Production manager Arttu Kivi next to the fermenting tank at the Koskenkorva factory. The mash flows continuously from the fer­
menting tank, as tall as a three-storey house, to the next. All the data associated with the process is monitored and analysed with
Lean System.
Koskenkorva Vodka is born
with Lean System
Lean System plays an important role in the operation of the Koskenkorva factory in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. The most famous product of the Koskenkorva factory is of course the Koskenkorva
Vodka, but in fact, in addition to ethanol, feed and starch are among the most important products of
the large and complex industrial facility.
Process control and Lean System
in cooperation
“All the data associated with
Koskenkorva’s process is
monitored and analysed with
Lean System. The process control
system and Lean System work
well together.”
Arttu Kivi, Altia
Only a hundred people work at the Kos­
kenkorva factory, half of those for Altia
and the rest for A-Rehu and other firms
operating in the area.
“Since the factory is largely automat­
ed, Lean System is used mostly in the of­
fice. The process control system and Lean
System work well together. Process meas­
urement data are entered into the da­
tabase, from which they are copied into
Lean System and the process control sys­
tem,” says production manager Arttu Kivi.
Lean System is deeply involved in all
of Altia’s important operations at Kosken­
korva. The monitoring of arriving goods
flow happens automatically. Appropri­
ate arrival times are reserved in advance
for suppliers and the monitoring of goods
flow happens automatically with Lean
System, with the scales at the gates no­
tifying Lean System of the difference in
weight between the vehicle at arrival and
departure.
Lean System in heavy daily use
Analysers examine the batches of arriv­
ing raw materials and relay the results to
Lean System, which prices them and takes
care of the payment process. The entire
system is designed so that logistical goods
flow and production itself works as far as
possible as an uninterrupted process, and
in the background Lean System automati­
cally keeps the records and makes the
necessary calculations.
“One place that generates measure­
ment data is the factory gate, where all
arriving and departing loads are weighed.
In the laboratory as well, samples are
linked by a bar code to a certain batch.
And of course the process itself produc­
es many different kinds of measurement
data,” says Kivi.
Altia’s Rajamäki and Koskenkorva fac­
tories work in close cooperation. Initially
Lean System was deployed at Rajamäki.
When it was time to upgrade the system
at Koskenkorva, Lean System was a natu­
ral fit, though not the only option.
Using Lean System, the staff at the
Rajamäki and Koskenkorva factories can
also examine each other’s data. The Ra­
jamäki factory uses Lean System even
more broadly than the Koskenkorva fac­
tory.
“One small difference is that we here
at the Koskenkorva distillery speak in kilos
and at the Rajamäki bottling plant they
speak in litres. So the conversion calcula­
tor sees heavy use,” laughs Kivi.
A system adapted to needs
Feed, starch, ethanol
and carbon dioxide
Lean System users at the Koskenkorva
praise the system as easy to use, adapted
to their needs, and flexible.
”Lean System is the most important
data system I use daily. With Lean Sys­
tem, I monitor, for example, receipts,
production, and deliveries for inventory.
I have been using the system a long time
and it works very well for me, since I like
numbers,” relates assistant Anne-Maria
Laukkanen.
Customer service coordinator Pirjo
Koskinen agrees.
”I handle billing and Lean System is
the most important tool I use for that. I
like that Lean System is so flexible and
data can be edited easily. I have been us­
ing the system a long time and I am satis­
fied with it.”
Two A-Rehu factories operate at the site,
producing feed for pigs, cows, and poul­
try. Starch is sold to the paper industry
to make gloss for coated paper and to
make cardboard rigid. Most of the etha­
nol ends up in Altia beverages; the indus­
trial ethanol is also produced, for exam­
ple, for windshield wiper fluids and hand
sanitisers.
Carbon dioxide is sold to AGA, where
it goes on to become for example shield­
ing gas for welding and greenhouse
booster.
The Altia company’s Koskenkorva fac­
tory uses almost one-fifth of Finland’s
barley crop. The factory ships in 197,000
tonnes of domestic barley annually. It
produces about 64,000 tonnes of feed,
• The old ERP system became outdated, and the new system needed to
provide features that were not available with the old system.
• With Lean System, the entire operation of the factor can be monitored,
from the arrival of the goods to billing. Process control works smoothly
together with Lean System. The system was adapted to the needs of
Altia’s Rajamäki and Koskenkorva factories.
• Lean System has been a very reliable and easy to use system for a long
time. We also found it to have features that we did not even know we
were missing when we were looking for a system, such as an integrated
calendar for lorries that come to unload barley. There is still scope to
broaden and improve the use of the system at the factory if necessary.
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57,000 tonnes of starch, 24,000 tonnes of
ethanol, 8,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide,
and about 10,000 tonnes of grain husk,
which is used in the factory’s own power
plant.
”This factory was founded before the
war to produce ethanol but now feed and
starch are our most important products,
both in tonnage and in euros. Almost all
the foodgrade ethanol is delivered to
Altia’s other factory in Rajamäki, where
it is blended into various beverages and
bottled,” reports production director Art­
tu Kivi.
Uninterrupted process
Both fermentation and distillation are
continuous processes at the Koskenkorva
factories, where liquid flows constantly
from one tank to the next. Most of the
world’s distilleries operate on a batch-bybatch basis, that is, one batch is complet­
ed before the next is started.
”We are the only factory in the world
where starch is made from barley in a
continuous process. The factory oper­
ates 24/7 about 350 days a year. There
are two or three maintenance stoppages
per year.”
The factory buys 90 per cent of its
barley from middlemen and about 10 per
cent directly from nearby farmers, which
also explains why the factory is located in
the middle of Ostrobothnia’s grain fields.
The barley must meet certain criteria for
example for starch, protein, dry matter,
purity, and hectolitre weight. It is a prin­
ciple that only domestic barley is used as
raw material.
Prepared mash is about 12–14 per
cent ethanol and the distilled liquid is
about 96 per cent ethanol. Concentrated
ethanol is delivered for example to the
Rajamäki factories, where it is diluted for
use in various beverages.