Today we drove over to Mebane for an interesting visit on the Swedish world leading high-technology engineering group, Sandvik AB. Founded in 1862 by Göran Fredrik Göransson, the company manufactures advanced special alloys and ceramic materials, such as, tool holders, depot drills, and milling cutters. Sandvik is a publicly traded and has about 49,000 employees in 20 different countries, all of whom find value in an open mind, team spirit, and fair play. Separate from their mission, Sandvik values safety above all else and provides a “zero harm policy” to their customers/suppliers, employees, and the environment in which they work
Sandvik’s mission and vision are extremely similar. Sandvik’s mission is to be the obvious first choice and provide the best possible value for its main stakeholders, which are their customers, shareholders, and employees. To achieve this, they seek to constantly improve their customers’ productivity and stay dedicated to helping its customers fulfill and exceed their targets.
Sandvik’s customers include a wide array of businesses in the in the areas of mining, venture, materials technology, machining solutions, and construction. General Motors, Ford, and Caterpillar are some of their biggest customers in the United States. The manufacturing facility that we visited is unique in that it ships all of the parts created to a distribution center in Kentucky, and because Sandvik has owns about 5% of that distribution center, they make an extra commission off each sale.
Similar to some of the other companies we have visited, the customers of Sandvik value quality more than anything. While their products tend to be more expensive than those of their competitors, their customers value the lifespan and durability of the product, which ends up saving customers money in the long run. Sandvik customers also value time-efficient, helpful customer service that provides solutions to any issue proposed.
The results show that there is no gap between what Sandvik strives for/guarantees and what they actually provide to their customers. The company only operates in fields they know that they can be a world leader in. Sandvik has made great acquisitions since 2000 and have been exposed to even greater opportunities, such as, emerging markets, increased wealth, and energy conservation. In Mebane they have doubled the size of their manufacturing facility since it was built, were awarded the Gold Award in 2011 by NCDOC, and have over 40 million dollars in cost of goods produced.
Although Sandvik has an intricate plan going forward, it can be summarized by their goal to expand east and west. Across the globe, the company is implementing increased efficiency programs that ensure facilities are meeting and maintaining the quality and production standards. They are also hiring more staff with the highest degrees in their respective fields. More so, Sandvik is employing more and more automation and robots, which lead to lower batch quantities, real time out look, and greater customer satisfaction. To actually expand, the business is making gigantic investments in property, plant, and equipment (about 500 million dollars) as well as research and development. They currently have about 8000 patents and more ideas on deck.
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