The lights did not go out in Fagersta
Torbjörn Ericson had just come home from a job in Estonia when one of his former managers called him up and asked if he would like an assignment as site manager. The job involved running and closing down Outokumpu’s stainless tubing factory in Fagersta.
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“I went up there to have a look and meet the people who worked there. What struck me was the spirit and professional pride among the 144 employees, a fighting spirit despite the threat of termination.
It proved to be a good trip, until the end. Torbjörn met Hans Forsling and Fagersta municipal commissioner Stig Henriksson.
“We had negotiations with the municipality and decided that we’d support them for three years with SEK 500,000 a year to bring new jobs to Fagersta. It was at this point that I learned about Triple Steelix. There were several points in common; Stig is on the Triple Steelix board of directors and their chairman is head of research at Outokumpu.”
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In the middle of all this, SSAB was looking for someone that could make tube prototypes of carbon steel. Could we take their material and test it? It was a fun challenge to put the material in full production. It went really well and now the embryo of an idea emerged. Hans Forsling said: “What if we tried to form a company based on manufacturing stainless steel tubes, instead of turning out the lights for good?”
OSTP, the tube division at Outokumpu, was clearly negative. We couldn’t lose our focus! But we continued working on the idea on the side. We convinced Ikea and we already had SSAB on board. The winds gradually turned and the tube forming company Rullformningscentrum was established. Now OSTP wanted to be included; they even wanted an 80-percent stake. SSAB became the other owner of the company. So far it’s been going great, we see a clear continuation moving forward. The future of the company is assured for the next few years.
For me the access to the Triple Steelix network is completely new. There’s a strength here at the same time that it’s so easy to work together. Someone always knows someone, who knows someone, who…The points of contact are many and it becomes a natural way to work and socialize. We presented our solution to the Triple Steelix board of directors, who critically reviewed the project. Process leader Maria Engholm managed to lift it to a plane the rest of us didn’t know existed! There are constantly opportunities, follow up, support and suggestions for new contacts and developing alternatives.
At the same time we carried out the Triple Steelix project, which was co-financed by the County Administrative Board. After one year we invited the administrator to show how things had gone. When he came to us he had no idea about the situation. When he saw our facility, he was so pleasantly surprised and exclaimed: “This is just incredible! Do you need more money?” He had some left over and our project showed such positive results. That’s when you know you’ve succeeded. It also shows that Triple Steelix really works.
Now I’m sitting here and have a board meeting this afternoon. Completely different winds are blowing now compared with when I came here the first time to close everything down. Everything has fallen into place. Although Outokumpu did close down production, Atlas Copco bought the property and is moving its production and distribution warehouse to the site. And we started a new company, Rullformingscentrum i Fagersta AB. And if all goes as planned, a transshipment terminal will also be built here. The municipality is working on a pilot study together with companies such as Atlas Copco and Fagersta Stainless. The commitment has been completely natural thanks to Triple Steelix and Tillväxtgruppen in Fagersta. Such positive energy!
Almost everyone has a new job. The pride and professionalism have always been here. A legacy was left behind that will be good for the future. Fagersta has a good reputation and people speak with respect about how “they made good tubes there” – and they still do.