Meet…

Joachim Lundberg, Factory Manager at Emballator Mellerud

During your time as Factory Manager, you have made some improvements in the production at Emballator Mellerud, what kind of improvements have been made?

“Yes, our ambition has been to create increased profitability that matches our sales. Among other things, we have streamlined and optimized the machine area, and we have removed unprofitable products from our range. We have also worked through our production planning and eliminated the kind of problems that we created ourselves. With daily follow-ups and a clear game plan, we can prioritize our activities and have introduced a more efficient way of working. We have also developed a digital Lean board that makes it easy for all employees to follow how we all are improving our work. We have invested in a new packaging cell and a new effective electrical blow moulding machine to meet our customers needs. This is truly a team effort!

Carried out OEE activities have contributed to delivery and delivery precision that reaches our goals and the expectations from our customers. We have done a great job together and achieved a real improvement. But, most important of all: we are doing this for our customers. By being forward-thinking and by listening and understanding our customers’ needs, we can build a successful Emballator. Our ISO 20,000 certification is an example of how we develop our way of working and equipment in close collaboration with customers to meet their requirements.”

Your career goes hand in hand with Swedish automotive history… Tell us!

“After my degree, I started working at Saab as an automation technician and later as a maintenance engineer with responsibility for new car projects. Later on I got to try out the  role of technical manager for maintenance. As it happened, I switched tracks and started working as a geometry manager responsible for the fitting of all parts of a vehicle – from sheet metal to the built car. After Saab joined General Motors, I became operationally responsible for the quality function. I also got the opportunity to work as a Quality launch manager with the team that ensured the quality process when launching new car models. When the new factory for Daimler’s exhaust system in Nyköping – with a focus on heavy vehicle industry – was started I got the trust to design and start up the production site. When we started, we were 256 people. When I left as production manager, we had over 1,000 employees. It was a cool journey to build a completely new factory – from low to high volume.”

Are you really passionate about improvement work?

“I find it very rewarding to work with my own “Lean-box” based on the various challenges that a business can have. The experience from the car industry, with a mentor from Nissan and Lean training at Chalmers, has given me a good platform. After working at Eberspächer, I started as Lean and production manager for Aker Solutions in Norway, a company that supplies Umbilical for oil platforms. After a few years, I started working in a similar role at Nexans; now my main focus is quality and efficiency improvements. We have started an exciting journey in Mellerud and we have a lot of projects planned to be able to meet the future demands from customers and the society.”