The building of the City of Grano began one sunny February morning in an empty white room in Kalasatama, Helsinki. Little by little the room started to fill up with enthusiasm, insights and finally with boundless good cheer. The same feeling inevitably takes over everyone who visits the city. So why not come on by!

ADDlab, or the Digital Design Laboratory, is a Finnish 3D expert. ADDlab has combined the experts in design, technology, materials, and business. They intend to find new applications for 3D printing. In principle, the technology can be utilised in all business operations where individuality, versatility, and small product batches are useful.

Inspiration, innovation, invention - and finally, a brilliant idea by Timo Tikkanen of Nordisk Film. The result: harnessing the remotely controlled Digital Signage media pylon for the in-store promotion of PS4 products.

A little over a year ago the media wrote about a Chinese company using a giant 3D printer to print out ten houses in one day. Soon after that, a Finnish company said they were starting to 3D print building elements in concrete. Even a human heart has been 3D printed.

“Industrial 3D printing has come a long way. The prototypes, tools, and even manufacturing the end products are already a reality. Companies are using more and more 3D printing in research, product development, and manufacturing,” says one of the owners of Grano, Risto Ojala.

The Osuuskauppa Suur-Savo cooperative launched the development of the brand of the Stella shopping centre, using a new recipe. The fabulous Onnen Päivät (‘Lucky Days’) price campaign raised noteworthiness to a whole new level. One of the keys to success was the Grano Virtual Store tool.

The print projects with Stora Enso have given us an enormous amount of knowledge and new skills. The many kinds of projects of all sizes carried out during our extensive history have stretched our skills and flexibility. Stora Enso is uncompromising about quality, and the challenges in the projects have helped us develop and learn new ways to work, as well as given a sense of meaning for our continuous development principle.

_{Materials: Ensocoat 2S 300 g/m2 on the card, and Ensocoat 2S 220g/m2 on the ball.}

“The Kalevan kisat Finnish Championships, organised in Pori, were a success both athletically and financially. The crowd at the event, brilliantly active cooperation partner companies and the tight budget structure enabled us to exceed our goals,” wrote the Satakunnan kansa newspaper.

Cell sheet or perforated polyester fabric? For Katja Kocak, Product Group Manager at Skanska Oy, the question of the materials of the work site boards is significant and topical, as such boards are needed for every construction site the company manages. It is extremely important for a responsible construction company that the materials are recyclable.

Skanska invests in durable and safe materials, minimises wastage, and treats all created waste accordingly. The question of the materials of the work site boards is one practical example of how responsibility and environmental perspectives can affect the daily choices in a construction company that is one of the biggest in Finland. Quality comes from the details.

_{The picture is of the Grano stand at the 2015 Store Exhibition.}

The slow death of the print media has been talked about for several years now, often in connection with digitalisation. Digitalisation has had a significant - and increasing - role in the organisation of events, as it has in other forms of marketing. However, I dare say that a high-quality printout is still a significant, and often vital, part of a successful event today, as it will be in the future. 

SokoPro is an online service for managing, sharing, and archiving information. It enables flexible management of construction projects: in private projects, facade renovations in apartment buildings, or the construction of a brand new shopping centre, you will have easy access to all relevant information on schedules, deliveries, drawings, and site journals. The project bank is available 24/7, no matter where you are. 

The technical aspects of SokoPro are beyond compare, but we are particularly proud of the cooperation with our customers and partners: