Innovation doesn’t always require a large project.

Often, the biggest improvements come from small changes: automating a repetitive task, adding a new feature, improving usability, integrating systems, or validating a new idea before making a larger investment.

That’s where Remion Small Development comes in.

Designed for development initiatives typically ranging from 1 to 15 man-days, Small Development gives our customers a fast, low-risk way to continuously improve your digital services, respond to changing business needs, and deliver value to your users—without the overhead of a traditional software project.

Whether you need a new feature, expert consultation, user training, or a technical feasibility study, our specialists help transform ideas into working solutions quickly and efficiently.

What Can Small Development Be?

Small Development is designed for focused improvements that make everyday work easier, increase the value of your digital services, and help your business move faster.

Typical requests include:

• New features and functionality
• Workflow automation
• Dashboard and reporting enhancements
• User interface improvementsSystem integrations
• Technical consulting and solution design
• Feasibility studies and proof-of-concepts
• Product configuration and optimization
• User training and onboarding
• Other targeted enhancements to existing solutions

Even relatively small changes can significantly improve productivity, user satisfaction, and operational efficiency.

Getting Started Is Easy

Submitting a Small Development request takes only a few minutes.

Simply:

1. Open the Remion Service Desk
2. Select Small Development Request
3. Describe your idea, challenge, or business need

There’s no need to create a perfect specification before contacting us.

Just tell us what you’re trying to achieve. Our specialists will work with you to clarify the requirements and identify the best solution.

Using a structured request also keeps all discussions, documentation, and decisions in one place, making collaboration transparent and efficient throughout the project.

From Idea to Implementation

Every Small Development request follows a straightforward process designed to minimize effort while ensuring high-quality results.

1. Discovery

Our Small Development Team reviews your request, contacts you when needed, and works with you to understand the business objectives, technical requirements, and desired outcome.

2. Solution Proposal

Once the requirements are clear, we prepare a Delivery Description that includes:

• Proposed technical solution
• Scope of work
• Workload estimate
• Cost estimate

You decide how to proceed. The proposal can be approved, refined, or rejected before any development work begins.

3. Development

After approval, our experts implement the agreed solution.

Depending on the scope, the delivery may include:

• Software development
• Quality assurance and testing
• Documentation
• Deployment
• User training or supporting materials

Throughout the project, you’ll have clear visibility into progress and deliverables.

Why Customers Choose Small Development

Small Development enables organizations to continuously improve their digital services without waiting for major development programs or budgeting cycles.

Faster time to value

Deliver practical improvements in days rather than months.

Lower investment, lower risk

Validate ideas before committing to larger projects.

Continuous improvement

Keep your digital services aligned with evolving business needs.

Access to Remion experts

Leverage experienced software engineers, solution architects, and industrial digitalization specialists whenever you need them.

Every Improvement Starts with an Idea

The best digital services aren’t built all at once—they evolve through continuous improvement.

Whether you’re looking to simplify a process, improve the user experience, explore a new concept, or add valuable new functionality, Remion Small Development provides a fast and flexible way to make it happen.

Have an idea?

Submit a Small Development Request through the Remion Service Desk, and let’s turn it into business value.

Tiedote suomeksi

Suomi nousuun: Uusi tekoälyä hyödyntävä työkalu auttaa arvioimaan ideasi ennen kalliita kehitysinvestointeja

Suurin osa tuote- ja palveluideoista epäonnistuu jo ennen kuin kehitys alkaa – ei teknologian vaan puutteellisen asiakasymmärryksen vuoksi. Suomalaiset toimijat ovat kehittäneet tähän ratkaisuksi maksuttoman IdeaTest.io -työkalun, jonka tavoitteena on madaltaa kynnystä ideoiden datalähtöisessä arvioinnissa ja näin nopeuttaa suomalaisten yritysten ideavalidointia ja kasvua. Työkalu tuo modernit innovaatiomenetelmät, kuten Jobs to Be Done -ajattelun, käytännönläheisesti yritysten arkeen.

IdeaTest.io on avoin ja maksuton työkalu, joka on rakennettu Remionin, diplomityöntekijä Joona Viitasalon ja Rehtitecin yhteistyön tuloksena. Remion toimi työn mahdollistajana, Viitasalo kehitti työkalun ja Rehtitec auttoi asiakashaastatteluissa. Teknologiateollisuuden 100-vuotissäätiö rahoitti Viitasalon diplomityön osana Remionin tuoteinnovaatiotyötä.

“Yrityksissä käytetään paljon aikaa ja rahaa väärien asioiden rakentamiseen. Tällaisella työkalulla voidaan välttää merkittäviä virheinvestointeja ja ohjata kehitystä kohti tarpeita, joilla on asiakkaalle todellista merkitystä,” sanoo Remionin teknologiajohtaja Miika Okko.

Idean arviointi alkaa asiakastarpeesta

“Suomalaisilla yrityksillä on valtavasti hyviä ideoita. Hyvä idea ei kuitenkaan yksin tarkoita, että sitä kannattaa lähteä rakentamaan. Ensin pitää ymmärtää, onko ongelma asiakkaalle oikeasti tärkeä ja miksi nykyiset ratkaisut eivät riitä. IdeaTest.io syntyi tähän käytännön tarpeeseen,” sanoo Joona Viitasalo, joka kehitti työkalua osana diplomityötään.

IdeaTest.io ohjaa käyttäjän vaiheittain idean taustalla olevan työnkuvan rakenteisesta arvioinnista asiakasymmärryksen keräämiseen ja analyysiin. Työkalun käyttäjää avustetaan tekoälyä hyödyntäen ymmärtämään mitä asiakas tekee nykytilanteessa, mitä hän yrittää saavuttaa, missä suurimmat ongelmat syntyvät ja mitkä tarpeet ovat asiakkaan työtehtävän kannalta kriittisimpiä.

Työkalu yhdistää suoraviivaisesti asiakkaan työn mallinnuksen, tavoitteiden ja tarpeiden tunnistamisen, tarjoaa valmiin haastattelurungon sekä rakenteisen pisteytyksen, joiden avulla tämän hetkisiä tarpeita voidaan arvioida jo tarjolla olevien ratkaisujen kautta. Työkalu muodostaa suosituksen siitä, kannattaako ideaa kehittää eteenpäin, muuttaa vai hylätä. Lisäksi se generoi automaattisesti tuoteasemointistrategian ja myyntiviestit.

Potentiaaliselta asiakaskunnalta kerätty data voidaan syöttää manuaalisesti tai tuoda suoraan digitaalisista haastatteluaineistoista (esim. tekstimuotoiset nauhoitteet), mikä mahdollistaa työkalun käytön myös laajemmissa asiakastutkimuksissa ja markkinakartoituksissa.

Työkalu syntyi Remionin käytännön tarpeesta

IdeaTest.io syntyi Remionin innovaatiohankkeen oheistuotteena, jossa Remionin ideapankkia validoitiin todellista laitevalmistajamarkkinaa vastaan AI-avusteisesti. Työn tuloksena Remionin markkinaymmärrys kasvoi merkittävästi ja yritys sai aiempaa selkeämmän kuvan siitä, mitkä tarpeet ovat sen asiakaskunnassa keskeisimpiä.

Asiakashaastattelujen ja markkinakartoitusten kautta syntynyt tieto auttoi muuttamaan hajanaisen asiakastiedon selkeäksi, datapohjaiseksi ymmärrykseksi. Näin Remion pystyi arvioimaan ideoita aiempaa rakenteisemmin, tunnistamaan lupaavimmat kehityssuunnat ja valitsemaan parhaat ideat jatkojalostettaviksi kohti konkreettisia tuotepilotteja.

Avoin työkalu suomalaisille yrityksille

IdeaTest.io auttaa suomalaisia yrityksiä menestymään ja kasvamaan nopeammin. Työkalu on käytettävissä ilmaiseksi verkossa ja se on julkaistu avoimella MIT-lisenssillä, jolloin se voidaan asentaa myös yrityksen omille palvelelimille.

Työkalu tukee suomalaisten yritysten kasvua vähentäen epäonnistuneita tuotekehityshankkeita, nopeuttaen ideasta markkinaan etenemistä ja auttaen uusien liiketoimintamahdollisuuksien havaitsemisessa, jotka perustuvat todellisiin asiakastarpeisiin.

“Ensimmäisten käyttökokemusten perusteella ideat tarkentuvat usein merkittävästi AI-analyysin jälkeen. Monissa tapauksissa keskeinen asiakastarve on eri kuin alun perin oletettiin,” Viitasalo sanoo.

Lisätiedot

Miika Okko, TkT
CTO, Remion

Puhelin: +35850 381 4966‬
Sähköposti: miika.okko@remion.com

http://www.remion.com
Remion on IoT- ja data-analytiikkaratkaisuihin keskittyvä yritys, joka auttaa teollisuusyrityksiä keräämään, jalostamaan ja hyödyntämään dataa liiketoiminnan kehittämisessä.

Joona Viitasalo
Perustaja, Rehtitec

Puhelin: ‭+35850 443 2116‬
Sähköposti: joona.viitasalo@rehtitec.fi

http://www.rehtitec.fi
Rehtitec auttaa teknisiä B2B- ja teollisuusyrityksiä avaamaan tarjouspolkuja oikeisiin asiakkuuksiin ja viemään myynnistä saadun tiedon takaisin tuotekehitykseen.

Media Release in English

Accelerate Finnish Business: New AI-Powered Tool Helps Evaluate Ideas Before Costly Development Investments

Most product and service ideas fail before development even begins — not because of technology, but due to insufficient customer understanding. Finnish innovators have developed a solution to this problem: the free IdeaTest.io tool, designed to lower the barrier for data-driven idea evaluation and accelerate idea validation and growth for Finnish companies. The tool brings modern innovation methodologies, such as Jobs to Be Done thinking, into practical everyday business use.

IdeaTest.io is an open and free tool built through collaboration between Remion, Master’s thesis researcher Joona Viitasalo, and Rehtitec. Remion enabled the project, Viitasalo developed the tool, and Rehtitec contributed through customer interviews. The Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation funded Viitasalo’s Master’s thesis as part of Remion’s product innovation initiative.

“Companies spend a significant amount of time and money building the wrong things. A tool like this can help avoid major misinvestments and guide development toward needs that truly matter to customers,” says Miika Okko, CTO of Remion.

Idea Evaluation Starts with Customer Needs

“Finnish companies have a tremendous number of great ideas. However, a good idea alone does not mean it should be built. First, you need to understand whether the problem is genuinely important to the customer and why existing solutions are insufficient. IdeaTest.io was created to address this practical need,” says Joona Viitasalo, who developed the tool as part of his Master’s thesis.

IdeaTest.io guides users step by step from structured evaluation of the underlying customer job to collecting and analyzing customer insights. Using AI assistance, the tool helps users understand what customers currently do, what they are trying to achieve, where the biggest pain points occur, and which needs are most critical in the customer’s workflow.

The tool combines customer job modeling, goal and need identification, a ready-made interview framework, and structured scoring methods that allow existing solutions and unmet needs to be evaluated systematically. Based on the analysis, the tool provides recommendations on whether the idea should be developed further, pivoted, or discarded. In addition, it automatically generates product positioning strategies and sales messaging.

Data collected from potential customers can either be entered manually or imported directly from digital interview materials (such as text transcripts), enabling the tool to support broader customer research and market analysis initiatives.

Built for a Practical Need at Remion

IdeaTest.io originated as a byproduct of Remion’s innovation initiative, where the company’s internal idea portfolio was validated against real equipment manufacturer market needs using AI-assisted analysis. As a result, Remion significantly improved its market understanding and gained a much clearer view of which customer needs are most critical within its target industries.

Insights gathered from customer interviews and market analysis transformed fragmented customer information into structured, data-driven understanding. This enabled Remion to evaluate ideas more systematically, identify the most promising development directions, and select the best concepts for further refinement into concrete product pilots.

An Open Tool for Finnish Companies

IdeaTest.io is designed to help Finnish companies grow and succeed faster. The tool is available free of charge online and has been released under the open MIT license, allowing companies to install it on their own servers if desired.

The tool supports business growth by reducing failed product development initiatives, accelerating the journey from idea to market, and helping companies identify new business opportunities based on real customer needs.

“Based on the first user experiences, ideas often become significantly more refined after AI-driven analysis. In many cases, the core customer need turns out to be different from what was originally assumed,” says Viitasalo.

Additional Information

Miika Okko, D.Sc. (Tech.)

CTO, Remion

‭Mobile: +35850 381 4966‬
Mail: miika.okko@remion.com

http://www.remion.com

Remion is a company specializing in IoT and data analytics solutions, helping industrial companies collect, refine, and utilize data to improve business operations.

Joona Viitasalo

Founder, Rehtitec

Mobile: ‭+35850 443 2116‬
Mail: joona.viitasalo@rehtitec.fi

http://www.rehtitec.fi

Rehtitec helps technical B2B and industrial companies open sales opportunities with the right customers and feed insights gained from sales back into product development.

Remion participated in the Future Mobile Work Machine (FMWM) event at Tampere Hall on May 28–29, 2024. FMWM brought together manufacturers of mobile work machines, technology companies, and industry researchers to showcase demos and services, network, and discuss the future of the industry.

At the event, Remion presented its Remote Monitoring service together with Normet, a technology company specializing in mining and tunneling solutions.

“Normet has implemented remote monitoring at its control center in India. From there, the company monitors its customers’ equipment globally,” says Remion CEO Jukka Kivimäki.

The remote monitoring service provides real-time supervision, usage reports, and data-driven recommendations to help maximize equipment availability and optimize performance.

Normet’s own experts remotely oversee and guide local maintenance operations using up-to-date equipment usage and fault data.

Progress Toward Autonomous Mobile Work Machines

The event presentations offered valuable insights into the direction in which mobile work machine technology is evolving and how digitalization, electrification, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and sustainability requirements will transform business operations and production environments in the coming years.

A central theme of the event was machine autonomy. Remion CTO Miika Okko highlighted a presentation by Agco that reflected many of the themes discussed by various equipment manufacturers.

“Pekka Ingalsuo from Agco outlined six key areas required for machine automation: route planning, vehicle control, obstacle avoidance, local navigation, process automation, and vehicle condition monitoring.”

Companies specializing in machine control systems were also present, developing driver-assistance technologies.

According to Okko and Kivimäki, autonomy—both of mobile work machines and production environments—was one of the most prominent themes at the event.

A Vision of an Autonomous Production Environment

A presentation by Konecranes CTO Franz Schulten introduced a vision of an Industrial Metaverse — a future production environment enabling dynamic collaboration between humans and machines — which sparked interest among the Remion team.

In the Industrial Metaverse, not only are devices autonomous, but the production facility itself operates autonomously by utilizing intelligent technologies and AR solutions.

“The remote monitoring service we presented at the event could be one of the tools within the Industrial Metaverse. It provides visibility into equipment condition and helps maintenance personnel and operators keep machines operating efficiently,” Kivimäki explains.

“At Remion, we have both the interest and the capability — along with a comprehensive understanding — to help build tools for future production environments that simplify customer operations and improve process efficiency,” Kivimäki continues.

“We have strong analytics and data modeling expertise that can support the development of autonomous production environments, for example in modeling the environment itself,” Okko adds.

Breaking Barriers in Mining: Normet Xrock and Remion Pioneer Autonomous Rock Breaking

In the depths of mining operations, rock breaking has always been one of the toughest challenges. Dangerous, unpredictable, and often a bottleneck that slows everything down, it has long demanded human skill in environments where safety is never guaranteed.
Normet Xrock, a global leader in rock-breaking solutions, set out to change that story. With its Xrock product line of breaker booms and advanced attachments, the company envisioned a future where technology could take on the danger, leaving people free to focus on higher-value work. The bold ambition: to create the world’s first autonomous rock-breaking system.

Read more

The Initial Hype Around Electrification and AI Is Fading — Safety and Sustainability Gaining Focus

According to the Remion team, last year’s discussions at the event focused more heavily on electrification.

“Now safety and sustainability were more prominent. Electrification is no longer a new concept — it’s already underway. It feels like companies are shifting their focus toward equipment safety and sustainable, responsible operations,” Kivimäki reflects.

Volvo’s Deputy CEO Carolina Diez Ferrer stated in her presentation that Volvo aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

“Volvo aims to bring carbon-neutral enabling equipment to market by 2040, so that these machines would already be in operation ten years before the 2050 carbon-neutrality target,” says Okko.

“Hybrid solutions were also discussed. Pekka Ingalsuo from Agco noted that combustion engines cannot yet be completely replaced at this stage,” Okko continues.

Okko also observed that the initial excitement surrounding artificial intelligence has stabilized.

Machine information – concerning design models, manufacturing, remote monitoring and service – is typically dispersed in different enterprise systems. Data is collected but not systematically utilized by business driver. Digital twin combines all machine lifecycle data enabling new business models, digital services and new data optimized machine design methods.

How can machine manufacturers and end customers benefit from digital twin?

With actual and predicted machine data of digital twin the end customer can be informed of maintenance needs, improve customer process and decrease machine lifetime cost. For machine manufacturer digital twin enables increased maintenance business and new business models and digital services enhancing whole Industry 4.0 smart factory-readiness.

Remion is collaborating on digital twin project with Mantsinen Group

Remion is the supplier of remote monitoring for Mantsinen Group’s material handling machines. Now Remion also provides them tools to create digital twin environment which Mantsinen Group utilizes for their business model and digital service development.

Watch the video of the digital twin collaboration of Remion and Mantsinen

The video is produced by Business Finland.

Remion’s team was able to leverage its extensive technological expertise in an Industryhack co-creation project, where the host company Coherent sought solutions to enhance its welding process. In the challenge competition, Coherent—a provider of laser and photonics solutions—was looking for a partner to develop a next-generation laser welding system utilizing sensor data and artificial intelligence.

Remion claimed its first Industryhack victory in strong competition. In addition to Remion, three other Finnish AI specialist companies were selected from all applicants. The three-day challenge took place in early June.

Remion’s CTO, Miika Okko, is delighted with the team’s win. Expectations for the competition were high, and the initial outlook was positive.
– Coherent’s challenge focused on building an intelligent laser ecosystem, where our expertise and solutions were an excellent fit.

Coherent aims to deliver added value to its customers through a more precise and optimized welding process.

Miika Okko served as the team lead for Remion during Industryhack.

A Three-Person Team Built on Complementary Expertise

Remion’s competition team combined diverse expertise.
– Our CEO Jukka brought strong business insight into building a comprehensive solution tailored to the customer’s needs. Petri, who works as a specialist, has extensive experience in designing and technically implementing AI solutions. As team lead, I guided the collaboration throughout the process, Okko explains.
Okko himself has a broad background in AI research, which was also the subject of his doctoral dissertation.

From Intensive Ideation to a Structured Winning Solution

During the competition days, ideas evolved into a well-defined winning concept through intensive innovation, solution refinement, and mentoring.
– Ultimately, three interwoven factors led us to victory: identifying the core customer need, delivering an innovative technical implementation, and presenting the solution clearly and convincingly.

Through preliminary discussions, the team gained additional insights from the host company, helping them refine their direction and develop a highly targeted proposal addressing the customer’s needs.
– We were also able to leverage our Regatta® platform in the solution, enabling faster and more cost-efficient implementation.

Defining the solution architecture, outlining the implementation, and preparing the Proof of Concept descriptions required close collaboration—at times working late into the night.
– Assembling the concept into a visually compelling format is also crucial. A good solution alone is not enough—you must be able to communicate the solution and its benefits effectively, Okko emphasizes.

A new element in this year’s competition was a two-minute video presentation, through which each team had to showcase their solution in the final round.

Proven Long-Term Performance of Remion’s Solutions

One of the jury’s key justifications for selecting Remion in Coherent’s laser welding system development challenge was that Remion’s analytics and AI expertise and solutions have been proven effective over the long term. This makes it fast and straightforward for the company to move forward with implementing a comprehensive solution.

Remion has extensive experience in developing analytics solutions across various industrial sectors, including predictive maintenance, failure forecasting, alarm and vibration analysis, and production optimization.

Remion is an experienced industrial player in AI and analytics.
– We have predicted usage-based maintenance needs and identified machines and data collection units behaving abnormally.
– We also have strong expertise in statistical analysis of big data, as well as structuring and aggregating data. A comprehensive situational overview can be created, for example, by combining data from multiple machines, Okko explains.

A New Business Opportunity Can Be Found by Using Existing Data in a New Way

Remion’s CEO Jukka Kivimäki and Konecranes’ Matti Lehto, Director, Product Lifecycle, shared multiple perspectives on the business potential of IoT at the Aalto University DigiTwin workshop on September 17, 2019. The workshop is part of the DigiTwin project organized by Aalto University together with Konecranes, Remion, and other partner companies, and funded by Business Finland. The goal of the project is to strengthen the ecosystem built around digital twins in Finland.

We asked Matti Lehto how Konecranes has utilized IoT and digital twins so far in its global crane business, and how he sees their business potential both within the company and in Finnish industry more broadly. At the same time, we discussed the new opportunities created by digital twins.

Finding New Perspectives at the Edges of Core Business

Konecranes has been utilizing IoT and building IoT-based business for several years. Like Remion, Konecranes is also involved in the DigiTwin project by Aalto University and Business Finland, where, among other things, a digital twin of a crane has been developed.

According to Matti Lehto, from a business perspective, the most feasible ideas for applying digital twins or IoT emerge when staying close to existing business and searching for new business ideas at its edges.

“A business opportunity can be found by using data that has already been collected in a slightly different way than before. That brings you closer to practical value.”

In a hypothetical example, Lehto describes a crane moving high above a factory floor. Combined with a thermal camera, it could be used to detect the early stages of fires quickly and accurately. By utilizing location data, initial fire suppression could be precisely targeted at the affected area, instead of sprinklers spraying water everywhere. At the same time, the crane—connected to the network via a modem—could trigger a fire alarm.

“Sometimes an idea can be relatively easy to implement, but its profitability must of course be evaluated against the required effort and investments.

More Precise Information on Crane Usage and Components to Guide Sales

Konecranes utilizes digital twins in its service systems. Through them, fault data and usage data are collected from equipment in the field, including crane movements, accelerations, braking events, and loads. The equipment’s usage profile is used to optimize maintenance, enabling crane owners to receive service actions that best support the actual usage of their equipment.

According to Lehto, Konecranes aims in the future to better combine crane usage data with component-related information.

“When we gather statistical analysis from large numbers of different devices—identifying which components have performed well under certain conditions and usage levels—we can guide crane sales more effectively based on real-world data. Our customers would receive crane models, components, options, and accessories that truly fit their industry and application.”

Using Data to Guide Product Development

Konecranes also uses equipment data when developing the next generation of products.

“Based on data from equipment in use, we can evaluate how well our designed equipment, its features and components, and structural dimensioning have met actual usage needs, and which components have been prone to failure. We can further enhance this product development guidance by extending the evaluation to broader data samples,” Lehto explains.

“In product development, profitability must also be considered so that we do not develop equipment that is too expensive and uncompetitive. DigiTwin and IoT solutions must not significantly increase the price of the product being sold,” he adds.

Digital twins have also been used at Konecranes as defining design models for products. In some cases, simulation features have been added to these models, enabling the company to demonstrate crane performance precisely within specified limits.

“The Costs of IoT Components Can Change Rapidly”

According to Matti Lehto, Finland is still at an early stage in terms of IoT and digital twin opportunities.

“There are companies that have managed to make IoT profitable from a single use-case perspective, but relatively few have succeeded in leveraging it profitably at a broader scale. Of course, for a smaller company, even one successful use case can already represent good business.”

Lehto notes that the situation is interesting because the costs of elements required for IoT can change rapidly. As the implementation of digital twins or the collection of associated data becomes more affordable, commercialization becomes easier from a cost perspective.

“If technology develops in a certain direction and implementation costs decrease, companies may find themselves in a hurry to build the business capabilities needed to harness these emerging opportunities profitably.”

“Expanding into new areas of operation always causes internal transformation within a company, which may involve changes in job roles or the redirection of competencies,” Lehto reflects.