Prestigious engineering award to Scania

Prestigious engineering award to Scania Earlier today, Scania received the prestigious Design Engineering Prize at the Swedish Exhibition Centre in Göteborg in recognition of its advanced modular approach to the manufacture of heavy trucks. This year marks the tenth time the award has been given, and it is made jointly by NUTEK, the Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development, Ny Teknik magazine and the Swedish Exhibition Centre. In addition to the manufacture of trucks, Scania's modular approach encompasses other product areas (buses and industrial & marine engines) as well as services. The award in the Design class was handed over by former Marshal of the Realm Per Sköld. The jury motivated its decision as follows: Implementation of the modular approach in the manufacture of heavy trucks Scania's ground-breaking and long-term modular approach sets an excellent example to industry. It generates engineering, design, production and mar- keting benefits that have helped make Scania one of the world's most prof- itable manufacturers of heavy trucks. The award was accepted in Göteborg by Kaj Holmelius, Senior Vice Presi- dent, Industrial Benchmarking at Scania. "The modular approach is crucial to Scania's customer offer. With the help of our broad product range, the customer can tailor the truck to precisely match his haulage requirements. Owing to the limited number of components used, parts supply is simple and quick, and at the same time it is easy for our service organisation to keep up to date with developments," ex- plained Kaj Holmelius. "Scania's modular approach traces its roots back to the 1940s. Modularization takes time since components and systems must be in synchro- nisation with each other in order to be used optimally. It was not until 1980 that we could present an entirely modular truck range. "With the launch of the 4-series trucks and buses, introduced from 1995 onwards, we were able to take this development one step further. Buses were fully incorporated in the modular concept and the number of compo- nents used was cut by one-third, yet the range of models on offer expanded considerably. As of 1998, Scania has been manufacturing the same product range using the same methods, quality and environmental standards in its factories the world over," concludes Kaj Holmelius. The award ceremony was also attended by Governor of Västra Götaland County Council Göte Bernhardsson, NUTEK Director General Per-Ola Eriksson and the jury's chairman, Professor Gunnar Hambraeus. The purpose of the award is to stimulate and support creativity and innovation and to boost coopera- tion between engineers and designers within product development in Swedish industry. For more information, please contact Per-Erik Nordström, Product Affairs, telephone number +46 8-55385577, E-mail per-erik.nordstrom@scania.com Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 25,800 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 1999, turnover totalled SEK 47,100 million and the result after net interest in- come/expense was SEK 4,500 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and some 95 percent of Scania's vehicles are sold outside Sweden. Scania trucks are made in Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Poland, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico. Bus manufacture takes place in Sweden, Brazil, Denmark, Poland and Mexico. Scania press releases are available on the Internet, www.scania.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/04/12/20000412BIT00840/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/04/12/20000412BIT00840/bit0002.pdf