Strategy and growth

Shift to growth

Our organic growth in 2022 was strong, with record levels of parts, services and consumables sales and continuing all-time high demand for our equipment. Parts, services and consumables accounted for 69 percent (63) of revenues.

Aligned with our strategic priority to drive automation and electrification, we expanded our battery-electric vehicle (BEV) offering. We invested EUR 10 million in our Turku plant in Finland to provide additional capacity to produce BEV loaders and trucks. New BEV solutions were introduced, such as a Sandvik® TH665B truck with a 65-ton capacity. It is the largest battery-powered dump truck for underground mining conditions to date, engineered to improve productivity, sustainability, and cost efficiency. Strategically significant orders for our BEV and automation solutions were received and we also saw an increase in sales of our combined surface drilling equipment and automation systems. An example is the order received from Foran Mining, worth SEK 330 million, for 20 new Sandvik BEVs, including trucks, loaders and drills, for use at its McIlvenna Bay project in Canada.

The acquisition of Australia-based Deswik, a top-tier supplier of integrated software platforms that support mine digitalization, presented an exciting new area for growth. Our digital offering was further strengthened with the agreement to acquire Polymathian Industrial Mathematics, an Australia-based provider of advanced mine optimization software and services. The acquisition was completed in February 2023. We also strengthened our leading electrification and battery analytics competence and know-how with the acquisition of Finland-based Akkurate, a frontrunner in holistic battery management.

Digital shift

We saw strong sales of our AutoMine® autonomous and remotely operated mobile equipment. We introduced an AutoMine Concept Underground Drill Rig, featuring next generation intelligent automation and a range of emission reduction technologies. The drill rig uses an AI-guided automatic drill bit changer as well as AI for continuous rock mass feedback to optimize drilling performance. We also launched a mapping solution which maximizes productivity and improves the safety of autonomous vehicle navigation in underground mining operations by utilizing mapped data and AutoMine surface drilling systems. Embracing new digital technologies, we began an additive manufacturing trial to digitally print machine parts for underground drill rigs.

Our world-leading mine planning software platform from Deswik continues to be further built on to help our customers optimize their mining operations.