voi vaatia tiettyjen kokonaisuuksien modernisaatiota

[Gavril]

Excerpt from an evaluation of a machinery company's practices:

Kriittisten nostureiden varaosien varastoja [...] säilytetään huollon toimittajan varastossa.
[...]
Varaosien saatavuus on rajoitettu ja voi vaatia tiettyjen kokonaisuuksien modernisaatiota, jos korvaavia osia ei löydy.

"The spare part reserves for the critical cranes [...] are stored in the maintenance contractor's warehouse.
[...]
The availability of the spare parts is limited, and in cases where no replacement parts are available, it may be necessary to modernize certain [???]."

How is "kokonaisuus" functioning here?

Simply translating it as "whole"/"totality"/etc. will convey no useful information to an English speaker.

It needs to be made clear what, specifically, this is a "whole" of.

A whole machine / tool?
A whole subsystem of a machine / tool?
A whole procedure?
Etc. etc. etc. etc.

Thanks for your time,
Gavril

 

[Maunulan Pappa]

Maybe "assembly" or "Next Higher Assembly"?

 

[Gavril]

Thanks.

I've attempted to contact the people behind this text; I'll see if I get a response on this issue.

When you see the term "kokonaisuus" used in technical contexts, do you generally have some idea of what it refers to, even if you're not an expert in the field in question?

 

[Maunulan Pappa]

When you see the term "kokonaisuus" used in technical contexts, do you generally have some idea of what it refers to, even if you're not an expert in the field in question?

For me, it means a (sub)system, an assembly, a set, a combination. Something, that is usually put together from parts and has some kind of specific function, or specific limits, as a whole. Something, whose parts belong together. It may or may not work independently. For example, in a car, the engine is a kokonaisuus and the cylinder head is a kokonaisuus as well.

 

[Spongiformi]

Based on that quote, my gut feeling is that the "kokonaisuus" doesn't refer to a single, limited device, like an electric motor, even though a motor is made of multiple components itself. Rather, it's probably the whole electrics of a machine. It could also be multiple machines if you can't simply replace one of them with a modern, different sort of machine without losing the interoperability of a streamlined process. Of course it could also be that the business can't risk extended periods of inactivity due to lacking spare parts. Customers typically don't like unexpected delays.

I hope you hear back from them!