Wärtsilä swoops on Vaasa for Smart Technology Hub

When the facility is completed in 2020, existing personnel and operations in central Vaasa will be transferred to the new Smart Technology Hub, together with logistics and maintenance workshop operations from Runsor. The company will spend EUR 83 million on modern testing and production technology, with the balance invested in buildings, logistics and infrastructure.
The hub will be unique in its field, Wärtsilä said in a statement, because it will enable more agile and efficient testing and product development of systems for the maritime, oil and gas, and new energy sectors. It will also provide a basis for collaboration so that partners including customers and suppliers, start-ups and universities, can use the campus for research and product development.
Vesa Riihimäki, managing director of Wärtsilä Finland Oy, said: “Amazing ideas do not just appear out of thin air. By bringing together experts from different walks of life – both from business and from the university world – we will build an inspiring environment for new creativity.”
The Vaasa region, and Vaskiluoto in particular, is Wärtsilä’s largest site and the company employs around 3,000 people there. The company also has 400 people working at its facility in Turku and a further 500 at its Helsinki location.