MAPAL representation in Sweden: Colly Verkstadsteknik

Colly’s core market is the automotive industry, which also forms the roots of its business activities and is still its most important consumer group. A long relationship exists with the automobile and lorry manufacturers Volvo and Scania and also include many suppliers to world renowned automotive and lorry makes. “Due to our cooperation with MAPAL, we have an exceptional reputation in the industry”, Erixon explains. Concentrating on the customer and endeavouring to meet their requirements and needs optimally with innovative products and solution concepts, “that is the claim that unites Colly and MAPAL. Through this commitment, we have been able to establish ourselves as a premium supplier on the market and earn the recognition of our customers.” Erixon has worked for the Swedish sales agency for 17 years and took over the helm in 2019. Björn Torslund is responsible for MAPAL tool sales. The product manager has amassed an immense amount of process knowledge over his 35 years at Colly. “Regardless of how complicated the machining task is, Björn Torslund will find a seemingly impossible tool solution”, Erixon reports. No wonder that most customers simply refer to Torslund as „Mr. MAPAL“.

Besides the automotive industry, Colly is also active in other sectors today. This development is due to the growth of MAPAL’s tool portfolio and their concentration on other markets. MAPAL’s expansion also allowed the Swedes to become active in new fields, such as forestry, mining or machine and plant engineering. And Mr. MAPAL also contributes his expert knowledge here, as an interesting application in mining shows: A manufacturer of rock drills needed carbide drills in various designs. In order to cover all tolerance classes for every bore diameter, seven tools were required. This was too much for the customer. Their request: The number of drills required was to be reduced to three. Torslund had numerous test series run on the customer’s machines as well as at MAPAL’s R&D centre in Aalen. “In the end, we found a solution which completely satisfied the customer’s requirements”, the product manager reports. With the support of the MAPAL experts, we were not only able to reduce the number of drills, we also doubled the tool life to 5,000 bores per drill from the requested 2,500 bores. “This additional performance was a bonus that really delighted the customer”, Torslund proudly explains. This example shows what customers expect from tool suppliers and the potential of high-quality precision tools. “In today’s mass production, there is no room for simple solutions. We have to develop machining concepts that achieve a high standard. With short cycle times and trouble-free production processes, one can achieve the highest degree of productivity”, says the tool expert. With customised process solutions, we are on the right track, according to Torslund. “Custom tools now make up half of our orders”, Conny Erixon confirms.