Sandvik Construction: Setting Industry Standards with World-Class Products and Services
Excavating opportunities
For nearly 150 years the Sandvik brand has stood for high quality and dedicated customer focus. As part of this global group, Sandvik Construction is proud to continue this tradition within the construction industry with a range of world-class products and services
Although the company’s roots date back as far as 1855, the Sandvik name was first established in 1862, when the company was incorporated in the construction of finished products such as saws and steel tubes.Today the Sandvik Group divides its business into five distinct sectors, comprised of construction, mining, mechanical solutions as well as materials technology and venture. This strategy was formulated in January 2012, when the Sandvik Group redefined its business within its existing industry sectors to deliver increased focus, greater transparency in terms of operational performance and enhanced operational performance. As such, each standing business within the group has its own headquarters supported by the Sandvik Group headquarters in Stockholm, 
Sweden. Sandvik Construction for example, is also headquartered in Stockholm with a further satellite located in Shanghai, China.
Sandvik Construction continues to grow as an organisation within the wider Sandvik Group, providing products, services and solutions for virtually any construction industry application encompassing such diverse sectors as rock quarrying, tunnelling, rock excavation, demolition, road building, recycling and civil engineering. The company produces and markets a comprehensive range of rock drilling machines including rock tools, drilling rigs, breakers, bulk-materials handling, stationary and mobile crushing and screening solutions as well as underground civil engineering drilling, cutting, loading and hauling machinery solutions and services. These are sold under the Sandvik, Rammer and Bretec brands and are supplied through direct sales through Sandvik or via its extensive dealer network. During 2011 Sandvik Construction sales amounted to more than 9000 MSEK, while the company grew to include around 2600 employees.
Although the 2008 financial crisis resulted in a decrease in construction projects around the world, the market is beginning to recover and while trading conditions remain challenging, Sandvik Construction understands the needs of its clients and is well placed to provide suitable, costeffective solutions that fit the current requirements of the market. “Many surface drilling customers have become more conscious about the cost of operation and especially fuel economy,” reveals product area president for breaking, surface drilling and tunnelling, Pekka Nieminen. “The tunnelling roadheader business for example, is driven by underground civil engineering projects in suitable rock conditions and Sandvik’s hard rock roadheaders have recently been increasingly used in projects in North America, the Middle East and Southern Europe. With regards to global economic conditions, some markets are recovering faster than others. We see good growth in North America because the building industry is generating an increased demand for investment in our products.”
The volatility of the market in recent years has created a competitive trading arena for both Sandvik Construction and its clients, meaning that the push towards greater levels of innovation in efficient operation has become a major driving force of continued research and development within the construction industry. “Our customers want to produce more with less cost,” Pekka explains. “This need to improve performance is also driving research and development. We are constantly looking at new ways to improve customers’ productivity. This is not only in drilling, but also in the entire excavation process. The market is very much like a race, where innovation plays a very large role.”
Within its tunnelling services Sandvik is focused on providing leading technology with optimised performance, high quality tunnelling, reliability and excellent product safety. With the latest developments in tunnelling jumbo rock drills and their control systems the company can offer higher drilling performance without sacrificing operating cost or reliability. The RD525 and RD520 hydraulic percussive rock drills, which offer almost 17 per cent higher penetration rates and a significantly longer tool-life, are prime examples of this. Furthermore the company’s breaker line also includes constantly developing products that are more economical and safer to operate. For example, its Ramdata II system will indicate when a service is required, thus ensuring that optimal operating conditions are maintained.
In developing new products Sandvik Construction is dedicated to co-operating closely with its clients to deliver the optimum solution to market. “We produce these drills for customers, so their involvement in the development process is fundamental,” says Pekka. “Our latest drill, the Dino DC400 is a good example of this co-operation The clients were involved from the beginning when building the specification for a new drill and later their opinion was asked on various design features, before finally they were involved in the testing of the drill. In all product areas our customers play a significant role when we develop new technologies. They run test trials of the new products in different applications all around the world. This assures that we have considered the different needs of the global market.”
Further to working closely with clients to develop leading solutions across several areas, Sandvik Construction also provides a dedicated aftersales service through its extensive global sales and service network. This network is able to offer scheduled maintenance service, machine audits, service contracts and extend warranties for customers, as well as deliver training programmes targeted to clients’ personnel.
The company’s activities in delivery, aftersales and research and development are supported by its extensive supply chain that ensures that Sandvik Construction has the right solution at every level of business around the world. “Our supply chain consists of Sandvik factories and a comprehensive network of partners supplying materials, parts components and services,” Pekka explains. “We utilise our global presence to continuously develop this supply network to be competitive today and in the future. As markets continuously evolve we need to be able to develop our operations and react to these changes in unison, while maintaining the core pillars of the Sandvik brand – quality and safety.”
As Sandvik Construction approaches the end of 2014 and prepares for the needs of the future market it will continue to focus on the introduction of new products and continuously enhancing its strong aftersales support network. “Our strategy is to set industry standards. Sandvik provides a full line of turnkey rock excavation equipment and global service support. This gives the company a good opportunity for potential business in all market areas. Customers are looking for the suppliers who understand the excavation processes and clients value innovators,” concludes Pekka.
Sandvik Construction
Services: Specialist mining and construction equipment