The municipality of Laukaa, in the heart of Central Finland, has been developing lighting control and monitoring in long-term collaboration with C2 SmartLight since 2013. A municipality-wide system is in use, where the lighting status is visible in real time – and faults are sent directly to the C2 control center without intermediaries. The partnership has stood the test of time. “We’ve worked on this together for a long time, and things have kept evolving for the better. It’s important for us that the systems work and support our everyday tasks – and that’s exactly what they’ve done,” says Area Supervisor Arto Manninen.

Of Laukaa’s nearly 6,700 lighting points, about half have already been converted to energy-efficient LED lights. The lighting is managed through about 100 control centers. At sports facilities, push-button control is used, while street lighting is operated via centralized control.

The latest addition in Laukaa is the C2IS situational awareness solution, which provides the municipality with a real-time view of the lighting network and faults. Fault monitoring was outsourced to C2 SmartLight already in 2019, and when the market pricing was later re-evaluated through a tendering process, the decision to continue with a familiar and proven partner was easy. “We don’t have to respond to every report ourselves. That saves working time and simplifies our operations,” says Manninen.

A long partnership and a lighter workload
C2 SmartLight’s systems were first implemented in Laukaa for controlling lighting at sports facilities, and from the very first experiences, Manninen recognized the benefits. “It made everyday life easier right away. Lights could be turned on and off without physically going to the location. That was already a big deal back then.”

When street lighting control was expanded to the same system, the municipality began to see the potential for more comprehensive monitoring. With the outsourced control center service, the municipality's own workload has significantly decreased, and the situational awareness solution became a natural next step.

C2 SmartLight's Strategy Director Petri Laitinen also sees development potential in the solution for the future. "All feedback is visible in the situational overview – also feedback not related to lighting. In the future, the system can be developed to serve a broader scope of municipal infrastructure management."

Satisfaction that endures
According to Manninen, the collaboration with C2 SmartLight has been smooth and effective. “Everything has gone as agreed, and the systems work as they should. We haven’t encountered situations where we’d need to backtrack.”

The answer to the question of recommendation is clear. “Yes, I can recommend C2 to other municipalities. We’ve implemented a system that truly makes our work easier. And there has never been any reason to regret getting on board.”

Although Manninen could already retire, he’s not quite ready to do so. The work remains meaningful, and the ongoing development keeps it fresh. His free time is spent playing the accordion – but during the day, he continues working with a good partner to make sure the lights in Laukaa stay on.