7 minute read
On track with EAB
As per tradition, EAB took part in Vasaloppet 2020, this year with five teams. For the 9th year, we were able to follow our skiers along the track from Sälen to Mora. To be ready for the competition, preparations began well in advance. Back in late summer and autumn 2019, our brave skiers were already training by roller-skiing - just like skiing, but without the snow.
IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP BREATHING
Many of the skiers train together and hold a "Tabata” session together in EAB's sports hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays to charge themselves and pep each other up. This is a set-up that creates good camaraderie and solidarity just before the race. To help us, we've brought in skier Henrik Alm from Gnosjö, to give us some worthwhile tips. During the week he works as a ski instructor and came 40th in last year's Vasaloppet, so he knows what he's talking about!
A wax pro from SWIX has also visited us and taught us everything about waxing skis. He taught us about the various wax products available on the market and which ones were the best for all the skiers at EAB.
When we visited Hestra Gloves in Hestra, we also found out everything about how the gloves, especially the skiing gloves, are made.
TIGHT BATTLE ON THE TRACKS
Upon departure for Kläppen, where the whole team would be staying, there was a lot of happiness and anticipation ahead of the race. Once there, they recharged their batteries prior to Friday's trials.
On Friday the first skiers were ready to start at 7:30 that morning in Sälen, the starting point. A misty morning quickly turned into a fantastic, crispy day. With good tracks and good speed, the five teams fought it out for 90 kilometres with handovers in Mångsbodarna, Evertsberg, Oxberg and Hökberg, until finally reaching the finishing line in Mora.
”Fast tracks and sun in mind the whole way”
THE FINISH
First over the finishing line was Stefan Höögs from Team 5, who together with his teammates Malin Candell, Niclas Svensson, Johan Tillberg and Martin Mårtensson took home the trophy with a time of 05:40:29. Close behind, with a gap of just 6 seconds, Team 4 crossed the line and only a few minutes later, Team 3, Team 1 and, finally, Team 2 skied home.
”There's a huge amount of knowledge here”
When Martin Johansson was deciding where to study, he opted for Jönköping University and Mechanical Engineering – product development and design. This is a high-ranking university, but this was not the main reason that he chose Jönköping.
”I've been a competition rower for a long time and worked hard, so the main reason I moved to Jönköping was to be able to have a go for the national team. During that time I competed a lot and rowed, for instance, in the World Rowing Cup."
It began with work experience Martin is from Falkenberg and when it was time for work experience and his thesis, he wanted to be closer to the coast again. After hearing what his friends and acquaintances had to say, he decided that EAB sounded like a company that would fit his career goals and ambitions. Contact was made and in the spring of 2018 he took eight weeks' work experience in the storage equipment department. This placement led to a summer job and during the autumn he wrote his thesis here at EAB. As he approached the end of his thesis, he was offered a permanent position and since then he has been employed as a project engineer. Smålandsstenar is located some 70 kilometres from Falkenberg, but there was a lot that attracted Martin to EAB and still makes it well worth commuting. ”The commute takes one hour roughly, but I think it's nice to get this hour in the car. I pool with a colleague almost every day, which naturally makes it a bit easier. When I started, I felt right away that I could be really happy here. I really like my colleagues and working so close to the products we make, with the offices and production in the same building. The first thing that struck me when I started here was that things are kept in good order, and that everything from premises to staff and customer relations are highly valued.”
Mats Carlsson is business area manager for Storage Equipment and is proud to have employed many students who have written their theses at EAB.
”We see it as a positive thing to be able to offer thesis opportunities to motivated students and, for us, this is a great opportunity to prepare them for future employment. Together, our project planners and the student produce a case that fulfils a function for us, as we believe it is much more fun to write about something that will fulfil a purpose in our day-to-day work. It's a win-win!”
Finally, Martin, what tips do you have for those who want to write their theses at EAB? ”If you write your thesis at EAB, you'll gain so much, and not only theoretical knowledge, but also practical experience. There's a huge amount of knowledge in this building and it's fantastic to be part of it.”
Strong at work
16 years ago, EAB made a major investment in healthcare and built a gym and relaxation centre with sauna, which can be used by all employees and their families. This turned out well, and today, the gym is used frequently, both before work, during lunch breaks and in the afternoons and evenings. Every day, 15- 25 people train in the premises and numbers are growing all the time.
Effective lunchtime training Stefan Kjellström is one of those who started training at lunchtime. ”I started lunchtime training about ten years ago. I'm a horse and forest farmer in my spare time and at that time also were to become a dad. I felt that the time after work wasn't enough. So I started high-performance training for half an hour at lunchtime instead. As people started talking about it, more and more came along, and the numbers haven't dwindled since. Since I have a background in sports, such as volleyball where you always train together, I think it's great that we've become a loyal group who train at the same time. I appreciate the social aspect almost as much as the training itself," says Stefan and laughs.
Christoffer Lust, who is also a frequent visitor to the gym, is one of the devotees of the lunchtime training trend. ”I can say that interest in our premises has increased during the time that I've worked here. For one, you can visibly see more people in the
premises now than a few years ago. But secondly, we've noticed that suggestions for improvements have increased and this points towards an increased interest in using the premises," says Christoffer.
The gym is well equipped with various weighttraining machines, exercise bikes, cross trainers, rowing machines, cable-cross and free weights. A lifting cage with safety rods is also available for various ski pole exercises, such as bench press, squat rack, deadlift and military press. The equipment was recently updated with additional bar-bells in several sizes, and a weight vest, and the ski pole machine was updated with new belts and handles to be more ski-like.
Creates a good sense of community
In addition to the gym, there is also a small sports hall used for various sessions. Two days a week, Tabata is on the timetable, a high-intensity training session that takes place immediately after work. Badminton, floorball and table tennis are also played here, and sessions such as boxing are occasionally organised, for which they bring in external instructors. Several people use the premises as a basis for fitness training, such as running or roller skiing.
”The opportunity to train in this way is of really great benefit for us, and it also creates an excellent sense of community among staff from all the company's different departments," says Christoffer.
From 159 to 55.000 square metres
EAB's journey began in a basement on Tegnérsgatan in Smålandsstenar. The first move was to a 159-sq.m. industrial site in the East Industrial Park, where we stayed until December 1988, on the completion of the new 17.000 sq.m.* in the best possible location along Nissastigen. The new address was Stålgatan 2 and has been EAB's heart ever since. EAB currently has 5,000 sq.m. of floorspace and spans 300 metres from north to south.
* The green shading shows the original 17,000 sq.m.
STORAGE EQUIPMENT | DOORS | STEEL BUILDINGS 333 33 SMÅLANDSSTENAR, SWEDEN TEL +46 371-340 00 | WWW.EAB.SE
