After stepping down as CEO of TUBE Control in 2021, Lars Arousell was recruited to Wandfluh as Global Sales Manager.
– I had worked closely with them for more than 30 years, among other things as a product manager for Wandfluh in previous jobs. It therefore felt natural to join them, since I knew their products so well and liked the company.
Many positive experiences
His assignment as Global Sales Manager was very exciting and involved, among other things, building networks with partners around the world. At the same time, he was product manager for their PMV programme, with responsibility for developing new valve functions.
– There was a lot of travelling during those years, and I had the chance to meet many interesting people. It has also been interesting to see how good cooperation can be between representatives of different countries, even when their countries are not friendly with each other. For example, I attended a meeting in the Czech Republic where representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden were all present and all wished each other well. After that meeting, I felt that the world is still good when ordinary people are given the chance to meet without politics getting in the way.
Switzerland and Sweden strengthen each other
Being a Swedish manager in an international organisation is somewhat special, since Swedish business culture is not as hierarchical as in many other countries. Among other things, this affects how meetings are handled.
– They become more like informal “coffee meetings” than tightly structured meetings, where we discuss things together and arrive at good solutions. In my view, that is how you get the most out of a meeting. In our international meetings, it was also an advantage to have both Sweden and Switzerland as countries of origin, since both of them have a very strong reputation abroad. The two countries’ brands reinforce each other, which is positive in times like these, with so much misery in the world, because customers want to know where things are made.
Strong green demand in the United States
Lars Arousell also feels that in the United States it is considered positive if products are made in Europe; it is the next best thing after being made in the U.S. During his visits there, he has also been positively surprised by the strong interest in green products.
– They talk just as much about electrification of hydraulics as we do in Europe and are interested in all new developments in that area. With all their cheap oil and diesel, I might not have expected that. It is encouraging to see that companies are pursuing a much greener line than the country’s politicians.
Networking becoming increasingly important for knowledge sharing
One effect of electrification is that hydraulic systems have become more technically complex, which places higher demands on manufacturers’ knowledge and makes it more important to get things right from the beginning.
– We also need to find new ways of collaborating so that knowledge can spread more widely. In the U.S., I visited a very interesting company that functioned almost like a know-how hub. They had built a network of smaller companies across the country and helped all the smaller firms in that network with knowledge and systems expertise in hydraulic electrification. It was a collaboration that benefited both themselves and the industry as a whole.
Lars Arousell believes that this kind of collaboration and networking between large and small companies is the way forward if the entire industry is to keep up with development.
– I think more countries would benefit from building up these kinds of knowledge hubs. In Sweden, for example, the Hudiksvall Hydraulics Cluster works somewhat along those lines and seems to be doing well.
Unexpectedly large industry in the Netherlands
Another country that has surprised Lars Arousell positively during his travels is the Netherlands. One reason he has spent a lot of time there is that Wandfluh’s successful PMV series originated there.
– It turned out that they have an enormous market for marine hydraulics. I had no idea that such a small country had such a large industry, especially in marine applications. The PMV valve originally had a marine focus, and the entire series has grown from that. A couple of examples of where those valves are used are winches, where the force must be controlled very carefully at all times, and large marine cranes that require good controllability.
The “Proportional Mobile Valves” programme contains a flexible hydraulic concept that can be adapted modularly for all types of applications.
A great deal of research behind the products
He himself has not visited Asia very much, since Wandfluh China handles that market.
– What can be said, however, is that it is a tough market, but enormous. When you talk about projects in China, they are not on the same scale as in Europe; they are often much larger.
Wandfluh invests heavily in research and development to create advanced hydraulic and electronic control systems that improve performance, efficiency and environmental sustainability.
– One sign that we are far ahead is that we have won an award for our new CMV(A) valve range. OEM Off-Highway Magazine named it the best and most innovative product in the hydraulics category, which is very gratifying.
A very strong market in Scandinavia
With a strong global presence, Wandfluh serves customers all over the world through subsidiaries, distributors and service centres. In Europe, Scandinavia, including Finland, holds a very strong position and is one of the largest markets for Wandfluh’s products. That is the background to the decision to establish a new subsidiary for Scandinavia.
– We want to strengthen our brand in Scandinavia and get closer to our customers there. Many people know that we sell valves and electronic components, but it is probably less well known that we are also a system supplier. We will emphasise that more when meeting Scandinavian customers. We also want to help our Scandinavian distributors get closer to the market.
Inspiring to start a new company
For Lars Arousell, it was an obvious yes when he was asked if he wanted to become CEO of the newly established Wandfluh Scandinavia AB.
– Even when I left TUBE, I had been thinking about starting a new company; building a business from the ground up felt attractive. But then came Wandfluh’s offer to become Global Sales Manager instead, which was also very attractive and has been incredibly interesting and exciting. To now have the opportunity to help build a company from scratch through Wandfluh is a perfect continuation of my commitment to Wandfluh.
As the first employee in the new Scandinavian subsidiary, he has hired Peter Kjellrén as Technical Sales Manager. He too has worked in the hydraulics industry for a long time, including at Komatsu Forrest.
– We have worked together before and both have a strong technical focus, which will also define the direction of the new company. It will be incredibly exciting to really get going, meet our Scandinavian customers and distributors, and see how we can contribute in the best possible way to their operations, Lars Arousell concludes.
