3D prints are valuable internally in RIVAL’s production

Initiating practices such as choice of tools, fine-tuning of tolerances and start-up questions are made more efficient in RIVAL’s production by using 3D technology.

Project manager Stefan Steengsgaard is the man behind the 3D printed components at RIVAL. Ever since he started working at RIVAL a year ago, he has delved into the 3D printing technology with great enthusiasm. Today, he is very familiar with the possibilities of 3D printing. because he continuously networks with other companies.

3D printed components are more tangible
“By 3D printing new components, they become more tangible for our machine operators,” Stefan says. “The operators say, it works pretty well when they’re able to see, touch and test the mini versions of the components in real life before deciding on the final production method. By doing so, we also make the work more efficient in terms of the customer’s economy.”

3D printed fixtures to the measurement machine
To ensure that we comply with the customer’s demands and tolerances, we continually measure every component on RIVAL’s Zeiss measurement machine. With great success, we use the 3D printing technology to manufacture fixing devises to the measurement machine. Furthermore, Stefan 3D prints the objects that hold the fixtures, when they are not being used. These objects do not exist on a standard shopping shelfs, but we can 3D print them as long as we can draw them on paper.

Concretising the abstract
3D printed components can concretise the abstract. “If we have, or if the customer has, an idea that is difficult to work out on a drawing, we can make a 3D print to test and see if it works and can be produced,” Stefan says. “This also applies to the very complex components, we often produce. In this matter, the production technical department at RIVAL will examine the component with the costumer or the machine operators, before the production is initiated. Thereby, we can ensure that we meet the customer’s demands.”

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Coronavirus

At RIVAL we take the authorities’ recommendations and guidelines regarding Coronavirus very seriously. As a responsible employer in relation to our employees and their families / relatives as well as our customers and other partners.

Our company is open and our production is running as usual. We make every effort to service our partners as agreed.

At the same time, we have introduced stricter internal guidelines on hygiene and that one should not stay close to one’s colleagues. We have canceled social activities over the next few weeks. Our staff works in shift teams to minimize the number of employees at the company simultaneously.

We have also taken precautions in connection with visits from suppliers and customers. In the current situation, we only meet whit external contacts in extraordinary cases.

We therefore urge you to contact RIVAL before you plan to stop by.

We will monitor the situation closely and adapt our actions on an ongoing basis.

If you have any questions, you are always very welcome to contact us on +45 86 57 71 77

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The best bottom line in 10 years

RIVAL A/S finished 2019 with a profit of almost 3 million DKK, which is the best result in 10 years. At the same time, the company maintains a satisfying turnover.

The management at RIVAL is happy with the result of 2019, because it shows that RIVAL has become better at making money. At the same time, the latest customer satisfaction survey shows that the customers are happy to collaborate with RIVAL.

RIVAL finished 2019 with a profit of 2.9 million DKK before tax compared to 2.3 million DKK the year before. The turnover is maintained at a satisfying level and has increased with 1.2 million DKK. At the same time, RIVAL enters into the new financial year with a big order book. Thus, a good foundation for 2020 has been made.

The bank acknowledges RIVAL’s journey
RIVAL’s bank acknowledges the good results of 2019. “You are up to date with a new name, a new logo and an excellent customer satisfaction survey,” Jens Kallehave says, RIVAL’s business partner from the bank. “Furthermore, you present the best bottom line in 10 years – thumps up for that.” Furthermore, the business centre manager Klaus Stampe says that RIVAL’s annual report is enjoyable to read. “I fully respect the grand journey, you are on,” he says.

Overall solutions mean a great deal
The improvement of RIVAL’s bottom line is a result of the company’s strategic focus on supplying overall solutions to the customers. “We are doing business in a market, in which every penny count,” RIVAL’s owner and managing director Henrik Holvad says. “Therefore, we have made a great deal out of communicating and documenting to our customers, that the overall value of the services, we provide, is about much more than just the price.”

“It’s about the customer’s supply chain from the very beginning of the collaboration until the product is delivered to the customer’s address at the agreed time,” Henrik Holvad says. “Therefore, we work closely together with the customer to develop the components, we find the right materials, we ensure the most suitable production, we have control over difficult tolerances, we make quality controls and finally, we document all of the above. This can help saving our customer time and money, and it’s the reason why we talk about quality and delivery reliability, before we talk about the price.”

The customer can count on RIVAL
The latest customer satisfaction survey shows that the customers feel like, they can count on RIVAL. This has impacted the improvement of RIVAL’s bottom line. “The survey shows that there is a great amount of trust between our customers and the employees at RIVAL, which is crucial in creating a valuable collaboration,” Henrik Holvad says. “Our customers acknowledge this, and they prioritise us, which forms the basis of long-term customer relations and thereby a better financial situation for both our customers and RIVAL.”

The good work continuous in 2020
Henrik Holvad looks ahead at 2020 with peace of mind. “Currently, we have a big order book and many good, long-term customer relations with a wide range of valuable customers in the defence industry and in the oil and gas industry among others. We look forward to continuing the good collaborations and we are pleased to see that our efforts are paying off.”

Continues with ambitious growth strategy
The chairman of the board at RIVAL, Bo Schöler, gives his backing to both Henrik Holvad and the employees at RIVAL. “Skilful, engaged employees and managers is the core in successful strategy implementation,” Bo Schöler says. “Everyone at the company has made an effort to carry out the strategic goals, and it is especially due the convincing teamwork at RIVAL that the board keeps focusing on continuing with the ambitious growth strategy.”

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Difficult components call for the greatest skills

Critical and costly components to our customers in the oil and gas industry will be used to something very important. That calls for the very best employees and machines.

“It is a privilege to be a part of the RIVAL team,” machine worker Allan Mikkelsen says. “We are a small group of good employees, who work on the best machines to process the most difficult components to the craziest jobs. It is a cool and very interesting process to be a part of.”

The best machines to challenging tolerances
In this type of job to the oil and gas industry, we use the Mazak Integrex i400 multitasking machine. “The components are complicated, and they have challenging tolerances,” Allan Mikkelsen says.

“Therefore, we work closely together with QC-specialists at our measurement machine, and we continuously make sure, we are “on track”. All the components are delivered with an appended measurement report to document that we have done everything, the customer expected us to do. This leaves us with no room for mistakes.”

Read more about our multi machines, which can turn and mill in the same installation and perform full 3D processing, here.

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Collaborating with RIVAL gives peace of mind

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RIVAL actively takes on responsibility for the development and the production of advanced components. An important and valuable customer in the oil and gas industry appreciates this, and it builds the foundation for developing the collaboration.

Over the years, RIVAL has had a good and steady collaboration with a leading company in the oil and gas industry regarding the development and production of components to the company’s product, which works several kilometres under the surface of the sea. Very specific demands are made to quality, precision and reliability of delivery in this regard.

RIVAL’s long-time group manager and recently become project manager Torben Pedersen has been working with this customer from the beginning of the collaboration. During a longer period, he has worked intensively to refine measurements, tolerances and choice of processing methods to the customer’s components.

Curiosity leads to valuable knowledge
“We are always curious about our customers’ businesses and their projects. It is interesting to know, how they will make use of the components, we produce, in the end,” Torben says. “By knowing that, we can also easier secure that the components meet with the demands and needs, the individual customer has.”

“In this regard, the collaboration with the customer is an important factor. All our customers have a unique knowledge about their particular component and its’ use,” Torben says. “We offer a professional knowledge “from the outside”, we take a closer look on drawings and tolerances, and we ask the clarifying questions to make sure, we process the component appropriately – in terms of both quality and price. We know by experience that our professional knowledge means a great deal to the customer,” he says.

Putting things out in the open
As part of the close collaboration between the customer and RIVAL, things must be put out in the open and problems are articulated and solved immediately by the responsible employees. This is efficient and educational for both partners in the collaboration. At the same time, it helps ensuring high quality and delivery reliability.

RIVAL ensures peace of mind
The collaboration with RIVAL and the employees’ efforts are much appreciated by the customer’s purchasing manager, who has recently visited RIVAL. “I leave RIVAL with peace of mind, because they clearly have full control over the production of our components,” he says. “We are learning from each other’s companies, and this continuously develops and refines our collaboration.”

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“We add value”

The latest customer satisfaction survey shows just that. RIVAL’s owner and managing director Henrik Holvad is very happy about the results of the survey, as it is RIVAL’s first job to add value to the customers’ businesses.

In the fall of 2019, RIVAL implemented a customer satisfaction survey, which was completed by all buying customers. “We have improved on the overall parameters regarding our collaboration with the individual costumer, and we are close to scoring a 6,” Henrik Holvad says. “On a scale from 1 to 7, that’s pretty good.”

The same applies to two other important parameters in the survey – those regarding the quality and the delivery performance. On those parameters, the customers are still very satisfied with RIVAL, and that is the foundation for the many valuable collaborations, RIVAL has.

Overall solutions and skilful employees
RIVAL’s strategic focus on supplying overall solutions is recognised by RIVAL’s many loyal customers, who want RIVAL to take the full responsibility all the way through the production. The customers recognise that RIVAL is good at it, and they are satisfied with the coherence between service and price.

“Our employees play an important role in this matter, as they can take on responsibility for the costumers’ components as well as enter into dialogue with the customers, when adjustments are needed,” Henrik Holvad says. “At the same time, the survey shows that there is a great trust between the customers and our employees, which is crucial for a productive collaboration.”

Lack of awareness about mass-production options
Henrik Holvad recognises that the customers are not aware of RIVAL’s skills as a mass-producer even though RIVAL has made great investments in both new machines, robots and a two-sided production strategy.

More face-to-face communication
“I think, it is the price we are paying for communicating mainly through e-mail,” Henrik Holvad says. “That’s why Christian, RIVAL’s sales director, and I are paying much attention to telling our customers about our many competencies, when we meet them in real life.”

“Therefore, we are increasing our focus on meeting with our customers face-to-face to discuss our customer satisfaction survey in order to improve,” Henrik Holvad says.

Happiness, pride and new objects
The results of the customer satisfaction survey make Henrik Holvad happy and proud. “I am convinced that our strategic focus on overall solutions, our skilful employees and our trustful relation to the customers create means a great deal to our customers,” he says. “This has been confirmed from the results of the survey. However, that doesn’t mean that we rest on our laurels. We are constantly working to improve, so our customers will continue to “like” us.”

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