Sweden

The block between Artillerigatan and Säveån in the Swedish city of Göteborg gave birth to two of Sweden's most successful global giants: SKF and Volvo. Expansion has allowed these companies to relocate to new global headquarters, but this has not stopped the block between Artillerigatan and Säveån from building up its newest global child -- FlexLink.

Already a global organization with 16 sales units and business in more than 50 countries, FlexLink is a leading supplier of automation solutions for assembly and manufacturing processes. Its major focus is on the electronics, pharmaceutical, and food and packaging segments.
As FlexLink CEO, Fredrik Jönsson's most important task is to build a strong corporate culture.

FlexLink's core competence is the knowledge about its customers' processes. Its solutions are based on unique application experience and utilize a range of modular conveyor and controls systems. The heritage of the corporation dates back to 1978 when it started as a project within SKF to develop a conveyor system for the group's new automated ball-and-roller manufacturing lines.

As expansion and growth for FlexLink continued within the SKF group, FlexLink became a completely independent company in 1997 when it was acquired by EQT of Sweden. Since then, the firm has strengthened its strategic focus and widened its market, launching its assault globally.

Having opened new offices in Brazil, Norway, Australia, China, Poland, Hungary, Spain and Malaysia, CEO Fredrik Jönsson set a clear tone for the years to come in FlexLink. "Since I came on board as CEO in 1997, my most important task was building a strong independent FlexLink culture. As early as now I feel I have been able to achieve that."

"I always tell my people that the future belongs to those who create it, and ours is as a premier player in the global market," Jönsson continued. "Over the last couple of years we have worked very hard toward extending our global network, and now FlexLink has offices or representatives in all of today's major industrial markets."

Choosing Japan as its first base in Asia, FlexLink has been present in the Asian market since 1989. In a country where technological innovation is placed at a very high premium, FlexLink has delivered handsomely over the years with its automation solutions. And with the food and packaging industry accounting for 60 percent of its sales in Japan, FlexLink has now set its sights on providing solutions to the electronics industry.

"I couldn't be happier with our performance in the Japanese market. Japan is a market where simply having a good product is not enough," stated Jönsson. "So much importance is placed on trust, personal relations and commitment. FlexLink has been able to deliver on that. Our staff in Japan has done a tremendous job in building our position in that market. In the coming years FlexLink will expand its coverage of the Japanese market to offer complete automation systems to different industrial segments."

Summing up the company's prospects, Jönsson concluded, "FlexLink has had a solid growth track record since the start. With all the future prospects on hand we are confident we will continue to grow at a similar pace over the coming years."

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