For over 50 years, the Icelandic automation company Mikra has been building machinery and software for some of the world's most demanding processing environments — on fishing vessels at sea and in land-based fish factories serving the global seafood industry.
When seafood producers around the world need automation, robotics, and processing solutions that work in some of the most demanding environments on earth — on fishing vessels at sea and in land-based fish factories – they turn to Mikra.
The company delivers complete solutions spanning mechanical engineering, machine vision, software, and systems integration, serving some of the largest seafood producers in the world across the whitefish, salmon, and pelagic segments.
In late 2025, Mikra took a major strategic step forward. The merger of Micro and Klaki brought two complementary engineering teams under one roof, expanded the company’s headquarters, and added more than 50 engineers and specialists to the organisation – creating a stronger, broader business with the capabilities to take on more complex projects and serve a growing international customer base.
The need for a shared engineering platform
As Mikra scaled, one thing became clear: the tools the company had relied on were not built for where the business was heading.
Engineering data was stored locally. Remote work required VPN. Files shared externally could not be recalled. And with two teams now operating as one, the absence of revision control and searchable properties was becoming a real constraint.
“We had no revision control and no searchable properties. Everything was stored locally, so working remotely meant going through VPN, and VPN is a constant pain. On top of that, if someone else was in a file, you were locked out with a read-only version, just waiting for them to finish. 3DEXPERIENCE solves all of that.”
– Gunnar Óli Sölvason, COO, Mikra
From evaluation to decision
Mikra had looked at PLM systems before, but the timing and fit had never been quite right.
What changed was seeing larger, more regulated industries adopt 3DEXPERIENCE – and then experiencing the platform firsthand at PLM Group’s Innovation Day,
“I attended Innovation Day, sat in the audience, asked questions and pressure-tested it. It just looked like a good fit. And it turned out to be the sales pitch I needed with my designers too — after the presentation and the demo, everybody quickly leaned towards it. says Gunnar.
If the platform could meet the strict requirements of the oil and pharmaceutical industries, it would have everything Mikra needed.
Before deciding, Gunnar consulted every mechanical design engineer at Mikra individually. As a former engineer himself, he knew that a platform of this kind only works if the people using it every day are behind it.
What 3DEXPERIENCE changes for the engineering team
Gunnar is clear about what he expects 3DEXPERIENCE to deliver in practice – from how teams collaborate on the same assembly to how quickly an engineer can locate a part.
The shift in collaboration alone represents a fundamental change in how Mikra’s engineers work. Where previously only one person could be in a file at a time, 3DEXPERIENCE opens the door to simultaneous work — removing one of the most common bottlenecks in the design process.
“Ten years ago, working on a document meant: you write this chapter, I write that one, and we merge at the end. Now you open it and six people are working simultaneously. This wasn’t possible before 3DEXPERIENCE.” he says.
The day-to-day impact on individual engineers is just as tangible. Finding a specific drawing or part currently requires time and effort that could be spent on design work. With searchable properties built into the platform, that changes immediately.
“My hope is that it boosts productivity and efficiency. Right now, finding a drawing is genuinely difficult. With 3DEXPERIENCE, engineers can just type in a search and find what they need — so they can spend their time on what they’re actually here for: finding innovative mechanical solutions.”
Two senior engineers are currently preparing the platform ahead of a full-team rollout. When the rest of the team comes on board, Mikra will run its entire engineering operation from one place – and the 50 years of expertise that built the company will have the digital infrastructure to match.
Building for what comes next
Mikra’s path to 3DEXPERIENCE was a considered one. The decision took time and was shaped by conversations with the engineering team, a visit to PLM Group’s Innovation Day in Iceland, and a clear set of requirements that had to be met before anything was signed. That process reflects how Mikra operates: with the people closest to the work involved from the start.
With the merger behind them and a growing international customer base ahead, Mikra is now building the engineering infrastructure to match its ambitions. 3DEXPERIENCE will be the platform its engineers work from as the company moves into its next chapter.
Ready to support your next stage of growth?
If your projects are getting more complex, the tools underneath them need to keep pace. Learn more about the 3DEXPERIENCE platform or contact PLM Group to talk through where your engineering workflow is heading.
