40 years, 40 facts
Throughout our anniversary year, we have shared 40 different facts about Raumaster’s history and present-day operations on our social media channels. We will publish all 40 facts in this article across four different parts.
How did the company get its start? How has the logo evolved over the years? How many projects have been delivered globally, and to which continents, over the past 40 years? And what about the number of travel days logged each year or the growth in personnel numbers?
These facts provide answers to the above questions and many more!
Raumaster was founded on April 29, 1984 by Juhani Rasilainen, Kauko Einälä, Jukka Ruohola, Jouko Mäkilä and Esko Saarela. The five founders also formed the company board, with Kauko Einälä elected as Chair. Juhani Rasilainen was appointed as the first Chief Executive Officer.
Now, more than 40 years later, Jouko Mäkilä still serves as Group President. Jukka Ruohola’s son, Jarkko, begun his tenure as Chair of the Board in the summer of 2022.
Founded at the end of April 1984, the company initially used the working title “Convera”. Another suggestion was “Convecto”. However, neither name met the requirements of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office at the time. The founders were informed of this over the phone, and during that same call, they decided on “Raumaster”, which was also approved by the PRO.
None of the founding members remember for certain whose idea the name was initially, but they were pleased with it: « It simply means the masters from Rauma. »
Throughout its 40-year history, Raumaster Oy has had five different Managing Directors. Among the founders, Juhani Rasilainen and later Jouko Mäkilä served as Managing Directors for the first 30 years.
RAUMASTER OY MANAGING DIRECTORS
Juhani Rasilainen 1984-2005
Jouko Mäkilä 2005-2014
John Bergman 2015-2019
Kari Pasanen 2020-2024
Pasi Vuorinen 2024 -
In February 2024, Raumaster announced it had officially begun the search to replace its then-CEO Kari Pasanen, who was planning to retire once a suitable successor was found. The goal was both to find the best possible person for the job, and to ensure a smooth transition between Kari and the new CEO. His successor, Pasi Vuorinen, was announced in June of the same year and officially started in his new position in December 2024.
In 1984, the founders of Raumaster Oy were granted a loan by a bank to cover various initial acquisitions and wages. As was common at the time, the owners pledged their own homes as collateral for the loan. Two different budgets were drawn up for the bank: one based on the company functioning as a five-man engineering office, and the other of the company as an employer of around 15 professionals.
The first employee outside of the board was hired in September 1984. Now, more than 40 years later, Raumaster Group employs more than 400 professionals. Throughout the four decades, around 1,000 individual employment contracts have been made. The Group recruits new talent to join their ranks every year.
The first Raumaster office was located at Rautatienkatu 3 in Rauma, Finland. The founders renovated the space, formerly owned by a plastics plant, themselves during evenings and weekends, as their period of notice still kept them at work with their previous employer.
Since 1987, the Group Head Office has been located on Nortamonkatu in Rauma. The parent company also has branches in Sampaanala in Rauma, Ylöjärvi in central Finland and Tallinn in Estonia.
Raumaster Paper Oy has offices both in Rauma and Pori in Western Finland. The subsidiary company Raumaster AB operates in Hallstahammar, Sweden.
Raumaster received its very first order in July 1984, when the company delivered a grain dust screw reclaimer for the Suomen Sokeri Oy Salo mill. After engineering and component acquisition, the reclaimer was manufactured by subcontractor Kollan Teräsrakenne.
Over its four decades, Raumaster has delivered more than 3,500 projects globally. The first-ever delivery, the screw reclaimer, was sourced back by the company in 2006 and placed by the main entrance of the Group Head Office on Nortamonkatu.
The turnover for Raumaster Oy’s first financial period was 4 million Finnish marks, with a result of 80,000 Finnish marks. The accumulated turnover reached half a billion euros in October 2007, one billion euros in the fiscal year 2013, and two billion euros in the fiscal year 2021.
Throughout its 40 years, Raumaster has achieved 2.3 billion euros in accumulated turnover, with results amounting to 173 million euros. All figures are presented without considering the time value of money.
Raumaster acquired its first mobile phone, The Mobira Talkman, and a phone subscription in 1985. The phone operated on the Nordic Mobile Telephone network, which was the first fully automated mobile phone network in the world. The phone was a source of wonder at the Nurrsundets Bruk erection site in Sweden, where it was marvelled at by the customer’s representatives.
In 2024, Raumaster employees use nearly 500 company phones and phone subscriptions. The first Mobira Talkman still remains safe in Jouko Mäkilä’s collection.
Raumaster Oy’s first ever client was the sugar company Suomen Sokeri Oy. During the first year, the company established cooperation with companies such as Yhtyneet Paperitehtaat Oy, Veitsiluoto Oy, Rauma-Repola Oy and A. Ahlström Oy. All of these companies, in their modern forms, remain Raumaster customers.
Throughout its four decades, Raumaster has worked with a total of around 1500 customers on six continents – Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Australia.
The first company computers were acquired by Raumaster in the spring of 1986. The PC and AT desktop computers bought at the time were practically functional only for calculation and writing up documents and fax. Engineering work was still done on drawing boards.
Currently, the group uses nearly 500 computers for engineering, documentation, sales and various phases of project management and acquisition, information and financial management, general administration, human resources and payroll.
Raumaster Oy’s first international project delivery was ordered by A. Ahlström Oy, involving ash conveyors for recovery boilers in Mariinski Posad, Soviet Union. In the following year, conveyor systems were delivered for the Norrsundets Bruk plant in Sweden.
Over the past four decades, Raumaster has completed projects in more than 70 different countries, with the majority of these destinations located in Europe and Asia.
A part of the Raumaster Group, Raumaster Paper Oy was founded in the autumn of 2003, when the company’s roll handling business operations were separated into their own entity. At the time, the company employed around 20 professionals, and the turnover for the first financial period exceeded 7 million euros.
In 2023, Raumaster Paper celebrated its 20th anniversary. The company, which delivers finishing systems for the paper industry globally through project deliveries and service contracts, now employs a total of 86 professionals in Rauma and Pori. The company’s Managing Director is Pekka Leino, and in 2024, it achieved a turnover of 35 million euros.
Raumaster Group’s workforce reached 100 people for the first time in 1999, 200 employees during the 2008 financial period and 300 employees in 2016.
In 2024, Raumaster Group employed more than 400 people. The number of professionals employed increases steadily, with an average of 13 new hires each year.
In March of 2009, Raumaster established a service and maintenance unit in Västerås, Sweden. By June of the same year, the unit became a subsidiary company named Raumaster AB, with Paavo Piitulainen appointed as Managing Director.
The company relocated to Hallstahammar in 2020. Since 2022, Ville Aho has served as the Managing Director. Raumaster AB employs 15 professionals and achieved a turnover of 6 million euros in 2024.
The past 40 years have seen numerous significant events, including the depression of the early 1990s, recessions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and Russia’s attack on Ukraine. These events have impacted everyday working life at Raumaster in numerous ways.
Despite these global challenges, Raumaster has never experienced an unprofitable financial year in the past four decades and has never had to lay off any staff.
In January 1996, Raumaster set up its own workshop in Võru, Estonia. In addition to the five founders of Raumaster, the new owners of the related company included Veijo Lähtinen, Siret Kaur and Harri Rantala, who started up operations at the new workshop.
A/S Rauameister remains a Raumaster related company today, sharing partial ownership with the parent company. In 2023, the company achieved a turnover of 8 million euros, and it employed more than 100 professionals. Harri Rantala continues to serve as Managing Director. Raumaster Oy also has an office in Tallinn, Estonia.
Raumaster Oy’s turnover first reached 10 million euros in the financial year of 1995, and the Group reached 100 million euros for the first time in the financial year of 2013.
In the latest financial period of 2024, the Group achieved a turnover of 188 million euros, with more than half of the turnover coming from exports.
In 1998, the Raumaster founders set up Ketjurauma Oy, transferring the company’s chain business operations to this new entity. Manufacturing high-quality welded and riveted conveyor chains for demanding industry conditions, Ketjurauma has operated from Rauma since the beginning.
Ketjurauma remains a related company to Raumaster, meaning the companies partially share an ownership base. The Managing Director of the Ketjurauma is Mikko Tapani. The company employs 38 professionals and achieved a turnover of nearly 13 million euros in 2023.
Raumaster acquired a holiday home in Spain for its staff in 1989. In Finland, holiday homes were acquired in Utsjoki in 2002 and Ylläs in 2010.
The holiday homes have been in high demand throughout the history of the company. In 2023, one or more of the homes were in use on each day of the year.
Throughout its 40 years, Raumaster has delivered more than 3,500 projects on six different continents. The only continent left unconquered is Antarctica.
The closest distance for a project delivery has been 800 metres from the Rauma Nortamonkatu Head Office, and the furthest project delivery has been as far as 17,078 kilometres.
Raumaster Oy operates its own workshop in the Sampaanala industrial area in Rauma, which has been in operation since 1987. The workshop previously operated under the names Raumaster-Montage Oy and Veimec Oy until it was merged with the parent company in January 2005.
In Sampaanala, various workshop operations are carried out alongside Raumaster’s warehouse activities. A total of 56 people work in different roles at the Sampaanala premises.
A central part of working life for Raumaster Group professionals involves travelling to different project destinations worldwide. Over the past 40 years, projects have been delivered to around 70 countries.
On average, more than 11,000 days total are spent travelling for business across the Group each year. This amounts to over 110,000 travelling days per decade.
Throughout its history, Raumaster has actively supported local sports and culture. In sports, partner clubs include the Rauma-based Lukko, Pallo-Iirot, Fera, and SalBa, Tampere-based Manse PP, and VaLePa in Sastamala.
In 2021, Raumaster-supported teams Rauman Lukko (ice hockey) and VaLePa (volleyball) both won national championships. For Lukko, the victory was the second in its history, and for the now eight-time national champions VaLePa, the 2021 victory was their sixth.
In 2005, Raumaster expanded its operations to a new unit in Sastamala, transferring all pneumatic conveyor sales, engineering and manufacturing to the new location. Two years later, new facilities with more space and versatility were acquired for the department.
In 2019, the department moved from Sastamala to a central location in Ylöjärvi. In 2024, more than 30 people were working at the Ylöjärvi unit, managed by Tuure Pirttikoski.
The first Raumaster company vehicle was acquired for the company in the spring of 1985. The vehicle in question was a former cold-storage lorry from the food industry company Saarioinen. The vehicle, red on top and white on the bottom, was affectionately named ‘the sausage lorry’ by employees.
In 2024, Raumaster Group operates nearly 80 different vehicles, including vans, forklift trucks, reach stackers, trailers, tractor loaders and manlifts.
In its first financial year, Raumaster paid 50,000 Finnish Marks in corporation taxes. In the financial year of 2024, the Group corporation taxes had reached 5,2 million euros.
Over the past 40 years, Raumaster Group has paid more than 56 million euros in corporation tax (figures not adjusted for inflation).
At Äijänsuo Sports Centre, Rauma, the winter training hall is one of the most used sports facilities for training and games, catering to both juniors and adults. The hall also hosts various events, such as Iirolandia, a children’s event organised by the local football team Pallo-Iirot.
In the summer of 2021, Raumaster and Pallo-Iirot expanded their collaboration, and the winter sports hall was renamed to Raumaster Hall.
In 2005, Raumaster’s operations were divided into departments, each with their own product managers and leaders. At the time, the departments were Energy, Wood Handling, After-Sales Services and Procurement, along with the new departments for Engineering, Technology and Quality Assurance. Additionally, Erection as well as Finance and Administration were officially formed into their own groups.
Today, around 20 different departments operate within Raumaster Oy. In addition to those established in 2005, new departments such as Manufacturing, Warehouse, Documentation, Automation, Logistics, HR and IT have been created. The original Energy department has also been split into two separate product groups.
Effective internal communication plays a key part in a continuously growing organisation. In order to facilitate this, the company magazine Purkain was founded in 2008. The name Purkain, meaning ‘unloader’ or ‘reclaimer’ in Finnish, was chosen from the Raumaster product range through a staff competition.
The in-house magazine Purkain is still published quarterly in March, June, September and December, both in print and online.
Raumaster received its first North American order in late 1986, when Tampella, which at the time had an office in Atlanta, ordered ash conveyors for its recovery boilers. In the autumn of 1989, Raumaster entered the South American market with two projects in Chile.
Over its 40-year history, Raumaster has delivered more than 120 significant projects to North America and over 250 to South America. In North America, projects have been delivered to the US and Canada, while in South America, project destinations include Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.
The first board of Raumaster Oy was formed of the company founders: Jouko Mäkilä, Juhani Rasilainen, Jukka Ruohola, Esko Saarela, and Kauko Einälä, who was also appointed as the Chair of the Board.
RAUMASTER OY CHAIRS OF THE BOARD:
Kauko Einälä 1984–2009
Juhani Rasilainen 2010-2018
Jouko Mäkilä 2018–2022
Jarkko Ruohola 2022-
Currently, Jarkko Ruohola serves as the Chair of the Board. Alongside Ruohola, the board of the family-owned company includes six second-generation members as well as founding members Kauko Einälä, Jouko Mäkilä, and Juhani Rasilainen.
The original Raumaster logo was designed on squared paper with a pencil by the founders of the company. The final logo was designed by Jukka Ruohola. In addition to the Raumaster text, the logo includes a three-dimensional illustration of a paper roll, a nod to the company’s operations.
In 2021, after more than 30 years, a new Raumaster logo was introduced. The iconic roll logo remained, but the font-family and system were given a modern upgrade.
Raumaster has always prioritised employee well-being and team spirit. This includes company sports teams and joint training sessions. Over the decades, Raumaster teams have taken part in leagues and events in sports such as ice hockey, ice bandy, football, and floorball.
Since 2014, ice hockey has been the sport of choice at company training sessions at Rauma Tuki Arena. Raumaster-branded ice hockey pucks, first ordered in 2013, have spread to Finnish cities such as Oulu, Jyväskylä, Seinäjoki, and Helsinki through junior ice hockey teams with around 15,000 pucks distributed.
In the early 1990s, Raumaster entered the Asian market, which became an important market for the company by the mid-decade. The first delivery to South Africa was in 1992, the same year as the first delivery in New Zealand also took place.
Over four decades, Raumaster has made more than 550 significant project deliveries in Asia, over 50 in Africa and more than 30 in Australia and Oceania. Asian project delivery destinations include China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea, The Philippines and India, while South Africa in Africa and Australia and New Zealand in the Oceanian continent are also among important project destinations for the company.
Raumaster’s management systems were finalised in 2013. The following year, the company received the ISO 9001 certification for quality management systems, the ISO 14001 certificate for environmental management systems, and the OHSAS 18001 certification (now ISO 45001) for occupational health and safety systems.
Since the beginning, Raumaster has organised shared events for its employees. In the initial years, the events included sauna evenings and family lunches, while later the growing personnel also made for larger shared celebrations. At the yearly Christmas party, the staff along with their companions have enjoyed entertainment such as a concert from the popular Finnish pop band Haloo Helsinki.
The company’s 40th anniversary party was held at The Turku Fair Centre May 25th, 2024. The party was attended by over 560 current and already retired Group employees and their companions. The host of the evening was media personality Katja Ståhl. The evening featured performances by Folke Rundqvist, party band Z Music and artists OneViolin and BESS.
Throughout its 40-year history, Raumaster has received numerous awards and distinctions from media, clients and other stakeholders. The distinctions have been for achievements in quality, security of supply, competitive ability, and financial success. The awards have included The National Entrepreneur of the Year Award and the Rauma Chamber of Commerce Internationalization Award.
In 2010, the company was first featured on the financial and business magazine Talouselämä’s list of top 500 largest Finnish companies, achieving the highest grade of 10. With a handful of exceptions, the company has remained on the list since, including in its 40th anniversary year in 2024.
Having begun his tenure as Managing Director of Raumaster Oy on December 1st, 2024, Pasi Vuorinen is the fifth Managing Director in the company’s history. Before him, the position has been held by founding members Juhani Rasilainen and Jouko Mäkilä, as well as the externally hired John Bergman and Kari Pasanen, the latter of which retired at the end of November 2024.
“Raumaster is a fantastic and prosperous company with a great history, strong competence and the right kind of family-owned environment for operations. This creates a secure basis for a continued and further developed success story.” - Pasi Vuorinen
Raumaster’s first foreign order came as early as 1985, when the Norrsundets Bruk mill in Sweden needed conveyor systems for its new plant. Throughout 1985, the company continued to receive numerous orders from Sweden. During the following years, projects were also delivered to Austria, Czechoslovakia, Portugal and Poland.
Altogether, Raumaster has delivered more than 2500 projects around Europe. On the European continent, significant deliveries have been made in Finland, Sweden, Portugal and Norway as well as destinations such as Germany, France and Spain.
Raumaster Oy was founded on Friday, April 27th, 1984, by Kauko Einälä, Jouko Mäkilä, Juhani Rasilainen, Jukka Ruohola and Esko Saarela along with their spouses. In other words, the company initially had 10 owners, each owning 10 percent of the company.
By 2024, the family-owned company, having reached the age of 40, has owners in three generations. Altogether Raumaster Oy has 17 shareholders. Some shareholders also serve on the company board, along with the boards of Raumaster Paper Oy and the related company Ketjurauma.
