Bolts pay dividends for Swedish truck maker
An
Alcoa Fastening Systems product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 11, 2003
A decision made over 25 years ago has allowed a Swedish company to become and maintain its status today as one of the biggest truck and trailer manufacturers in Sweden.
A decision made over 25 years ago to secure truck chassis using a fastening system manufactured in the UK as opposed to welding, has allowed a Swedish company to become and maintain its status today as one of the biggest truck and trailer manufacturers in Sweden.
Established in 1957, PLS Flak and Skap is located in Rydaholm, Smaland, employs 60 people and produces 350 units per year.
The company started using the C50L HuckBolt produced by Telford based Alcoa Fastening Systems (AFS), currently distributed in Sweden by Danielson and Stickler, in 1977.
AFS, whose primary brand is Huck fasteners, engineers high-quality, high-performance fastening systems for a variety of applications predominantly in the trailer, commercial vehicle body builder, railcar, truck and auto markets.
After experiencing trouble with cracks appearing in welded joints, PLS decided to "field test" the C50L HuckBolt for durability and strength, submitting it to rigorous weight and extreme road conditions.
Satisfied with the results the company used the product immediately and soon after customers began to specifically request HuckBolted chassis instead of welded ones.
One company in particular was Volvo Truck, still a key customer for PLS today.
Karl-Johan Nilsson, who has worked for PLS since 1966 and is now the Managing Director, explains the advantages of using Huck fasteners.
He said: "The change from welding has been of great benefit to us and our customers.
Apart from welds potentially cracking, Huck fasteners are cleaner to install and provide increased strength and improved fatigue life.
We now use a variety of Huck's products, including the BOM, Magna-Lok and Magna-Bulb, in a number of applications and have switched from the C50L to the HP8 for an even better performance.
In addition, the lead times and customer service from AFS is always excellent".
Anders Fredlund, Customer Manager for AFS in Scandinavia and Benelux, said: "It's interesting to see how such a critical decision about strength and durability of a product can still have an impact over 25 years later.
The PLS story is a testament to the quality of our products and as an AFS employee, something I am pleased to be associated with".
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