As Christmas approaches and winter is already making itself felt, Jan Nilsson writes that SFMA has had a full and active autumn. Since the previous issue, the association has held its Autumn Meeting on 21–22 October in Hudiksvall. There, Paul Bogatir from the Hudiksvall Hydraulics Cluster spoke about electrification work and EVDArena, while Per-Olof Olsson from Sunfab presented the company’s hundred-year history. A new member, Björn Israelsson from Side System, also introduced his business. During the meeting, a new business plan and budget were adopted, SFMA’s scholarship was awarded to Alexander Frid and Alex Ljungström, and participants also visited Huddig.
SFMA is continuing its work with the sustainability survey that has been sent out to members. The purpose is to map how the hydraulics industry is working with sustainability issues and to show how the sector contributes to a more climate-smart development. Linked to this, a webinar on climate calculations was held on 1 December, where Birgit Brunklaus from RISE presented different tools for calculating emission savings.
At the beginning of November, several member companies took part in CETOP’s online conference, “CETOP Market Outlook”, where member countries presented reports on market developments across Europe. In order to contribute more detailed Swedish figures, SFMA has restarted its statistics group. Jan Nilsson describes the meeting as very valuable and hopes more members will take part in future sessions.
The Research Group is involved in an EU initiative aimed at building an academic cluster in hydraulics. Linköping University is participating from Sweden, and SFMA has offered to support the work and help identify funding, for example through Vinnova. The group is also planning a round of interviews with members to identify their research needs and pass them on to academic contacts. In addition, an AI day is being planned, where Professor Petter Krus from Linköping University has been asked to give a presentation.
The Competence Supply Group is working on updating SFMA’s website and further developing “Anders låda” into version 2.0. The group is also planning continued participation in career fairs in order to reach students. At the same time, the Knowledge Group is preparing three autumn webinars: one on safety in electronically controlled vehicles, one on CO2 calculations, and one on digital hydraulics and electrification with Perry Y. Li from the University of Minnesota. Finally, Jan Nilsson highlights the importance of networking within the industry and wishes members a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Jan Nilsson, Chairman of SFMA.
