FENTEC's breakthrough into the Canadian market required hard work, technological expertise and strong team spirit

FENTEC is an agile and forward-thinking technology company from Tampere, Finland. It was founded in 2021 through the merger of two RFID companies. FENTEC started to develop next-generation FENTEC Vending Solution and quickly got its first product to market. The latest news is the company’s significant opening in Canada.

Why Canada?

Because the company’s path continues naturally to Canada after Finland and the rest of Europe, explains FENTEC CEO Jari Kinnunen. The potential in the Canadian and North American markets is huge and very attractive.

– Our customer Würth Canada is our first step in that direction. We have proven that our product passes Canadian regulatory requirements – and the customer is satisfied, Kinnunen says.

The FENTEC Vending Solution works well in Canada, a large country with long distances. FENTEC’s products are vending units for sales, rental or lending. They are easy to place to anywhere, in this case, close to Würth Canada’s own customers.

– Würth Canada is very important for us but not our sole commitment. We want to conquer the Canadian market, then go to the United States. We are still in the very early stages, but making very good progress, Kinnunen says.

FENTEC’s path to Canada

FENTEC has been working with Würth Finland and Würth Group for a long time, which helped in networking with Würth Canada. Once Canadians had been convinced – through Teams meetings, references and on-site visits – that FENTEC’s solution would provide them with added value, piloting the solution was still needed.

FENTEC delivered the solution and products to a pilot environment built by Würth Canada, where the customer can test the system and also invite their own customers to explore it.

– Würth Canada has been supplying products to large companies for decades. Now it can offer them the next-generation vending solution as a service, Kinnunen says.

FENTEC’s North American path has been supported by Business Finland and the EU-funded Bridging4Growth project coordinated by Business Tampere. Kinnunen acknowledges both organizations for the important assistance: networking meetings, contacts, internationalization sparring and supporting travel costs, which is especially important for SMEs.

– The comprehensive support has accelerated certain things in our journey to Canada. It has helped us avoid pitfalls and provided useful contacts with potential customers. We have also obtained a sparring partner from the Michigan area, with whom we are discussing regularly, and gain really valuable market information, Kinnunen says.

*Pilot environment for FENTEC’s solution in Würth Canada’s demo room. Photo: Würth Canada*

The roots of FENTEC

FENTEC was founded in January 2021, when two RFID technology companies merged: Top Tunniste, a software, electronics and cloud development company, and Fentec Partners, a production company focused on mechanical development.

– As FENTEC, we set out to create a fully scalable and modular solution that could be easily exported to international markets. Eight months after the merger we had our first product launch: a physical product and its software, cloud solution and integration interfaces, Kinnunen says.

The key factor to the swift start were the employees’ technological expertise and corporate culture. Würth Finland was the first to adopt FENTEC’s first product –and it had been their customer even before the merger.

– Finland has been a starting point, where our solution has been tested and scaled in a good way. However, from the beginning, our product development had taken into account that the product is suitable for the European and North American markets, Kinnunen says.

FENTEC CEO Jari Kinnunen says that the company has recently achieved great successes, thanks to the commitment and strong teamwork of its personnel.

FENTEC Vending Solution – what is it all about?

FENTEC offers its customers a next-generation vending solution, i.e. a platform through which FENTEC’s customers can sell, lend and rent their own products to their customers. FENTEC’s physical product can be a smart cabinet, container or checkout room solution. Software, interfaces and cloud systems are an integral part of it.

So, when the end user of a smart cabinet notices that they need a certain tool, they walk up to the cabinet, identify themselves with a card, open the door and select the right item. The backend system registers the item for the requester and makes an automatic inventory of the cabinet contents based on RFID tags or weight. If stock level decreases to the alert limit, a reorder is sent automatically.

– Our solution brings for example tools, measuring devices, spare parts, protective gloves and masks close to the end user, and easily accessible. The end customer’s personnel can focus on their profitable core work, Kinnunen says.

Sales are still the most common function performed through FENTEC solutions, but Kinnunen estimates that this may change. Lending, renting and co-ownership are emerging phenomena. In the near future, companies may no longer want to buy all the valuable tools for each of their employees if the tools can be provided easily and locally through FENTEC solutions.

– This way, companies can save money on their purchases and at the same time prevent losses, as the system shows in real-time who has the tool and when it should be returned, Kinnunen says.

The solution also produces a huge amount of data

The importance of data is growing in business, and FENTEC’s solution is no exception. As goods flow through the system, The solution also generates a huge amount of data for its customers: the quantity of items sold, which factors affect the demand.

Data can be used to develop the product selection, or make sales and consumption forecasts. By using data, it can be ensured that orders are placed on time so that the shelves in FENTEC’s cabinets, containers or other rooms are never empty.

– Customers can process data further to create added value for themselves and offer even better service to their own customers, says Kinnunen.

FENTEC Oy

FENTEC Vending Solution™ is used in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and now also in Canada.
The company’s key B2B customer segments are: technical wholesale, manufacturing and defense industry, healthcare.
Head office operations in Tampere, production in Riihimäki.
The company employs a total of 28 people (January 2025).
FENTEC is part of the Auroora Companies PLC (a Finnish serial acquirer).