Tuija Karanko, Secretary General of the Defense and Aviation Industry Association, admits that the situation is worrying, but increasing capacity will not happen overnight.
Defense Committee chairman Jukka Kopra (kok) scolded on Saturday in Helsingin Sanomat defense industry from too small production quantities.
According to Kopra, Ukraine must be supported in the future, but he expressed his concern that at the same time own stocks in Europe will dwindle.
According to Kopra, the EU should put increasing the amount of military material production more strongly on its agenda.
“It should be possible to double or triple some production lines for, say, ten years. What is consumed in Ukraine should be replenished in European warehouses,” Kopra said.
Secretary General of the Defense and Aviation Industry Association (Pia). Tuija Karanko says that he agrees exactly with Kopra: the production capacity must be increased.
“The situation is worrying. Ukraine needs, for example, such quantities of ammunition that they cannot be obtained at the moment.”
But how to increase the capacity is another question, says Karanko.
“These are not issues that can be solved in an instant. Setting up new production lines can take years. Many companies in the industry have already invested in the front field to the risk limit, increased shifts and production capacity.”
Secretary General of the Defense and Aviation Industry Association (Pia) Tuija Karanko
Karanko is also reminiscent of, for example, Nammo, who has said that he is investing in a new teddy bear factory in Vihtavuori.
Nammo is one of the largest defense industry companies operating in Finland.
However, according to Karango, it will take at least a couple of years before the new production plant is operational.
Karanko says that he is a little confused by the constant wondering in the public debate about why the production capacity is not simply increased.
“If the company hasn’t had any orders for 30 years, the production capacity can’t possibly be enough if there are suddenly a huge number of orders. No company can keep excess capacity in storage – or it can, but it doesn’t make much sense.”
Jukka Kopra presented on Saturday at HS that if “production cannot be increased otherwise, the solution must be carved with an ax instead of fine-tuning”.
“I don’t think that the normal market economy mechanism is enough to handle this. Now we should straighten out the kinks and simply look for ways to get those factories up and running,” he said.
However, in the interview, Kopra did not present any concrete actions to straighten out the kinks.
Karango according to the new investments are currently being slowed down by various bottlenecks: there is a shortage of both materials and workers.
“For example, new employees in the field are not trained in an instant.”
There is also a global shortage of electronic components at the moment, which dates back to the time of the pandemic before the war of aggression in Russia.
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“Even at the EU level, it can be difficult for companies to dictate who they should prioritize.”
To establish new production lines, components are needed, which all other industries are currently fighting over.
“Should component manufacturers then be forced to prioritize the needs of the defense industry over the civilian sector? And how would that even be possible in practice? One way or another, it would be interference in the business of a private entrepreneur in any case.”
Karanko says that he sometimes hears people wondering why capacity could be increased quickly during the Cold War, but not now.
“It was a different time then and the ownership base of the industry was different, the companies were owned by the state,” he explains.
“Now they are privately owned companies that have their contracts with their customers. It can be difficult for companies, even at the EU level, to dictate who they should prioritize.”
Karanko says that Finland’s security of supply situation is, however, very good compared to many other European countries, because building the capabilities of the Defense Forces has been based on long-term planning.
“Of course, there could always be more in stock, but nationally, we are always prepared so that we can satisfy our own needs.”
According to Karango, the positive thing is that we have already woken up to the new situation.
“At the EU level, we have already seen several different initiatives and presentations about investment programs and actions that could be used to accelerate the development of production capacity.”
For Karango, it would be important now, for example, to try to Europeanize material supply chains so that procurement is better in the companies’ own hands.
Karanko has also thought about whether it would be possible to lighten, for example, the various permit processes that are required for the construction of production facilities. It could speed up the establishment of institutions.
FROM Karango In Finland, it would also be good to think about how to increase the attractiveness of the defense industry in the eyes of the workforce.
Even if the war in Ukraine ends, there will probably be a demand for military equipment for years after that, Karanko believes.
There are now more jobs available than creators. According to Karango, there is a shortage of many kinds of talent, and not all positions require a long technical education.
There is also a location problem in the sector: the skilled workers are in other places than in the towns where the companies in the industry are located.
Karanko also needs more women in the industry.
“The industry has a slightly distorted male brand, even though there are also many women working in companies. There are no separate jobs for men and women here. In the field, you can get to do meaningful work that has great social significance.”
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