Swedish industry moves production home

The demands for fast delivery, responsibility for the environment and high competence in employees have made Sweden a hot spot again.

 “Now, we need to understand that we have a competitive edge, when you take the whole supply chain into consideration,” says Per Hilletoft, professor in logistics at the University of Gävle.

The supply chain

In many markets today, the trend is that customers want to customise their products. The life cycle for products shortens, as new products are in demand all the time.

“Such innovation calls for proximity between different functions in the supply chain, between the product, the market, product development and logistics. As the totality needs to work, production needs to move closer,” Per Hilletoft explains.

“Many companies that moved production abroad 20 years ago are simply facing new challenges today. What was the right decision 20 years ago is not always the right decision today,” says Lars Bengtsson, professor in industrial engineering at the University of Gävle.

The new threat from the emerging economies

Many companies in the emerging economies like China, Turkey and Brazil have in a very short time built world class innovation capability. These new competitors are not only innovative but also very much faster when it comes to developing new products and services.

Lars Bengtsson will speak about what investments we need to make to remain competitive, but also about what we can learn and about what collaborations that are open to us.

Research and entrepreneurship

A research team at the University of Gävle are very much involved in the future development of the region. On October 4, an all-day event is devoted to seminars and conversations between researchers, representatives for our own industry and everyone interested in the future of the region.

“We would like to gather a group of companies from the region that find these issues exciting and the starting point is now,” says Lars Bengtsson, professor at the University of Gävle.

“The more we do things together, the stronger and more stable the bridges we build between researchers and the business sector will be.”

For more information, please contact:
Lars Bengtsson, professor in industrial engineering at the University of Gävle
Phone: 026-64 88 02, 070631 23 91
Email: lars.bengtsson@hig.se

Per Hilletoft, professor in logistics at the University of Gävle
Email: per.hilletoft@hig.se

Text: Douglas Öhrbom