About us

1980s

From a duplex unit to USSR’s export boom

Detector Oy was founded in 1981. The company’s first location was a rented, two-room duplex unit in Turku, where the two-person staff began the manufacture of analog gas detector technologies and laboratory ovens. The products were literally manufactured by hand, manually building circuit boards and drafting equipment plans.

In 1986, the company purchased a computer and installed a CAD program on it, which marked a major advance in operations, as the drafting work that previously took days could now be dine in a few hours on the computer.

The end of the decade was a time of major changes. In 1988 the company moved to a new facility and in 1989 one of the founders retired and Detector Oy became a family-owned company. 1989 also saw the beginning of export deliveries to the Soviet Union, which increased trade significantly.

1990s

Trade and a dropoff in business

The 1990s began with promise, with exports being shipped east and work being done around the clock. It became necessary to hire a maintenance manager at the turn of the decade because the equipment sold in the 1980s were beginning to age and there was demand for a systematic maintenance service.

The collapse of the Soviet Union resulted in a dropoff in business for a few years, until the company was able to participate in major investments and enjoy another period of growth. The product range was expanded when the company began producing its own gas analysers and moved once again to a new facility.

2000s

Development of products and production

In the 2000s, the company transitioned from analog to digital technologies, outsourcing some of its operations in order to focus on its core areas of expertise. This marked the end of, for example, building circuit boards by hand, focusing instead on product design, testing, certification and final assembly. The company’s products were now modular, scalable and internationally competitive.

In 2006, the company’s own ATEX-approved gas detectors were launched. That same year, the company purchased its own facility in Turku and, after renovation work was completed, moved in at the beginning of 2007. In 2008, the company established its ISO 9001 quality management system.

Maintenance and service functions kept the company in the black when the financial crisis in the United States slowed down the global economy in 2008 and reduced new business investments.

2010s

Working together to achieve better results

The 2010s have brought their fair share of changes, and operations have undergone significant development.

Customers began to express their wishes for local service and, as a result, an ambitious effort to develop the partner network was launched. The partner network made its first appearance when a network partner started operating in the Lahti area in 2015.

Detector was voted the Company of the Year in Turku in 2015. Company expertise was further expanded with the establishment of administrative and development functions. In 2018, Detector Oy’s management base was expanded and management work was enhanced, thus resulting in the new vision and strategy.

In 2019, the company’s latest product release, Varia, was granted the Design from Finland mark. The mark is a testament to Varia’s user-oriented design, which is one of the cornerstones of our operations.

Both products and services are provided in co-operation with our customers, and our objective is to continue providing the best possible result long into the future!

2020s

A decade of change

The new decade brought many changes to the company. In October 2020, the company was divided so that the real estate owned by the company was separated into its own company, Avasta Invest Oy. Detector Ltd’s business continued as before, but with a changed business ID.

Customers began to express their wishes for local service and, as a result, an ambitious

In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic began, which significantly affected everyone’s personal life and also business activities. Remote work and video conferencing became a daily way of working – also at Detector. The pandemic continued longer than expected and the related restrictions continued until the beginning of 2022.

Many companies suffered from the restrictions imposed during the pandemic. Fortunately, Detector’s turnover and operations were not affected by the pandemic, instead, the turnover grew as in previous years.

On February 5, 2021, Detector was acquired. Pentti and Ulla-Maija Maunu sold Detector Ltd to Sami Heinonen, Janne Maunu and Sini Maunu-Carrion. The ownership of the company, therefore, remained in Finnish hands even after the change of ownership.

The decade has also been a time of strong development activities. The new Varia^TM gas detector was launched and as a result of customer-oriented product development, a modern gas detection controller, Seguro, was developed.

Russia started a war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. As a result of that and the pandemic, the price of energy increased, and the availability of components became more challenging. The availability problem of certain components and accelerating inflation have set challenges for all companies, including Detector.

There were also changes in the company’s personnel: the sales manager who had a long career with the company retired and a new sales director was hired in his place at the beginning of 2022. Multi-professionalism was strengthened with the recruitment of a service designer at the beginning of 2020. The maintenance business was strengthened by hiring a new maintenance specialist.

Both products and services are provided in co-operation with our customers, and our The new decade has also brought a lot of opportunities for Detector. Safety, which is ensured by gas detection devices, has become even more important and the green transition has brought a new kind of demand to the market, e.g., in the form of hydrogen monitoring.