WITH A HERITAGE STRETCHING BACK MORE THAN A CENTURY, FLÄKTGROUP IS A MARKETLEADING COMPANY SPECIALISING

IN INDOOR AIR QUALITY AND CRITICAL VENTILATION SOLUTIONS.

he name stems from ‘Fläkt’ – the Swedish word for ventilation, an integral part of the company since its original inception in 1909.

FläktGroup was formed in 2016 when Fläkt Woods joined forces with DencoHappel (formerly part of the GEA Group) to become a market leader for energy-efficient Indoor Air Comfort and Critical Air solutions serving a global market.

We sat down with Nadine Hessel, Global Director for Supply Chain & Infrastructure to discuss the supply chain strategy and innovation at FläktGroup.

Nadine begins by explaining how the company takes a holistic approach to their operations since they cover all stages from design and manufacturing products to delivery, after-sales and servicing provision.

“You can find our products everywhere – in commercial buildings, residential buildings, industrial buildings, and critical applications like data centres,” says Nadine. “We have 13 production sites, 3,500 employees and we sell in 65 countries around the world. I’m responsible for the supply chain and infrastructure in our business area Services. My main focus is the global availability and storage of spare parts within our service supply chain. This is a bit different from the manufacturing supply chain as the sourcing is not only build and buy, but you can also repair a unit or secure replacement parts.”

So what does the supply chain strategy look like at FläktGroup?

Nadine describes how the approach to the service supply chain today looks different to the provision offered in the past.

“For us, we need to focus on all components of the supply chain,” explains Nadine. “All aspects provide room for improvement. So if we start with planning it has always been important, but it has shifted from planning for just-intime delivery or just-in-case delivery for service, to now even getting components at all. So it's quite different from the way it used to be. We try to have inventory buffers on the one hand, and on the other hand, we seek to find alternatives for missing components. But if there are some components with a lead time of two years, the customer can't wait that long.

“So instead of replacing them one by one like we used to do, we try to find an alternative part if it's available. Consequently, one of the core components of our strategy is multi-sourcing. So, of course, we have our main suppliers and it's vital to keep our relationships strong with them. But I'm always open to getting in contact with new suppliers. So I have a lot of suppliers that reach out to me on LinkedIn for example. Usually I meet with them and listen to their propositions. Maybe they will have some components I can use. So that has changed.

“The important thing to note with FläktGroup is that we are a group of international companies put together through acquisitions. So growing together is a challenge for us. Therefore it's quite important within the supply chain strategy to take a global view. To find a component for an urgent service visit, for instance, I can check the stock in our factories around the world. I can ask them ‘What is your production stock like?’ and ‘Can I have that part?’ When you have high commodity availability, you can look at individual entities. But in today's situation, I think a global view is critical. So this has brought us closer together within FläktGroup. We have cross-departmental support and always set a global strategy, even for small parts. I can always just look at all the stocks we have and find parts somewhere.

“What is special about the service supply chain is that the demand is not predictable. But it's a good thing because if it was predictable, it would represent bad news for product failures. There are some components that you can exchange and maintain on a service visit, but most of the demand levels for parts are unpredictable. But nonetheless, for me, it's important to have an overview of what we have sold to do some kind of forecasting when possible. So planning is still super important.”

At FläktGroup the company’s supply chain strategy hinges on embracing innovation and transformation to keep their operations and service