Custom touchscreen solutions from Finland for all environments and use cases.
Kuori Oy, operating out of Espoo Finland, is an innovator in touchscreens and display solutions for harsh environments. The company is still quite young, founded in 2016, but their business has been very successful since then. They have grown their business exponentially every year, and it’s no wonder that it was listed as one of Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies 2021 by the Financial Times.
What is the secret to their success? What are their plans for the future? For this story we had a chance to interview Xavier Veillet, mechanical engineer from Kuori Oy.
Kuori Oy started manufacturing screens for the healthcare industry for educational purposes. Now their touchscreens, payment terminals and displays are designed for use in multiple business sectors like healthcare, outdoor activities, retail, hospitality, defence, and more. Their specialities lie in the ability to combine electronics, software, mechanical engineering and thermodynamics in our industry.
“We have our own proprietary software and hardware, compatible with android, so we can tailor the hardware and software to adapt any environment. One of our key competitive factors in the market is the ability to quickly provide custom solutions”, Xavier summarizes.
“Not only that, but we have recently become a Google EDLA partner – one of the few in the world – enabling us to make Google-certified Android touch screens. These behave just like regular handheld tablets, with streamlined remote management capabilities.”
Digitalizing the harsh environment
Kuori is manufacturing touchscreens for industrial use so they need to be capable of withstanding the liquids, corrosives and metal dust that are common in factories.
“We want to spread the convenience of our technology to anywhere they are needed. Our mission is to provide high quality displays to the harshest environments on the planet,” says Xavier.
All Kuori products are custom made to meet the highest environmental protection standards. They are manufacturing products for simultaneous use in places like Lapland (where it’s ‐ 40 degrees) and Arizona (where it’s + 40 degrees), as an example of different temperature demands that need to be considered.
“Not only we need to tackle though environmental threats, but also our screens should be tough enough to withstand rough use and vandalism. Our devices are often in places like train stations, where they are left for long periods of time, that’s why they need to be weather resistant and secured against attempted theft or damage.
My task is to ensure that our products not only look good, but also function in these harsh conditions. That´s my specialty, that´s our company’s specialty”, Xavier explains.
Even bigger screens lie ahead
It’s not always the harsh environment they deal with, Kuori is producing solutions for indoors as well. Screens for payments in parking garages and for indoor sports like golf training, for example. But Kuori’s biggest customer base is currently the outdoor sports market, where they deliver interactive displays from 21,5” to 32”.
The company is moving more and more toward producing digital signage and large screens of up to 86 inches. “The largest LCD screens are produced for advertising, the market for which is growing year by year”, Xavier reveals.
SW Simulation is the key tool to test the quality of the products
Employees of Kuori use SOLIDWORKS and Simulation as their design tool.
“To develop our products as quickly as we do, we need to be able to trust our designs in production. We also want to be confident that our products are as good as we promise. To meet these requirements, it is essential for us to test our designs beforehand, and this is the point where Simulation comes into play.
Because we are providing custom solutions for a variety of environments, with Simulation it is easy to run a battery of tests without the immediate need for a prototype. So from a mechanical design perspective, Simulation is a critical tool for us”, Xavier says.
Save time and don’t work as blind
“Without simulation software, product development would be expensive and slow. Without simulation technology, every design decision is almost a prototype of its own. You’d have to design something very quickly, then prototype it and run tests. And if that doesn’t work, you’d have to go all the way back to the beginning and repeat the process. This way of working is inefficient”, Xavier says.
“But with Solidworks Simulation and Flow Simulation, we can be much more free to experiment with theories and ideas, which ultimately lets us make better choices faster. With Flow Simulation we can perform even complex flow simulations, crucial for the kinds of thermal management that we pride ourselves for”, Xavier continues.
Simulation gives you security and added value
At its most basic, Solidworks Simulation allows to perform simple stress and strain testing on products. With the software it’s also possible to predict how products will behave in operation. You can establish a worst‐ case scenario and then simulate it as an iterative design process. With the tools Solidworks Simulation provides, you can easily tailor the design to meet your needs.
“The Simulation package that we have allows us to run vibration testing. This is very handy for our devices that are in train stations or ski resorts, where there is a lot of vibration and rustling, which can shake bolts loose etc. We have also done some drop testing, relevant only to a few of our products, but bringing added value to our customers.
It´s the security that simulations can give you. When you finally get the prototype and test it, if it doesn´t work, you’ll know it´s still very close to working. And it’s easy to understand why it didn´t work, and you know that the changes that need to be done are just minor.
The beauty is that I can run several simulations in a short period of time. I can leave battery simulations to run over the weekend, come to work on Monday morning and have ready 5 different things tested without having to lift a finger”, Xavier explains.
PLM’s start‐up program gave a boost to the business
“Implementation of the products was straight forward, and we have used technical support a few times. It’s always easy to reach someone if, for instance, you need help with the licenses. Whenever we’ve needed help with simulation setup and the support was eager to help us. Even when the simulation files were huge, the technical team was able to run troubleshooting tests for them.”
When starting the business, Kuori took part in the Start‐up program that PLM Group and Dassault Systémes offer together. The 3DEXPERIENCE Works for Start‐ups program offers software, training, and co‐marketing resources to early‐stage companies.
“At the beginning we didn’t have many resources to use, so it was a huge advantage that PLM Group offered us the Start‐up program where you can get free licences for a certain period. It helped us to innovate and get started with our business, without the risk of buying software we won´t use”, Xavier lists a few benefits of the program.
“We are happy with our partnership with PLM Group, and we intend to use their consulting services in the future as well.”
The sky is the limit
Despite being a small company, Kuori is very competitive. Their future seems limitless. It is expected that Kuori Oy will expand this year as they have moved to new premises, their office size has tripled and they are hiring new employees as demand for their products is growing.
“We are keen to find new customers and new places where we can put our technology. We believe that our cost‐effective, high‐quality products are attracting new customers as our products become more and more recognized. We have a broad range of products in our portfolio, and we are continuously innovating.
We are keen to be first in the market and we have exciting product development projects ongoing. To name a few, we are creating huge digital signage for the advertising industry, touchscreen payment terminals for electric vehicle charging stations and a 65” touchscreen table that responds only to fingers”, Xavier reveals.
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