Vacon
Publicly traded limited company | |
Traded as | Nasdaq Helsinki: VAC1V |
Industry | Industrial goods & services |
Founded | 1993 (as Vaasa Control Ltd) |
Headquarters | Vaasa, Finland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Vesa Laisi (CEO), Panu Routila (Chairman of the Board) |
Products | Variable-speed AC drives |
Revenue | €403.0 million (2013)[1] |
Number of employees | 1,596 (2013)[1] |
Divisions | 30 sales offices |
Website | www.vacon.com |
Vacon is a global manufacturer of variable-speed AC drives for adjustable control of electric motors, and inverters for producing energy from renewable sources. The company has headquarters in Vaasa, Finland.
Vacon has production and R&D facilities in Europe, Asia and North America, sales offices in 30 countries, and sales representatives and service partners in nearly 90 countries.
The shares of Vacon Plc (VAC1V) are quoted on the main list of the Helsinki stock exchange (NASDAQ OMX Helsinki). In 2013, Vacon’s revenues amounted to EUR 403.0 million, and the company employed globally approximately 1,600 people.
Typically, electric motors are equipped with variable speed AC drives as they help optimize process control and save electrical energy. Vacon has estimated that in 2013 its products helped save approximately 55 TWh of energy. This corresponds to approximately 22 hours of the world's annual electrical energy production. Also, the amount of energy produced from renewable energy sources with Vacon's AC drives was reported to be approximately 22 TWh.[2]
Management
- President and CEO: Vesa Laisi
- Executive Vice President, Market Operations (Deputy to the CEO): Heikki Hiltunen
- CFO: Pia Aaltonen-Forsell, Ann-Louise Brännback (acting)
- Senior Vice President, Human Resources: Tuula Hautamäki
- Executive Vice President, Product Operations: Jukka Kasi
- Secretary of Executive Management Team: Sebastian Linko
Board of Directors
- Chairman: Panu Routila
- Vice Chairman: Jari Eklund
- Pekka Ahlqvist
- Jan Inborr
- Jari Koskinen
- Juha Kytölä
- Riitta Viitala
- Secretary of the Board: Jaana Klinga
Other
Visit from President Obama
On January 15, 2014, President Barack Obama visited Vacon’s R&D facility at the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. Following a tour of the premises, he gave a speech to students at North Carolina State University where he mentioned how Vacon “is making these engines and these systems more efficient, saving businesses big bucks on energy costs, improving the environment. Those savings get passed on to customers, puts money in people’s pockets. And growing companies that need the products that Vacon makes, they’re benefiting enormously. So it’s a good-news story. But in a global economy, that company, just like every company in America, has to keep inventing and innovating in order to stay on the cutting edge. And that’s where all of you come in.”[3][4]
References
External links
- Official website
- Vacon's YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/VaconGroup