Kalmar completes the cooperation negotiations with its personnel and reorganises its operations in Tampere, Finland

Kalmar, part of Cargotec, has completed the reorganisation and the related cooperation negotiations with its personnel in the Automation and Projects division in Tampere, Finland. As a result of the negotiations, Kalmar has decided to utilise the successful cooperation model with the joint venture Rainbow Cargotec Industries (RCI) in China that is already in place in the rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes and extend it to automatic stacking cranes (ASC). The change of the business model will lead to a permanent reduction of 10 employees in Tampere. Additionally 13 employees will be transferred to RCI's competence team located in Tampere.

The new organisation will take effect on 1 April 2016. Kalmar will continue to hold responsibility for automation and software development, sales, marketing and customer interface, as well as project deliveries of mega projects, while RCI will be responsible for the automatic stacking cranes.

"With the new setup, we are expecting to improve our competitiveness on the global market. Together with RCI, we will deliver automatic stacking crane projects within set time, budget and quality standards, to the full satisfaction of our customers. In Tampere, we will focus on developing our automation and software offering to support our digitalisation journey," says Antti Kaunonen, Senior Vice President, Automation and Projects, Kalmar.

Kalmar currently employs approximately 300 people in Tampere. Kalmar's Technology and Competence centre in Tampere includes the industry's largest port automation test field and world-class facilities and laboratories for prototyping, simulation, testing, monitoring and optimisation.