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The story
From the beginning
Sykkylven Stål's history can be dated back to the 1950s, when the founders of Solberg AS and Sykkylven Stålindustri AS began to produce steel components, amongst other things, for the furniture cluster in the local area.
Solberg AS (formerly Rønes blikkenslagerverksted AS (Per Rønes: 1948-1958), Rønes og Solberg AS (Per Rønes og Hallvard Solberg: 1958-1969), Brødrene Solberg A / S (Hallvard Solberg and Anders Solberg: 1969-1982), Solberg AS ( Anders Solberg 1982-1999)) was a typical metal supplier of mechanical parts and sheet metal products to the furniture and construction industry. The company had for a long time production of complete steel buildings as a focus area. As construction activity decreased, the main focus was on the production of special components for the furniture and workshop industry.
Metallakkering AS was started in 1988 when 17 companies in the construction industry and the metal products industry joined forces to establish their own powder coating plant in Sykkylven. Throughout its period, the company had a stable employment of 5 people.
Sykkylven Stålindustri AS (formerly Tynes Mekaniske Verksted (1958-1971) established by Jostein Gjerde), started in the same way as Solberg AS, as a metal goods manufacturer. From the beginning, the company was a subcontractor to the nearby furniture cluster, and the production consisted mainly of pipe parts and steel frames for recliners. A small part of the turnover went to the production of equipment for internal transport, air lifts and the execution of small repairs on equipment for farmers and industry in the nearby area.
Acquisition and bankruptcy
In 1999, Sykkylven Stålindustri took over Solberg AS and Metallakkering AS, but after four difficult years, the company went bankrupt in 2003. Sparebanken Møre took over the bankruptcy estate of Sykkylven Stålindustri as well as the bankruptcy estate of Stranda Galvano AS, which had also gone bankrupt in the same period. Karl Inge Rekdal was appointed CEO, and in 2009 became one of the main shareholders in the company together with the factory manager Lars Skog. In 2007, what is today known as Galvano AS, was demerged and taken over by Terje Berge and Ottar Remme at Stranda. And the company then changed its name to Sykkylven Stål AS, as we are so nicely called today.
Crisis, crisis, pandemic
Shortly after the transfer of the company to Karl Inge and Lars Magnus, Sykkylven Stål became aware of the ripple effects of the financial crisis. Norwegian labor and Norwegian raw materials were far too expensive for the furnture manufacturers in the are and our customers flagged production abroad where the cost of wages and production was more attractive. In parallel with flagging out in the furniture industry, the maritime industry in Norway flourished. Through close cooperation and trust from major international players who invested in us, we, through intensive work, were certified on the ISO standards ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 45001 for management systems for working environment in a relatively short time. We re-certify on these certifications annually, and are highly valued in the company today.
The requirements from our customers exceeded the prerequisites for the ISO standardization, and were, and are, so immodest that in some departments, updated and approved vision tests are required for our employees.
A new crisis and new ripple effects struck when the oil industry struggled in 2014. The maritime industry suffered the most in the following years, and we noticed this well in the production aimed at this industry. In parallel with the challenges we experienced towards the maritime industry, the main focus was on making a breakthrough in our self-developed functional system, which has subsequently taken the market by storm and which is one of our main investments today.
In 2016 , we achieved getting a number of our wardrobe items Swan-labeled. The prestigious eco-label covers the entire life cycle of a product and all relevant environmental problems that may arise along the way.
News of Covid-19 only began to circulate in late December 2019, early January 2020. But the impact and strain this pandemic should have, and still have at the time of writing, few of us had thought. "Fortunately" for us, the pandemic became an adventure for Norwegian furniture production.
Today
We have a long and rocky history, where over the years there have been many people in the picture. Through all these years, we have acquired unique knowledge and competence in many subject areas. After a determined investment and a couple of extensive conversion processes, we have developed into a different, but unique and innovative supplier with leading expertise in product development, pipe and plate processing, machining and surface treatment of metal and plastic composites.
We have for over 70 years participated in the development and shaping of the Norwegian furniture industry.
Today, we are an environmentally conscious, technologically advanced company. We have a clear strategy for growth and a growing portfolio of self-developed functional systems, our own products for the school and education market, and we are a reliable and quality-oriented supplier to the furniture and maritime industry. We are proud to be a precise sparring partner for the nearby furniture manufacturers in their product development work, we are proud to be able to deliver products that meet extreme tolerance requirements for the maritime industry, we are proud of how we handle our role as a value-creating company in a sustainable and forward-thinking way. We work with the environment and social responsibility, which is based on a recognition of the fundamental obligation to run our business in a sustainable manner, with respect for people, future generations and the environment.
With our 40 employees, we create quality solutions that excite and strengthen the competitiveness of our customers and partners.