Dear Client
In 2014, the Swedish Government used severe pressure to persuade Thyssen-Krupp to sell the Kockums shipyard to Saab. This pressure was part of Swedish plans to build the new A26 class submarines in Sweden to a Swedish design. However, the Swedish government decided that under-investment by TKMS in Kockums had left the yard dilapidated, with its staff of 700 employees suffering very poor morale. To make matters worse, the design capability had been particularly hard-hit and there were grave doubts as to whether the yard was capable of the design work required.
Now, four years later everything has changed. The yard workforce now numbers 1,100 with another 400 contractors. During 2018 another 150 will be added and in 2019 another 100. Morale has improved greatly with Saab undertaking a major investment program to more or less rebuild the shipyard from scratch. Most of the machinery has been replaced with brand new equipment and the rest is in the pipeline, everything from the overhead cranes and the paint shop has been replaced. Northern Europe's largest arbor milling machine has been added, laser welding robots, more floor space and everything else imaginable. Even the classic administrative building, located some distance away from the shipyard itself, will be replaced with a new five story building on the shipyard grounds by 2020.
Improvements within the yard include. *Increased capacity and capability in steel cutting. New large cutting machines that use gas and plasma.
*New four-high steel roller capable of rolling the 80 mm thick submarine hull.
*Robot grinder setup.
*New welding cranes and other welding equipment.
*New arbor mill, bed mill, carousel lathe used for processing large pieces for the submarine such as tube hatches, equipment beds and rudder shafts.
*New surface treatment facility for washing, blastering and painting of details and complete hull sections.
Saab is continuing to aggressively develop the enterprise and adding additional businesses through acquisitions. On December 21st, Saab announced that it will take over both Dockstavarvet, the builder of the Combat Boat 90 - and Muskövarvet - a repair shipyard occupying one half of the yard space inside the Muskö naval base, Kockums already operates the other half.
Strange how quickly things can change in cases when the will to succeed is there.
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