33-year-old Ida Marie Andersen has worked at RIVAL for three years. It wasn’t in the cards that she was going to work at a machine company. However, she is happy that she ended up at RIVAL.

Ida starts her day at the Mazak FH 8800 machine, where she checks the components that have been machined overnight. Ida is responsible for moving and cleaning the finished components and then shipping them off to the costumer.
Next, she mounts the new components in the machine, which are then ready to be machined during the day. The machining goes on 24 hours a day and is a part of RIVAL’s two-sided production strategy.
Then, she meets up with the small milling group and continues on with similar tasks at two different machines, which are automatically driven.

Training to become an industrial operator
Before starting her work at RIVAL, Ida has tried out different educations and she received cash benefit, because she didn’t know, what she wanted to do.

“The local authority informed me that I had the chance to start out an internship at RIVAL for three months,” Ida says. “I said yes, and after the three months I was offered permanent employment.”
“Now, I’m in the middle of my industrial operator education, which I finish in April 2022. I’m a bit dyslexic, but it’s not an issue, even though we do have academic work, because there are several good it-tools at school, which help me. And I know, I can always ask my colleagues at RIVAL, if I need help,” she says.

A part of the team
Ida is very happy to be a part of the small milling group at RIVAL. “It is nice to be a part of something and to be responsible for something,” she says. “I’m very happy with my colleagues at RIVAL, they are all ready to help me out, if I need it. Likewise, I’m always ready to offer my help to anyone, who asks. That’s the culture here at RIVAL, which I appreciate a lot.”

Long-term collaborations and mutually committing partnerships lead the way to success. That’s the attitude at RIVAL. “We don’t sign contracts to bind one another – instead, partnerships bind us together,” sales director Christian Aarup says.

RIVAL invests in strong and stable partnerships, in which value is created by relying on each other and by sharing the challenges together.

Open dialogues and trusting relationships
RIVAL recognises the value in entering into an open dialogue with both customers and suppliers when negotiating new long-term contracts to establish a trusting relationship from the beginning. “Everyone knows, it is expensive to initiate a new collaboration, and therefore it is important to openly discuss how the partnership can create value for both parties,” Christian Aarup says. “We have to look at the entire process with total cost in mind and have the courage to share challenges and solutions. We and our partners are only ready to do so, if we have a trusting relationship,” he says.

Partnerships create value for both parties
Today, several of RIVAL’s customers value the strong long-term partnerships. They experience, how a joint investment in the right start-up of new projects provides a smooth working day and thereby deliveries on time. “At the same time, we have an ongoing open dialogue about potential challenges,” Christian Aarup says.

“We have a shared interest in solving the problems, because it is for our common good. Of course, we also talk price, and here we can match an EU price level. Yet, price is rarely a part of the ongoing dialogue as we speak openly about things and trust that the price is set right, so both parties can have healthy business,” he says.


Close collaboration with suppliers

RIVAL has also built a valuable and strong partnership with several suppliers, who have become close business partners in the running-in of new machines and components. “It creates value both ways,” Christian Aarup says. “We obtain know-how for the benefit of both our employees and customers. Likewise, our suppliers obtain new know-how from us, which they can use in other contexts, and they get a strong and long-lasting partnership with us,” he says.

Strong partnerships with professional organisations
A professional organisation that collaborates with RIVAL on several levels is often the type of partner, RIVAL builds the strongest partnerships with. “Repeatedly, we have experienced the trust and building of common value it gives to have a dialogue with several contact points in the customer’s organisation,” Christian Aarup says. “It offers completely different opportunities to make things happen and develop the collaboration for the common good,” he says.

Se flere nyheder

Competent feedback on solution methods and tolerances through dialogue with experienced industrial technicians, who know, what they are talking about. That is what BILA wanted, and that is what they got in their collaboration with RIVAL.

In mid-august, DNV GL carried out an ISO audit at RIVAL. The company is now for the ninth time certified in accordance with ISO 9001, which meets the expectations of RIVAL’s chairman of the bord.

“The open and trustful approach that characterises RIVAL has spread out to the company’s quality procedure,” chairman of the board Bo Schöler says and continues:

“It is a pleasure to experience that DNV’s auditor commends RIVAL’s work and the way everything is organised. It is initiated with the spirit of the owners and managers and spreads to the rest of the organisation. There is a great focus on following the procedures, which are all structured in our management system and continually adjusted.”

Daily focus
At RIVAL, there is a daily focus on improving the internal procedures. “It is crucial for us to focus on the quality area in order to continue adding value to our business,” CEO and owner Henrik Holvad says. “That includes both deviations and customer complaints, follow-ups on measurements and plans of action, overview on employee skills and more. That’s why we are very happy with the positive feedback on the newest audit,” he says.

Se flere nyheder

On a Saturday in August, 30 employees from RIVAL travelled by bus to the Danish defence in Oksbøl to look at PIRANHA 5 and EAGLE 5 vehicles, which RIVAL produces components to.

“It felt great to kick the tires of the vehicles and to go for a drive,” machine worker Karsten Hald says. “It is always meaningful to see the final products, which we produce components to. It definitely increases the understanding of and the motivation in the daily work.”

World-class knowledge sharing
A part of RIVAL’s strategy is to ensure understanding of the entire value chain and the quality standards of the final product. This is crucial for delivering top quality parts to the world’s coolest defence vehicles. “The visit at the Danish defence was a great opportunity for our company and our daily work,” sales director Christian Aarup says.

“At the same time, a trip like this is valuable for the team spirit in our company, which is a big part of our culture. So, we are very happy that Major Claus Johansen and his team wanted to spend a day with us.”

Dedicated and top motivated
After the day trip at the Danish defence, Major Claus Johansen wrote the following about us:
“I got the impression that RIVAL might be relatively new in the defence industry, however the management and employees are dedicated and top motivated. In any case, I would recommend all my colleagues in Denmark and internationally to keep an eye on RIVAL.”

Se flere nyheder

Over the last 12 months, RIVAL has bought three new DMG MORI high-end production machines. Latest, DMG MOR’s “Milling Beast”, the DMU 75 monoBLOCK, has landed at RIVAL as a part of the company’s strategy and close collaboration with DMG MORI.

“The new DMG MORI DMU 75 monoBLOCK’s main task is clear. It will produce eight critical components to our new Norwegian customer’s important project to the Danish Defence,” production manager Søren Djursland says.

The strategy
The production halls run with full speed and produce critical and costly components with focus on quality and fast delivery. “It is crucial to continue the good flow in the production,” Søren Djursland says. “Therefore, we have decided to increase our capacity, even though we could have managed with our existing gear.

The new gear, however, will make it possible for us to start up a fast production of components to a new customer in the defence industry while maintaining our existing customer agreements without any delays.”


Ground-breaking collaboration with DMG

RIVAL’s new 5-axis “Milling Beast” works with up to 20.000 revs per minute, and it can machine components with dimensions up to 735x650x560 mm. “We work closely together with DMG MORI and SECO TOOLS in the implementation and running-in of the machine,” Søren Djursland says. “Our close collaboration is ground-breaking. We seek to utilize each other’s strength, which our customers benefit from. This collaboration has come to stay.”

Se flere nyheder