The employees at Stantek AS are currently working in double shifts. Demand for short-distance record products has grown sharply in the time since the corona eruption. General manager Hallvard Sletmoen looks forward to the time after the pandemic.
– We had some challenges in the start of the pandemic. Among other things, some of our large customers disappeared. But last summer and autumn, business began to pick up again, with a sharp increase in demand. This development has continued into 2022, says general manager Hallvard Sletmoen at Stantek AS.
The corona has left its mark
The corona pandemic has presented some problems, also for the supplier of punching and thin plate products at SIVA in Kongsvinger. Halvard Sletmoen looks forward to a life without a surgical mask and antibac.
– The corona has left its mark on the industry, there is no doubt about that. Especially when it comes to the access to raw materials. One of the large steel suppliers has gone bankrupt, and many of the large plants have reduced capacity during the pandemic. For example, there is currently no raw material coming from Asia, and there are several countries here in Europe that are very reluctant to sell steel and other metals out of the country. There are many empty stocks, and an unstable market situation last summer. We had to work hard to get what we needed for our own production, says Sletmoen, who also says that Stantek AS has otherwise escaped relatively well through the pandemic.
Even better equipped
Hallvard Sletmoen does not think corona solemnly is to blame for the machines in his factory running at full speed now.
– There are several things that matters. There is no doubt that many have grown tired of deliveries from the East that have been delayed for several months, or that do not arrive at all. We could begin to sense a trend even before the corona. There has been a lot of focus on carbon footprints and short-haul products in our industry in recent years. So, we felt that things were about to turn around even before the pandemic. Still, there is little doubt that the pandemic has helped to accelerate development, and that it has had a positive effect on us, says Sletmoen, who expects that the strong growth will continue in the time to come.
– We have already gained several new customers, not least in the offshore and maritime sector. Great efforts are being made to electrify the offshore industry, and we have delivered several large steel cabinets to such critical installations. Now we are looking forward to meet new and old customers again. We have become good at digital meetings, but it’s not the same. It is much nicer to be able to meet face to face, says the Chief of Staff, who is also full of praise of his own employees.
– They have really made an effort throughout the pandemic, and helped to find new solutions. We have been through a large digitization program in the middle of the pandemic, and not least thanks to the goodwill and positivity of our employees, this process has gone virtually smoothly. We are now even better equipped to face the post-pandemic.
