"When the customer and supplier have a good collaboration, it is easy to grow together," says Tina Olsson, Area Sales Manager at NMC Cellfoam AB. The collaboration with Malwa Forest is a clear example of a partnership that benefits both companies.
Pär Aneman is the Production and Purchasing Manager at the forestry machine manufacturer Malwa Forest. Together with Tina Olsson, Area Sales Manager and product developer at NMC Cellfoam, they have developed interior details that save time when assembling the machine cabins.
Smart and practical storage integrated into the cabin keeps the driver’s environment clean and tidy.
Both the material at the instrument panel and the rubber mats for the floors come from NMC Cellfoam and are delivered pre-cut.
Malwa Forest
Founded in 2009, it develops and manufactures four models of compact thinning machines for more gentle forest management that does not require strip roads.
BUSINESS
Those who operate forestry machines spend most of their days in the cabin. This places demands on ergonomics and the work environment, while the cabin needs to be stable enough to withstand accidents.
“We have been customers of NMC Cellfoam for quite a while,” says Pär Aneman, Production and Purchasing Manager at Malwa Forest. He explains that they previously bought a special fabric laminated with foam material to make interior details for the cabins of forestry machines.
“We used to cut out the details ourselves, but in the spring of 2020, we started rethinking,” he says. “Why spend time and effort cutting when there might be others who are better at it? Could we even get a finished product that just needed to be assembled?”
Early Involvement
In the spring of 2020, Tina Olsson was new as a salesperson at NMC Cellfoam AB. She brought a colleague from the company’s product development department to the customer visit.
“We like to get involved early in the process when a customer wants to improve an existing solution or has a new need. Then we can find the right solution together with the customer,” she explains. That’s exactly what happened here. Malwa Forest had created a sketch.
“It took us about one to two hours to cut out the pieces from the fabric-laminated foam sheet,” says Pär, noting that if you are making 40-60 forestry machines a year, it adds up to quite a few hours spent cutting and gluing.
“We started from the initial sketches and made some samples.”
“After that, the article has been adjusted and developed to best meet the customer’s needs,” says Tina.
In Malwa’s assembly hall, one of the assemblers is busy installing interior details. It’s going fast!
Delivering at Our Best
“We deliver at our best when we get in touch with the customer early in an improvement process of an article or a new need that the customer has,” says Tina Olsson, Area Sales Manager, NMC Cellfoam AB.
Changed the Base Material
“When we were in the assembly hall, we saw rubber mats that we could also deliver. Malwa then had a request to replace the base material with the rubber mat. Product developers at NMC Cellfoam AB inspired from the idea and found a more suitable material with better properties, and now we also deliver the rubber mats to Malwa.
“The rubber mat is for comfort in the cabin. It protects from cold and vibrations and is easy to keep clean. Many forwarder operators do like truck drivers and take off their shoes,” says Pär.
Malwa Forest was founded in Skene in 2009 and is located at Skene Skog. All production also takes place here.
“We like to work with local suppliers, not least because it reduces unnecessary transport, which decreases our climate footprint.”
Tina agrees.
“We also work a lot with sustainability, can offer sustainable alternatives, and even include CO2 footprints in our documentation.”
She enjoys creating good relationships with customers and helping them find customized solutions among NMC’s wide range of materials.
“We have extensive experience in helping our customers find the right solutions. In the contacts with Malwa Forest, Tina finds it advantageous that NMC is geographically close.
“It makes it easy to stop by when something needs to be discussed. But we also work globally and have customers in many places around the world.”
Win-Win for Both Parties
Tina also notes that there are several advantages when sales, product development, and the customer can collaborate closely.
“We have different roles and see things in different ways, which allows us to bring more perspectives into the collaboration.”
The collaboration between NMC Cellfoam AB and Malwa Forest has also had spin-off effects.
“We first developed our model 560, and the cabin is the same in all three models. When we then developed our latest model, we already had the concept and contacted NMC early so they became involved in the project. We have also started brainstorming about more articles that may become relevant.”
Pär is very satisfied with the collaboration.
“Today, I know much more about what NMC can do and help us with. It wasn’t long ago that I visited them for the first time. Then I could see that they have the capacity to do quite a lot that can suit us. When you weave together what a supplier can help us with and vice versa, you get a win-win situation.”
Both Tina and Pär note that collaborations, trust, and good relationships help both the customer and the supplier. It is together that new ideas can arise.
“Close collaborations lead to us being able to grow together with the customer, especially when you connect the whole team. It brings success for both of us,” says Tina, and Pär can only agree.
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