Details

December 2018

The big move - one year later

It is now about a year since we relocated to our new premises - and therefore it is a good time to review the move that, for better or worse, has filled a lot in the past year.

The chief conclusion is that the physical removal of furniture, equipment and materials was easier than expected. The biggest challenge was the mental relocation.

"We were too ambitious," says managing director, Aage Agergaard

"When we had settled into the new factory with effortless ease, I thought that the time had come to also change the management structure and working procedures. Out with the old habits and routines, in with new and smarter ways to work - but we forgot to take into account the human factor. "

New routines take time
Aage Agergaard emphasizes that he is absolutely satisfied with the performance of the employees. However, when taking the new surroundings, new routines and many new employees during the year into account, too much pressure was simply placed too quickly on employees in the form of new routines in, among others, the machining department and new ways to organize production.

That is why the foot was taken off the gas during spring and summer in order to ensure Hjerno's high security of delivery. Instead, the organizational changes, which the company attempted to introduce all at once, are now being implemented at a measured pace over a twelve month period, says Aage Agergaard.

"Now we have more than just settled into the new surroundings. And we feel that we have gained a much better overview due to the new strategies we have introduced. We are able to service the customers in exactly the right way and at the same time generate the required turnover," he says, referring to the fact that despite the relocation, the company managed to keep the budget that was drawn up for the year before the decision on relocating was taken.

"So we are very grateful for that."

The relocation has sharpened the strategic focus
The desire to organize production and working procedures in a new way has so far resulted in the implementation of a completely new customized IT system as well as the establishment of a programming department that will help utilize the machine capacity even more than today.

"The relocation has sharpened our awareness about which way we should go: How we organize and structure our work, what our strategic goals should be and where we want to go as a business. So to a great extent it has also been a mental journey, "says Aage Agergaard.

At the same time, he is very pleased that Hjerno's customers showed such great understanding of the relocation and the resources that it required.

"Fortunately, our customers understood that the new surroundings and the increased production capacity would also benefit them now and in the future."