Company:Kari-Finn

From HandWiki
Kari-Finn Oy
TypeLimited company
IndustrySurface level controllers
FoundedHollola, Finland 1965
FounderMauno Kari
Headquarters
Hollola
,
Finland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Petri Kiviniemi (Managing Director)
ProductsKARI-float switch, silo switch, electrode switch, optical level controller, thermal fuse, pump cable connector, alarm unit, control unit
Revenue1,7 million €
Number of employees
10
SubsidiariesKFR Hollola Oy
Websitewww.kari-finn.fi

Kari-Finn Oy is a Finnish family-owned company. It is a subsidiary company of KFR Hollola Oy.

The main product of the company is multilevel float switch, a cable-suspended control device which tilts as the liquid level rises or falls. Kari-Finn Oy announces that based on its own market research, Kari float switch is the only product on the market that makes possible many functions with just one switch. This product was invented by the founder of the company, an inventor and an engineer, Mauno Kari. Besides the main product, Kari-Finn Oy produces also many other electrical devices, such as electrode switches based on conductiveness of liquid, silo switches made for surface level control for loose storage items, temperature based thermal fuses, watertight pump cable connectors and alarm and control units for pumping stations. In year 2008 the company manufactured over 50.000 float switches.

History

Kari-Finn Oy was established in 1965. At first the company name was T:mi Mauno Kari, later Kari-Finn Ky. Kari-Finn Ky began to make itself the plastic parts it needed for the float switches. And as there was capacity left, it also began to produce plastic parts for other industrial companies in Lahti region. Kari-Finn Ky was divided into two companies in 1988: Kari-Finn Oy making float switches and its subsidiary company Muovisto Oy making plastic parts. In year 2008 a new parent company, KFR Hollola Oy, was founded. It started to take care of corporations lead services, management, financing actions and research and development services. At the same time Kari-Finn Oy and Muovisto Oy became the subsidiary companies of KRF Hollola Oy. Muovisto Oy carried out management buyout in 2015. The corporation employs about 15 people.

In 1989 a generation was changed on the company, when Mauno Kari's two older sons took the lead of both Kari-Finn Oy and Muovisto Oy while the inventor himself retired. The third and youngest son of the family joined the strength a couple of years later.

International awards

Kari multilevel float switch is a worldwide known and respected product. In 1977 it was presented at Brussels International Inventors Fair and awarded with a gold medal and Brussels town medal for a product being widely exported. At that time the product was exported to all European countries, United States, South Africa and Japan. Later the export has expanded to Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia among many others.

References from county and local newspapers and magazines in Finnish

  • Säätötekniikkaa Hollolasta.(Automatic control engineering from Hollola) Sähköteknikot (Electrical engineers), 3/1976.
  • Hyvä tuoteidea ponkaissut vahvasti maailman markkinoille. (Good business idea bounced strongly to the world market), Yritystaso (Enterprice quality), 1/1985.
  • Kari-Finn vie 70% (Kari-Finn exports 70 per cent). Hollolan seutu (Hollola's area), 1.11.1985.
  • Pumppaamotekniikkaa ja muovituotteita Hollolasta. (Pump technology and plastic parts from Hollola) Sähköteknikko (Electrical engineer), 3/1988.
  • Vuoden yrittäjäksi Hollolassa Mauno Kari. (Years businessman in Hollola Mauno Kari). Hollolan seutu (Hollola's area), 25.9.1989.
  • Lehtimäkeläissyntyiselle Mauno Karille kultamitali Brysselin messuilta. (A gold medal at Brussels fair to Mauno Kari) Viiskunta (Five town), 2/1990.
  • Kauaskantoista keksintöä viedään tänään 30 maahan. (A far-reaching product exported today to 30 countries.) Hollolan seutu (Hollola's area), 25.11.1996.
  • Tapani Oinonen: Keksijä Mauno Kari ja pintakytkin (Inventor Mauno Kari and a float switch). Keksintöuutiset (Inventornews), 1/2000
  • Kalle Puttonen: Runsaasti lahtelaisia keksintönäyttelyssä. (A lot of people from Lahti at the inventors exhibition) Etelä-Suomen Sanomat (The news of South-Finland), 30.11.2001.
  • Kari Karjalainen: Heinlammilta eri puolille maailmaa, Hollolalaiset pintakytkimet kiinnostavat yhä (From Heinlampi to around the world, float switches are still interesting). Hollolan sanomat (Hollola's news), 20.2.2002

Sources

External links