Strategy and growth

Shift to growth

Our growth agenda is based on both organic growth and acquisitions. The 2025 target is to have SEK 5 billion in total sales connected to adjacent business and expanded digital offerings, mainly deriving from the new business area segment Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions. Our core business should grow faster than the market, organically and through acquisitions. Adding value to our customers through improved efficiency and optimization remains our focus throughout the whole offering. The efforts in digital machining will take us even further in our journey to machining solutions with an end-to-end impact.

In 2020, we acquired US-based software company CGTech. The acquisition will enhance our capabilities in machining intelligence and strengthen our software offering for machining. We also acquired Quimmco Centro Tecnológico, offering integral machining solutions, and Miranda Tools, which furthers our geographic expansion in Asia. Our partly owned additive manufacturing company, Beamit, acquired Zare, an additive manufacturing company focusing on high-end components. We also divested a 10 percent minority interest in Gesac, a Chinese supplier of tungsten powder, cemented carbide and cutting tools.

Digital shift

Our metalcutting business is on a journey from providing tools to providing complete solutions that combine hardware, software and services. Through automation, machine monitoring and optimized manufacturing processes we are integrating digital systems to allow all parts in a machine shop to communicate, all the way from quotation to certification. This improves efficiency for our customers by reducing their total production time.

With the creation of the business area segment Sandvik Manufacturing Solutions, we can focus more on digitalization to strengthen our position in metal cutting and digital manufacturing. This will lead to new business opportunities and make customers even more productive and sustainable.

Agile through cycle

We continue to challenge ourselves and improve our efficiency and profitability as part of our continuous improvement culture. These efforts apply to every aspect of our business. We are also looking into where we can leverage synergies and work more efficiently as a multi-brand group, for example in the areas of supply and logistics or by optimizing production facilities and research and development.

A priority in 2020 was to secure service and on-time deliveries to our customers, something that was achieved through an increased flexibility in logistics. Our costs were lowered by quickly shifting marketing and sales activities to virtual events, cutting down substantially on travel, and reducing work hours. We consolidated our footprint due to restructuring and optimization efforts, resulting in the closure of production units in Frankfurt and Delmenhorst, Germany and Orléans, France.