Kemppi 75 years
A success story about family, work and creativity as well as technology, passion and skillful people.
Kemppi's story of becoming one of the world's most recognized companies within the welding industry is a journey that spans over three generations. It is a story about hard work and resiliency, having faith in your dreams and courage to realize them. In seven decades, Martti Kemppi's vision has grown into a pioneering company that employs over 800 welding industry experts in 17 countries.
Kemppi has amazed the welding world time after time. It has succeeded in producing inventions and innovations that have become standard solutions for the whole industry.
Reaching the top would not have been possible without skillful people. ”Grandpa told us to hire people who are better than ourselves, and we have managed to do that. We have over 800 top professionals in Finland as well as abroad. That's the source where we will find the talent and passion to surprise our customers also in the future,” Teresa Kemppi-Vasama and Antti Kemppi assert.
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
The same year when Kemppi turned 70 also marks the 100th anniversary of Martti Kemppi's birth. Martti Kemppi was a man of many skills. He always aspired to create something new, and that is the very secret that has made Kemppi what it is today: an innovative pioneer that has the courage to experiment and test the limits. Martti Kemppi believed that anything is possible. He encouraged his employees, children, and grandchildren to experiment without fear of failing. It's the only way to create something new.
GLOBALLY LOCAL
Kemppi's foreign trade started in the 1950s as single deliveries to Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Tanzania, Peru, and Chile, among others. In the 1960s, Kemppi already exported to over 20 countries with a focus on Nordic countries, and sales to the rest of Europe were growing fast. In the 1980s the sales expanded to the Soviet Union and Australia, subsidiaries were opened all over Europe and by the end of the decade already more than 80% of sales came from exports. In the 1990s the company expanded to Asia. Currently, Kemppi has subsidiaries in 16 countries and a partner network that covers over 60 countries.
FORERUNNER
Kemppi is a pioneer of the welding industry and a forerunner in arc welding. It developed the world's first inverter power source, was the first to move from analog to digital welding technology and was the first company in the field of welding to receive a design award. Kemppi is also a forerunner in the Internet of Things. It introduced the world's first universal welding management software and digital welding procedure specifications (dWPS). Kemppi wants to lead the way also in the years to come and invests in future experts by collaborating with educational institutions around the world.
STRONG FAMILY BUSINESS
Each generation has its own role. The first one grew the company and created a strong foundation, the second one expanded Kemppi abroad. The third generation is building the company into a truly global corporation. ”We were not content with everything being alright. We have wanted to be pioneers and forerunners", says Teresa Kemppi-Vasama, Chairman of the Board, Kemppi Oy. "If you want to pass the company on in better shape, you must work for it all the time,” continues Antti Kemppi, Chairman of the Board, Kemppi Group Oy.
Veljekset Kemppi (Brothers Kemppi) was founded on 23 May 1949. Their first workshop was an old horse stable with eight square meters (86 square feet) of space. There Martti Kemppi constructed machines by night, while working at Sähkö Vikström by day. After the war there was shortage of everything and raw material was searched even from junkyards. The premises were improved in 1949 as Martti and his brothers built a house and a group of courtyard buildings on Nikkilänkatu street in Lahti. The production was moved to the basement and courtyard buildings of the house.
The first non-family employee was hired. Martti Kemppi bought an industrial realty from Pekanmäki, Lahti, and a new shed and warehouse were built there between 1958 and 1959. The company started exporting. The first export order came from Turkey in 1955. Products were also exported to Thailand, Nigeria, Peru, Chile, Singapore, and Vietnam. A sales representation agreement in Sweden was signed in 1959. The green hammer finish of the machinery changed to orange and the first Kemppi logo was introduced.
In the '60s the company needed additional space and Kemppi bought an 18 hectare (44,5 acre) estate in Okeroinen, Lahti. The construction work of a new factory started in 1966. The company started to develop semi-automatic MIG/MAG welding equipment, where the welding rod was replaced by a filler wire. In 1968 Kemppi got the Export Award of the President of the Republic of Finland. In the end of the decade, there were already 20 exporting countries and the export proportion was almost 30 percent of the revenue. The company name Veljekset Kemppi Oy was shortened to Kemppi Oy.
1970's were dynamic times. An export division was established in the company, a subsidiary was opened in Sweden and the company started exporting to the Soviet Union and Australia. Kemppi developed the world's first inverter power source and introduced industrial rectifiers that together with MIG/MAG equipment established the company's status. In the late 1970s, the factory produced 20,000 units per year and the export's proportion was 60% of the sales. The revenue exceeded 100 million Finnish marks for the first time.
The second generation of the family took over the management of the company. The network of subsidiaries was expanded among others to the UK, Norway, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, and Denmark. The successful second generation inverter was introduced in Essen, Germany and Kemppi also launched the Multisystem welding system for industrial use. That was the cornerstone of the product portfolio for a full decade. In the spring of 1986, Kemppi was rewarded by Laatukeskus Excellence Finland.
Kemppi had regular export in more than 50 countries and it was the first welding machine manufacturer to receive the ISO 9000 quality standard system certification. In the fall of 1993, the company introduced the new third-generation PRO industrial inverters based on IGBT technology. Kemppi was the first manufacturer in the world to transfer welding equipment from analog to digital. The export grew. Sales offices were opened in Poland, India, China, and Chile in the late 1990s.
In 2000s Kemppi's innovations advanced from welding machines to software. The revenue exceeded 100 MEUR and subsidiaries were opened in Russia and Poland. Kemppi introduced Kemppi ARC System, a new welding management system that for the first time recorded the events that occur during the welding process. New best-selling products FastMig, Wise, MasterTig MLS ACDC, MinarcMig, MinarcTig, and KempactMig Pulse were launched, and MinarcMIG Adaptive 180 received the Red Dot Design Award. A new electronics factory was set up in Lahti in 2009.
Kemppi DataStore concept received the annual Quality Innovation Award, Kemppi Group Oy received the Family Business of the Year Award and the third generation took over as chairmen of the boards. The company acquired the Norwegian WeldIndustry and strengthened its position as a pioneer in IoT. Robotic welding application centers were opened in India and China and a torch factory was opened in China. Kemppi introduced universal standard WPSs, a robotic welding machine A7 MIG Welder, and X8 MIG Welder featuring built-in IoT compatibility. In 2019 Kemppi acquired the Italian Trafimet Group.
DEVELOPER OF INVERTER TECHNOLOGY
Kemppi has developed inverter technology since the early 1970s. The technology is based on raising the internal frequency of the machine even multifold compared to the supply frequency. In the summer of 1977, the company perfected the world's first inverter power source that could be used to weld 2.5-4 mm rods. The technology was then developed to cohere to MIG/MAG welding, and Hilarc 250 was introduced at a trade fair later the same year. Inverter technology allowed Kemppi to complete their welding equipment with many revolutionary features: more compact size, better adjustability, and multifunctionality.
FROM ANALOG TO DIGITAL
Kemppi Pro revolutionized welding. There were two main things: microprocessors and IGBT technology. When the product was perfected and introduced at the Essen Trade Fair in 1993, Kemppi was the first company in the world to move from analog welding technology to digital. Kemppi Pro was the world's first system welding machine with digital control. Digitality was revolutionary, because it enabled both flexible control of the welding process and smooth data transfer between system units, and it was also possible to update and change the machine's properties afterward by downloading a new program to the machine. Digital control had already been widely used before, but not for controlling the welding process.
FROM ENGINEERING FUNCTIONALISM TO DESIGN
Kemppi hired the first designers a couple of decades ago. Investment to design has since brought Kemppi several international design awards. In 2006 MinarcMig Adaptive 180 received the Red Dot Design Award, and in 2009 FitWeld 300 welding machine and SuperSnake GT02S subfeeder received the Red Dot Honourable Mentions. In 2012 Kempact RA product family received the international iF Design Award.
DIGITALIZATION AND INTERNET OF THINGS
In the 2000s Kemppi started to expand its business from equipment manufacturing to providing services and solutions. In 2008 Kemppi introduced the world's first universal IoT-based monitoring system for welding, Kemppi ARC System. Today Kemppi's welding management service is known as WeldEye. By collecting parameter data from welding machines in operation, the program prevents hidden welding defects, improves the efficiency of production and significantly reduces repair costs caused by welding defects.
