Director Darin Cerny is responsible for developing the machine vision business within Procemex. He says the ecosystem in Tampere is well positioned to solve many of the image-based challenges now and in the future.
What does Procemex do?
– Procemex is a leading supplier of Web Inspection Systems (WIS) and Web Monitoring Systems (WMS) for the pulp, paper, and printing industries. As well as growing the core business, Procemex is investigating additional ways to serve these industries. Machine vision is one such area, and a very promising one.
– I lead a team that develops and markets machine vision solutions to the pulp and paper industry.
The Tampere site is home to Procemex’ R&D group. What do you do there?
– Camera design and software development is located in Tampere, serving both the WIS and WMS products and the Machine Vision Group. In Procemex we make our own cameras and software, so both skill sets are needed.
– Also, part of our sales and marketing department is in the Tampere office. The company head office and all the manufacturing are located in Jyväskylä, about 150 kilometers from Tampere.
Why Tampere?
– Because it is a great place to live and work. Tampere has a vibrant tech culture, a growing infrastructure and an environment that is nurturing to both business and family structures. As a result, R&D people are easier to recruit from the Tampere Region.
– Tampere is also conveniently located within a short distance from most of the main cities of Finland. It is close enough to an international airport from where you can get anywhere you want, which is important for the development of the imaging sector.
How do you see the future?
– In general, I think that the future for computer vision is very bright, both for machine learning based vision as well as for more traditional machine vision solutions.
– The ecosystem in Tampere is well positioned to harness the talent and focus the effort to solve many of the image-based challenges we face today and in the future. I am very excited to be with Procemex on this journey. Procemex has the foresight to tackle these image-based challenges in their markets and expand their product portfolio to include many solutions in machine vision.
A little more about you…
– I began working in machine vision in the early 90’s and got hooked on image processing back then. I spent 18 years in various technical and product related roles at one of the world’s large machine vision suppliers.
– In 2015 I began working with one of Procemex’ subsidiaries to develop and market the machine vision platform that the Procemex Machine Vision Group uses today.
– While I have had a very fulfilling career, I believe that the greatest successes are yet to come. The market is really just opening up to computer vision, which means there are so many more opportunities now and in the future.
Your home is in the San Francisco Bay Area, and nowadays you spend quite a lot of time in Tampere. How do you see the place?
– The balance between high-tech, the city and nature helps me with creativity, and to be able to enjoy what I do.
– Believe it or not, fall is actually one of my favorite times of year. It is getting a little cold and rainy sometimes, but you have ’ruska’, the nice fall colors. And there are all those varieties of mushrooms growing in the forests where I like to go for hikes. It is really very nice.
Author: Päivi Stenroos
Director, Procemex Oy, Machine Vision Group