Remion Participated in the Future Mobile Work Machine Event in Tampere
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.
Normet has implemented Remion’s remote monitoring service globally through its control center
–Eric Stigzelius, Senior Manager at Normet
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.
Mobile work machines are gradually moving toward partial autonomy through advanced assistance systems
– Jukka Kivimäki, CEO at Remion
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.
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.
With AI, we’ve returned to realism – AI is part of future solutions, but it will not solve everything on its own
– Miika Okko, CTO at Remion
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