Coor a cog in Volvo Aero’s machinery

For a long while now Coor has played an important role in Volvo Aero’s production in Trollhättan. Among other things, Coor is responsible for machine availability, relocation and installation of machinery, internal transport and warehouse service – a confidence that calls for great proactivity, both strategically and operationally. Coor’s involvement is an important, pivotal link in Volvo Aero’s delivery organisation.

“Because the service delivery has a direct impact on our results, it’s extremely important that Coor is driven and feels responsible for its delegated areas. The delivery must be of a high technical quality with minimal response times, which for instance entails being on stand-by even at weekends,” says Thomas Ellström, head of component production at Volvo Aero.

Clear allocation of responsibility

To live up to the demands on speed and availability, Coor has worked alongside Volvo Aero to develop a system of well-defined communication paths and follow-up structures, for example.

“Teamwork is never at its best until the parties can co-operate fully, and we think we now have a good co-operation with Coor generally. In a business like ours, with demands on extremely short throughput times, it’s incredibly important to have clearly defined communication channels when something needs to be done. Everyone should know where to turn, and to whom. In may ways it’s like a relay race, knowing where the important issue lies and who is responsible.”

A constant quest for improvements

Because the service delivery plays such an important role in production and directly affects Volvo Aero’s results, one of the requirements is that Coor should constantly seek out new ways of streamlining its processes. High proactivity and an ability to plan for change are also among Volvo Aero’s expectations.

“Our customers and owners place rigorous demands on us, and Coor’s delivery is an important part of this. Obviously it’s very much about keeping to schedules and ensuring production runs without disruption. But because the service delivery is a natural part of the operation it’s important that Coor continuously strives to evolve both its own and our subcontractors’ competence and quality. This is also a responsibility that we find Coor takes very seriously.”

‘Business as usual’ not enough

Tough competition places demands both on quality and cost efficiency. According to Thomas Ellström, productivity development is crucial in keeping up with the competition.

“Coor provides cutting-edge expertise on which we rely greatly. It’s vital that we maintain a strategic co-operation that gives us peace of mind in knowing that Coor is developing at the same rate we are. We compete globally and that competition is razor sharp, for example from low-cost countries. That’s why we constantly focus on developing our operation. We work in an arena where ‘business as usual’ simply isn’t enough, we have to be on the leading edge. And that applies to all parts of our production,” he concludes.

About Volvo Aero

Volvo Aero is a wholly owned subsidiary of AB Volvo. In co-operation with the world’s leading aviation companies, the company develops and produces components for aircraft and rocket engines. Volvo Aero is one of the world’s leading producers of commercial rocket combustion chambers and nozzles, and has components in more than 80% of all aircraft engines on larger aircraft. Volvo Aero has approximately 3,200 employees and turnover in 2006 was about 8,000 million SEK.

About the service partnership:

Coor is responsible for a total service commitment at Volvo Aero Corporation in Trollhättan, western Sweden. The agreement runs for four years from 2006. It encompasses the areas of production service, workplace service and property-related service. Services include project management, construction, tool sharpening, machine maintenance, cleaning, internal transport, energy and media provision, and ground maintenance.