A well equipped BIGAB!

Håkan Rydelius in Lindesberg, Sweden started his firm Rydelius Eletric & construction three years ago. After 26 years as an employed electrician Håkan felt that he wanted a more varied life, and therefore he started his own company. The first tractor was purchased which led to work on snow removal and brush cutting along the roads and when it was less to do, he continued with electrical installations. In this way, Håkan says that he has varying hours and a good mix between jobs.

Håkan has now invested in a new tractor with a really well equipped BIGAB hook lift trailer. The trailer is equipped with both frame steering and a BIGAB Z crane with radio steering. In addition, he has a brush cutter so he can cut brush and branches while he unloads it all onto the trailer. The BIGAB Z crane is the perfect solution for Håkan as he can fold the crane with the grapple or brush cutter in front of the trailer so it is not in the way when he will tilt or hook the container. The BIGAB trailer is equipped with frame steering, something that Håkan, like so many others, have found invaluable when in need to get into those narrow spaces or when to back into house properties.

Håkan is a typical entrepreneur who sees opportunities in their business and we at Fors MW are very pleased that he chose a BIGAB in his business!

Photo: The picture shows Håkan Rydelius along with Mangus Otterhed (Närkes Traktor Center).

Have a nice time in Mauritius

Today we say farewell to two lucky BIGAB 22-27 fully equipped even with airbrakes that will travel by sea to Mauritius to work with sugarcane transports. It is not every day that we get to load a flat track and especially not to squeeze two such big machines into one load. However this time there has been quite many people offering their help to join the trailers to get them started…..I wonder why? Maybe we should send two pair of nice sunglasses with the trailers in case some sneaks into the load. Any way we wish our trailers and our customer many happy loads in the Indian Ocean.

Fors MW live!

Sometimes in life you receive something, out of the blue, when you least expect it and it blows you away! So it was when I received this fantastic video of the production of Fors MW, filmed by Sergei Solovjov one of our Fors MW foreman’s.

Sergei had seen a nice production movie from a site in Sweden sent from our CEO as inspiration to our workers. Sergei took one look at it and made a movie of his own with simply his mobile phone. Great work Sergei and an inspiration to us all!

This autumn you and I will make yet another one!

Ulrica Fors Stenmarck

Market/Information manager AS FORS MW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yvnLmbH9sE

RAL Colors

Since we updated our pain line with two component paint system a year ago we have achieved a fantastic shine and polish on our products! The best part of the story is that this color sticks better to the surface and lasts longer than any previous paint that we have used.


Even though excellent paint our machines are built to be used and with usage comes wear. So it is and so it always will be! We therefore receive lots of questions on which color we use since users wants to fix their machines from time to time. So, here it is - our RAL color list!


FARMA/NIAB

RAL 6001, shine 85 – Green

RAL 7024, shine 85 – Grey

RAL 9005, shine 85 – Black
BIGAB

RAL 3020, SHINE 85 – Red

Staffare AB

Staffare AB had their annual spring show this weekend with what seems to be typical April weather in the Nordic countries which means wind, snow and rain all at the same time. Chilly weather were served but despite that there were a lot of people there that all enjoyed a yard full of machinery and different kinds of treats such as hot dogs, cinnamon buns and so much more. Everything was very generous and from Staffares side they really treated their visitors with the respect they deserve.


Congratulations to an expanded facility and a well organized show that do show the will to continue to be the leading supplier in its field in the area!

Carl Erik Åkesson
Sales representant FARMA/NIAB

Forst Live 2012 Germany-Offenburg

Like in the past AS Fors MW was also this year present on Forst Live in Offenburg. Around 20 thousand people were visiting the fairy in the South west of Germany. Fors MW have shown parts of our popular FARMA program this time represented by the models CT 8,5-12 and CT 5,1-8 along with some different grapples and our NIAB 5-15B.The NIAB was our eye catcher and brought a lot of customers to our stand.


During the nice weather it was great to see all the fantastic machines that there demonstrated at the show. Our products are today well-known in Germany and a large player on the market. It was though a nice surprise this time to see our customers focused on special requirements for our products and with how much knowledge they spoke when asking for them. It was a pleasure for me to support them on our stand and I am proud of working within a company that has so many satisfied customers visiting the stand!

Best regards
Peter Roos sales representative Germany


Forst Live 2012 Offenurg Baden-Württemberg

Wie in der Vergangenheit so nahmen wir mit AS Fors auch in diesem Jahr an der Forst Live in Offenburg teil.

Dort zeigten wir eine Farma CT 8,5-12, einen Farma CT 5,1-8 einige Zangen und den Niab 5-15B.

Der Niab war der Blickfänger und brachte viele neugierige Kunden an unseren Stand. Bei schönem Wetter war es erstaunlich zu sehen, wie eine unbekannte Maschine (Niab) die Leute zum Stand bringt und diese sich dann über die schon bekannten Maschinen nochmals informieren. Etwa 20.000 Besucher besuchten die Messe im Südwesten von Deutschland. Es ist schön zu sehen wie bekannt nun unsere Produkte auf dem Deutschen Markt sind und mit welchem spezifischem Fachwissen die Kunden Details nachfragen. Es macht mich stolz und war mir ein Vergnügen am Stand den Kunden ihre detaillierten Fragen zu beantworten. Die vielen positiven Rückmeldungen der Kunden machen dann das Arbeiten zum Vergnügen.

Viele Grüße
Peter Roos
Verkauf Deutschland

KL Maskin, Kvänum

During our dealer trip a month ago, we had an early meeting with Per – Olof Jakobsson and his crew. In Kvänum we chose to spend the night at Lumber & Karle hotel, as the entrepreneurs in Kvänum jointly had built. A very nice place to stay with good food and nice prices a place we recommend!


KL Maskin is a company that exudes hospitality and friendliness in fantastic facilities. We know that Per – Olov as a person has laid the foundation of that feeling and with a vast experience and knowledge of the industry, he has created a very successfully business. Everyone knows that we love entrepreneurs and we are very pleased with the excellent cooperation with KL Maskin and the friendly entrepreneurial atmosphere that exists there!

Carl Erik Åkesson
Sales representative FARMA/NIAB

Robot welding

This week we focus on continuous training and maintenance on one of our welding robots with nice support from Sweden.

Impressi(-ve)on from China

Peter Kastberg (CEO of Fors MW) and our purchaser Svante Högnert visited China for a two week visit. They travelled to many places, meet many suppliers and saw a future that in some cases Europe just seems to be able to dream about at least for now.


Having time to reflect from our latest trip to China I wonder were this great country will be in 50 years? The investments in infrastructure are amazing but what comes in mind are the issues we have in Europe today, older infrastructure and the need for maintenance and upgrade and we can barely afford to keep the repairs and maintenance on a decent level here. How will it be in China when cost is up and all of these investments built during a very short time period of 10 years will simultaneously require an update well, I’m glad not to be the finance minister at that point in time but the trains, roads, stations, harbors, living areas that are made now are fantastic from a visitor view. Just having the determination to build such great high speed trains as we have been travelling on in around 300+ km/h is great. I hope the locomotive will keep up the steam power in all aspects!

Peter Kastberg
CEO AS FORS MW

Spring show at beautiful Fryskdalen

Sunne Bil & Maskin held their annual spring show in mid – April. Wonderful weather and lots of people, even this year, made everyone pleased with the event. Sunne Bil & Maskin is a traditional family business and thanks to their knowledge and hard work they prosper in Sunne. We are pleased to have them as one of our fantastic dealers and thank them for a very good spring show in combination with a good fortune kick (as we say in Sweden) for the future!

Carl Erik Åkesson

Sales representant FARMA/NIAB

Structure is needed!

In a business as huge as ours it is of utter importance to have structure and order. For years we struggled to be honest but since a couple of years back the pieces seemed to fit. The right personal at the right place along with the right equipment to keep all parts in order as well as a management dedicated to the task proved the task of structure to be possible to keep.

In our production we daily use loads and loads of different details. In fact in our material system we have more than 8500 articles. All needed in the process to build the FARMA, BIGAB and NIAB products. Out of these articles we produce around 5000 details by ourselves. To produce details by ourselves is part of the business idea that has built this company to its success. About this you will read more in coming news!

Ljungs Traktorförmedling AB

Agne Brunnegård, owner of the company´s second-generation, sat and had lunch when we arrived this afternoon for a visit. Ljungs Traktorförmedling has for years successfully been selling FARMA. Alongside selling our products they also export large numbers of used machines each year to more or less exotic places. Something we also got a glimpse of during our conversation.

The company is built on Agnes home farm. All space that can be used is used. We find machines and people everywhere. We quickly realize that there is very unique knowledge that allows 15 people to have their livelihood in Vesene. We are impressed! We look forward to continue our cooperation and are please that we can be such a major contributor to this thriving business!

Carl Erik Åkesson
Sales representative FARMA/NIAB

Paraguay!

In recent months there has been an increase in sales activity from outside Europe. We have mentioned this before but it bears mentioning again. In a few days Fors MW is once more about to ship off a large order. This time to South America and more specifically Paraguay. There are a number of FARMA trailers complete with crane and grapple on their way along with a BIGAB 8 – 12. Everything built to handle the South American climate. The forest trailers will be used heavily in the forest work and the hook lift system is meant to be used for more things then you can think off. The trailer will serve its purpose well since we all know “it´s only your imagination that sets the limit for the user range of a BIGAB”.

Loads of people visiting Maskin Väst AB

The past weekend Maskin Väst AB had its traditional spring showing along with all the dealers in the city of Karlstad. The weather could not have been better. It was värmlänningar, värmlänningar and värmlänningar to paraphrase a classic football match Sweden played against Japan many years ago. The sentence then was “there are Japanese, Japanese and Japanese” since the literally were all over the place.

The yard and the premises were completely covered and seldom have seen anything like it and it was really great to see that such an effort could become such a success. The place was packed with people and a lot of them were really shoppers.

Congratulations to the whole gang at Maskin Väst AB! Really impressive!

Carl Erik Åkesson
Sales Representative FARMA / NIAB

Board meeting

Yesterday, we had one of our four annual meetings. It was the first of the year and since it was quite many months ago since the last meeting there were a lot to discuss. In fact, there is a lot going on both in terms of investment as in developments all to increase productivity even further along with efficiency, but also to increase the number of markets and hence sales.


However, it was a very pleased board that listened to the President Mr. Peter Kastbergs presentation. The investments are in line with needs. Last year’s introduced bonus system with focus on production has contributed to increase efficiency and the accountability for the finish and the quality of the product that leaves the factory.

Sales are going incredibly well and 2011 was in retrospect our best year in terms of sales! Never before have we sold regularly to so many countries. Never before have we sold so well to so many European countries. Never before have we delivered so many products outside the boarders of the European Union. Never before has reclamations been so few. Never before has our website been visited by so many.

We have always been okay here at Fors MW. Even in the toughest of times, we have always fared better than others but one thing is for sure – never before has it been this good!

Photo: Ulrica Fors Stenmarck, member of the board of AS FORS MW, could not participate at place in Estonia but got connected through Skype and by doing so, cost free and simple.

Springshow at Sundahls Maskiner, Växjö

Sundahls Maskiner i Växjö had their spring showing with beautiful weather and many fine machines. From Fors MW, there were six FARMA trailers and one BIGAB hook lift system and one BIGAB dump trailer. There were many visitors at place and smiles all around.


We wish Sundahls good luck with the sale!

Göran Carlsson
Sales representant BIGAB

The Norwegian rocket!

2011 was a record year for FARMA sales, which is saying a bit considering the sale in previous years. From having had a predominance of sales on the Swedish market, we have seen since a couple of years back several markets evolve really well. We also see several where the sales came to more than double over the last year. A development we have worked hard for and enjoy seeing the result of!


Norway is one of all these countries that over the past five years have developed extremely positively. FARMA has been on the Norwegian market for more than ten years and sales have been okay but the last two years, sales have come off significantly. Today, Norway is our second largest market after Sweden, followed closely by Germany. A nice development, and to those who believe that one in Norway, sell around 200 trailers per year, (which we have heard from the most devoted Norwegian manufactures and customers), we can in all cases, with a smile, announce that it is wrong!