Helsinki, Finland - A large investment in state-of-the-art machines, such as a laser sheet metal cutter, seems to be paying off for a young company based in the small village of Arbra, Sweden. In less than 18 months, WTJ has reached a turnover of more than 30 million Swedish kronor (~US$4.532 million) as a subcontractor of plows, excavator buckets, trailers, pounders and more. Their customers are found in a number of industries and are both local and international.
The machinery includes the largest welding robot (ABB) in Sweden, a Bystronic press brake that handles sheet metal of 1250 tons and with a width of 7 m, and a laser-cutting machine from Bystronic for sheet metal in sizes of up to 6500 mm x 2500 mm. Any assignment, whether it is to cut and bend pieces of steel from 7 cm to as much as 7 m, are possible thanks to the modern machinery.
"We are the only supplier in the business with cutting, bending, welding, paintwork and assembly under the same roof," says Anders Jarnkrok, site manager at WTJ. "This way, it's easy for us to deliver a final product from our premises, skipping unnecessary transportation back and forth to sub-suppliers."
Several times a week a large truck delivers special steel from Ruukki to the WTJ site, which spans 6000 sq.m. For the past year, Ruukki has delivered more than 2000 tons of special steel to the company. Because size matters to WTJ and its customers, Ruukki delivers WTJ special steel that can be laser-cut to metal sheets in sizes of up to 6500 mm x 2500 mm.
"Ruukki always delivers on time, the products are of good quality, and its fellow co-workers' technical know-how is of great use to us," says Jarnkrok.
The main challenge for WTJ is to keep up with demand from its customers.
"Within the near future, we need to employ 10 to 15 more people," says Jarnkrok. "Our goal is to have a turnover of 100 million Swedish kronor [~US$15.1 million] in 2015."
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