Åkerströms Wants to Contribute to Increased Safety in the Demolition Industry
Published: 15/1
Åkerströms, a Swedish manufacturer of radio control solutions, has roots dating back to 1918. The company sees interesting opportunities in the demolition industry and aims to show how its radio controls can contribute to improving both the safety of operators and the efficiency of the use of demolition robots, wall saws, floor sanders, and similar equipment.
Sweden has long been at the forefront of construction and demolition technology, from concrete cutting and hydrodemolition to floor grinding and polishing. So it’s hardly surprising that the country also leads the way in making that work safer at jobsites around the world, using advanced radio control technology. However, there is a product sector that we have not covered in-depth which today forms an important part of different products used in demolition, concrete cutting, hydrodemolition, floor prep, grinding and polishing of concrete floors. Since the beginning, a clear aspiration and orientation within all these business sectors has been to strive for increased safety, less manual work, increased efficiency and accuracy and improved quality of work. These goals can be achieved in many different ways, with one way being to use radio control machinery and tools. As a manufacturer of, for example, floor grinders, demolition robots, hydrodemolition robots or wall and wire saws, it is difficult to have internal competence to also develop radio control systems. Due to the difficulties, it is far better to buy this service and products from those who know how to develop them.
One such company is Åkerströms, based far from the hubbub of Stockholm in the small city of Björbo. Åkerströms’ radio control system is used today in a variety of industries and businesses. For several decades, Åkerströms has launched a series of groundbreaking products for radio control, which have solved many problems for customers and opened up new opportunities.
“Radio control has many advantages, not least in the demolition sector where the user is exposed to great risks,” explains Erika Ryttare, Åkerströms marketing manager. “With wireless controls, the operator gets away from the risk area and gets a greater overview of the work. We see great opportunities to be able to contribute to increased safety for both man and machine within the sectors.”
For Åkerströms, it is important to work closely with its customers, listen to their needs, and based on that develop smart solutions that save resources, increase efficiency and safety for the customer and, not least, offer a sustainable solution. For example, the company developed a customized radio control for Husqvarna Construction’s articulated Trench Compactor LP 9505.
Other machines that are controlled with radio control today are electric and hydraulic wall saws; wire saws; larger machines for treating concrete floors such as milling, shot blasting, grinding and polishing; larger core drilling systems; and operation of demolition and hydrodemolition robots. Radio control systems are also found in large and heavy high rise demolition machines with advanced demolition tools that work in sensitive areas. Even mobile recycling crushers and screens often require radio control at the jobsite.
“As we see it, only the imagination sets the limits,” says CEO Hans Åkerblom. “Any new idea can help improve the everyday work of users. As developers and manufacturers of the systems, we can contribute a lot here.”
A storied century
Åkerströms’ customers are found in many business sectors, including the transport industry, all types of process, mining, manufacturing, construction and heavy machinery, vehicle, maintenance, and of course, quality and safety operations. Founder Anders Åkerström was only 21 years old when the launched the company as what would today be called a “side gig” to his day job as a power station manager at a mill. Beginning with electric tile stove inserts, Åkerströms began developing products such as electric control systems for winches and forestry applications, and later added radio control features. That led to systems for railcars, boats, and locomotives. Åkerströms is also a leading player in the industrial door industry and has since the early 1960s been a major supplier of radio controls to large industries in the Nordic countries. In the early 2020s, the pioneering digital service Access_Ctrl was launched as a complement to Åkerströms’s radio controls to further increase personnel and operational safety in the industry. This year, Åkerströms has launched inhouse developed VR simulators for training crane operators.
Family-owned for much of its history, Åkerströms was sold in 2001 to the venture capital company BrainHeart Capital, and was later taken over by Allgon AB. The company exports to around 60 countries with exports constantly increasing. The development work takes place in Sweden, while all preparation and assembly of customized systems being carried out at the production unit in Björbo.
“Today, over 100 years after the company’s humble origins, we are one of the world’s most qualified developers and manufacturers of radio control solutions with more than 70 employees at our facility in Björbo,” says Åkerblom.
Yet while Åkerströms products has a worldwide reach, the company has stayed close to its rural Swedish roots. Indeed, the company’s production complex is located alongside the rapids of the Västerdal River—the same waterway that generated power for the mill where Anders Åkerström worked when he started his namesake company more than a century ago.
“Right now, a new and even more efficient hydroelectric plant is being built on the same site,” says Ryttare. “In the future, the plant will supply our entire facility and more with green electricity.”