Passing on the Entrepreneurial Spirit

1960

• Face-to-face meetings, personal contacts and expertise played a major role in building a business.

1962

• Family business Murskaussuunnittelu (“Crushing Design”) was founded by Nuutti Vartiainen.
• Murskaussuunnittelu designed crushing and screening plants for other construction companies.

1963

• Laatusora (“Quality Gravel”) trade name was registered.
• Laatusora sold, produced and delivered gravel, sand and landfill. The company also manufactured semi-finished and finished goods for the construction industry and carried out contracting work for excavation.
• The most advanced tools in the workshop were a forging hammer and welding equipment.

• ---

Laatusora’s gravel pit in Hollola around 1965.

1970-72

• Murskaussuunnittelu and Laatusora merged with Murskauskone.
• Murskauskone facilities expanded. The company developed expertise and readiness to offer turnkey deliveries.
• Murskauskone started designing and manufacturing crushers.

1972

• Murskauskone opens an engineering shop in Outokumpu to provide mining, sub-contracting services and products for mines in the region.

Murskauskone’s large design department at the beginning of the 1970s.

1977

• Nuutti Vartiainen sold Roxon’s shares to Kone.
• Nuutti Vartiainen left Roxon and acquired the remaining shareholding in Lappeenrannan Konepaja, which then became Larox Oy.
• Larox Oy’s mission was to revolutionise the mining industry’s solid-liquid separation and classification of mineral substances.
• During the following three years, agent agreements were signed with companies in 17 different countries to expand the network and be able to operate closer to customers.
• Larox Oy delivers its first pressure filters that contribute to sales of 12 million FIM (2M€).

1978

• Larox Oy’s sales company established in France with Soffco-France SA.
• First Master’s thesis completed in direct cooperation with LUT University.

Left: The world famous Nuutinnokka sauna diploma features the original log sauna. During the coming years thousands of visitors received such diploma and they still do today.

Right: Talouselämä magazine wrote an article in 1977 about Roxon being sold to Kone, saying: “Nuutti Vartiainen is widely respected for his dogged and determined entrepreneurial spirit; he is a man of one idea and solid personal relationships. He says ’The pioneering age is never over’.“

1983

• Timo Vartiainen joins Outokumpu Equipment in Canada that represents Larox Oy. After one year in Canada, he moved to the USA where he worked for Larox Oy’s American subsidiary for 4 years.
• Katariina Aaltonen also starts to work for Larox Oy.
• Close cooperation started with LUT University in language studies. Some language classes were even held in Larox Oy’s basement that was repurposed as a state-of-the-art phonetics and speech classroom equipped with modern booths, headphones and microphones to practice pronunciation.
• Cooperation with LUT also meant that several LUT graduates were hired to the company.
  

  ---

Katariina Aaltonen boating with her daughter Henriikka in the 1980s.

1987

• Larox Oy’s mining operations are underway at the Peruvian mine. The mine was also used for R&D work and a new quarrying technique was developed at the mine in the late 1980’s.
• Nuutti Vartiainen is awarded with LUT Medal of Honour number 19 in recognition of his many years of activity in the field, representing local industry and successful cooperation between the Larox Oy and the LUT.

1988

• Timo Vartiainen returns to Finland and becomes Vice President and Marketing Director of Larox Oy
• Larox Oy’s shares were listed in Helsinki Stock Exchange.

1989

• Larox Oy premises expansion started – the company had shifted from a component supplier to supplying entire lines.
• A new Larox Oy R&D center opened in Lappeenranta.
• Representation agreement signed with Metex for the Polish, Czechoslovakian and Hungarian markets.
• New hydraulic pressure filter series is launched.

Nuutti Vartiainen at the Trujillo mine holding chunks of ore in 1987.

1991

• Larox Oy’s UK sales office promoted to subsidiary.
• Subsidiary Larox Southern Africa Pty established in South Africa to offer local support and service.
• Metex’ Polish representation replaced by Larox B.T.I. sales office.
• Larox Oy received it’s biggest ever order from China, 35 million FIM (6M€).

1991-1994

• Nuutti Vartiainen acts as Chairman of the board of the LUT University’s Research Foundation.

1992

• Katariina Aaltonen becomes CFO of Larox Oy.
• The new slogan “Separates the best from the rest” represented the shift towards focus on solid-liquid separation.
• Classification business discontinued.

Group photo with the new slogan in the background

1995

• Larox Oy’s R&D center opened in Lappeenranta, housing a valve laboratory for Larox Flowsys Oy’s R&D purposes.

1996

• Subsidiary Larox B.T.I. established in Poland that developed from a previous sales office with a goal to expand the customer support activities in the area.
• French, British and German subsidiaries combined into Larox Europe GmbH.

1997

• Center of Separation Technology (CST) established at LUT University.
• Larox Oy donated 1.5 million FIM (250.000€) to LUT University which ensured a solid-liquid separation professorship at CST/LUT University for five years.
• Katariina Aaltonen becomes Member of the Board of Larox Flowsys Oy.

In 1999 Nuutti Vartiainen was awarded an honorary doctorship in technology by LUT University.