Kone- ja Siltarakennus Oy ("Kone ja Silta"; ; "Maskin o. Bro") is a
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
former
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
company based in
Sörnäinen
Sörnäinen ( sv, Sörnäs; ''Sörkkä'' or ''Sörkka'' in Helsinki slang) is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland.
Sörnäinen is located a little more than one kilometre north from the coastal centre of Helsinki, near the district ...
,
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
.
The 1892 founded company grew heavily in the 1920s and 1930s by acquiring Finnish engineering companies; the products were
ship
A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s, steel
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
s,
weighing scale
A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, and weight balances.
The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a ...
s,
separators and other machinery. The company's separators were produced under brands ''Lacta'' and ''Milka'' and they were also produced in
Sweden,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark
, establish ...
and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. By the early 1930s Kone ja Silta held virtually the whole
Finnish shipbuilding industry.
Majority of the company ownership was acquired by
Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technolo ...
iron works
An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''.
Ironworks succeeded bloomer ...
in 1935 and Kone- ja Siltarakennus was incorporated into Wärtsilä Group in 1938. The acquisition was prominent due to the significant size difference of the companies, and a major step in Wärtsilä's development as one of the leading engineering companies of Finland.
Production was transferred from Sörnäinen to
Joensuu
Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. The ...
and
Järvenpää
Järvenpää (; sv, Träskända) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located on the Helsinki–Riihimäki railway track in Uusimaa region, some north of Helsinki. Neighbouring municipalities are Tuusula, Sipoo and Mäntsälä. People ...
in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The old factory area is nowadays part of
Merihaka
Merihaka ( sv, Havshagen) is a coastal residential area in central Helsinki, Finland consisting of large high-rise concrete housing blocks. It is located by the Baltic Sea next to districts of Hakaniemi, Kallio and Sörnäinen. It is known for i ...
.
Name
The company name was originally written officially in
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
''Maskin- och Brobyggnads Aktiebolaget'', "Machine and Bridge Construction Limited" and widely shortened ''Maskin o. Bro'', "Machine and Bridge". The Finnish name ''Kone- ja Siltarakennus'', shortened ''Kone ja Silta'' respectively, was used in Finnish speaking context. The company name was changed officially into Finnish in 1935,
but the Swedish speaking name was used in parallel after that.
[Zilliacus: ''Ahven.'' pp. 138–149.]
Origins
Brobyggnads Aktiebolaget, a Helsinki-based engineering company founded in 1889,
got a significant order of
railway bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...
s from the
Finnish Grand Duchy in 1891. The order consisted few bridges for the northernmost part of the
Karelian railway and all the bridges for the
Pori railway. In order to be able to complete the order the company bought in spring 1892 Osbergs Mekaniska Verkstad,
which was an 1853 founded engineering works,
that had produced freight coaches and military supplies, such as ammunition transport caskets and coaches for various purposes.
[Haavikko: ''1834–1907; chapter 7.'' pp. 14–15.] Osbergs Mekaniska Verkstad operated in
Sörnäinen
Sörnäinen ( sv, Sörnäs; ''Sörkkä'' or ''Sörkka'' in Helsinki slang) is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland.
Sörnäinen is located a little more than one kilometre north from the coastal centre of Helsinki, near the district ...
on a 3,5-hectare lot which it had leased from the city. The area was only partly built.
After the acquisition, the company was renamed Maskin- och Brobyggnads Aktiebolaget.
Grand Duchy era
Subsequently, the production was concentrated in
Sörnäinen
Sörnäinen ( sv, Sörnäs; ''Sörkkä'' or ''Sörkka'' in Helsinki slang) is a neighbourhood in the city of Helsinki, Finland.
Sörnäinen is located a little more than one kilometre north from the coastal centre of Helsinki, near the district ...
.
By the beginning of the 20th century the main products were bridges and ships;
shipbuilding
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...
was started already in 1891.
The company built a
dock on sea shore in Sörnäinen. The first vessel, a tug steamer, was handed over in 1893. Steam boilers became an important part of the product portfolio.
Kone ja Silta got a notable orders for ammunition and railway cargo cars from the Finnish Grand Duchy; also the
Imperial Russian Military Administration became a notable customer.
At the end of the 1890s the company got an order of cargo cars from the State Railways. The good order base increased the income but the company had continuously problems with shortage of cash reserves. The old Brobyggnad premises next Köydenpunojankatu were sold and the company bought the land in Sörnäinen from the city. The share capital was increased in 1899, although it didn't succeed in full extent due to tightened money market regulations.
The Empire wanted to limit the economical independence of the Grand Duchy, and in 1902 it was announced that Finland was to be regarded as foreign country in determining toll fees. Moreover, the Russian public institutions were forbidden to order supplies from foreign countries. This created big problems to Finnish engineering companies, including Kone ja Silta, as they were very dependent on Russian market. Russian customers had typically given prepayments which had helped at maintaining cash reserves.
The Imperial Russian Council of Ministers cancelled the order at the end of 1902 after deciding to seek for softer way to tie Finland into Russia. Subsequently, Kone ja Silta got a 4-million-mark order for 200 000
shrapnels.
[Haavikko: ''1834–1907; chapter 8.'' p. 15.]
Kone ja Silta made its best result until then been during the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
in 1904–1905.
The situation changed in 1907, when the Council of Ministers again re-introduced prohibition of governmental orders from engineering companies of the Finnish Grand Duchy.
[Haavikko: ''1907–1917; chapter 1.'' pp. 20–21.]
The company management was aware that a such order would come and had investigated different business opportunities. The owners considered foundation of a namely Russian ammunition factory in Saint Petersburg or finding a Russian buyer for the company; neither of the options gained response. New markets for shrapnels were investigated in
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, and Kone ja Silta went into contact with the Swedish
AB Diesels Motorer investigating possibility to start diesel engine production. These efforts did not lead to results.
[Haavikko: ''1907–1917; chapter 2.'' pp. 21–22.]
![Kone- ja Siltarakennus Oy separator factory assembly and testing dept](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Kone-_ja_Siltarakennus_Oy_separator_factory_assembly_and_testing_dept.jpg)
The management investigated possibility for
separator production analysing number of types in the market. It was decided to develop a separator based on a Swedish invention. Kone ja Silta bought production machinery from a Copenhagen-based company that had ended separator production; also one person was recruited from the Danish company to work as financial manager of the newly founded Kone ja Silta separator department. However, the product construction was not successful and it was replaced by new type branded ''Lacta''. The design was patented and exports started soon after.
Another separator brand used was ''Milka''.
Another successful new product was
pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
...
and groundwood machinery, for which the company bought know-how from abroad.
New lines of production along with railway bridge projects in Lapland and Karelia as well as railway cargo car orders guaranteed the vital order basis. Moreover, Russian government started to slip from the boycott, and Kone ja Silta got few orders from the Russian government, and it produced also
steamships
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
, which operated in Russian rivers. In 1913 the company built new premises which suit better for the production portfolio. Only one year after the capacity was fully used due to outbreak of the First World War. Kone ja Silta produced ammunition and other military supplies and
repaired Imperial Russian Navy
The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution of 1917. It developed from ...
ships. In the meantime, the demand of separators and other non-military supplies decreased. Although the military paid good prices for the products, getting raw material from Central Europe became impossible. The headcount was 700 before the war and it reached 3 000 in 1916. The value of
Russian ruble
''hum''; cv, тенкĕ ''tenke''; kv, шайт ''shayt''; Lak: къуруш ''k'urush''; Mari: теҥге ''tenge''; os, сом ''som''; tt-Cyrl, сум ''sum''; udm, манет ''manet''; sah, солкуобай ''solkuobay''
, name_ab ...
decreased in relation to
Finnish mark
The markka ( fi, markka; sv, mark; sign: Mk; ISO code: FIM, typically known outside Finland as the Finnish mark) was the currency of Finland from 1860 until 28 February 2002, when it ceased to be legal tender. The mark was divided into 100 pe ...
; in 1917 the company suffered loss of 2 million marks due to
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...
of the ruble.
A new separator factory, designed by architects
Armas Lindgren
Armas Eliel Lindgren (28 November 1874 – 3 October 1929) was Finnish architect, professor and painter.
Biography Early life and career
Armas Lindgren was born in Hämeenlinna on 28 November 1874. He studied architecture in the Polytechnical ...
and
Bertel Liljequist, was built on nearby Haapaniemenkatu in 1916.
The
October Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key mome ...
in 1917 put an end to the military supply orders, and at the end of the year the company employed just barely 800 people any more.
While fall of the Russian market was a major loss, the company got
locomotive, train car and bridge renovation orders from the newly independent state of
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
.
Kone ja Silta got orders for steam ships ''Carelia'', ''Finlandia'' and ''Ostrobotnia'' from shipowner company ''Atlantic''. But Atlantic fell into trouble with payments and eventually Kone ja Silta became a major shareholder of the shipping company. The company decided to run down its shipbuilding operations because the 1920s were difficult time for marine industry.
[Haavikko: ''1917–1932; chapter 6.'' pp. 34–37.]
Growth
![Saukko-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Saukko-1.jpg)
In 1923 company
Abloy
Assa Abloy AB is a Swedish conglomerate whose offerings include products and services related to locks, doors, gates, and entrance automation. Related products and services include controlling access and confirming identities with keys, cards, ...
, which had developed an innovative locking system, outsourced its production and marketing to Kone ja Silta. The patent was soon expired and the Abloy company was discontinued. Kone ja Silta held the rights for the brand and design and continued production of Abloy locks.
The company grew heavily by acquisitions in the 1920s. In 1926 Kone ja Silta had a long order backlog of pulp machinery, which caused concerns about lack of
production capacity Productive capacity is the maximum possible output of an economy. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), no agreed-upon definition of maximum output exists. UNCTAD itself proposes: "the productive ''resources' ...
.
Therefore, Kone ja Silta bought
Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstad
(; 'Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works Ltd.') was a Finnish shipbuilding and engineering company that operated in Helsinki in 1895–1938. The company was set up to continue shipbuilding at Hietalahti shipyard, after its predecessor Helsi ...
("Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works") for 8.6 million marks
in December 1926. With the acquisition Kone ja Silta got a modern workshop with a large capacity. The main line of business was repairing and building of ships, but due to low demand, the Hietalahti yard produced just 15 new vessels in 1918–1931.
During 1928–1929 the Kone ja Silta production value exceeded 90 million marks, which was the highest figure since 1916. It droppen by ten million in the following accounting period and number of employees was reduced from 1,300 by nearly half. During the late 1920s the company delivered annual profit of three million marks, in 1930 the profit was just 0.8 million.
[Haavikko: ''1917–1932; chapter 7.'' pp. 37–40.]
At the end of 1928 Kone ja Silta got offered majority of share capital of
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
-based shipbuilder
Crichton-Vulcan
Crichton-Vulcan is an abandoned shipyard in Turku, Finland, that once formed the cornerstone of the Finnish shipbuilding industry. The shipyard is best known for the World War II coastal defence ships and submarines it produced.
Shipbuild ...
. The yard had a good order base with significant assignments by the
Finnish Navy
The Finnish Navy ( fi, Merivoimat, sv, Marinen) is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS", short f ...
, but it suffered of lack of capital. Kone ja Silta accepted the offer, and by end of 1931 it had already 98% ownership of the shipbuilder.
In autumn 1932 Kone ja Silta bought
Kotka Mekaniska Verkstad ("Kotka Engineering Works"), which owned a shipyard and engineering workshop with wide-ranging product portfolio. In addition to this, the company held number of
wood processing
Wood processing is an engineering discipline in the wood industry comprising the production of forest products, such as pulp and paper, construction materials, and tall oil. Paper engineering is a subfield of wood processing.
The major wood pro ...
related
patents.
[Haavikko: ''1932–1936; chapter 4.'' pp. 46–48.]
Since the beginning of the 1932 Kone ja Silta operated as a group, which owned the independent shipbuilding companies in Turku and Helsinki, and the production of the parent company was subdivided to general and separator departments. The company separator division had production in Sweden, France and Denmark.
[Haavikko: ''1932–1936; chapter 6.'' pp. 50.]
Great Depression
During the
Great Depression in the early 1930s the sales of separators dropped. This together with the recent large acquisitions started to cause financial problems to Kone ja Silta. The company main owner
Robert Mattson blamed manager
Robert Lavonius about neglectful management of the separator division, in particular in the Swedish subsidiary.
According to Mattson, Lavonius had transferred losses to the Swedish branch by too high invoice values. Mattson also wanted to set another engineer, his son-in-law Carl V. Östman, to assist the separator department manager
Heikki H. Herlin
Heikki Hugo Herlin (7 February 1901 — 21 August 1989) was a Finland, Finnish engineer, industrialist and vuorineuvos.
Herlin gained experience by studying and working abroad, before he inherited his father's position as manager of the Elevator ...
. Lavonius saw this unnecessary, because the problems did not originate from production but from sales. After Lavonius fired the Swedish branch ''Aktiebolaget Lacta Separator'' manager, who was also Mattson's son-in-law, there emerged a permanent conflict between the management and main owner.
As the parties could not agree the conflict, the main funding bank
Pohjoismaiden Yhdyspankki (PYP) named an external consultant to monitor the separator division management practices.
In early 1932 Kone ja Silta got a 34-million-mark ship order from Soviet Union. The order included a
tanker ship
A tanker (or tank ship or tankship) is a ship designed to transport or store liquids or gases in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and gas carrier. Tankers also carry commodities such as vegetable oils, ...
, 12
tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
s and 23 motor cutters. The vessels were produced at the company's shipyards in Turku and Helsinki. The order was vital during the depression and a significant opening to the Soviet market, which led to another order in 1934.
In addition, the yards built two
coastal defence ship
Coastal defence ships (sometimes called coastal battleships or coast defence ships) were warships built for the purpose of coastal defence, mostly during the period from 1860 to 1920. They were small, often cruiser-sized warships that sacrifi ...
s and one
submarine for the Finnish Navy.
The
Finnish railway network development led to some bridge orders. Kone ja Silta invested on
enamel production and started producing
weighing scale
A scale or balance is a device used to measure weight or mass. These are also known as mass scales, weight scales, mass balances, and weight balances.
The traditional scale consists of two plates or bowls suspended at equal distances from a ...
s under brand ''Toledo''.
Takeover by Wärtsilä
Julius Osberg had owned 27% of the share capital in 1899. The company had become
stock listed in 1915 and later the main owner with 50.4% share became
Åland
Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populat ...
-born shipowner Robert Mattson,
who had created significant property during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, but run into debt in the 1920s. His creditor PYP considered him unstable debtor and kept his over 20 000 Kone ja Silta shares in its vault. After Mattson's death in May 1935, the bank wanted to liquidate the property. PYP calculated being able to recover its losses, if it could sell the shares for unit price of 1 600 – 1 700 marks. Robert Lavonius considered 1 300 marks as a realistic price, because the share value in stock exchange was 1 100 marks. The bank reduced the price to 1 500 marks in the same autumn. According to rumours,
Jacob Wallenberg
Jacob Wallenberg (born 13 January 1956) is a Swedish banker and industrialist, currently serving as a board member for multiple companies. ''The Guardian'' has once quoted him as the prince in Sweden's royal family of finance.
Biography
Earl ...
from the Swedish
Stockholms Enskilda Bank reached over Kone ja Silta; whether this was true or not remains uncertain, but it certainly mobilised the patriotically oriented Finnish industrialists.
Wilhelm Wahlforss
Emil Wilhelm Wahlforss (25 June 1891 – 20 June 1969) was a Finnish engineer, industrialist and vuorineuvos.
Early life
Wahlforss was born in Helsinki, the capital of Grand Duchy of Finland. His father Henrik Alfred Wahlforss was an apprecia ...
, manager of
Karelian Wärtsilä
Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technolo ...
ironworks, visited Lavonius on 17 October suggesting an arrangement in which Kone ja Silta would have sold its share of Crichton-Vulcan to Wärtsilä for its nominal value; after this Crichton-Vulcan would have funded the pledged shares of Mattson by a loan that was to be guaranteed by Wärtsilä. The companies had a significant size difference: the Karelian ironworks had
share capital of 30 million marks and 60 million marks'
turnover, whereas the multi-industrial engineering company's share capital was 50 million and annual sales of nearly 250 million marks. Lavonius rejected Wahlforss's offer. The board of Wärtsilä met on 23 October and left on the following day an offer of 1 560 marks unit price for Mattson's shares.
Lavonius started urgently to collect a
consortium for a competitive offer, but he could not reach the most needed board members
Curt Mattson and
Jacob von Julin
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Jacob in Islam, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel (name), Israel, is regarded as a Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religi ...
. He tried to convince the bank representative of the board,
Rainer von Fieandt
Berndt Rainer von Fieandt (26 December 1890 – 28 April 1972) was a Finnish banker and official without party affiliation.
He was appointed as the Governor of the Bank of Finland in 1955 before being appointed by the President to form a cabinet ...
, that it would be better if the ownership of Kone ja Silta was decentralised, and suggested that the subsidiaries and the consortium would share the costs of the shares. Lavonius tried intensively to collect the consortium but his efforts were wasted – the bank and Mattson's estate representatives agreed selling the shares to Wärtsilä. The acquisition was sealed first in Wärtsilä
general meeting
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...
8 November and signed on 15 November. The owners of Wärtsilä trusted Wahlforss, and the transaction was funded by increasing the company capital. The share capital was increased from 30 million to 72 million marks within one year.
The acquisition has some dubious characters. Wahlforss had deliberately invited representatives of Mattson's estate for a long meeting in a locked hotel
cabinet in order to prevent Lavonius to reach them. Moreover, Kone ja Silta board member Rainer von Fieandt was also member of
board in PYP, as well as in Wärtsilä.
The acquisition was significant in the contemporary scale of the Finnish engineering industry. Many were relieved, because Kone ja Silta had ended in Finnish ownership, but there were also skeptic views. Many doubted, how could an east Finnish ironmill, which had just recently recovered from a serious funding crisis, manage a large engineering company that possessed virtually the entire shipbuilding industry of Finland.
Wahlforss appointed himself chairman of the board in Kone ja Silta in December 1935. During the following months he changed the company articles radically, fired Lavonius and replaced him by
Yrjö Vesa.
The company was
delisted
In corporate finance, a listing refers to the company's shares being on the list (or board) of stock that are officially traded on a stock exchange. Some stock exchanges allow shares of a foreign company to be listed and may allow dual listing, su ...
in November 1936
and fully incorporated into Wärtsilä in July 1938.
As a Wärtsilä subdivision
Subsequently, Wärtsilä was reorganised and named Wärtsilä Group.
[Mononen: ''6. Wärtsilä-yhtymästä Suomen suurin yritys.'' pp. 63–70.] The company head office was moved from
Värtsilä to the Kone ja Silta premises in Sörnäinen.
[Zilliacus: ''Hänen Kovuutensa.'' p. 324–339.] The Wärtsilä Iron Works formed one subdivision in the Group and the former Kone ja Silta was split into subdivisions ''Wärtsilä Kone ja Silta'', ''Wärtsilä Kotkan Konepaja'' and ''Wärtsilä Hietalahden Telakka''; additionally, Wärtsilä owned then 99.52% of Crichton-Vulcan and entirely
Kareliawood, 1936 acquired ''Wärtsilä Vaasassa'' and 1937 acquired ''Wärtsilä Pietarsaaressa''. Still in 1938 Wärtsilä bought Dalsbruk steel foundry, becoming the largest company of Finland in number of personnel.
In the 1960s the Kone ja Silta works in Sörnäinen had a versatile portfolio, including structures for
nuclear power plants, steel bridges, pulp machinery,
paper machine
A paper machine (or paper-making machine) is an industrial machine which is used in the pulp and paper industry
to create paper in large quantities at high speed. Modern paper-making machines are based on the principles of the Fourdrinier Machin ...
s and
printing machine
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabo ...
s. Decision of moving to larger premises was made already in the 1960s, and the production was eventually moved to a new engineering works opened in
Järvenpää
Järvenpää (; sv, Träskända) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located on the Helsinki–Riihimäki railway track in Uusimaa region, some north of Helsinki. Neighbouring municipalities are Tuusula, Sipoo and Mäntsälä. People ...
in 1970. The new factory focused on paper machine production.
Production of Abloy locks was moved to a new factory in
Joensuu
Joensuu (; krl, Jovensuu; ) is a city and municipality in North Karelia, Finland, located on the northern shore of Lake Pyhäselkä (northern part of Lake Saimaa) at the mouth of the Pielinen River (''Pielisjoki''). It was founded in 1848. The ...
already in 1968.
Successors
The Järvenpää factory was sold to
Valmet
Valmet Oyj is a Finnish company and a developer and supplier of technologies, automation systems and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries.
Valmet has over 200 years of history as an industrial operator. Formerly owned by the S ...
in 1986
as a part of arrangement in which Valmet shipyards were moved under
Wärtsilä Marine
Wärtsilä Marine ( fi, Wärtsilä Meriteollisuus; sv, Wärtsilä Marinindustri) was a Finnish shipbuilding company.
The company was created in 1987 in order to improve shipbuilding productivity by combining the Wärtsilä and Valmet yards un ...
.
Later it became a part of
Metso paper machine industry.
The Abloy factory in Joensuu belongs nowadays to Swedish
ASSA Abloy
Assa Abloy AB is a Swedish conglomerate whose offerings include products and services related to locks, doors, gates, and entrance automation. Related products and services include controlling access and confirming identities with keys, cards, ...
group.
Large part of the Kone ja Silta complex in Sörnäinen was demolished in 1972, giving way to
Merihaka
Merihaka ( sv, Havshagen) is a coastal residential area in central Helsinki, Finland consisting of large high-rise concrete housing blocks. It is located by the Baltic Sea next to districts of Hakaniemi, Kallio and Sörnäinen. It is known for i ...
buildings.
The old separator factory served for a while the 1988 founded
Finnish Competition Authority (FCA).
Sources
*
*
*
References
External links
* {{Commons category-inline
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