The world faces major challenges, with increasing demand for technological development that is both profitable and sustainable. For Addtech, this entails numerous opportunities to generate future value, both for customers and for society.
Electrification, power grid expansion, automation, flow control, Industry 4.0, infrastructure development, medical technology… the list of the areas of technology in which Addtech companies are active is long. Every day, the Group’s 130 subsidiaries around the world endeavour in different ways to help customers identify the best technological solutions fortheir particular needs. Many of these solutions have clear connections to sustainability. Accordingly, Addtech often helps customers enhance their business while also benefiting society by, for example, reducing emissions, improving energy efficiency in transport, making workplaces safer and benefiting people in other ways.
But what do solutions offered by Addtech companies look like in practice? One example lies hidden in an anonymous brick building on an industrial estate outside Eskilstuna. This is where the Swedish operations of chains supplier FB Kedjor are housed. Although selling chains may seem uncomplicated, the operations involve more than that – with the company’s employees facilitating additional opportunities in the link between the customer and the supplier.
Alongside steel producer SSAB, FB Kedjor recently developed a completely new and ground-breaking solution for district heating supplier Söderenergi. District heating plants are extremely demanding environments, in which materials often corrode quickly. Some equipment has to be replaced after only a year or so. With a special sustainable steel from SSAB, however, Söderenergi developed a product with a service life thirty times longer than for earlier materials, and also offering environmental benefits in the form of greener electricity and heating for end customers, as well as reduced carbon dioxide emissions.
John Karlsson, Managing Director of FB Kedjor, tells us about the project:
“For the customer, the challenge lay in the plate at the bottom of the conveyor’s tipper trough breaking apart, destroying the actual supporting structure. At FB Kedjor, we took the initiative to bring together Söderenergi with specialists from SSAB, a company with which we were very familiar. Under our direction, a team was assembled to develop and assess a special steel for bottom plates that could withstand the extremely demanding conditions in the long term.”
Long term was the appropriate term: The special steel that was tested proved to have a service life of about 80 years. After about five years of analysis, development work, production and review, the team confirmed that everything had worked out perfectly.
“The change of material entails a number of positive and measurable environmental consequences. According to SSAB’s calculations, carbon dioxide emissions will decrease by about 1120 tonnes during the lifetime of the plant,” explains John Karlsson.
FB Kedjor has achieved similar sustainable solutions for other customers, in which it has also developed the materials used in the chain itself to achieve quantifiable positive effects.
“Our approach, which we call FB EcoUpgrade, begins with sitting down with customers and discussing their problems and what they want to achieve. Quite often, customers want us to help them manage their active environmental efforts, developing sustainable solutions, while generating economic benefits. In this way, we can support customers in assuming global responsibility and making a real difference,” says John Karlsson.
In his view, today’s customers have a growing understanding of the area of sustainability and they want to improve in this. Although price, reliability of delivery and quality, for example, remain important, many companies want to make a difference and are happy to make use of FB Kedjor’s sustainability skills.
“And that involves more than just the environmental aspects. The human aspect, including work-related injuries, stress and the working environment, is also important. FB Kedjor does more than deliver products, we are on a mission to help our customers advance their sustainability work. Put simply, we think long-term, for the sake of future generations,” says John Karlsson.
Another Addtech company clearly associated with sustainability is Sammet Dampers. Based in Jyväskylä in central Finland, the company sells industrial dampers that regulate gas flows in various industrial processes, with the whole world as its market. The marine segment, in which Sammet provides customers with the world’s most advanced solutions for reducing maritime emissions.
“We have a product that really helps customers make a big difference. Our dampers are used on the world’s largest vessels, where they actively help eliminate emissions and pollution,” says Mikko Sammasmaa, Marketing Director.
This niche has grown rapidly within Addtech, and Sammet has tripled its sales over the past financial year alone. Although demand levelled off in the final six months of the year, with much of the industry largely waiting for new regulations to take effect, long-term demand remains strong. This is driven by society increasingly continuing to impose stringent demands on environmentally efficient solutions, says Mikko Sammasmaa.
“Regulations and directives on climate and the environment are continuously being sharpened and amended. We work on the front line of our particular industry, and we see clearly that stricter environmental regulations entail increased business opportunities. We are able to meet requirements and have a mission to contribute to a cleaner and more sustainable future.”
Sammet is also accustomed to being examined by its customers from the perspective of sustainability, Mikko Sammasmaa explains.
“We have noted that customers have very high expectations of us, and many choose to conduct sustainability reviews, both of us and of our suppliers. At the same time, however, working to improve the climate and environment motivates us and we know that is engages our employees. We work extensively on these issues internally, with substantial strategic grass roots commitment. Issues of climate and the environment are connected directly to what we sell.”
Something that has always characterised the Addtech companies is their capacity to quickly identify and monitor the major technology trends impelling markets and communities alike. One of the strongest trends at the moment is electrification. In practice, the trend intervenes and generates opportunities for virtually all Addtech business areas: From contributing to green electricity by supplying components for wind turbines, for example, to selling equipment for the transmission networks carrying the electricity all the way to the electrically powered equipment. Dovitech, an Addtech company in Denmark, spans a substantial part of the business spectrum that electrification entails. With a turnover of approximately DKK 100 million, Dovitech is one of Addtech’s major subsidiaries, and its products and solutions can be found in Vesta’s wind turbines, as well as in advanced medical technology equipment and ordinary household appliances.
“We are often associated with green energy because we have major customers in wind power, although we do so much more than that,” says Michael Rosenkrantz, Managing Director of Dovitech.
He shows a number of pictures in rapid succession. These include quite a few examples from the industry: A wave power plant, a skyscraper with turbines on the roof, an electric car ferry, an industrial robot, an X-ray machine. Although the images also represent things more associated with everyday life: A water-efficient washing machine, an electric car charging pole, LED fittings, a hearing aid, a pensioner’s stairlift... In other words, there seem to be Dovitech solutions all around us.
“Today, of course, electronics are almost everywhere, meaning we are also involved somehow. People are often surprised when we show everything we work with, it’s not at all what they expect. One highly interesting area, for example, is people’s security. How are electronics components involved in that area? Well, just imagine what a difference cameras and sensors can make for those working with maintenance in the process industry,” Michael Rosenkranz explains.
In his view, the electrification trend is set to continue:
“A great many things will happen. Just look at Norway where almost everything is electrified nowadays, from cars to large ferries, which is what we are working on at the moment. In ten years’ time, these markets will be even bigger. For that reason, we are already working to safeguard a favourable position, including in development projects. One such project that I personally find highly exciting at the moment is the development of an electric hybrid aircraft, in which we are involved and provide solutions.”
For Dovitech, sustainability is also a key factor in the future development of the business.
“For me, issues of sustainability are absolutely crucial because it is always about people at the end of the day. Not only do we sell many components – we also package them and add value that will ultimately benefit people. In my view, sustainability is also about daring to take a long-term approach to customer relations. We have come to know our customers over a long period of time. We know what they want and they, for their part, know what we are capable of – that we do not consider anything to be impossible,” says Michael Rosenkrantz, who also underscores the advantage offered by the Addtech network as a whole:
“The Addtech companies embody considerable know-how in many of the foremost future technology trends in. In my view, we have enormous potential to develop additional areas of business together.”
In recent years, Addtech has actively broadened the distribution of its operations in terms of both customer segments and geographies. This helps further stabilise the Group’s development by smoothing out business fluctuations over a business cycle.
Over the financial year, Addtech calculated the overall percentage of existing operations currently contributing in some way towards the UN’s global goals. Today, this equals approximately 40 percent of total sales. More information about this calculation can be found in the Sustainability notes.
| Financial value generated | 11735 |
| Financial value distributed | 11510 |
| - Of which, manufacturing costs | 8725 |
| - Of which, salaries and remunerations (salaries, pensions, payroll taxes, social security contributions) | 2114 |
| - Of which, disbursements to creditors | 62 |
| - Of which, disbursements to shareholders | 336 |
| - Of which, disbursements to governments (tax) | 273 |
| Remaining in the company | 225 |
| The development of Addtech’s five business areas is driven by both major mega trends and smaller niche trends. Read more about the business areas and the development for the year in the Administration report. |
| Automation: Industry 4.0, smart cities, Internet of Things |
| Components: Electrification, environmental and climate development, Technological development |
| Energy: Renewable energy, power grid expansion, higher degree of technology in installations |
| Industrial Process: Environmental and climate regulations, optimisation and safety, new products in flow processes |
| Power Solutions: Electrification, increased focus on ergonomics, increased focus on batteries |