Cutting tools costs in half
With help from Seco’s tools and services, Norwegian metal works Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk has cut its tooling costs by 50 percent, proving that 150-year-old companies also have the power to innovate.HOSANGER IS A SMALL VILLAGE of about 300 people located alongside the Osterfjord fjord on the island of Osterøy, Norway. Like most of the western half of the country, the landscape around the town contains many fjords and is picturesque and hilly. The Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk AS metal works has been in operation in Hosanger since 1865. The company’s original focus was on manufactured door handles and other fittings for the surrounding farmers and businesses. Today, it is a state-of-the-art production facility with a focus on construction and development, machining, mounting and testing, and casting.
“Our primary area of operation is machining of metal components,” says Mats Kleppe, production engineer at Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk AS. “We’re involved in every step of the manufacturing process, from development to finished product.” When Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk started using tools and services from Seco, the company managed to reduce its tool cost by as much as 50 percent on some of the big casting and machining jobs.
“We went through our toolset and changed some of it out from competitors’ tools to Seco’s tools, and we also tested different machining methods with different tools,” says Kleppe. He continues, “We have close contact with our Seco representative and use Seco My Pages for tuning of the tools. Not only have we reduced our tool cost, we have also got a very stable process and reduced the cycle time.”
Mjøs Metallvarefabrikk:
Employees: 60
Founded: 1865.In 2015 2015, the company celebrated 150 years in business.
Sustainability: The 5000 m2 facility on Osterøy uses waste heat recovery and passive cooling to reduce the company’s carbon footprint.
