Norr-Don AB
Norr-don is a company in the Västerbotten hinterland with customized solutions within automation and power distribution. Our service department is focused on the mining industry where we help our customers with annual high-current checks of machines, troubleshooting, installation of equipment on machines and automation projects.
Who are you and what is your role at the company?
My name is Per Eriksson and I am a co-owner and CEO of Norr-Don. We are a small family-owned company, which means that I get to sit on several chairs. For example, we do not have a pronounced sales organization, but I and the others at Norr-Don are out meeting customers in the mines and selling our products and services by doing a good job.
Tell us about the company Norr-Don
Norr-Don was founded in 1986 by my uncle. He worked as an electrician in the Kristineberg mine, where he realized there was a need to build distribution centers and outlet centers in the mine. He started building and selling products and the company has since grown and expanded to include automation readings, switchboards, power distribution and cabling.
We currently have 13 employees, seven of whom are on the workshop floor and six in the service group. We are located in the village of Åmliden, 10 kilometers directly inland from Skellefteå, in the middle of Boliden Minerals' mining area, which consists of the Renström, Kristineberg and Kankberg mines, which we help with and supply products and services to. The Canadian-owned Björkdals mine is also located in the vicinity, as it is a very mining-dense area.
We build products that we sell all over Sweden, focusing on heavy industry with power and automation solutions. This is primarily for the mines, but also for the paper pulp industry on the coasts, and we also have Göteborgs Energi and LKAB as major customers.
How and when did you come into contact with Nordtrafo?
The contact with Nordtrafo started even before my time, when I joined in 2006, Nordtrafo was already on the rolls, but how and when the contact was initially established I don't know, but Nordtrafo has always been involved during my time in Norr-Don.
How did Nordtrafo end up at the top of the list of possible suppliers of transformers?
Over the years we have used other cheaper suppliers but have come back to Nordtrafo. As we focus on the mines to the extent we do today, it is very important that our customers' operations do not stand still, it will be very costly for them and also for us in the end if we do not deliver quality. It has been shown that Nordtrafo's products last longer and they can modify their products in a different way than the big companies who usually only buy the cheapest standard solutions. The money we save by buying cheap products, we lose because they break. The most important thing for us is not the price but that the products stay in place and that is what Nordtrafo's products do.
Has your contact with Nordtrafo led to any changes or improvements?
Nordtrafo has been very accommodating and modified their products according to our wishes. Together with Nordtrafo we have solved many problems for customers, we have been able to customize our solutions thanks to Nordtrafo's help. We have been able to strengthen our position against the mines thanks to our own ability to build good solutions and good products for our customers and to have had Nordtrafo as a supplier.
How do you think the collaboration with Nordtrafo works in general?
I think it works very well, it is important that our suppliers are flexible and can deliver quickly if something urgent happens to our customers. The products are of good quality and they are accommodating and helpful when you call. Personally, I also think it is fun to call Nordtrafo, which, like us, is a family business that works much like us and understands our challenges and conditions.
Per Ericsson
CEO and partner
Norr-Don AB
Interested in more customer journeys?
The collaboration works very well, for me Nordtrafo has been there from the start and has worked without any problems during my years as a company manager. The products are of good quality and they are easy to deal with as a company. Nordtrafo as a supplier of transformers.
Nordtrafo are very accommodating and helpful. Nothing seems impossible to them and they are very flexible with us as a customer. They have always been there to help us with adjustments without any hassle. This means that we can always deliver a product that our end customers are satisfied with.