How Patria Strengthens Armoured Vehicle Production with Kemppi Machines

Patria is a trusted provider of life cycle support services and technology solutions for defence, security and aviation. The company is operationally divided into business units. One of them is Land business unit, which specializes in cutting-edge armoured wheeled vehicles, mortar systems and related life cycle support services. Land business unit produces individual items as well as small series production, prototypes and pre-mass production. Currently the unit employs 280 professionals, 105 of whom are in production and services.

Technical know-how, speed, flexibility and customer orientation are among the key elements of success for Patria. As the products are customized on an individual, customer-by-customer basis, Patria works in close cooperation with its customers and an extensive network of international industrial partners. In addition, Patria’s strong expertise in technology transfer ensures high-quality products via its partners when local production is required. Such cases have been successfully carried out in Poland, Croatia and South Africa, among others. 

What was the main challenge?

When setting up a new production area for welding operations, Patria was looking for high-quality welding equipment with great performance. Needless to say, the safety and security of all Patria products are essential. As the welded hull provides the basis of product safety and the life span of a finished product is easily decades, the groundwork must be solid. At Land business unit, production processes are audited according to the international ISO3834-2, ISO9001 and ISO14001 standards, as well as the AQAP2110 standard developed by NATO.

What was the Kemppi solution?

As a result of Patria’s active development of its welding operations, Kemppi’s advanced FastMig MIG/MAG welding system was introduced to the welders. Many of them adopted the pulse welding function into their everyday work, and highlighted the WiseRoot+ special process as one of the equipment’s best features. “It makes root pass welding much easier, especially when welding downhill,” comments Tommi Aaltonen, one of the welders at Patria. The welders also gave the system credit for the power source’s simple user interface and the great fit of the lightweight welding gun to the hand.

The welded materials are mainly steel, from structural to armor steel with strength classes spanning from 355 to 1200 MPA. FastMig machine is mainly used for structural welding, whereas Kempact Pulse 3000 is also used for welding mounts and as a service machine, since the equipment is easily moveable even across continents.

In addition to welding equipment, Patria began to use the WeldEye software in their production for managing welding procedures and personnel qualifications. “It was easy to learn how to use WeldEye. It is a good tool for managing welders’ qualifications, and creating new welding procedure specifications could not be easier,” says Ari Aaltonen, welding coordinator and armour hull specialist at Patria.