Exhibition on Cimcorp Oy’s 50-year journey

On November 1, 2025, the Rosenlew Museum in Pori will open an exhibition entitled “In Motion – Automation alongside Humans.” Cimcorp Oy, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this fall, has its roots in the Rosenlew company, which took its first steps in the automation industry back in the 1970s. The first commercial robot, a square robot, was sold to Kemira’s Vihtavuori factory in November 1975. Automation was initially experimental and a new business idea at Rosenlew’s tool factory. Soon, it became one of the focus areas of production.

Rosenlew moved its automation production from Pori to Ulvila in 1981. The company began operating under the name Cimcorp in 1986, when it was owned by Oy Wärtsilä Ab. The company’s customers operated in many industries around the world, and one of its largest customer groups was television picture tube manufacturers. Another interesting business area was tinting machines, including Monimatic, which was developed for use at the Tikkurila paint factory and is now on display in the exhibition.

The exhibition highlights the role of people alongside technology: as designers, directors, and developers. On display are employees’ memories, photographs, and stories from over the years. What is it like to build solutions that few people see, but on which many depend?

Since its acquisition in 2014, Cimcorp has been part of the Japanese Murata Machinery Group. In 2025, Cimcorp employs approximately 500 professionals in various countries, most of whom work in Finland. Today, the company automates storage and distribution solutions, as well as tire factory production. With Cimcorp’s solutions, products are efficiently transported around the world from warehouses to stores and from factories to people’s everyday lives.

The exhibition is part of the activities of the newly established Pori Region Industrial Heritage Network. “This exhibition has been created in exceptionally close cooperation with the business world. One of the network’s goals is to make companies in the region aware of their role in regional cultural heritage, and this has been achieved in the case of the automation industry in Satakunta,” says Leila Stenroos, curator of the Rosenlew Museum.

In the exhibition “In Motion,” museum visitors can try their hand at building their own modern logistics center using a special interactive game table.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of lectures entitled “The Future of Automation.” The lectures will begin on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, with Cimcorp Program Director Jyrki Anttonen speaking on the topic “50 Years of Machines and Intelligence: The Story of Automation in Satakunta.” The second lecture will be held on November 25, when Director of Enterprise Architecture & Digitalization Pekka Nurmi from Cimcorp will talk about artificial intelligence in automation. Pentti Airaksinen, M.Sc. (Tech.), who was involved in the early stages and development of automation at Rosenlew and Cimcorp, will give a presentation entitled “Solving an impossible task with mechatronics” on February 24, 2026. The lectures will be held at the Rosenlew Museum and are open to everyone free of charge. The presentations will also be streamed and recorded on the Satakunta Museum’s YouTube channel.

The exhibition has been organized in collaboration between the Rosenlew Museum and Cimcorp Oy as part of the activities of the Pori Region Industrial Heritage Network launched by the Satakunta Museum. The Pori Region Adult Education Center and the Friends of the Satakunta Museum Association have also been involved in organizing the lecture series.

The exhibition “In Motion – Automation alongside Humans” will be on display from November 1, 2025, to March 8, 2026.

Rosenlew Museum, Kuninkaanlahdenkatu 14, 28100 Pori.

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed on Mondays.

Admission €8/€5/€0 or Museum Card.