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The Swedish Business Development Agency (Nutek) is spending SEK 30m in the next three years on a development programme for smaller suppliers. Through collaborative networks, suppliers will be encouraged to assume more responsibility for product development.
"The programme is mostly aimed at suppliers in the automotive and electronics industries," says Sten Axelsson at Nutek.
The idea is to make it possible for suppliers with fewer than 200 employees to increase their competence and become more competitive.
In practice, the companies will be assisted in creating networks, including companies in Europe, to facilitate entry into the global marketplace. Another part of the programme concerns product development and assistance with quality assurance testing and ISO certification.
According to Sten Axelsson, too little is known about suppliers and the market mechanisms that effect them. Also, many Swedish suppliers are relying too heavily on one main customer, often Ericsson. Therefore Nutek intends to start a major study focusing on the electronics and telecommunications areas next autumn. The aim is to determine the demands placed upon suppliers within a changeable market and which long-term changes the business is facing.
To meet industry expectations regarding greater responsibility for product development, suppliers are more and more organising themselves in collaborative networks, so called clusters. Per Rydgren, initiator of the Scandinavian supplier cluster Teamnord, believes this is the way forward for many suppliers.
The idea is to make it possible for suppliers with fewer than 200 employees to increase their competence and become more competitive.
In practice, the companies will be assisted in creating networks, including companies in Europe, to facilitate entry into the global marketplace. Another part of the programme concerns product development and assistance with quality assurance testing and ISO certification.
According to Sten Axelsson, too little is known about suppliers and the market mechanisms that effect them. Also, many Swedish suppliers are relying too heavily on one main customer, often Ericsson. Therefore Nutek intends to start a major study focusing on the electronics and telecommunications areas next autumn. The aim is to determine the demands placed upon suppliers within a changeable market and which long-term changes the business is facing.
To meet industry expectations regarding greater responsibility for product development, suppliers are more and more organising themselves in collaborative networks, so called clusters. Per Rydgren, initiator of the Scandinavian supplier cluster Teamnord, believes this is the way forward for many suppliers.
Gittan Cedervall
