Tieto and Valmet (Finland) have begun a cooperation to support energy producers in utilizing new digitalization technologies to enhance fuel supply chain management and transparency.

One of Tieto’s most recent developments with other forest industry companies is a service called Forest Hub. This service provides an interface for energy producers, such as power plants who want to buy and share information easier with biofuel suppliers and logistics companies.

Valmet’s DNA Fuel Chain Management application complements the Forest Hub service by providing fuel related data that enables all partners within the Forest Hub service to comply with the Finnish Energy Authorities’ new directive to verify the origin of biofuel. Valmet offers fuel reporting for power plants and their fuel suppliers through Valmet’s cloud-based Industrial Internet applications. Centralized fuel reporting utilizes fuel analysis data from the power plant and fuel supplier data that is received through Forest Hub.

With the help of the Forest Hub service and the Valmet DNA Fuel Chain Management solution, power plants can send and receive information to and from all service and fuel providers. The combined service provides information about upcoming fuel load deliveries, ensuring faster and more effective reception proceedings with fewer possibilities for mistakes. The load-specific measuring information sent back to the supplier enables quick and continuous delivery quality control and further process improvements.

The wood and fiber supply chain is multidimensional, with a large number of business transactions being processed between different organizations. With the help of Tieto Forest Hub, all parties can exchange relevant business information. The real-time digital communication between partners also reduces manual errors and improves data security. The ecosystem service makes operational planning easier throughout. Furthermore, the service automatically monitors data transmissions and provides support services to ensure the continuity of business operations.

"Through this co-operation, Valmet strengthens its Industrial Internet offering for the fuel management processes of power plants. The Tieto Forest Hub service complements Valmet’s cloud-technology-based DNA Fuel Chain Management solution, which enables efficient and transparent fuel logistic planning, from forest to gate," said Janne Koivuniemi, Senior Product Manager, Valmet.

"The co-operation with Valmet marks a break into a new branch segment for Tieto Forest Hub. We are excited to be able to further help our customers and their partners in the energy sector to fully utilize the possibilities that digitalisation has to offer, and to support their business activities with a solution that instantly offers advantages," said Jaakko Kuusisaari, Director, Tieto's Wood & Fiber solutions.

Tieto Forest Hub is based on the Business Information Exchange (BIX), which is a cloud service for B2B integration. Tieto BIX currently covers 1,500 direct customers, 28 sales partners and exchanges close to 500 million transactions annually.