More from materials.

Metlab’s story

Metlab Oy’s journey began as a result of the banking crisis of the 1990s, when a traditional factory, Tampella, ran into difficulties and was chopped. Tampella’s metal laboratory and its leader Pekka Mäkinen remained unemployed. At the same time, another traditional factory in Tampere, Lokomo, finished testing for external companies. Olavi Ahlstedt worked in Lokomo’s laboratory and was also responsible for the external testing services.

Mäkinen and Ahlstedt had in mind their own company. They merged their strengths and started the story of Metlab.

Metlab was founded in 1991 and its testing activities began in 1992 in the Tampella factory area in Tampere, in the premises of the current Vapriikki Museum, one and a half floors underground. At first, Metlab employed three people: two owners and one employee. Operations continued in quite cramped and difficult-to-access facilities until 1997. As a stroke of luck for Metlab’s development, the museum terminated the lease and took over the premises for museum’s archival use.

New rental premises were found from Sarankulma at 1997, Tampere, with good transport connections. In those premises, it was possible to develop operations and to purchase more equipment. The number of personnel increased to about ten.

In 2003, Metlab launched a generational change and ownership arrangements. As a result, Jouni and Åke Ahlstedt and Risto Nieminen continued as the company’s owners and employees.

The scale of operations and workloads increased, and the premises began to become cramped. The idea arose to acquire new premises and at the same time significantly increase and update the equipment. It was thought that big decisions would have to be made now or never to bring Metlab’s operations to the next level. After consideration and planning, it was decided to buy Metlab’s own site of land right next door from the Sarankulma area.

Thus, the most significant and largest investment project in the history of Metlab began.

The new premises were completed in the spring of 2019. They have been designed and tailored to be optimal for Metlab’s operations. The special requirements of the different areas of the testing laboratory were considered in the planning. One of the most important things was to provide comfortable and versatile work and social facilities for our personnel. For example, Metlab has a gym and a sauna in the premises. This was also an award to our committed employees who have enabled the uptrend of Metlab’s operations. The current facilities have enabled to acquire the comprehensive research equipment and continuous development of services.

Nowadays, here are already about 30 of us in Metlab.
We are no longer just a metal laboratory, from which the name Metlab comes, but we are a large-scale material testing and research laboratory. Our slogan “More from materials” describes the results and interpretations we produce related to materials. The basis of operation is that our customers get more out of their products, which can lead to cost efficiency and enable the sustainable development of our customers. We work together for a common goal and serve the customers with the humble attitude.

We are willing to serve!