Estonia. We are fast and efficient, and
our e-communication channels make commu-
nication with the state simple and efficient.
In a previous issue of this
magazine, Taavi Kotka expressed
his belief that e-residency could
be the very thing to make Estonia
unique in the world. It could be
Estonia’s unique selling point in
the world. Is this something you
consider important enough to
target foreign entrepreneurs
with?
It is our goal to have 10 million e-residents by
2025. Obtaining an e-residency means obtain-
ing an Estonian ID card from one of Estonia’s
representations. This ID card has two func-
tions. Firstly, there is the authentication func-
tion, which provides a guarantee at the high-
est level of security that the owner of the card
really is the person s/he claims to be. Secondly
there is the digital signature function, which to
date does not exist in most countries. The digi-
tal signature enables one to give a secure sig-
nature at a distance. Business dealings thereby
become much easier. It is impossible to forge
a digital signature; thus in web environments
where a high degree of security is important
our ID-card is a great advantage. This could be
a reason for foreign entrepreneurs wishing to
have our e-identity. In my talks with foreign
entrepreneurs who already have business deal-
ings with Estonia, it has become clear that they
are eagerly awaiting this opportunity. But there
is also potential interest among those entrepre-
neurs who currently have no links with Estonia.
The e-resident ID will provide entrepreneurs
with access to the Estonian Business Registry
and enable them to easily create a company in
the European Union from a distance. It would
be their easiest and most efficient access to the
EU business environment.
Minister Sulling at the seminar of the Confederation of Finnish Industries.

In addition to simplicity, what are
the reasons that foreign entrepre-
neurs should consider Estonia?
We have a competitive workforce, a great busi-
ness environment, and a simple and motivat-
ing tax system, where no income tax is paid on
profits reinvested. The level of corruption is ex-
tremely low. We have a Nordic business culture,
where promises are kept. Estonians have the
reputation for getting things done. We speak
English well. Those aspects are already sufficient
for entrepreneurs to give Estonia some serious
thought.
Besides that, the Estonian government has in-
vested a great deal in the business infrastructure
in recent years, setting up incubators for start-
up companies, and founding industrial parks for
companies to set up their production facilities,
as well as science and development centres to
help facilitate cooperation between businesses
and research institutions. I have met foreign
investors who say they like Estonia because it
seems everybody here is developing something.
That is an additional argument for foreign inves-
tors to take a look at the possibilities in Estonia.
One interesting new trend we have observed
lately is that multinational companies are bring-
ing their service centres to Estonia, such as ac-
counting, back office management and treas-
ury functions. This is helped by the fact that
we have a disproportionally high share of the
workforce educated for the needs of the finan-
cial services industry, which is looking for new
outlets after the consolidation of the financial
sector. A few multinationals have also brought
their IT development and engineering R&D cen-
tres to Estonia.
The Estonian government has also created a
support scheme to motivate investments in
Estonia. The state adds 30% to investments
of more than 3,000,000 euros, with a maxi-
mum support of one million euros. Investments
receiving state support must create at least
15 new jobs with wages above the Estonian
average.

I COVER STORY
How are the arguments in favour
of investing in Estonia working?
To date they have worked very well. Estonia’s
share of foreign investments per GDP is al-
most twice that of the other Baltic states: by
the end of 2012, Estonia had 84.2% of for-
eign investments per GDP, whereas the share
in Latvia was 46.1% and in Lithuania 36.7%.
This shows that our business environment is
very attractive.
When a foreign investor decides
to consider Estonia as a potential
investment location, but does not
have a local partner, what are the
first steps that should be taken?
Enterprise Estonia (EAS) is the central contact
point both for local entrepreneurs who wish
to enter foreign markets and for foreign en-
trepreneurs who wish to come to Estonia.
Enterprise Estonia has a strong foreign direct
investment (FDI) advisory team, which works
specifically with foreign investors. For potential
investors, it is therefore a good idea to first ap-
proach Enterprise Estonia, which will provide
them with an advisor who will help fulfil their
information requirements, present the op-
portunities available to them and bring them
into contact with the necessary people. It is a
very personalized approach. I have heard from
many investors that the FDI advisory team of
Enterprise Estonia does great work, and that
confirms what I have witnessed myself.
It is also worth noting that Enterprise Estonia
coordinates the network of County Develop-
ment Centres, which provide advisory services
to local entrepreneurs and possess a very good
overview of the local level. They are therefore
in a good position to help foreign investors
find interesting investment opportunities in
the regions.
Where do you see the largest
potential for growth? What could
become Estonia’s trademark in
the world?
Given our competitive edge on the IT side, we
need to exploit that. Currently our e-solutions
are mostly tailor-made and do not constitute
a large share of our export volume. Thus, it is
important to move into areas that allow larger
volumes. One such area where we could ex-
ploit our IT potential is that of the smart city.
The smart city field is experiencing rapid global
growth. There is increasing concern about how
to make the city space more comfortable and
sustainable. The solutions range from energy-
efficient lighting systems to smart building solu-
tions to smart apps helping to orientate in city
environments. Estonia can expand into this field.
Another aspect which we could exploit more
in Estonia is our openness to using new tech-
nologies. The small size of our country enables
us to easily test various solutions nationwide.
In other words, Estonia could position itself
as a testing ground for various technologies
where, on one hand, companies come to test
new technologies and, on the other, people
come to get acquainted with new technolo-
gies. E-residency is a good example of the pos-
sibility of using Estonia to test unique solutions
that can be rolled-out to the whole world.
Estonia possesses all the attributes to be an in-
ternational testing ground: we are a creative,
efficient, progressive EU member state with a
well-educated and hard-working population.
Anne Sulling and Alexander Stubbs,
Finland's sitting PM (Minister for European
Affairs and Foreign Trade at the time)

Can you give any other examples?
Yes. We conducted the world’s first country-
wide pilot project in electric cars in Estonia.
This is something we did in collaboration with
Japan and the Mitsubishi Corporation through
the sale of emissions allowances under the
Kyoto Protocol.
We created the world’s first country-wide
quick-charging system for electric cars and
provided some 500 electric cars to social work-
ers for use across the country. In addition, we
created a grant scheme for the general public
to support purchases of electric cars. Today
there are more than one thousand electric cars
driving on Estonian roads, which is one of the
highest concentrations in the world.
In addition, we introduced another innovative
project as part of the electric car programme:
the car sharing programme. Since last summer
it has been possible to rent an electric car in the
two biggest Estonian towns, Tallinn and Tartu.
It is possible to locate the closest available car,
reserve it, open its doors and start the rental
session simply by using your smart phone. Car
sharing has turned out to be surprisingly popu-
lar and, after its introduction, the sales of elec-
tric cars increased significantly. The rest of the
world has a lot to learn from our experience
in this field. For example, the Estonian com-
pany Now Innovations, which developed the
payment system for the electric car charging
network, is now offering the same service in
other countries.
It is important to mention that such pilot pro-
jects create work for our research institutions.
For example, in both of the above-mentioned
projects we installed data-loggers in the cars,
which collect various data about the cars over
several years. The professors and students of
the Tallinn University of Technology, in coop-
eration with the Mitsubishi Corporation, will
now be able to analyse the data to find ways
to improve electric cars and also to learn how
to introduce the electric cars to the market.
Such an experience of collaboration is useful
for both sides and shows foreign investors
what can be done in Estonia.
You made the decision to enter
politics half a year ago. If you had
gone into business, which field
would you have chosen?
For years I have been involved in international
negotiations and sales. The specific field isn’t
so important; what matters is that I believe in
the product. Great product ideas may come
from any field.
Which markets should Estonian
entrepreneurs target more?
The internal market of the European Union
has great potential. It is by no means an easy
market. It requires high quality products and
services. Its consumers have considerable pur-
chasing power. I would first look at the EU
market and focus on product development in
order to manage in a very competitive mar-
ket. Russia and China are huge and attrac-
tive markets, but there are very many risks in
those markets which are not related to the
entrepreneur. The USA and Japan are friendly
markets for us, and we still have a small trade
volume with them, so there is room for ex-
pansion. But also more distant markets hold
potential for increases in trade. In a small
country like Estonia, we need to focus on
high quality and try to find niche fields with
high added value.
Anne Sulling and Skype Estonia CEO Andrus Järg.
PhotobyEikoKink,Äripäev
Estonia boasts good chocolate and sweets.
One of the most beloved chocolate bars
is Anneke, which is a diminutive of the
Estonian girl's name Anne. In the photo,
Anne Sulling with Kaido Kaare, CEO of AS
Kalev, the biggest and oldest confectionery
company in Estonia whose first predecessor'
activities in Tallinn date back to 1806. For
years, Kalev has been the best known and
most prestigious trademark in Estonia.

Jüri Riives
Professor, Dr. Eng in Manufacturing Systems
Graduated from the Tallinn University of Tech-
nology. Worked at the Tallinn University of
Technology, Faculty of Mechanical Engineer-
ing. Involved in private business as a Member
of the Board and Chairman of the Council.
Currently working in the Competence Centre
IMECC as Chairman of the Board and Gen-
eral Manager of Research.
Scientific and research fields: Mechatronic
and Production Systems Productivity and Be-
havioural Models; Intelligent Manufacturing
and Robotics; Lean Manufacturing and Qual-
ity Management.
Has taken part in several international pro-
jects in the areas of cluster development,
developing of new business models for ensur-
ing competitiveness and adding innovation
capacity of the labour force and entrepre-
neurs in the mechanical engineering and ma-
chinery sector. Has published more than 60
scientific articles.
I ECONOMY AND BUSINESS
Industrial
Revolution 4.0 By Jüri Riives
On the way to a new
industrial revolution
Manufacturing systems are key components
of any industrial company which is oriented to
production activities. Modern manufacturing
systems must satisfy the following demands:
high productivity, high flexibility (small batches
and large nomenclature of products) and high
accuracy in products.
Rapidness, diversity and uniqueness character-
ise today’s production. Additionally, decreases
in resources, pressure on manufacturing costs
and continual growth in customers’ expecta-
tions have led to new problems that need to
be solved. There is a need for strong individu-
alisation of products under the conditions of
highly flexible production, extensive integra-
tions of customers and business partners and
value-added processes, and the linking of pro-
duction and high quality services leading to
“hybrid” products.
Germany has played a leading role in mak-
ing significant changes in business models
and developing new smart industrial systems.
This new paradigm has led to an industrial
revolution, known as Industry 4.0, which
was publicly announced by Angela Merkel at
the opening of the Hanover Industrial Exhibi-
tion in 2013. Industry 4.0 was conceived as
a forward-looking project under the Federal
Government High-Tech strategy, focusing on
information and communication technology. It
has been developed further to include produc-
tion research and user industries.
What is Industry 4.0?
Industry 4.0 means Smart Factory develop-
ment, where intelligent cells inside the com-
pany and between the companies are integrat-
ed through the Internet, and they are able to
communicate and make necessary decisions.
Industry 4.0 is Cyber-Physical Systems and the
Internet of Things.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is an integrated part
of the future of the Internet, including the exist-
ing and evolving Internet and network develop-
ments, and it can be conceptually defined as
a dynamic global network infrastructure with
self-configuring capabilities based on standard
and interoperable communication protocols,
where physical and virtual “things” have identi-
ties, physical attributes and virtual personalities,
use intelligent interfaces, and are seamlessly in-
tegrated into the information network.
In the IoT, “smart things/objects” – robot-based
industrial cells - are active things (including work-
places) in the process and/or in the production
system where they are designed to interact and
communicate among themselves and with the
environment by exchanging data and informa-
tion “sensed” about the environment, while
reacting autonomously to “real/physical world”
events and influencing them by running process-
es that trigger actions and create services with or
without direct human intervention.

IMECC vision of modern manufacturing
IoT infrastructure allows for combinations of
smart objects (wireless sensors, robots, control-
ling and servicing devices etc.), sensor network
technologies and human beings, with their
defined competences, using different but inter-
operable communication protocols. It creates
a dynamic multi-modular, heterogeneous net-
work that can be deployed in different produc-
tion areas. Along with increased automation
in industry, the development of completely new
business models is an important task as well.
Towards modern manufacturing
Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) are becoming
increasingly important in this context. Along
with increased automation in industry, the
development of intelligent monitoring and
autonomous decision-making processes are
particularly important in order to be able to
steer and optimise both companies and entire
value-added networks in almost real time.
Working in a cross-enterprise product-realisation
process means that the flow of information
and materials needs to be efficiently managed
throughout the entire life cycle, i.e. from concept
to disposal. Due to the topology of Extended En-
terprise, the flows of information and materials
become complex, especially if the configuration
of the Extended Enterprise changes dynamically
during collaboration projects. This highlights the
use of MES systems and their integration with
planning and management systems.
Production is a key component of every manu-
facturing company involved in production
systems. The main info-technological means
in a production system are Manufacturing Pro-
cess Management (MPM) and Manufacturing
Execution System (MES). MPM is a complex
of production technologies and methodolo-
gies that determines how to manufacture a
product effectively in a real production en-
vironment. ERP determines what and when
to produce (planning), MPM determines the
most efficient realisation solutions and MES
provides evaluation of the realisation.
IMECC working programme
The Innovative Manufacturing Engineering
Systems Competence Centre (IMECC) is one
of the eight competence centres of Estonia.
IMECC’s overall goal is to raise the internation-
al competitiveness of the Estonian manufactur-
ing industry and the field’s companies through
collaboration between research institutions
and companies in the field of R&D, integra-
tion with the European Technology Platform
Manufuture programme and cooperation with
international clusters and research institutions.
IMECC’s main field of activities is applied re-
search directed at the company level, process
level and production cell level. The research in
these three focuses is commonly referred to as
the development and realisation of the Future
Factory concept. The development of intelli-
gent manufacturing systems and products is
the IMECC consortium’s main objective.
The focuses of the research are:
• Integration of business and manufactur-
ing planning based on e-manufacturing
and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
systems, resulting in the development of
new business models
• Development of cost and time efficient
solutions for SMEs for process automa-
tion and innovative emerging manufac-
turing technologies
• Self-organising systems with online moni-
toring and diagnostics.
Research is characterised by the integration
of information technology solutions in various
industries and manufacturing sectors (Intel-
ligent Manufacturing). Research results pro-
vide the basis for enterprises to introduce new
products, increase productivity and automate
processes.
The agility and flexibility that are needed in to-
day’s production can be achieved by integrat-
ing workplaces with processes and systems
inside a company, as well as by creating net-
works of companies. The network is formed
by things/objects having identities, virtual
personalities operating in smart spaces using
intelligent interfaces to connect and commu-
nicate with the users, and social and environ-
mental contexts. So, the plan is to make the
Internet of Things a reality.
Challenges for a new
Industrial Revolution
in Estonia
• Willingness of owners/
shareholders to change
• Development of new skills
and competences
• Employees’ ambitions
• More internationalisation and
cooperation in R&D
• Intelligent manufacturing
networking
• Setting priorities
• National Action Programme

Skeleton Technologies, a Tallinn-based company which
develops and produces ultracapacitors - extremely powerful
energy storage devices - aims to become the leading
ultracapacitor manufacturer within five years.
Skeleton Technologies started to grow in
2009, when, after years of development work,
the young entrepreneurs Taavi Madiberk and
Oliver Ahlberg decided to take the technol-
ogy created by Tartu scientists into production.
Taavi Madiberk, CEO of the company, explains
that they have experienced very rapid growth
in the last five years: “Everything has gone ac-
cording to our plans, and in some ways we are
even ahead of our plans.”
Skeleton Technologies has received nearly 1.5
million euros worth of funding from Enterprise
Estonia, most of which has been received in
the last two years. In July 2014, the company
announced a 3.9 million euro injection from
the investment company Up Invest. At the
beginning of this year, Skeleton Technologies
participated in the Norway Grants Green In-
dustry Innovation programme, which was
looking for Estonian companies to develop
globally ambitious green IT projects together
with Norwegian companies, and received
funding from the Estonian-Norwegian coop-
eration programme Green Innovation Estonia
to develop the next generation of “smart”
ultracapacitor modules. Standardised plug-
and-play solutions for a variety of markets,
from UPS to heavy transportation, will lower
the cost of ownership for customers. The
specified features, from voltage and tempera-
ture monitoring to application-based energy
profiles, are class-leading and increase the
efficiency and reliability of the devices. Skel-
eton Technologies has included the Norwe-
gian company NX Tech, which specialises in
bringing breakthrough technologies to market
(their previous partners include Th!nk, Citymo-
tion, Cisco and others), as a partner to field-
test the modules in Norway.
The German subsidiary of the Estonian com-
pany received funding from a local support
programme where the total cost of their pro-
ject was nearly 14 million euros. The project
combines support from the Development Bank
of Saxony with the company’s own contribu-
tion. Madiberk says that this is probably the
largest investment ever made by an Estonian
company in Germany.
By Otti Eylandt / Postimees
Small Company Set
To Conquer The World

Skeleton Technologies’
ultracapacitor
• Life cycle 15 years and up to a
million life cycles. Normal batteries
last a couple of thousand cycles.
• Working temperature between
-40 and +65°C.
• Much smaller than products of
competitors; hence production
costs up to 50 % less.
• Fields of use: transport, military,
renewable energy and space
industries.
• Five patents and 16 patent
applications in process in Europe,
the USA and Asia.
Comment:
Lermo Pohlak, Director of Customer
Centre, Enterprise Estonia: ”Skeleton
Technologies is an ambitious com-
pany whose projects Enterprise Esto-
nia has decided to support on several
occasions. It is still too early to assess
the impact of these projects as they
are still under way. Enterprise Estonia
continues to follow Skeleton’s activi-
ties with great interest and we hope
for the successful implementation of
their projects.
The company’s ability to attract mil-
lions of euros of additional capital
from Estonia and abroad should be
commended. It demonstrates that
investors have trust in the team and
goals of Skeleton Technologies.”
www.skeletontech.com
The sums invested in the small company are
quite high considering that the company is cur-
rently mainly involved in developing the products
and plans to start larger production in the sec-
ond half of next year. How have those invest-
ments helped to develop the company and what
exactly has the company managed to do so far?
Madiberk explains that the investments have
been pivotal for the development of the com-
pany: “High tech production is a field which re-
quires a lot of money and we have managed to
bring out a new generation product,” he said.
The sums may seem high in Estonia but, to put
it in perspective, a competitor company in the
United States called Ioxus has received almost 50
million USD in investments (36.9 million euros).
Brains here, production in Germany
Today the company’s headquarters in Tallinn em-
ploy over twenty staff members, the “brains” of
the company, and product testing takes place
there. Although the company currently produces
ultracapacitors for sale in Tallinn, the production
volumes are still low. Madiberk explains that larg-
er production will take place in Bautzen, Germany,
where currently preparations are under way. The
production lines will open in the second half of
2015 if everything goes according to plan.
Taavi Madiberk explains that the reason the com-
pany will move production to Germany is the fact
that a fifth of the world’s market for ultracapaci-
tors is based there, the customers are closer and
it is easier to find qualified workers. “If we want
to compete with Asia in Europe, Germany is the
best option,” he adds.
There is no danger of the company moving its
development group from Tallinn to Germany and
thus losing the company for Estonia. Madiberk
claims that the current working group has prov-
en its worth and he sees no reason for moving.
Achievements to date
Skeleton’s team includes four people with doc-
toral degrees. One of them is the Vice President
of Production, Kai Vuorilehto, who has several
years of experience as Chief Technology Officer
at European Batteries Ltd, where he led technol-
ogy development and production set-up at one
of the most technologically advanced Li-ion bat-
tery production facilities in Europe, with over 70
M EUR invested. The company also employs the
former Chief Executive of Silmet, Anti Perkson.
Recently, a battery industry veteran, James P.
McDougall, was appointed to serve as a non-ex-
ecutive director with a focus on global business
development.
According to Taavi Madiberk, the biggest suc-
cesses of Skeleton are its cutting-edge propri-
etary technology and high-profile customers,
ranging from the European Space Agency to
leading players in the European automotive in-
dustry. The company’s cooperation with ESA
started in 2011 and they have just negotiated
the next contract.
Madiberk claims that the most important char-
acteristics of ultracapacitors are their functional-
ity, resilience, size and mass. Thanks to patented
technologies, Skeleton has a real advantage in
these areas over its competitors. “After all, every
gram counts in space,” he says.
Oliver Ahlberg (28, left), the Chief Operating Officer of Skeleton Technologies, and CEO Taavi Madiberk (26)
have managed to get their foot in the door of big business despite their young age.
Madiberk believes that the company has
all the necessary prerequisites to become
the largest ultracapacitor manufacturer
in Europe within the next two-three
years, and then the largest manufacturer
globally.
PhotobyMIHKELMARIPUU/Scanpix

Stoneridge –American Dream
in Tänassilma Village
By Ann-Marii Nergi
Truck instrument cluster
Printed circuit board assembly
of a vehicle control unit

When the Swedish factory of the US electronics manufacturer Ston-
eridge became too small for the company, it was faced with the choice
of expanding either to Poland or to Estonia. The choice was made in
favour of Estonia as “for a variety of reasons Estonia just prevailed,” re-
calls Per Lindberg, member of the Management Board and a long-timer
in the Estonian plant.
Stoneridge Electronics in Estonia started work in 1998 under the name
Berifors, a company formed from a management buyout in Ericsson’s
automotive division. Due to a crowded factory in Sweden and cost
pressure from its customers, Berifors needed to immediately expand. In
1997, Stoneridge acquired Berifors and, since 2001, the Estonian plant
has been a part of Stoneridge Electronics.
The head-office of the company, which develops products for commer-
cial vehicles, passenger cars and special vehicles (off-road and agricul-
ture), is located in Warren, Ohio in the USA. The company is registered
on the New York Stock Exchange.
For the last six years Toomas Papstel who has worked for the company
since 2000 has been in charge of the car electronics factory based in the
technology park in the small village of Tänassilma. Papstel recalls that,
when production began in the late 1990s, it was a small production unit
which serviced one customer in one product group. Today Stoneridge
Estonia employs 270 people. Today all fields are strongly represented,
from product development and industrialisation to product validation,
not to mention process development and automation. The products
and the production process are also more complex than in the early
days.Papstel explains that the factory in Estonia concentrates on the
production of electronic control units, telematics, switch modules, fuses
and relay modules.
Products for Scania and Ford, tractors and buses
“The majority of the production goes to truck producers, such as
Daimler, MAN, Scania and Volvo, but also for passenger car produc-
ers, such as Ford. We also produce for buses and special vehicles, such
as construction vehicles and tractors,” explains Papstel. “We send our
products directly to car factories, where they are assembled on vehicles.
Whereas the largest share of the production goes to European Union
countries, we also export to such destinations as Brazil and Australia.”
Although Stoneridge has other factories in the United States, Mexico,
Sweden, Scotland and China, and joint ventures in Brazil and India, the
factory in Estonia is able to participate in local and global development
projects. Back in 2008, Toomas Papstel told the media that Stoneridge
Estonia needed more “brains” in order to break into the European pas-
senger car market and, to this end, a development department employ-
ing 30 engineers was established in Estonia in the same year. “This is
one of our more successful projects,” says the plant manager. “Our lo-
cal product development team is a fully-functioning unit which works in
close cooperation with the Stoneridge development centre in Sweden.”
Papstel adds that employees are mostly found locally and the company
collaborates with the Tallinn University of Technology in finding engi-
neering staff.
“In creating competence, one needs to take a long-term perspective.
We combine experienced personnel with people who are still studying
in university. There are cases of former students who came to us for ap-
prenticeships, and gradually increased their input until they became full
staff members,” Papstel says, explaining the importance of combining
education with practical experience.
Tests with spaceship!
According to the plant manager, the task of Stoneridge Estonia contin-
ues to be to represent the corporation’s capacity in Europe, and to main-
tain the flexibility to service primarily European customers. “Our goal is
to grow. There are also plans to expand the local product development
unit,” said Papstel.
It should be noted that Stoneridge Electronics was one of the partici-
pants in sending the first Estonian space satellite, Estcube, into orbit, as
the satellite vibration tolerance tests were carried out in the Stoneridge
testing lab. Papstel is modest in talking about this experience: “We did
indeed have this interesting opportunity. But I have to emphasise that
our role should not be blown out of proportion. People came to us for
help in carrying out the vibration tolerance tests because our testing lab
provides this capability. Of course we agreed!”
“We have daily contact with the car industry, but there are no ‘space
ships’ regularly at our factory. Our lab engineers were totally excited
and spent the days between Christmas and New Year’s eve at work,”
he says, recalling the varied working life of the engineers in the factory.
Precision measurements with 3D measuring equipment
Automatic routing of printed circuit boards

Hundreds of trains around
the world have roofs and cooling
systems made in Estonia.
Estonia may not be producing trains any long-
er, as it did a century ago at the Dvigatel fac-
tory, but you can find a small company that
specialises in building train roofs and cooling
systems. Train HVACs are extremely high-tech
solutions that need to be designed and tested
extra carefully, as the smallest of flaws may
mean trouble for passengers and financial
loss for carriers. Interconnect Product Assem-
bly’s CEO Roman Klepikov tells us more.
Would you please introduce IPA
to the readers of Life in Estonia.
Interconnect Product Assembly AS (IPA) was
established in 1999. We are an independent,
privately owned company specializing in the
production of electro-mechanical solutions,
from simple cable harnesses to complex fully
functional assemblies. The range of services
IPA provides includes design, prototyping, se-
rial production, supply chain management
and hub sourcing solutions. Starting as a very
small company, IPA has managed to grow into
a strong company employing around 200 em-
ployees and achieving a turnover of 20MEUR
in 2013. 95% of manufactured goods are
exported, mainly to the EU but a number of
goods are also delivered to the US, Australian
and Canadian markets.
I understand that among other
things you also produce train
roofs with cooling systems.
What does that exactly mean?
One of the products that IPA manufactures is an
HVAC (Heating Air Conditioning and Ventila-
tion) unit for train manufacturers. Our main cus-
tomers for these kinds of products are Bombar-
dier, Siemens, Knorr-Bremse, Sigma and Hitachi.
Typically the design of the product is complet-
ed by the customer but when needed IPA has
the skills to design the HVAC unit for the cus-
tomer. The metal frames are manufactured by
IPA local partners under the strict supervision
of our engineers. The HVAC unit is assembled
and completely tested at an IPA facility and is
delivered straight to the train manufacturing
depot. So the only thing the customer has to
do is to lift the unit into the roof hole, screw
it into place and connect it. The unit is tested
and set up for best performance. This is a very
complicated product and it might take 150
man-hours to manufacture just one HVAC unit
and 30 man-hours to conduct all the tests to
guarantee the best possible performance.
Roman Klepikov
IPA Helps to Make
Comfortable TrainsBy Holger Roonemaa

HVAC manufacturing is
only a small part of IPA
production.
IPA’s major manufacturing
areas are:
• Electrical cabinets
(low and medium voltage)
• Electrical modules
• Relay panels
• Electro-mechanical equipment
• Various box-build assemblies
IPA’s clients include
Knorr-Bremse, Siemens,
Hitachi and Bombardier
IPA has manufactured
HVAC
units for over 800 train
carriages, including:
• 2005 – 2006
Siemens EMU
70 Train Saloon HVAC Units
Germany
• 2006 – 2007
Siemens DMU
Germany
• 2008
Hitachi
50 Train Cabin HVAC Units
Japan
• 2008 – 2009
Bombardier Electrostar
• 2009 – 2010
Bombardier Turbostar
• 2013
Scottish Railways,
East Coast Main Line
Can you tell me as a simple passenger
what the use of your product when
I’m travelling on a train is?
The product consists of a metal frame made of alu-
minium or stainless steel, depending on what condi-
tions the train will operate in. It includes the cooling
system, heating system, ventilation system and also
an emergency mode system. The HVAC unit is 100%
automated and the train driver only has to start the
train and the rest is done by the HVAC unit in order
to guarantee a comfortable environment for passen-
gers. In addition to saloon HVAC units, IPA manufac-
tures train driver HVAC units and all other systems
related to the train environment: floor heaters, tem-
perature controllers, extraction units etc.
I find it quite surprising that an
Estonian company is producing such
systems. How easy or difficult is it
to find workers with the necessary
skills?
The manufacturing process is fairly complicated
indeed, as many aspects and restrictions must be
taken into consideration. In general, railway ap-
plications have the highest technical and quality
requirements. The product must be 100% secure
and 100% free of defects. There can be no risk
to passengers. If there is even a small problem,
the whole train has to be moved to the depot for
maintenance and repair. The cost of a train stand-
ing in a depot and not being in service is huge.
In order to guarantee high quality and meet all
customer expectations, IPA has a team of people
who are true professionals in their area. There is a
conduit that detects possible design faults in the
early design stage, so most of the problems are
eliminated before the serial production process. FAI
(First Article Inspection) samples are approved inter-
nally with the customer and the train manufacturer.
When needed, IPA specialists go to the train builder’s
depot in order to ensure that the unit fits “prop-
erly” in the train and fulfils all the requirements.
The most challenging aspect is the manufacturing
process. IPA engineers have worked out a process
that always guarantees good and uniform quality,
regardless of what type of HVAC is involved. The
process requires trained and skilled operators and
knowledgeable supervisors. Even more challenging
is the testing and set-up process, as this requires
good engineering skills, experience and extreme
patience, as sometimes final adjustments can take
much longer than expected.
What is the difference between train
HVACs and common cooling systems?
As trains are always moving, micro vibration is al-
ways present in products, so if the product is not
assembled according to specifications then it can
fail easily in one to five years’ time. And if a whole
batch is assembled in the same way, this can cause
an “epidemic” problem involving the whole train
fleet. Nobody wants that. I’m sure you have heard
about the HVAC failing in Germany a couple of
years ago, when the summer temperature was well
above average. There are very strict requirements
for project management and also for operations
and they are described in the Railway IRIS stand-
ards. IPA was audited and awarded by IRIS (Interna-
tional Railway Industry Standard) at the beginning
of 2014.
IPA has been growing quite fast.
How do you see the company’s
future?
IPA has grown very rapidly indeed and we believe
that the growth will continue for at least the next
two years. This requires a lot of effort as the com-
pany must be very flexible to deal with the changes
that growth brings.
www.ipa.ee

One of the biggest employers in Vändra
collaborates closely with educational institutions.
Jaanus Luberg started producing transformers in the small town of
Vändra in central Estonia back in 1996. The small business - then called
Turmet - has now grown into MS Balti Trafo, a private limited company
employing 150 workers. The company is the second largest employer in
Vändra, which has a population of 2,300.
MS Balti Trafo relies on German capital assets and is closely linked to
Manfred Schmelzer GmbH in Germany. This means that although the
German entrepreneurs Manfred and Michael Schmelzer invested in
the production of transformers in Estonia back in 1997 they did so as
private persons. Hence MS Balti Trafo is a separate Estonian company
whose business partner is the corporation belonging to the Schmelzers.
“MS Balti Trafo produces products for the partner company as part of
orders within the corporation, as well as exporting to our own cus-
tomers. We are a fully functioning company with our own sales and
purchasing departments,” explains Jaanus Luberg, Managing Direc-
tor. “Half of our export goes to Germany, 20% to Finland, 20% to
Sweden and 10% remains in Estonia.” However, Luberg explains that
actually only about 2% of their production remains in Estonia because
transformers are ordered for different appliances, which in turn are
exported.
Transformers can be found in Mercedes cars
and Jura espresso machines
To put it simply, transformers are little gadgets inside all kinds of elec-
tronics equipment or energy sources, which transform the current and
electrical voltage. Transformers produced in Vändra can be found in
home appliances, cars, medical equipment, lighting systems and in the
solar energy sector. “The transformers we produce are very specific and
custom-made. We develop our products together with our customer
base of 300 and each year we produce up to 750 different articles,
12 million pieces in total. Hence we have spread our risks well,” says
Luberg. According to him, the smallest transformers they produce are
barely visible to the naked eye, measuring just three millimetres in diam-
eter, and the largest ones weigh a whopping 300 kilograms.
“For example, we produce transformers for welding equipment for
one particular client and those are then sold to oil reservoirs. There is
another client in Germany that produces appliances for large valves for
the opening and closing of gas pipelines which have a diameter of one
metre. This requires engines; the engines in turn must be managed and
the voltage transformed: they use our products for this,” says Luberg.
Perhaps the best-known companies that use components produced by
MS Balti Trafo are the car producers Mercedes, Volvo, Audi, Volkswa-
gen, Škoda, Toyota, Porsche and BMW, and the espresso machine com-
pany Jura. Luberg will not name more customers, as certain agreements
have been made between the company and the customers.
Education allows Balti Trafo
to function in the real world
MS Balti Trafo has always valued education and the company has close
links to the Pärnu Vocational Education Centre and the Tallinn University
of Technology. Students undertake apprenticeships at the company, and
MS Balti Trafo promotes in-service training and re-training of its staff
members. “Our workers also train students at the Vocational Education
Centre because we consider it important that young people receive an
education which enables them to function in the real world. We have
therefore offered our input in developing curricula, and we try to help
to modernise learning whenever we can.”
Jaanus Luberg hopes that young people will value practical skills more
in the future than they do today. “It is clear that people with certain
degrees find it impossible to find work, while the lack of skilled work-
ers is a real problem. Our company also experiences the lack of skilled
labour force but it all boils down to the value of the workforce. We
need to employ specialists but there is no special education in produc-
ing transformers. Hence it can be said that training the staff we need is
a life-long process.”
Since 2009, MS Balti Trafo, with Jaanus Luberg at its head, has man-
aged work at a factory in India, which legally belongs to the German
partner Manfred Schmelzer GmbH. The Estonian company is responsi-
ble for the daily running of the company in India and Luberg says that
cooperation functions well even at this long distance. “India, with its
unique legislation and environment, is of course relatively complicated
and strange to us northerners, but the people we work with are true
professionals.” In addition to the Indian factory, the Germans also own
a production unit in Tunisia.
www.msbaltitrafo.ee
MS Balti Trafo
Exports Millions
of Transformers
Annually

The company which became famous in Esto-
nia for the production of car safety belts forty
years ago is today a part of the international
corporation Autoliv.
The history of AS Norma dates back to the
19th
century, when in 1891 a tin sheet work-
shop was founded in Tallinn. In 1957, Norma
became the first factory in the Soviet Union to
start manufacturing flashlights and in 1960 the
company launched the manufacturing of elec-
tro-mechanical toys.
A new era in the history of Norma started in
1973, with the launch of the first industrial
lot of car safety belts. Before then seat belts
were not part of the equipment of Soviet cars.
Forty years on, the famous company in Estonia
has grown into a valued unit of the Swedish
corporation Autoliv. It employs over 750 staff
and its product range has grown far beyond
seat belts.
The Swedish car safety equipment manufac-
turer Autoliv bought a 51% share in Norma
15 years ago. The production of belts was
transferred from Sweden to Estonia. In 2007,
AS Norma began to sell components in foreign
markets. In 2010, when the Swedes purchased
Norma completely, there was a significant in-
crease in the production of safety compo-
nents, because in the same year Autoliv closed
two of its factories in Germany and a large
share of the production was transferred from
there to Tallinn.
The turnover of AS Norma in 2013 was 61
million euros and profit 1.88 million euros.
The turnover of the parent company Autoliv
reached record highs. In 2013, Autoliv’s turno-
ver was 8.8 billion dollars and the operating
profit was 761 million dollars.
Increasing added value is
a priority
Peep Siimon, Managing Director of Norma,
confirms that the main competence of the
company is producing technologically com-
plex components for the automotive industry,
including the construction and production of
required tools. To that end, Norma buys ser-
vices and goods from about 300 enterprises in
Estonia. “This competence enables us to pro-
duce and create products that meet high re-
quirements for safety equipment, primarily for
Autoliv factories all over the world. As parts of
such products, our components reach practi-
cally all car manufacturers,” explains Siimon.
Outside Europe, the products of AS Norma
are exported to Russia, the United States and
Asia. “We may claim therefore that one is
bound to find a component made by Norma
in a luxury Bentley, as well as in an old Lada,“
says Siimon. “At the same time the share of
Norma’s traditional exports to Russia has de-
clined and will continue to do so with the end
of the production of Ladas. The main market
is in Europe, although the United States and
Asia are also important,” he adds. As Autoliv
cooperates with almost all car manufacturers
throughout the world, we can say that Norma
as part of the corporation helps to save the
lives of over 30,000 people each year because
of the safety systems installed in vehicles.
Siimon claims that raising the added value of
products is more important than geographical
expansion. “We wish to develop to become
the producer and supplier of acknowledged
complex and dependable components and as-
semblies directly to the international automo-
tive industry. The keys to success are the ability
to work together and collaboration between
smart people.” However, Siimon emphasises
that it is customers who hold the real key to
success, which should not be forgotten in im-
plementing changes.
Modern production environment
as a motivator
Norma’s approach to its employees is to mo-
tivate them. “The main motivators are the
modern production environment and the best
management systems in the automotive in-
dustry, the opportunity for rotation in differ-
ent factories, stable long-term jobs and our
unified team, training events and in-service
training opportunities, to name just a few. We
also offer great international work experience
through projects and our daily work, as well as
opportunities to work in Autoliv companies all
over the world,” says Siimon.
www.norma.ee
Norma’s Safety Systems
for Cars Help Save 30,000
Lives a Year

It is highly likely that whichever commercial ve-
hicle manufacturer you ask, this particular wir-
ing system has arrived from either Haapsalu or
Keila, the two small Estonian towns where the
factories of the international corporation PKC
Group have been in operation for years. In or-
der to be more flexible in meeting the demands
of the consolidating customer base and chang-
es in consumer behaviour, PKC will concentrate
its production in Keila by the end of this year.
Registered on the Helsinki Stock Exchange,
the headquarters of the PKC Group are also
based in the Finnish capital. In addition to
Estonia, factories are located in Russia, Lithu-
ania, Poland, Serbia, Germany, Brazil, China
and Mexico, and engineering centres in the
USA. The factories based in Estonia do not dif-
fer considerably from the other factories of the
corporation and it is a goal of the PKC Group
that all its factories work on the basis of the
same standards.
High prize from
Enterprise Estonia
Generally speaking the activity of the PKC
Group can be divided into two parts: manu-
facturing wiring systems and electronics. PKC
Eesti falls in the first branch, producing wiring
systems mostly for the automotive industry:
for producers of heavy vehicles or consumer
cars. The company has a staff of almost 1,000
in its Keila factory.
According to Lauri Rohtoja, General Manag-
er of the Estonian factories, lead bundles are
linked to the nervous system of the car, which
helps to translate the signals initiated by the
driver to the mechanisms and vice versa. “The
wiring systems must allow for the manage-
ment of a specific activity in the vehicle, for
example the wiring harnesses for the lights or
engine,” says Rohtoja.
The work of PKC Eesti, which demands ac-
curacy and has increased Estonian exports,
has been noticed and rewarded in Estonia.
Last year PKC was nominated in the foreign
investor category of the Enterprise Awards
by Enterprise Estonia. In 2012 it took all the
main awards at the same ceremony: PKC Eesti
received the foreign investor award and was
also named the best enterprise in Estonia.
During the last two years the company has
invested up to 2.1 million euros in its fixed
tangible assets.
PKC Eesti AS Produces Nervous
Systems for Automotive Industry
Did you know that the wiring system that fits under the dashboard of a regular truck and which switches
on all the necessary lights and buttons at the right moment is about three kilometres long and weighs
approximately twenty kilograms? Yet on the production line it only takes a couple of seconds to fit
this bundle of wires in place!

Pärnu-based Company
Produces Lighting
Equipment for
Luxury Vehicles
When you sit behind the steer-
ing wheel of a BMW, Mercedes or
Jaguar, it is highly likely that a
small part of your car has been
made in Estonia.
Situated 130 kilometres from Tallinn, Pärnu
has mostly been known as a summer re-
sort, with a beautiful long sandy beach, a
popular holiday destination even during
the czarist Russian times. However, Pärnu
is also home to a group of smart companies
which, instead of subcontracting, focus on
product development. One example of such
a company is Oshino Electronics Estonia,
or Oshino.
The company, which started in modest con-
ditions in a dormitory back in 1992 under
the name Paitec Elektroonika, today produc-
es and develops interior lighting modules for
various globally famous car brands. Brands
such as BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Audi,
Porsche and Land Rover use glove box or
door handle lighting, number plate lighting
or side markers produced by Oshino. The
company started its first automotive industry
project in 2001.
“It was complicated. But once you have one
positive reference, it becomes easier,” recalls
Ingvar Kuusk, CEO and one of the own-
ers of the company. He explains that Oshino
produces for a very narrow niche, which
means that the customers have more spe-
cific requirements and wishes. “There are no
grey areas. Quality, quality, security of provi-
sion and more security of provision,” he says
about the demands of their clients.
Kuusk explains that there is tough competi-
tion in their field, especially when it comes
to pricing. “For a while, Estonia’s advantage
was in good infrastructure and low labour
costs. Today we are no longer as competitive
in terms of labour costs. In order to stay in
business, we must guarantee flexibility and
quality.”
Oshino Electronics Estonia is largely based
on German capital, and the mechanical
components of the products are made in
Germany, where the lighting simulation is
also carried out. “In Estonia, we create the
schematic solutions, and design the print
plate and montage test packaging. Our
services include product development, the
contracting of plastic moulds, the develop-
ment of the production and testing environ-
ment, and the procurement and production
of components,” says Kuusk. In addition to
the production of the electronics, software is
also developed in Estonia today. “The prod-
ucts are becoming increasingly complex.”
Today Oshino is firmly established in the au-
tomotive industry. “People continue to pro-
duce and buy cars. Besides luxury brands,
we also have projects for middle-class
consumer vehicles. This increases turnover
but has a very low profit margin,” explains
Kuusk. He adds that the company plans to
continue its product development work,
which means offering higher added value.
For example, the company has been working
for some time on lighting solutions for new
car models, which will be seen on the streets
by the end of next year.
“I am certain that these awards have really in-
fluenced how our workers see their own work
results and their attitude to the company more
generally. I personally was very proud of our
staff members and company when I heard the
news. I also believe that this kind of positive at-
tention has made the name of PKC Eesti better
known as an employer in Estonia,” said Lauri
Rohtoja.
Rohtoja has been in a management position in
the company for just a few months, as in April
the former Chair of PKC Estonia, Ivo Volkov, was
appointed the head of the firm’s Brazilian facto-
ries. In addition, the engineering centre of the
Keila factory will assume responsibility for im-
plementing all of the new Brazilian products in
addition to its current responsibility for produc-
tion in Europe. This demonstrates that this big
corporation is very happy with the work results
of its Estonian employees.
Parent company started in
a small Finnish town
The PKC Group expanded into Estonia in the
early 2000s, when Haapsalu and Keila factories
were bought from the company Harju Elekter.
Before that, the companies collaborated with
Harju Elekter in providing subcontracting servic-
es. PKC Eesti still doesn’t have its own customer
base, as the leads are sold to customers who
have ordered them from the sales department
of the corporation. “The technology in use
definitely plays an important role in optimising
investments and the need for retraining which
comes along with introducing new products,”
explains Rohtoja.
The company’s history dates back to 1969,
when the Finnish company Pohjolan Kaapeli -
a wiring harness factory in Kempele - started
operations. The acronym PKC includes the two
former names of the company: Pohjolan Kaapeli
and PK Cable. Since 2000, the company has
been called the PKC Group.
Lauri Rohtoja

Estonia is a Good
Place to Establish
a Company
What can you do when you need to keep your IT company’s
costs down in one of the most expensive countries
in the world, Norway? Christian Testman, the energetic
and tech savvy CEO of Ålesund-based ICD Industries decided
that the answer lay in locating some of the operations
overseas. The overseas location needed to share Nordic
values and have a good IT infrastructure, yet lower salaries
than Norway. After some research and consideration of
a number of countries, Estonia became that location
for ICD in 2012.
We invest in Estonia because
it is highly competitive,
says Christian Testman,
CEO of ICD Industries.
By Silver Tambur / www.estonianworld.com

Life in Estonia (issue Fall/Winter 2014-2015)

Life in Estonia (issue Fall/Winter 2014-2015)

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