Tamturbo offers compressed air as a service: “We are creating a technological revolution in factories”

“All factories need compressed air to transmit power. However, the production of compressed air consumes up to five per cent of the electricity in the world.

At the beginning of the millennium, Kimmo Laine had 40 years of working in the field of compressor technology at Tampella behind him and was reflecting on whether compressed air could be produced more efficiently.

Laine’s interest in compressors beat retirement and he founded Tamturbo together with Jaakko Säiläkivi. I joined a couple of years later to build the idea into a company.

As a result of an extremely long and demanding product development process, we have developed an oil-free compressor that is up to 20 per cent more efficient than traditional compressors. Our equipment has a long service life and requires very little maintenance. In addition, we can monitor the operation of the equipment digitally.

Factories already subscribe to electricity, water and heating on a monthly basis, so we began to investigate whether the same model could be used with compressed air. In compressed air as a service, the customer pays only for the compressed air it uses and Tamturbo owns the compressor producing it in the factory. The customer saves money and we are responsible for the durability and quality of the equipment.

Our model is different from the model of traditional compressor manufacturers who make a profit by servicing the equipment and providing spare parts. Therefore, they may not even want to make equipment that has a long service life and is durable.

I believe that in the future, compressed air will be mainly bought as a service. Traditional sectors adopt new technology slowly, but reducing the emissions of industry will have a huge impact on emissions worldwide. Our customers already include AB InBev, the largest brewing company in the world and the manufacturer of beers such as Corona and Budweiser.

Our aim is to achieve a turnover of hundreds of millions of euros by reducing the environmental effects of industry. The world has no choice, and factories need a technological revolution to embrace the circular economy. We can be part of the solution.”