LSAB Långshyttan intends to continue to grow

Text & foto Gabriel Nilsson, Dalarnas Tidning. Tisdag 23 nov. 2021.

Långshytteföretaget intends to continue to grow

LÅNGSHYTTAN. The combination of material shortages and skyrocketing prices is currently a problem for many companies. LSAB is no exception, but despite the global situation, the company has big plans to continue to grow. In Svinöhed, in what was once a barn, Långshyttans Slipservice, LSAB, manufactures and repairs tools for woodworking. This has been done for more than 40 years. The customers are mainly sawmills and planers. For the past ten years, Långshytteföretaget has been owned by the financier Gustaf Douglas’ investment company Latour.

 

Although the company today is multinational, with operations in five countries, Långshyttan still has an important role to play in the major growth plans, according to Martin Andersson, CEO of LSAB Sverige Försäljning AB. – We have an owner who wants to expand and develop the industry. With a starting position in Långshyttan, and the tradition that exists here, we want to conquer the world, he says. The Wood Solutions business area within the LSAB group has 200 employees and a turnover of just over SEK 250 million a year. At LSAB in Långshyttan, about 30 people currently work. But this could change. – The number of employees in relation to sales will probably not grow completely linearly, but if we are to continue to grow as planned, we will of course need to grow on the personnel side as well. However, not all new services will end up in production. – It is primarily resources with knowledge of technical sales, digitization, business systems and such pieces we are looking for, but also in production we need more. The pandemic has affected many industries. The wood industry is no exception. Long delivery times and an increasing shortage of materials are now commonplace for many companies. – Before, we signed long agreements with stable conditions. It’s not possible now. Something that previously had a couple of weeks delivery time now takes six months. What cost SEK 10 before costs SEK 40 today. Site manager Andreas Gustafsson adds: – Should we buy a new machine, the delivery time was six months before. Today it is 14. Investments you make for next year will not have time to come next year. My biggest fear, when this race started, was that there would be a shortage of raw materials, but we have done quite well there. Despite the world situation, both see a bright future for LSAB. The trend is clear. More and more buildings and properties are being built in wood. Increased demands on sustainability are a major reason for this. – Swedish sawmills are a very important part of the green transition, says Martin Andersson. Increasingly digitalisation is another of the reasons why the duo are optimistic about the future. – We are already a leader in the industry in producing production data for our customers. But we have great opportunities to grow more there. At present, only a few work with the digitization part with us. That will not be the case in the future, says Martin Andersson.