And the winner is… Pierre Bengtsson!
MAFI´s CEO, Pierre Bengtsson, won the prestigious prize “Business Leader of the Year”, awarded by Dalarna Business.
”It was with great honour and pride that I received the award,” said Pierre Bengtsson, after January’s gala night attended by many of the leading companies in Dalarna.Dalarna Business is an association of companies in the county of Dalarna. Every year, business leaders, innovators and executives in various categories are considered for the prestigious award.
Pierre Bengtsson says that, at first, he was on a long list of nominated business leaders. After company audits and interviews, three nominees remained on the list, and the winner was revealed on the 25th of January.
“Receiving this award is the result of excellent teamwork throughout MAFI,” Pierre Bengtsson continues. ”Every employee has been hard working and dedicated over the years, and together we have achieved fantastic results.”
”And now, motivated by this award, we will aim even higher in the future!”
The jury explained its choice thus:
Pierre Bengtsson is a business leader who sees it as his mission to work with shared responsibility, participation and transparency to create high motivation and solutions. Together with his team, he has taken his company from northern Dalarna out into the whole world.
NATE
Come and visit us at the NATE Conference and Exhibit in Forth Worth, Dallas 28 Feb – 1 Mar.
Our booth number is 218.
https://natehome.com/annual-conference/nate-unite-2017/Elektroskandia´s Telecom day
MAFI will attend the “Telekomdagen” (Telecom day) in Kista, Stockholm, the 30th of March.
Stop by, have a chat with MAFI employees and take the opportunity to see the advantages of our latest products.
http://info.elektroskandia.se/telekomdagen
To streamline the operations MAFI currently builds its own packing station.
“We are evaluating a concept where we use a cobot to multiple tasks,” says Jonas Wassdahl, Head of Design at the MAFI. “And a packing station is the first to be evaluated.”At the centre of the station is a collaborative robot, or a cobot from Universal Robots, model UR10.
A cobot is a robot intended to interact physically with humans in a shared workspace. This is in contrast with robots, designed to operate autonomously or with limited guidance. The cobot includes built-in security features wich makes it stop if something, such as a human, comes in its way.”Our goal with this project is to build our knowledge and experiences in this field,” says Jonas Wassdahl. “There will probably similar projects where we can use the cobot in the future.”
The aim is to pack about 500 units a day with the help of the cobot.
It’s quite small and can be moved easily and reprogrammed for other assignments.
“It’s actually rather fun to work with it and to figure out how to make the cobot work in the most efficient way,” says Jonas Wassdahl with a smile.
Fredrik Andersson, a trainee at MAFI, is doing most of the hands-on work, supervised by Jonas Wassdahl.
Mora, where MAFI has its head office, is buzzing with… ice hockey!
The pride of the town, Mora IK, is on a roll and leading the Swedish second league.
”My dream is that we make it to the finals and then advance to the Swedish Hockey League,” says Peter Hermodsson, Director.Dalarna is one of Sweden’s most popular tourist destinations. Its attractions are perhaps primarily nature and culture, but there is also a flourishing business sector of which MAFI is a part and a rich ice hockey tradition.
Together with Leksands IF, the Mora team Mora IK mainly represents the ice hockey culture in the county. Currently, Mora IK competes in the Swedish second league. However, the team has had such a strong tailwind recently that chances are good for advancement to the highest league, the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).
”Yes, we are doing very well,” Peter Hermodsson continues. ”And it´s due to the whole club, not just the players. We have very dedicated coaches, leaders and other staff. We have been able to keep key players for some years, and we also have some newer talents that have developed well.”
Peter Hermodsson also emphasises the importance of the club´s partners who had stood by the club when the results weren’t as good, and who are even more supportive now when the goal, advancing to SHL, could be within reach.”It´s crucial now that we don’t race ahead of ourselves,” he says. ”So we keep telling the players to play one game at a time and let us in the management plan for the future. There is still a lot of hard work needed to reach our goals!”
Other key elements that have led to the success, Mr Hermodsson explains, is the club having a vision, broken down into a strategy and several clearly identified operational goals. They include sound finances, building networks, both in Dalarna and Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and keeping key players for several seasons.
So, what´s most fun for Peter Hermodsson in these times of success?
”It´s a lot! Our sponsors supporting us when we need to buy more players. Watching our young players, both the girls and the boys and seeing their joy. And getting a lot of media coverage is of course also very rewarding!”
Now, in mid-February, Mora IK has a superior lead. The team needs to win a few more matches to reach the playoff. There they will be challenged by teams from SHL, and only after success there, can Mora IK make their dream become a reality.>