Introducing Rami Luoma-aho, new Head of Global Supply Chain at Filtrabit

Rami joined Filtrabit from Škoda Group, where he was leading an international strategic commodity team. His team was responsible for sourcing activities in his dedicated area for all Škoda Group projects, reporting to the group SVP of Sourcing.

Why Filtrabit?

”The company story is captivating – I wanted to know more and later decided to join the team of a climate tech company on its way to a global success story. The level of innovation in dust extraction is incredible and I was blown away with all the non-obvious benefits that come with it – including the impact on CO₂ emissions.

Data might be the new oil, but clean breathable air and industrial decarbonization is the new oxygen of business. There is a personal mission directly linked to my new position.

The majority of my twenty-year career has been in companies involved in the green transition. Moventas implemented wind power, Etteplan designed cleaner solutions for heavy industry. Škoda’s tram cars, metros and trains are all electrifying internal combustion engine traffic.

I’m convinced there’s great opportunity for a climate tech company like Filtrabit to create sustainable sourcing methods.

Since we supply leasing equipment, the outlook becomes interesting. This makes total cost of ownership really important for us. Cheapest might be the most expensive if maintenance is needed more often.

Strategic sourcing is about maximizing the life cycle of not only our product but also our partnerships.

I think that ideal sourcing for us is cooperative sourcing. There are several things we can do better and save time and money when we are creating the solutions together with our business partners. We want to be the most transparent and growth-oriented customer for our partners. We can challenge the existing processes and solutions to develop our shared offering for the huge new global market of climate tech.”

What more can you tell us about strategic sourcing?

”It’s an important part of holistic supply chain management. It’s one of the key drivers to execute our growth strategy. We can simply grow faster by focusing on our unique competitive advantages related to technology and innovation, and finding great partners for all the other areas crucial to our success.

Because our growth is based on a networked business model, I don’t use the words “supplier” or “vendor” when talking about sourcing. They are important business partners for us because we don’t manufacture the components ourselves. We also have strong engineering and design partners working closely with our product design and R&D, as well as other important service providers related to assembly and delivery projects.”

What’s on your immediate to-do list?

”My role is clearly to support and enable the growth of Filtrabit by developing a scalable, high quality global supply chain.

First, we are developing our sourcing strategy and plan to enable our global scale-up phase. We have now focused on ongoing projects and our technology and organization are prepared for rapid scaling of the delivery. It’s a luxury for a start-up company to be able to design our functions and supply chain for the growth phase with such a foundation.

Local, multi-local and global partners are chosen to serve our global clients in target industries and chosen markets. We are looking for experience, industry know-how and references. We require a matching company culture and shared attitude for outstanding service and quality.”

What is the most interesting thing about your job?

”Sourcing exists in the crossroads of the company. Sales gives you input. Engineers give you the specifications for the product. Manufacturing partners have their insight and needs. This is a vital spot of communication and teamwork I’ve really enjoyed working at for a rather long period of my career.

Even though everything has to be turned into numbers sooner or later in my work, it is very important for me to understand what lies behind the numbers. I am familiar with technical purchasing, and I want to understand how the asset to be acquired affects the technical entity and the implementation as a whole, also in the long term.”

You’ve worked in China before. How was it doing business there?

”I gained expertise in sourcing specific to China and established a strong network of suppliers and partners. Building the personal relationships and networking are the keys to be able to do business there. Lots of groundwork was needed in everything. Fundamentals might be the same but practically everything is different and often more difficult for us coming from the outside. It is not just one China either – there are several different markets and cultures inside the country. ”

You come from way up North. Can you tell us more about it?

”The North is important to me. I’m from Ranua in Northern Finland and my summer cottage is an hour north of Rovaniemi and the Arctic Circle. My hobbies include all kinds of nature activities, mountain biking, skiing and hunting.  

It’s the life I grew up in and it’s the life I want for myself. Things are just different here, from the nature to the seasons, the people, the pace of life, the open space around you.

If possible, I wouldn’t want to live further south than Oulu. I lived in the ”south” for 18 years and as long as my career path keeps being this interesting, I will stay at least at the height of Oulu. Business travel and virtual meetings keep the world open in all directions.”