The Grand Supplier Award 2019 went to Bror Tonsjö AB, a family-owned SME company in cutting processing for, among other things, the heavy vehicle industry.
– It’s a great feeling, and it shows that we are doing things right. I hope that this leads to more people seeing what we do, and that we can inspire the Swedish industry, says Clas Tengström, CEO of Tonsjö and receiver of the award from Anders Williamsson at Scania.
Fredrik Sidahl, CEO of the Vehicle Component Group, was pleased with the jury’s choice of prize winners.
– A superb choice by the jury. When it comes to openness and foresight through new technology, Tonsjö is a role mode, he says.
The jury’s motivation:
“The automotive industry is changing strongly and Tonsjö is a guiding light. They understand the possibilities of the new technology. During the past year, Tonsjö has made great progress in digitizing their production and they have also been open and helpful in sharing their experiences with others. Being one of Sweden’s leaders in digitalization, and at the same time being competitive with their products, Tonsjö has a strength that has awarded them Supplier of the year.”
In 2017, Tonsjö took a major step towards becoming so data-driven that they can stop making production decisions based on opinions and, instead, based them on facts.
The company has carried out a digital transfer which means that the entire production is connected to the cloud. A journey that began in connection with Clas Tengström being hired as CEO in January 2017.
– We, in the management team, sat down and reviewed the company’s strengths and weaknesses. We looked at our skills, our organization and our leadership. It then became obvious that we could lift the company to the next level if we could visualize and get more measured values digitally from production in real time, says Clas Tengström.
The board decided to improve the company in several strategic areas. It was basically a holistic view that was needed, rather than a digitalization journey. The goal was to become more efficient and responsive, while increasing visual processes.
– We chose to be completely transparent and open with what we have done during this journey, both in terms of mistakes and opportunities. We have also had contact with other companies with similar processes and had a dynamic dialogue with learning and feedback. This has resulted in a win-win situation for everyone.
It’s not just business systems and tools that are connected to the cloud. The hub of Tonsjö’s operations is the “pulse room”, where the company’s employees gather to evaluate production. By making this available online, you get a clear picture of the factory’s efficiency and what the workload looks like.
– Through visualization and simplification, we have removed the work situations that sometimes lead to mistakes and quality problems, which means that both the factory and the employees perform better, says Clas Tengström.