contract with Ovako Steel
Kalmar Industries has signed a contract for the service and maintenance of 92 different types of industrial handling machines for Ovako Steel in Hofors, north of Stockholm, Sweden. The contract, which has already commenced, exemplifies Kalmar's focus on providing its customers with total solutions packages by covering not only regular servicing but also financing, insurance and administration.
A tailor-made four-wheel drive Kalmar Terminal Tractor, model TRX242, handling special trailers at the Ovako Steel mill in Hofors.
The contract includes the maintenance of lorries, traction vehicles, straddle carriers, wheel loaders, side loaders, diesel and electric counterbalance trucks and warehouse trucks. Aside from Kalmar machines, the terms of the contract also incorporate other manufacturers' machines.
Tailored to the client's requirements, the maintenance part of the contract takes into account the relative importance of each piece of equipment in yard operations. This means that Kalmar has committed to serving Ovakos manufacturing units and to performing immediate repairs on machinery critical to Ovako's smooth and continuous operations. This is a particularly important and demanding task given the fact that some of these vehicles typically work 4,000 to 4,500 hours a year transporting heavy materials around the factory area.
Reine Wahlen, Purchaser for Ovako Steel in Sweden elaborates on the contract:
Due to the fact that Ovako Steel wishes to concentrate on its core manufacturing business, we believe that we can benefit from a contractor with the know-how of a company like Kalmar. Apart from being the manufacturer for our most important machines, Kalmar is the absolute specialist when it comes to machines of the exceptionally large size we require.
In addition to the after-sales service Kalmar provides, their expertise in manufacturing machines key to our business is essential given the tough environment in which these vehicles work. We know that we can rely on Kalmars efficient response when it comes to damages, further enabling us to significantly reduce our repair expenses. Because the machines do not sit idle for long periods due to lack of spare parts we can invest our money in manufacturing.
We are convinced that this contract is a profitable investment for Ovako Steel as Kalmar can provide us with knowledge which we could by no means acquire ourselves.
Notably, the far-reaching agreement also includes financing, insurance and all the associated administrative costs and covers all damage except that caused by careless driving.
Says Susanne Nyrell, who is responsible for Kalmar rentals in Sverige:
"We are very glad to have signed this deal with Ovako Steel, which is in accordance with our general business strategy of providing not just hardware to our clients, but rather presenting them with a total solutions package. The contract includes financing, insurance and total maintenance, which takes a lot of the administrative headaches away from Ovako Steel and allows them to concentrate on their core competencies. A customer like Ovako Steel has very tough demands regarding the high availability of the trucks, which in turn puts demands on our service organisation. Because of this, constant communication with the customer combined with flexible planning is an absolute necessity."
Ovako Steel is the world's leading producer of steels for rolling bearings and a major producer of low alloy special steels. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of the SKF Group. Its main strength is in the field of manufacturing special engineering steel including hot rolled and cold worked products in the form of seamless tubes, surface removed wire, rolled rings and bars. A large part of the company's production is further processed into pre-components for direct applications in customers' production. The most important customer segments are the rolling bearing industry, the automotive industry with its subcontractors, the rock drill industry and the general engineering industry. Ovako Steel has its own production units in Sweden, France, Great Britain and USA with independent distributors and sales companies carrying out the marketing in the significant markets in Europe, USA and the Far East. Ovako Steel has been a Kalmar customer for almost 20 years now.
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The caption reads: A tailor-made four-wheel drive Kalmar Terminal Tractor, model TRX242, handling special trailers at the Ovako Steel mill in Hofors.
Kalmar is a global provider of heavy duty materials handling equipment and services to ports, intermodal traffic, terminals and demanding industrial customers. Kalmar focuses on supplying handling solutions that enable customers to operate with a high level of efficiency and reliability. Every fourth container or trailer transfer at terminals around the world is handled by a Kalmar machine.
Kalmar provides a large range of value added services such as maintenance contracts and fleet management. Manufacturing plants are situated in Sweden (as is the head office), in Finland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Malaysia and the USA.
More information: Aija Kalander, Communications Manager