ADC grows with hard skills and data

When a young industrial engineering student from the University of Oulu climbed into a drilling rig in the northern forests at the turn of the 2010s, his colleagues could not have guessed where the young man would end up. Hands-on work taught him the realities of the company’s core business, and when his summer job as a driller transitioned into sales roles after graduation, the newly minted Master of Science in Technology was not given much of a head start before being thrown into the deep end.

Aleksi Autti introduced himself as the company’s representative, and thus began sales negotiations with a global mining industry player. Deals were sealed, and a decade later, the same customer still trusts the company’s services—and the company trusts Autti. The only difference is that his role has changed to that of CEO.

Arctic Drilling Company Oy is an innovative pioneer in drilling, providing drilling services in demanding conditions. One of the key enablers of the company’s competitiveness is its own fleet of drilling rigs, designed and built through decades of experience and innovative product development. These rigs enable performance in mines and the harsh Arctic conditions of the north that competitors simply cannot match. ADC has come a long way, and its strong foundation, rapid decision-making, and boldness are now bearing fruit.

During the 2020s, the company has doubled its revenue and improved its profitability even further. When asked about the secrets behind ADC’s success, Aleksi Autti doesn’t need to guess.

"Quick decision-making and courage. We don’t shy away from new challenges. Understanding cost structures and having a deep grasp of operational data are everything. In the early days, only 3% of our items were tracked in the system—today, every last bolt and nut is recorded in the ERP."

Autti believes that the most important aspect of leadership is working with people. "Leading people, helping them, and reacting quickly when needed are central to ensuring they can meet their challenges as effectively as possible. We’ve restructured operations, brought in new people, and delegated responsibility. When people work in their areas of strength, results follow."

Behind ADC’s long-term work and growth lies strong fieldwork, but digitalization also plays a crucial role. Tools have been continuously improved, and quantitative data has been secured to support decision-making.

"We’re in a completely different world when it comes to operational transparency. We have up to 24-hour-old data from our operational processes on the most critical matters," Autti summarizes.

ADC implemented an ERP overhaul in 2022 and 2023. At the same time, the company was experiencing significant growth and product development shifts, but for a growing business, the best time to change operational systems was yesterday—the second-best time is today. Digileaper has been ADC’s partner in digitalization development, collaborating from project initiation to post-implementation operational improvements.

The work began by modeling the operational environment, creating a digital twin, and gaining an understanding of the starting point and target architecture.

"Good preparation work is important. If you want the system to truly support the development of the company and not just be a software project, there were many benefits from modeling the digital twin."

"The greatest added value came from operational activities, through which we understood how processes work in practice and how it makes sense to implement changes to the application environment," Autti reflects. He is satisfied with the work of the digitalization development partner.

"The biggest strengths of Digileaper’s work lie in project management, scheduling, and related arrangements. Without this, we wouldn’t have been able to execute the project on time. The ability to question the vendor’s solution models and see through the buzzwords is incredibly important for the customer. Procurement expertise in these systems is critical and entirely different from what mid-sized companies typically handle. We succeeded exceptionally well in the contract."

The most important thing in ERP projects is success, and that requires collaboration between the customer and the vendor. The vendor is a key partner, and it’s essential to ensure that the ERP provider also succeeds as much as possible. This is one of Digileaper’s core objectives, and ultimately, it benefits the customer the most.

ADC’s ERP project succeeded. 

When a production company changes its operational management system mid-flight, tension is inevitable. Succeeding in this is exceptional. No disruptions occurred in production, and when employees in the warehouse were already satisfied with the new tool on the second day of use, there was good reason to smile. Of course, there is still room for further development, and not all goals were met. There was the usual ERP-related frustration, but the most critical operational objectives were achieved—ADC’s digital leap was a success.

Where will ADC and Aleksi Autti be in 2030? "ADC wants to succeed. Continuing controlled growth and leveraging digitalization opportunities are key. Software and digital tools play a crucial role. We need even better control, and in the contracting industry, timely and high-quality data are critical success factors."

Change in the industry is rapid, and one of ADC’s most important competitive advantages—agility in adapting to change—will remain highly valuable in the future.

"In the face of operational challenges, adaptability is key. Work tasks and processes are becoming digitalized, and you can’t approach them the way you always have. Change is the only constant, but its pace is accelerating, and its impacts are intensifying," Autti summarizes.

A company’s ability to adapt to trends, societal demands, and market shifts is critical. Adaptability measures success. ADC is one of those companies.

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