New factory brings Norden into the future
At the turn of the year, Norden Machinery's new journey begins. The company moves into its new factory next to the E22 motorway at Snurrom. “This is a very important step for us. Here we will have what we need to continue growing,” says Thomas Johansson, CEO of Norden.
Published by Barometern, Nov 25
Norden Machinery is definitely one of the older companies in Kalmar. As early as 1877, a company called Siefvert & Fornander was founded, later becoming Arenco before the name change to Norden in 1980. The company has always had its HQ in central Kalmar - but in step with expansion and new technology, the old historic premises at Sandås have become outdated.
“We actually started this journey four or five years ago, when we simply realized that we needed a new factory to be able to grow and develop. At the current site, we have production in three different places and that is not optimal. At the new site, we will have completely different conditions where we get both new, bright, and adapted premises and shorter distances between the factory and the warehouse,” says Marcus Kindberg who is purchasing manager at Norden and partly responsible for the design of the new factory.
The project has a budget of around 250 million SEK. Local companies Multibygg / GBJ Bygg have been responsible for the contract, which took almost 18 months to complete.
“The property will be owned by P&E Properties and Incita, and we have signed a 20-year lease with them. The factory is currently 20,000 m2, but we have reserved land so we can build another 10,000 m2 if needed,” says Thomas Johansson.
The new factory has partially automated warehousing and bright, soundproof premises for the almost 300 employees, of which about one hundred are office-based.
“It will be a real boost for the work environment - both in the factory and in the office. In addition, we have the capacity to grow by another 25 percent without having to expand,” says Thomas Johansson.
Norden, which has been owned by the Italian engineering group Coesia for a number of years, manufactures and sells tube filling machines and is a world leader in the market. Between 130 and 150 machines leave the factory every year. 98 % of sales are exports.
“We manufacture many machines from scratch, while thers come to us in a basic version and we complete the production. We also go out to the customer and carry out installations on site,” says Thomas Johansson. The pandemic has, of course, affected Norden like everyone else. Some markets, especially in Southeast Asia, have been more or less on hold during the year. Additionally, many customer meetings and installations have been carried out digitally with service persons on site. “We have also carried out some short-term layoffs, but we hope that we will soon be able to return to a normal situation,” says Thomas Johansson.
“We have hired a consultant to assist with the move. We expect the warehouse to be the most complicated to move and may have to close it down for a week during this hectic phase. The move will otherwise take place gradually, as we will use January as a month of adjustment. From February 1, we will be in full operation here,” says Marcus Kindberg.
“We also retain old premises for six months, which means that we can complete some machine construction there,” adds Thomas Johansson.
Notice! New delivery address from January 12, 2021
Norden Machinery AB, Prästkragevägen 15, SE-393 61 KALMAR
The mailing address remain the same as before:
Norden Machinery, P.O Box 845, SE-391 28 Kalmar