August 29, 2018 10:00 CEST 6 min read
Since Swedish company Olofsfors brought the production of its ECO-Tracks for forestry machines in-house, it has secured an optimized production process with less material waste and improved sustainability. The side supports on the tracks are made from SSAB Boron 27 steel.
Despite having operated for 250 years, Swedish manufacturer Olofsfors only opted in 2008 to bring the entire manufacturing process in-house for its market-leading ECO-Tracks product for forestry machines.
“Now that we control our production process, we’re generating less waste and making a more sustainable product.” In the search for a supplier to provide the steel for the side support on the tracks, Olofsfors opted for SSAB Boron 27 steel.
“Quality is one of our top priorities,” says Ragnarsson. “If we want to produce the right quality, the material we use has to meet the required quality standards. We chose steel from SSAB because it maintains a high, consistent level of quality and because SSAB is a sustainably-minded company that is also a relatively local supplier to us here in northern Sweden.”
“The material waste percentage from cut steel can be as high as 50 percent, but with SSAB’s steel, we’ve reduced that number significantly.”
Mats Frangén, Olofsfors’ Strategic Product Developer
Olofsfors’ Strategic Product Developer Mats Frangén agrees that SSAB’s steel has positively impacted the end product.
“Thirty years ago, machines were smaller and loads were lighter,” he says. “These days the machines are bigger and the loads are heavier, so reducing the weight of the components is crucial.”
“Since we started using steel from SSAB, we’ve optimized the weight of our product. We used to buy heavy, cut steel components, but since the switch to in-house production, we now have an end produce made from pressed, light steel,” says Frangén.
In addition to the advantages delivered by lightweight properties of SSAB’s steel, the switch to SSAB Boron 27 has also resulted in less material use and less waste.
“The material waste percentage from cut steel can be as high as 50 percent, but with SSAB’s steel, we’ve reduced that number significantly,” says Frangén. “Our material use is down too. We make some 400,000 side supports a year and, for each one, we’re saving between half a kilo and a kilo of steel. So we’re heating less steel and wasting less steel.”
“SSAB is committed to reducing its long-term climate impact and that’s something we value when choosing our suppliers,” says Ragnarsson. “With SSAB, we use and transport less material, all of which has a positive impact on our carbon emissions.”
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