Partnertech: We're accelerating and braking at the same time

Even if the report point to a somewhat modest plus, both in sales and in revenue – Leif Thorwaldsson says that the company is pleased to have moved in the right direction – but also that Partnertech, like many others in the industry, recognizes that the existing volumes have not reached desired levels. A lot of the resources were eaten up by the company's work with new sales and the industrialization of products. Meanwhile, the results seen over the past nine months almost got slashed in half (SEK 22 million vs SEK 42 million in the same period last year.) This is attributed to a tougher business climate, particularly during the first two quarters of 2013. During the year, Partnertech chose to consolidate its operations in Sweden and Norway, which led to layoffs. In particular, the machining segment did not deliver sufficient results. ”One could say that we've really just adapted our operations to the customer need that we see, that's the background. Right now, we're in the last phase. We're happy with the fact that we have a strong unit in Norway, which we are refocusing to activities within thick sheet metal and fabrication aimed at the oil/gas sector,” said Leif Thorwaldsson. What will be the focus in Norway and Sweden when you are finished with the adjustment process? “We're focusing all of our western European units towards more technologically advanced products, prototypes and development. Here we have a strong development, and we are participating in a lot of developing projects with many of our customers, which is something that we are going to scale up this year. You could say that we are reducing out production capacity, but increasing in development. We're accelerating and braking at the same time.” Partnertech also have extensive operations in Poland. Can you tell us a little about how it is coordinated with the Nordic business? “We have operations within systems integration and electronics in Poland. For electronics we run prototypes, smaller series and upstarts in Cambridge or Malmö. Larger volumes are often run in Poland, if were talking even larger, we run it in China,” Leif Thorwaldsson expaines. In the end, the products circle back to the Nordics, England and Poland, making a complete circle. Something that Partnertech is very proud to be able to offer. The company also operations in China – a unit which was thought to support the European customers from China – but which has also seen an increase of local customers. And with the company's current set-up; it can support global companies, with local needs.