MDC Max Daetwyler AG, Estonia

Swiss punctual metal processing company in Tallinn

Switzerland is most famous abroad for specially exquisite workmanship, doing most exact watches in the world. But swiss companies can do much bigger things than watches, also with extreme punctuality. Since 1995 Swiss MDC Max Daetwyler AG has a factory in Tallinn, Estonia, near Peterburi road. There are large gauge metal details made, but not only. If needed, some machines are manufactured from the beginning to final finishing works. In Tallinn, near Lasnamäe district, Daetwyler factory works on different sophisticated devices, needed for car manufacturing, ship building, wind energy stations etc. 

A milling center made by Daetwyler in Tallinn.

Walk-through and explanations ...
... by an expert at production side.
An integrated system for ship´s water cleaning.
Water treatment devices completed by Daetwyler.

Daetwyler factory is not exactly a outsourcing company. Yes, sometimes it´s outsourcing, but not for simple works. Sometimes client gets the whole process from design to „turnkey“ end product. Daetwyler is known as machine and production equipment producing company. Kaili Vohnje, CEO of MDC Max Daetwyler Eesti AS, leads us through the factory facilities, were workers just have usual workday: welding, milling, laser cutting everywhere. They usually work on big manufacturing machines, what need very good accuracy in cutting and welding. In the very last manufacturing hall we see huge machines: water treatment devices for cleaning waste water on ships. They are produced from beginning to fully functioning devices here, in Daetwyler´s Estonian factory. Devices that weight 5 tons will go onto trailers and then to client in Finland, north from Estonia.

But you can find some car industry products here, too. For example a machine, that´s making gears for car transmission boxes. It´s built here. Top precise laser cutting bench is used here, too and it has details similar to those, Daewtwyler produces for precise laser cutting benches. Because of the high swiss frank many of milling works are moved to Estonia now. Mother company does these works in Estonia together with welding, what was the first main activity in factory here in Tallinn.

Right workers are hard to find

At the beginning there was only a welding facility in Tallinn, because from soviet time there lived many top class welding specialists in Estonia. Many heavy industry companies had a lot of workforce for military and space industry factories, which produced vital components for Soviet Union. But most of  the Soviet Union heavy industry factories ended here in early 90ies and many of good specialists left unemployed. That was the situation 20 years ago, when Daetwyler started in Estonia. Today we have a very different situation: most of workforce needs training according to modern demands. And specialists from 90ies are going to retire soon or retired already.

Twenty welders in the company are not enough – the number of workers is growing fast. The company needs more certified welders but it´s not easy to find them now, at year 2015. CEO Kaili Vohnje says that only every tenth candidate have the right attitude. All milling center operators are going to Switzerland for a 6-month traning, because company needs specific skills what are not provided by mechanical schools. Training must conclude a lot of work hours in a real factory, Kaili Vohnje is convinced. That's the reason, why Daetwyler trains new workers by itself. Main sources of good workers are Tallinn trade schools: Polytechnical school, Lasnamäe and Mustamäe mechanical schools. Students attend this school from all over Estonia to study there. Sometimes Daetwyler uses rental workforce if they had some bigger orders.

One big problem with workforce is their expectations about salary. Sometimes it gets to unreal hights. So, then it´s easier to take worker who´s not so top-skilled specialist but with right attitude and expectations, explains Kaili Vohnje. It´s much easier to train these workers. Final result is much better and employee is more loyal.

Startups – trendy, but useless for big industry

It´s a huge startup boom in Estonia right now, but usually this kind of trendy companies are very small. Few of them can place orders for industrial producing, and even much less companies can afford to order some industrial machines to produce something for themselves. Estonian startup reality often is to do some handicraft bicycles, smaller electronic devices, custom boards or software solutions. Daetwyler produces heavy tens of tons weighted industrial machines and that´s just an overkill for Estonian startups. So Daetwyler don´t see market among trendy businesses right now. But some may reach to bigger production soon, then Daetwyler can offer world-level service to them.

A machine frame

But why in Estonia?

So, why Daetwyler came to Estonia to start business here? It´s a small country far north-east of Europe and there are lot of cheap industry oriented lands, cheaper than Estonia.

The reason is dramatically simple. Mr. Daetwyler searched for a place where his company could do some works cheaper than in his homeland in the 90ies. He liked Baltic countries after first visits. So, he decided to move some manufacturing here. And why Estonia? Because the Estonian Swiss Chamber of Commerce invited Mr. Daetwyler to Tallinn. The City enchanted the decisionmaker and so Daetwyler expanded to Estonia.

You can order Swiss quality machines with Estonian prices from Tallinn now. This is the reason Dawtewyler is still here. Or maybe a little more expensive prices than average in Estonia, but definitely with swiss quality. Important are infrastructure prices too, because they are low. Labor force expenses are rising, but it´s inevitable.

Waiting for Rail Baltic

Swiss factory in Estonia moves details and full equipment from Tallinn to Central Europe usually by trucks. Estonia has a sea border and a harbour but of course it´s not possible to move goods from here to Switzerland by ships. As even Raiway transportation is not possible right now, we asked the CEO, what he would think about a new plan to build a new fast railway line between Europe and Baltic countries.

If the company sends goods from Tallinn on Friday, they reaches the destination in Switzerland on Wednesday. Sometimes it´s cheaper to send goods by trucks from Tallinn than to move them inside Central European countries. But it takes time from here. A speedy new railway seems a good opportunity, believes Kaili Vohnje, but why should we build an expensive and complicated infrastructure through nature reserves and villages, as we already have an existing railway, that is, however, not working because of bad condition?  Maybe it´s wiser to renovate the old railway first – it would be easier and cheaper and take less time and money. The Railway is simply more convienient than trucks, especially for a company that has to move hundrets of tons of goods per week.

Desalination system by MDC.
Welding hall at Daetwyler, Tallinn

What Daetwyler makes in Estonia?

The factory in Tallinn started in 1995. It´s a competence center of Daetwyler, where welded constructions are made for machine and devices industry. It´s possible to manufacture details with measures up to 10 meters by laser cutting, CNC bending, welding and annealing, including heat treatment protocol, steel shot peening, painting and mechanical treatment.

If client comes with 3D sketches, as many are used to do today, it´s not a problem. Daetwyler will do exact production plans for them. Design works is usually done in Switzerland, but some in Tallinn, too.

When a welded construction is ready, the company additionally can prepare a machine riverbed for it in Estonia, filled with concrete. This concrete has special recipe of mineral mixtures, what is developed in co-operation with Estonian scientists. The same story is with electronics: it is mounted to industrial machines here in Tallinn factory. The Estonian factory produced electrical switchboards for the mother company some years ago - because of the high-end knowledge in this field in Estonia. But there are on the other hand many specialized companies here and in Finland, so sometime it may be easier to order from nearby producers.

What Daetwyler makes in Switzerland?

Near Daetwyler's headquarters in Ursenbach there is a modern CNC machine processing center for manufacturing parts up to 12 meters long and until 30 tons heavy details. It is a fully acclimated production hall with unique device basements, first class machinery park with Waldrich, Kolb, Reiden and Heyligenstaed machines, and additionally modern measuring devices – all for ultimate precise machine frames and huge constructions milling and polishing. Finally machine frames are tempered in an induction owen.

In Bleienbach there is a machine- and device building competence center. Clients can order solutions from specific detail production to work ready devices here including engineering solutions and montage. Besides ordered works Daetwyler cooperates with Waterjet AG, a company in Aarwangen, to develop and sell micro-precision water jet cutting machine.

Past from airplane industry

Daetwyler's roots lie in the airplane industry. The company started in Switzerland to repair and produce parts for airplanes, even for warplanes. But this business was cut in the 60ies and from then on Daetwyler concentrated on developing printing industry, producing different printing devices. Daetwyler is well-known and the leading printing devices manufacturer today.