Simon, you have worked here less than two years and have already held three positions. Technical Manager, Plant Manager, and now COO (Swedish: Vice VD med ansvar för operations). What new responsibilities will come with the new position?
The new position is as the second in command within the company. I will work even closer with the CEO with many issues and strategic matters, and I will be the formal decision maker when the CEO is not available.
Will you keep your previous roles within the company?
I will still have the responsibilities as both plant manager and technical manager. As we are a small organisation many people need to have several roles, but we all help each other, and it works very well.
There are many up-sides with having both CEO and COO at site in Ankarsrum. What are the main advantages in your opinion?
It is much easier to support each other, and the company, with both at site. Decision making is really quick, and as both me and Carl are very operationally interested, we can go and see things together in reality before making critical decisions.
Much is happening at Ankarsrum with many forward-looking investment projects. What are the key projects in your opinion?
The key projects are two major product projects which will help us expand the business and grow our volumes. It is a new smaller DC motor called PM4220 and a new line of BLDC motors. When we succeed with the launch of them the extra revenue will enable us to invest even more to improve the company. We will also invest in a new robotized assembly line which will improve our already outstanding quality as well as improve productivity.
The worldwide economic situation is a bit shaky and there are talks of recession. What are your main concerns for the future for the company?
I believe that we will continue to be in a strong position and be able to invest. The company has two main markets for our products, industry, and costumer applications. Within industry our main segment is welding which will continue to grow mainly in military and automotive. The surrounding situation will affect us more when it comes to customer applications, but I believe that the industry market will compensate for that. My real concern is recruitment. As we want to grow and become even more technology driven, it will be a challenge to find the right new colleagues to enable us to do so.
Lastly, the vacation period is soon upon us. Do you have anything fun planned for the summer?
The vacation will actually start with a company event, we will participate in the dragon boat races in Västervik, and I will be on the rowing team. After that I plan to spend as much time as possible with the family. Hopefully the weather will be nice and then there is no better place than Västervik.
