"The most important measure of success is a satisfied customer" – Project Manager Matias Mannfolk elaborates on the success of one of the solution implementation projects

“I really felt that at Metso, people mattered, and you are given the opportunity to grow both professionally and as a person. Further, I had good chemistry with my co-workers. My colleagues were great, and the projects were exciting. I decided to apply, and now I have worked for Metso for over two years,” Matias reflects.

The role of Matias is to organize and analyze the data they receive and prioritize the team's tasks accordingly. In essence, the job revolves around communication with various project stakeholders.

“The work largely involves communication between our own colleagues and the customer's project team. I act as sort of a filter and intermediary between us and the customer. The battery limit and scope may sometimes be vague in digitalization and automation projects, and my job is to help our teams better understand the bigger picture.”

For Matias, customer communication is the main thing he enjoys in the role of project manager. He also likes seeing the projects as a whole and not just a small part of the journey.

“I truly enjoy working and communicating with customers – I have always enjoyed it. Also, seeing the project progress from zero to a finish is fascinating. As an expert or specialist, you often only see a small piece of the project, and I like seeing the entire project lifecycle,” Matias says.

Enhancing sustainable mineral beneficiation

An excellent example of a project led by Matias is the optimization solution implementation for an Eastern European customer. The customer needed to streamline and optimize their facility's processes to align better with the current standards regarding green production and sustainable values.

“Our task was to optimize the process and create models that anticipate the events of the process so we can improve the usage of certain materials and resources. When we understand what's happening in the process, we can use that information to control the process,” Matias explains.

Metso also produced a so-called digital twin of the process for the client. The digital twin, also known as Geminex, is a solution designed for the customer that enables the experimentation of various applications before implementing them into the actual process.

“In the digital twin, our customers can test different variations themselves and directly see how changes made at various stages affect the entire process.”

Successful project with a satisfied customer

Overall, the optimization project lasted for over two years. However, Matias feels that, even in hindsight, while the project may appear massive, the entire project went smoothly - piece by piece, step by step.

“It was great to see that even though it was such a large-scale project, experts from different fields worked together seamlessly, and we managed to implement such a comprehensive solution. Personally, it was gratifying, especially because it was my first digital project as a project manager.”

One of the significant factors in the project was that it was carried out during the coronavirus pandemic, which posed additional challenges, as travel restrictions limited Matias' team's visits to the customer facilities. Nevertheless, the project results speak for themselves. The results have been tangible and achieved faster than anticipated, and using Metso ​Geminex will be a part of ​routine operator procedures. One feature that makes Geminex such a powerful tool is how it enables operators and shift metallurgists to conduct recipe matching to variable ore types, allowing significant savings in energy, water, and chemicals. Despite all that, Matias believes that a satisfied customer is the most critical measure of success.

“It may sound cliché, but a satisfied customer is truly the most important measure of success. That's always our goal, and I believe we succeeded in that. I have been delighted to see that the customer has also been keen to work with us going forward. The learning curve in this project was steep, and now, we can apply the lessons learned in the upcoming projects,” Matias ends.