This is how Dan Barvö, technical salesperson and plant development specialist at Anderstorp Hydraulik, explains why the company has been so successful for many years.
– A good engineering process is built on good communication, both between our employees and with the customer. In our teams, we bring together many different types of experience, and everyone’s skills need to be used during the engineering process. As soon as we have sold an assignment to a customer, we have already decided which employees will work on it, and everyone is involved in the process right from the start.
All competencies are involved from the start
Otherwise, it can be easy to think that once the field salesperson has finished their part, namely winning the order, they move on to the next sale.
– That is not really how it works with us. We keep the salesperson in the team until the finished system has been delivered and installed. The salesperson’s knowledge of the customer’s facility and the way they work is important for the engineers to fully understand the customer’s needs and how the product will be used. He also explains that it is important for field salespeople themselves to have extensive experience of the engineering process from different perspectives so that they can ask the right questions during the sales process.
– Customers do not always know what kind of hydraulic system they actually need. What they do know is what work the system is supposed to perform, such as moving an object from one place to another or lifting something. They rarely know in advance what forces the system needs to handle. That is why the salespeople need to be able to ask questions that clarify the actual conditions under which the customer wants the hydraulics to operate and other aspects, such as where in the production facility the hydraulic system will be placed.
They keep asking until they understand
Dan Barvö explains that they continue to ask questions throughout the entire engineering process.
– Our customers probably think we are overly meticulous with all our questions, but for us it is absolutely crucial to understand their needs down to the smallest detail. We cannot simply assume what they mean; we have to keep asking until it is crystal clear. This may concern which components to choose, and the customer may think we should choose certain ones, but if through dialogue with the customer we see that the components they want do not meet the needs they actually have, then we are clear about that and choose different components instead. The basic guidelines we follow when designing hydraulic power units are that they must be reliable and available in production over a long period of time.
– It is about carefully analyzing the customer’s wishes and choosing the right level based on the customer’s needs in terms of performance and service life. We have many “nerds” among our employees with specialist expertise in different areas who together usually find the right level, says Dan Barvö with a smile.
Certified employees
Having highly skilled employees is important for several reasons. Of course, it is important that they have the knowledge needed to choose the right design of a hydraulic system based on a customer’s wishes.
– But it is just as important that they have a deep understanding of hydraulics and the risks that the technology can involve. That is important both when they themselves work with hydraulic systems and when designing safe systems for customers. For that reason, practically all our employees, including the service team, are certified according to SFMA’s certification system. It is both a reassurance and a mark of quality, explains Dan Barvö. An important part of the ambition to deliver reliable and available systems is always to choose quality components, which also means knowing which components offer the right quality.
– Here too, long experience matters a great deal. You need to know which components work best in different situations. Based on that experience, we can then choose the right component for the right application and find the right quality level based on the customer’s need for performance and service life.
The whole system is equally important
When designing a reliable hydraulic system, it is important to take the entire system into account. Previously, for example, hoses and couplings were not considered as important as the components inside the system.
– But they are at least as important. Leaks often arise from incorrect routing or external impact on hoses and couplings. So you need both to choose the right hose material for the environment in which it will operate and to ensure that the hose is routed correctly. A hose may have the right pressure class, but it may be exposed to movements that mean you need to choose a hose with different wear properties.
Beginning to see some change in the industry
Since Anderstorp Hydraulik has existed for many years, they have also been able to see how hydraulic designs have changed over time.
– In general, development stood fairly still for quite a long time; systems were designed according to similar requirements year after year. But more recently, a great deal has started happening in different application areas. I myself come from the plastics industry, where I worked with injection molding machines. That industry was early in introducing servo hydraulics and placing a strong focus on energy savings. Those changes were driven by the market, because plastic products are in principle not allowed to cost anything, while in some other industries the same market demands have not driven change. However, in recent years, changed needs have begun to emerge in other industries as well, and much of it concerns energy efficiency and sustainability.
– Within industrial hydraulics, for example, people have now begun working more with servo- and frequency-controlled electric motors, which affects the conditions for engineering. More smart digital monitoring is also being used.
Condition monitoring and sustainability
Increased condition monitoring is linked to requirements for high availability. When machines constantly have to be running, maintenance personnel have fewer opportunities to get close to the machines and listen to and feel them in order to determine what needs to be addressed.
– That is why remote condition monitoring is becoming increasingly interesting and sensors are being placed in many locations. However, this means that our competence needs to be raised so that we can analyze all the data that is collected. Sustainability issues have also driven development and created demands for improvement work and greater efficiency.
– It is about both increasing energy efficiency and extending the service life of equipment in order to reduce the consumption of finite resources. We see among our customers that these issues have had a major impact, and even in smaller companies many projects are underway for both change and improvement.
Growing in a controlled way
Today, Anderstorp Hydraulik has around 40 employees, and they are growing steadily. Before the summer, they hired four new employees.
– However, we want to grow slowly and in a controlled manner. It is important that our loyal customers are not affected by us bringing in too many new staff. We also have strict goals regarding which assignments we take on; if we do not feel that we have exactly the right expertise, we say no. Long-term relationships with both large and small customers are at the center of our business. He notes that it is tough to find new employees; the entire industry is looking for new skills.
– For us, it is important that we find the right person, someone who fits into our team. If we find someone who feels right but lacks competence, we bring them in and put them in training.
Humility and attentiveness are crucial
Dan Barvö returns throughout the conversation to the fact that close teamwork is absolutely crucial in order to design and install effective and reliable hydraulic systems. It is very much about having humility toward other people’s skills and being attentive.
– Without the close collaboration between different skills and departments, we would not have been able to continue delivering systems at the high level we have maintained for many years. It is a culture that exists in the company and that the entire management team safeguards. It is not only about working closely and well together; it is also important that we enjoy ourselves together. For that reason, we have many shared activities where we get to relax and laugh together, he concludes.
