VonArx, founded in 1941 in Switzerland and relocated to Plovdiv – Bulgaria in 2019, is specialized in manufacturing of equipment for surface preparation of steel, concrete and asphalt.
Products offering is Scarfiers, Shavers and pneumatic needle scalers and chisel hammers. The company has 36 employees and distributors in 41 countries all over the world.
VonArx is the inventor of the Scarifier and belongs to the global market leaders. The sales has had steadily yearly sales increase of over 30% for the last 3 years.
The company is privately owned by Fredrik Akermark.
Interview with Fredrik Åkermark, CEO/Owner of Von Arx.
Easy Engineering: Which are the fields of activity where you are operating?
Fredrik Åkermark: Our customers are found within concrete construction surface preparation, road & bridge renovation, industrial paint, maritime shipping & off shore sector and mine industry.
E.E: Which are the most significant projects from 2022?
F.Å: Our main projects for 2022 have been:
- development a large concrete shaver with working width of 35cm and cutting depth of 2cm;
- development of a gas, LPG powered small concrete shaver, DTF 25 SH LPG;
- development of 3 sizes floor covering scrapers/removers.
E.E: What projects were the most challenging?
F.Å: All projects have had their own individual challenges but the one that sticks out would be the large concrete shaver in terms of learning how to maximize the power and efficiency off the machine towards limited power supply.
E.E: What are the usual challenges you encounter?
F.Å: Typical challenges when developing equipment is to be able to adapt the product for different markets.
Habits, regulations, systems and methods varies between countries.
Supply of components for prototype build in today’s climate has been another challenge.
E.E: How did you overcome the challenges?
F.Å: Hard work, flexible solutions and transparent communication with suppliers has been key to overcome all challenges.
E.E: Which are the most innovative products/solutions in your lineup?
F.Å: I would say our large concrete shaver but the most innovative product is still yet to come. And still a secret!
E.E: What was the research behind the products/solutions?
F.Å: We have used our well educated and experienced distributors to find out what we needed to further develop our product offering.
After many long discussions and interviews with our partners it was clear what we needed and what our new products should offer.
Key words- quality, productivity and durability but most of all simplicity!
E.E: What products / solutions were used in the projects?
F.Å: Electric motors, converted gasoline engines to LPG and hydraulic components.
E.E: Why did the clients choose your products / solutions?
F.Å: Because we offer highest possible quality together with service and support to our customers and our products guaranties productivity, durability and ergonomic and operator friendly solutions.