Norrlandsnavet hones skills in the north
Norrlandsnavet was created with the aim of developing companies through research and education. Andreas Volmberg, a PhD student at Luleå University of Technology, has over the past year helped several companies in Norrbotten to review their business model.
One of the companies that has benefited from Andreas Volmberg's help is Optimation Advanced Measurements AB, a company that sells advanced measurement systems for the mining industry to customers all over the world. Together with two other companies, they have participated in workshops and coaching sessions to better review their business model.
Olle Nilsson, Sales and Marketing Manager at Optimation, talks about the meetings with Andreas Volmberg.
- "It has been very valuable for us. We have gained a greater understanding of what we are good at and what we should be better at, how we can develop the company towards our customers and how we can better charge for what we deliver and what we do. I feel that we have gained a greater understanding of our business model and, thanks to these meetings, we have become better and more confident in our self-image. Then we'll see what it leads to.
Andreas Volmberg gives his view on how he has helped Optimation.
- I have been a PhD student since mid-August 2021 and quite early on I got this assignment to work with companies through workshops. But I also have many years of work experience focusing on business development since before and it feels natural for me to design a program where the purpose was to develop a new value proposition and test it sharply. The value proposition is the heart of the business model. Optimation's challenge has been to find a way to sell both the meter and the control. That became their entry point in this process.
The first eight weeks consisted of four workshops and four coaching sessions. The final task for the companies was to develop their own roadmap for the next eight weeks. In his research, Andreas Volmberg has wanted to understand how companies can design a value proposition, and it has been stimulating for him to see how the team from Optimation has changed their way of thinking.
- When I and Optimation started working together, they had a customer that, due to Covid-19, they had not had contact with for two years. It's quite common for engineering companies to become introverted and it can be a big challenge to explore customer problems, to ask open questions.
- Optimation has gained a better understanding of its customers' business and has also developed its customer relationships during the work. They have received good business support and have gone from being reactive to more proactive in their customer relations. The different companies involved in this process have achieved different results, depending on the input value. But a basic principle has been that their output reflected their input in terms of time and commitment.
Fact box
NorrlandsNavet is a center for business development in northern Sweden in collaboration between the Kamprad Family Foundation and Luleå University of Technology. The foundation gives small and medium-sized companies in northern Sweden the opportunity to develop their business through research and education.
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