Steeled for global growth

From humble beginnings in central Sweden nearly 340 years ago, Uddeholm Tooling AB has grown into a major global player.
Already the biggest Swedish tool-steel producer, with a focus on the automotive sector and with blue-chip customers including Volvo, Saab and Ford, the company is currently experiencing a huge surge in demand in Asia and specifically China.
A worldwide distribution network covering more than 100 countries gives it a presence in all key markets, and heavy investment in R&D means Uddeholm is well placed to consolidate and build on its strong position in the future.
“We are represented in all markets all over the world,” says sales and marketing director Rolf Stålberg. “Not many other tool-steel companies can say that.”
Uddeholm Tooling, based in Hagfors, provides premium tool steel, higher-quality grades of conventional tooling material and related services to tool makers, tool users, machine builders and their customers. The company also develops, manufactures and markets special steel and related services for industrial forming tools and other applications.
“Our vision is to be the best partner for tool makers, tool users and their customers when it comes to tooling materials, their treatment and applications,” says Lars Sundström, president of international account management. “We aim to be a world-class supplier of high-quality tool steels.”
Sundström says Uddeholm Tooling is characterised by the high and even quality of its products, and quick and reliable delivery. “When you take these parts together, that is what creates our uniqueness,” he says. “The Uddeholm brand is a very strong brand within tool steel. Everyone knows about us and as a tool-steel brand Uddeholm is absolutely among the strongest there is. That is due to the fact that we have been inexistence for a long long time, we are known for good and even quality, we are remembered for service, and are in the forefront when it comes to developing new tool-steel grades.”

Automotive focus
The automotive industry accounts for around some 50 per cent of Uddeholm Tooling’s production and sales, either directly or indirectly.
“We stand or fall with the automotive industry,” says Stålberg. “There are three sub-segments within the automotive industry we are actively trying to promote because we feel we have a product and service that is unmatched.” These are die-casted products, such as engine parts; plastics, such as front and rear lamps, on which there are very high demands; and car body die manufacturing, producing the interior and exterior panels made of high-strength steel (also known as cold work applications).
“Over the years we have had a very close relationship with Volvo and Saab, and also in North America Ford is really taking off for us,” says Sundström.
Through its heavy investments in R&D, Uddeholm is able to stay at the forefront of new developments within the automotive industry and is constantly bringing out new materials with improved properties to satisfy the ever-changing needs of manufacturers. The company has its own R&D base at Hagfors, where more than 50 specialists work on process technology and materials development. Close ties with universities and research institutes in Sweden and abroad ensure that Uddeholm remains at the cutting edge.
Sundström says about two per cent of turnover is invested in R&D. “That may seem a small percentage compared with the telecoms or pharmaceutical industries, but to compare within our industry that is a relatively high figure,” he says. “We have a very active product development department, and we try to listen to the demands of our customers and then develop accordingly.”
“R&D is very important for us as it is a way for us to stay ahead,” says Stålberg. “When new materials are introduced, such as for car body dies, manufacturers want to reduce the weight of the car while having the same strength. This means they go for thinner plates which have to be much stronger. This does not work with normal tools, but we spotted this early and developed a new type of tool steel for blanking and forming these high-strength steels. We use R&D to establish the needs and then to develop a grade that corresponds to that need.”

Distinguished heritage
Uddeholm Tooling traces its roots to the county of Värmland in the late 17th Century. The first iron was produced in 1668, and the first factory established in 1670. Uddeholm AB bought the steel mill in 1829 and the first trials with cold rolling started in 1886. The Hagfors steel mill was founded in 1873, and the company which today trades as Uddeholm Tooling was formed a decade later. The firm has been part of the Austrian Böhler-Uddeholm group since 1991.
Uddeholm, which last year reported turnover of SEK 1.7bn, generating SEK 100m in profits,
employs around 850 employees in Sweden, plus a further 150 at its subsidiary Uddeholm Machinery. The Nordic market currently accounts for 15 per cent of Uddeholm Tooling’s sales, with the rest of Europe at 35 per cent, North America at 20 per cent, and the rest of the world at 30 per cent. “We are a global actor present in all the industrialised markets in the world either as Uddeholm or ASSAB, and that is rather unique,” says Sundström.
Asia, served by the wholly-owned subsidiary Associated Swedish Steels AB (ASSAB), is set to become the biggest single market for the firm. ASSAB employs over 400 people in China, bringing the total workforce outside Sweden to about 3,000.
“That shows just how global we are,” says Sundström. “These are sales people, people employed in warehouses, people working in local machining operations, heat treating operations and so on. So we employ more people abroad than at home, and that shows that we really are there to serve our customers.”
Uddeholm Tooling has a strategy to continue its growth through organic growth, acquisitions, joint ventures and entering new markets, while shifting its product mix into the more sophisticated grades
Sundström says: “We also want to further expand the service part of our package, to supply more local machining of the tools, and to offer heat treatment services so we can offer a one-stop shop to our customers.”