design:CASE / J Hvidtved Larsen

design:CASE Design is not just relevant for furniture and lamps. Sewer cleaning technology also makes better business with design. That is the experience at a manufacturing company where turnover has grown by 450%.

danish design centre

facts about J Hvidtved Larsen mio DKK Gross profit Pre-tax profit Export share

2001

2006

38 8,6 around 25%

61 18,2 around 75%

J Hvidtved Larsen was founded in 1915 by blacksmith Jacob Hvidtved Larsen, who made a living repairing motorcycles and other mechanical devices as well as being the local driving teacher. Today, the company focuses exclusively on sewer cleaning technology and has an export share of 70-80%. JHL now has exports to 28 countries and sales partners in Russia, Latvia, Poland, the Netherlands/Belgium, the UK, Ireland, Australia/New Zealand, Sweden, and Norway.

Before its investment in new production design, the company scraped by – with small and varying profit margins. Today, JHL has sound and rising profits – currently at DKK 17 million – and a stable workforce of 130.

J Hvidtved Larsen A/S 15, Lillehøjvej 8600 Silkeborg Denmark Tel +45 8682 1211 www.hvidtved.com

RATIONAL PRODUCTION

Ten years ago, J Hvidtved Larsen was a small machine shop

This assignment went to Nils Toft from the design firm CBD,

like so many others. They produced sewer cleaning technology,

and as he would soon discover, he had his work cut out for him:

cranes and chassis frames for buses, they fixed the fountain in the town square, and they even handled the maintenance

“It was immediately apparent that JHL’s production processes

of Hjejlen – the world’s oldest functioning paddle steamer,

were anything but rational,” says Nils Toft. “In the company’s

which is in operation on the Silkeborg Lakes.

own perception, they custom-built every sewer cleaning vehicle for the individual buyer, so they would start from scratch every

“We did all sorts of things,” says R&D Manager Jesper

time – assembling parts, testing them, taking them apart again,

Hejselbæk. “At the time, we felt that the diversity made us

painting them, and finally putting it all back together. But that

less vulnerable: If demand for sewer cleaning technology were

was not actually necessary, since the vehicles really weren’t that

to drop temporarily, we could simply switch to something else.

unique. Once we analysed the production process, we found

But the catch was that we never became very good at any of it.

that 90% of the components are the same. It made sense, then,

In particular, it’s difficult to properly price assignments that are

to combine those into prefab, pre-painted standard modules.”

outside one’s main area. So, sometimes we were really off the mark, and that affected our earning capacity.”

This idea was well received by JHL, and the new production design, which is based on standard modules – but still with

When Søren Hvidtved Larsen took over as the third generation

room for special requests from individual buyers – was

of the Hvidtved Larsen family, he raised the bar. Continuing

marketed under the brand name FlexLine in 2000.

the down same old path was no longer satisfactory – it was time to expand the company. The R&D manager describes the early stages of this endeavour: “We analysed our production and found that the most prominent product – and a product where we had gradually become market leaders in Denmark – was sewer cleaning vehicles. In Denmark, the total demand for these vehicles does not exceed 20 or 30 a year, so if we wanted to expand within this industry, we could only do it through exports.”

The managing director therefore began to join business delegations on international tours, and the very first stop, St Petersburg, proved to have a big demand for sewer cleaning technology. So big, in fact, that there are now 80 sewer cleaning vehicles carrying the JHL logo in operation in St Petersburg alone.

Until then, however, JHL had only produced some 20 sewer cleaning vehicles a year, so they now had to work out how to turn out enough vehicles to cover the demand. In other words, they needed to take a long, hard look at their production design.

SATISFIED CUSTOMERS

Three pieces of advice from Jesper Hejselbæk

“Now we’re telling the customer what he wants, unlike before, when the customer defined the assignment,” says Jesper

1. If you are not 100% certain what you want

Hejselbæk, who points out some of the many advantages

to do, contact a big design firm with plenty

of this new approach:

of experience.

2. If you have a clear plan, pick a design firm

based on personal chemistry and geographic

proximity.

“Of course, the main thing is that this makes our production far more efficient – faster, cheaper and better.”

3. Do not assume that designers won’t be able

to teach you anything, because they are

“We used to make 20 vehicles a year, and this year we’ve

outsiders who know nothing about your

made 110. Now we can assemble the standard modules before

company. Often it is precisely because they

we receive the vehicle that the modules are to be mounted on.

don’t know anything about your company

That has reduced our delivery time by half, and since we’re now

that they might teach you something.

able to pace the work much more evenly, we can maintain a much more stable workforce, compared with the past, when the workforce would cycle up and down based on the order books.”

One might expect the customers to be unhappy with the standardisation, but that is not the case – Jesper Hejselbæk explains: “One of CBD’s designs was a standard operation panel, which means that the buttons controlling the various functions are in the same location across different vehicles. That is a huge benefit for the operators; it increases their flexibility that all their drivers can operate all the different vehicles. It is also an advantage when the vehicles come in for service that the wiring is arranged in the same way, as opposed to the past when we had handmade drawings for the individual vehicle.”

Thus, the new production design has many advantages, which now seem obvious to anyone. But according to Nils Toft from CBD, it is not unusual that it takes a design firm to sort things out: “We work with a wide range of companies, and inefficient production processes, like the ones we found at Hvidtved Larsen, are very common. First of all, with our experience, we notice these things immediately. And secondly, it often takes an outsider to adopt a sort of helicopter view and disregard the way things have been done traditionally.”

OUTSIDE INSPIRATION

The success of the FlexLine series in 2000 gave the staff at JHL a taste for more, and since then they have continued to involve external design assistance.

In 2002, this resulted in the RECycler model, which was developed in collaboration with the largest buyer of sewer cleaning vehicles in Denmark, ISS. The idea is simply that RECycler cleans the waste water and recycles it for jetting rather than using fresh, clean water from the tap.

This technique reduces water consumption, which means improved resource efficiency and environmental sustainability, but that is not even the most important advantage for the customer. ISS has calculated how much effective jetting time they get with the RECycler versus traditional sewer cleaning technology. And this is where the biggest benefit is found: With a traditional sewer cleaning vehicle, 80% of the time is spent driving and filling up the water tank, while only 20% is effective operation time. With the RECycler, these factors are reversed: Only 20% of the time is spent driving and filling up the water tank, while an impressive 80% is spent on the job.

100%

60%

40%

20%

0%

Efficiency gain

Total time consumption

80%

Jetting Filling up the water tank Driving

NEW CUSTOMERS

The RECycler model is JHL’s most expensive product, but

The solution was found in collaboration with the Århus-based

developments and expansions also take place at the other end

design firm Made by Makers. The technical details are patented

of the product range. In 2006, the CityFlex model was launched.

and will not be revealed here, but there is also an aesthetic side

The managing director had the idea for this product on another

to the new sewer cleaning vehicle: “Many people associate

business delegation trip, this time in connection with the Danish

sewer cleaning with something ‘yucky’. But in fact, it’s quite the

Queen’s visit to Tokyo: “In Tokyo’s crooked one-way streets,

opposite. Before the sewer cleaning vehicle arrives, the sewer

it was impossible to operate a normal sewer cleaning vehicle,”

may be yucky, but afterwards, it is clean. That is why Made by

says Søren Hvidtved Larsen, who witnessed first-hand how the

Makers went for a ‘clean’ look in their design of the CityFlex,”

Japanese approached the task: “Eight men showed up in four

says Jesper Hejselbæk, who believes that his customers also

cars – one for suction, one for jetting, one carrying equipment,

care about aesthetics.

and one carrying personnel. I figured there had to be a better way to do this – with one guy in one car. Earlier that day, we

“There is growing competition in the sewer cleaning business

had visited the container terminal, and seen how easy it was

too, so our customers are becoming increasingly aware of their

to have goods shipped out in 20-foot containers. So on the

image. And the cleaner the design is – the fewer nooks and

way home on the plane, I dreamt of a small, compact sewer

crannies there are – the easier it is to wash the vehicle and

cleaning vehicle especially made for the narrow passageways

keep it clean. And that essentially benefits the company whose

of big cities, which would fit into a 20-foot container.”

logo is displayed on the vehicle.”

Once that idea landed on the R&D manager’s desk, he knew

The success of CityFlex surprised even the sewer cleaning

it was time to call in the designers once more.

experts at JHL: “We thought we knew all the potential buyers of sewer cleaning vehicles in Denmark,” says Jesper Hejselbæk,

“This was another major change in the way we had been doing things up till then. And that is where it helps to have a fresh set of eyes and an untraditional approach.”

“but the CityFlex model has opened up a whole new customer

“One thing I really like about designers is that they’re not afraid

This means that only one year after the market launch of the

to ask stupid questions – ‘How come you do it that way?’ –

designer mini-model, about every third sewer cleaning vehicle

Often, the answer is, ‘Because we’ve always done it that way.’

that leaves Hvidtved Larsen’s factory is one of these small,

And that’s never a good reason to do anything.”

compact models. And they are going to be in operation

group. It is so affordable that large contractors can now have their own sewer cleaning vehicle. This year alone, we’ve sold 25 CityFlex vehicles, and next year we expect to ship 45-50.”

throughout the world, as JHL now has exports to 28 countries.

With CityFlex, the design task revolved mainly around new materials. A small sewer cleaning device has to go on a small lorry with a maximum load of 7.5 tons. Since the vehicle itself weighs in at 2.5 tons, and it must be able to carry some 3 tons of sludge, that leaves only 2 tons for the equipment that weighs 8-10 tons in a normal sewer cleaning device.

“The development that we’ve seen over the past ten years

The managing director is also convinced that designers have much

has been astonishing,” says Jesper Hejselbæk. “Ten years ago,

to offer Danish industry:

we might sell the occasional sewer cleaning vehicle outside Denmark – if the international customers came to us.”

“If you walk through a residential neighbourhood, you can tell that this house was designed by a bricklayer, this one by a carpenter,

The bottom line reflects this impressive development: Ten years

and that one by an architect. Similarly, when you look at industrial

ago, the company had rather narrow margins, and in Jesper

products, you can tell if they’ve been constructed by engineers

Hejselbæk’s words, it was “not a particularly convincing asset.”

alone, or whether designers have been involved. You simply get a

Now, it is a thriving business with profits that recently reached

better result when you mix the professions,” says Søren Hvidtved

17 million on a continuing upwards trend.

Larsen. He is in fact trained as an engineer, but that does not keep him from concluding:

“Of course, you can’t put everything down to design.

But working with designers has clearly helped drive our company forward,” says Jesper Hejselbæk, who encourages other companies to take on design. In his understated way, he says, “No harm in having a meeting.”

“If you get three engineers together, they’ll all say the same. But if you get an engineer, a designer, and maybe a PR guy together, you’ll get a variety of ideas, and that’s when things begin to happen.”

danish design centre

Published by:

The Danish Design Centre has its headquarters

Danish Design Centre

on Hans Christian Andersens Boulevard in the middle of Copenhagen in a building, designed by professor,

HC Andersens Boulevard 27 1553 Copenhagen V Denmark

architect Henning Larsen. The building houses offices, exhibition halls, a professional conference centre, a shop and a café, all run by the Danish Design Centre.

Tel +45 3369 3369 Fax +45 3369 3300

The Design Centre was established in 1978 and moved

design@ddc.dk

to its present headquarters in 2000.

www.ddc.dk Text:

The Danish Design Centre’s assignment is based on the Danish government’s design policy of promoting innovation and growth in Denmark and strengthening

Kris Gudiksen Kappel Photographer: Jens Peter Engedal

the international competitiveness of Danish businesses.

The Centre is an independent institution under the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. In addition, the Danish Design Centre handles a number of specific promotional tasks for the Danish Ministry of Culture.

The Danish Design Centre’s vision is to document, promote and brand Danish design on a national and international level by: • Increasing the knowledge about design and the

economic effects of design in Danish industry

especially in the small and medium-sized companies

buyers of design through development of competences

• Branding Danish design nationally and internationally His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik is the patron of the Danish Design Centre.

For further information please visit

www.ddc.dk

Design og layout: Scandinavian Branding A/S og Susanne Schenstrøm, DDC

• Professionalizing the Danish design companies and