Student created business development strategy

The engineering company Nevo Maskin took up Luleå University of Technology's offer to receive a master's student in international business through NorrlandsNavet to do an internship in the company. The result was a strategic communication plan with a focus on social media campaigns.

- Our specialties today are repair, renovation and new production of hydraulic cylinders of all sizes for, for example, wheel loaders, excavators and graders. In our workshop we do repairs and service of construction machinery. We have an extensive spare parts warehouse with a shop adjacent to the workshop, but also have a web shop that we need to market more strategically to reach new markets, says Rickard Niemelä, who himself is an alumnus of Luleå University of Technology and holds a degree in economics.

Generational change meant moving north

After Rickard's graduation, a few years as a consultant at an accounting firm in Luleå and then Stockholm awaited. However, the move went back up to the north when a generational change became relevant in the family business his father founded. For a few years now, the brothers Rickard and Niklas have been running the company Nevo Maskin AB in newly built premises in Gammelstad outside Luleå. On several occasions over the years, the company has taken on trainees from upper secondary schools and vocational training programs. They have been given a natural place in the workshop area.

- When I saw that there was an opportunity to receive a trainee from Luleå University of Technology, I thought it was an exciting offer but thought at first that we might not be the right kind of company for a university student, says Rickard Niemelä.

Concrete tools

However, it turned out to be the opposite.
- Since we have several strategic development areas, it was rather that we had to prioritize quite hard among the tasks and focus on what makes the most difference for us here and now, says Rickard Niemelä.

In service and maintenance, Nevo Maskin has a full order book but wants to scale up spare parts sales further.
- We are well known locally and regionally but want to reach a wider market throughout Sweden. The focus was therefore on finding a long-term strategy for the company's web shop and marketing, mainly in social media. The student first worked out a current situation analysis and based on that we have balled the continued work throughout the process. The result was a communication plan and sharp campaign activities in our social media, says Rickard Niemelä.

He describes letting a trainee take on their challenge as energizing and developing.
- It is always valuable to get new eyes on the business, the student's skills became a complementary element in our business, which created new ideas for how we can develop as a company, says Rickard Niemelä.

Experience close to the company

Simon Larsson, the student's name, is satisfied with the program's structure, where close cooperation with companies in project courses is common and the internship is a complementary element that further strengthens the link to the business community.
- You get a sense of what your job will look like in the future. It is definitely good to deal with real issues. It gives you an idea of what is expected," says Simon Larsson.

He has just over a year left of studies and then working life awaits behind the door he opened during the internship.
- The dream is to work with business development, regardless of whether it will be in a large or small company, my plan is to continue to accumulate as much expertise as possible, says Simon Larsson.

Mutual added value

Student collaboration provides an opportunity for both companies and universities to develop and becomes a "win-win" for everyone involved.
- It is so fun to hear the companies highlight the concrete benefits that our students bring to different businesses. The companies have the opportunity to market themselves as potential employers, and our students get real-life experiences that prepare them for future working life. The next round of internships will start in November 2021, says Susanne Sundström, responsible for student collaboration within Norrlandsnavet.