Coordinated product development
gives the advantage to Luvata customers
Keenly alive, and of utmost importance for Luvata, is market demand, including both the development of new products and efforts towards finding new applications for existing products. Now, with the purpose of further refining and revitalizing these activities, Luvata Rolled Products Division is enhancing the coordination and focus on their resources within the R&D area.
Larz Ignberg, Director of Technology, and Peter Morsing, General Manager Technical Sales, both very experienced technicians from the rolled products field, are the leaders of this process – Ignberg representing manufacturing, Morsing marketing.
Peter Morsing emphasizes the importance of using development resources in an effective way to ensure that the same development work is not undertaken at multiple locations within the division, while leveraging the expertise throughout the group. “This is something that will also benefit our customers.”
The depths of diversity
The Rolled Products Division has manufacturing units in Buffalo, U.S., Pori, Finland, Finspång, Sweden and Zutphen, in the Netherlands. “People from these locations are represented in the project group as well as colleagues from our sales organization in Chicago, Shanghai and
Västerås, Sweden,” explains Larz Ignberg.
“Some of the development projects going on are related to a specific location, while other projects concern a specific market or special product. But there are some very general areas of development ongoing, for example our focus on thinner strips and cleaner surfaces.”
Peter Morsing: “The requirements from the market and the customer’s perspective are evident. In some cases it is important to have the customer join the project in the beginning, while other projects will be more general and fit many customers.”
Areas of interest
Although Peter Morsing and Larz Ignberg give prominence to the fact that Rolled Products’ focus is towards product development, they recognize that in most cases new products require process changes that go hand-in-hand with the manufacturing process.
Some driving forces in the market are already identified and renewable energy is just one of them. Others areas include electrical cars and antimicrobial products. “These areas are not new to us, however we are now intensifying our efforts. In every case, market demands are the focus,” says Larz Ignberg.
Stage-Gate – a necessary tool
Peter Morsing explains that there are many new ideas and technologies under consideration, so many that it is necessary to prioritize. Luvata Rolled Products utilizes Stage-Gate as a filter, to guarantee that the ideas are in accordance with the company strategy.
“Every month we have a video conference to decide which ideas are relevant to the strategy and the Stage-Gate. The purpose of this meeting is obvious. We want to focus on the most important ones and successfully accomplish our development projects as quickly as possible – on a continuous basis.”
Making copper products more effective
The increased price of copper has changed the business conditions. The market demands more effective copper products that are better than any of the alternatives. “When looking for new applications we always have to take the copper price into consideration,” says Markku Ainali, General Manager of Customer Product Development and Secretary of the Division R&D network.
Ainali also tells that there are team resources dedicated to evaluating what is going on around the world and the impact on product development and applications. He says that keeping a close eye
on what is happening in the market, is very important.
The Technical Centre
Every manufacturing unit within the division plays a critical role when it comes to new products and changed processes. A central resource is the Technical Centre in Finspång, which is well equipped both from the manufacturing point of view as well as test and analysis.
“Outsourcing of development is also possible. In addition to our internal resources, we also work with universities and other institutes. As an example, an institute may carry out the preliminary work. Later in the project Luvata may participate with additional capacity and resources. With every project we try to optimize the resources at our disposal to deliver the best results,” says Larz Ignberg.
Additional advantages
Peter Morsing explains that there are additional advantages with this type of cooperation. “We now have an extensive list of people and institutes who specialize within a certain area. A specialist in solar technology for example or as specialist in thermal calculations.”
“Developing new products is a fundamental part of the Luvata strategy. As we leave the recession behind, it is time to look forward and intensify this work. We are listening to the market and our customers. We believe they will be happy with the results!"