£ 3m + capital investment and a major new product for Husqvarna in 2022
A BRIGHT FUTURE
Husqvarna manufacturing director Caraline Robinson and Aycliffe Business Park Community ’ s Martin Walker with Husqvarna employees ( back , left to right ) Connor Noble , Rebeca Foi , Baljinder Singh and Tom Baxter . PICTURE BY TOM BANKS
Professional forest , park , and garden products manufacturer Husqvarna celebrated the launch of its new CEORA product line this year , signalling the beginning of a new era of commercial opportunities …
It ’ s been a challenging few years for Husqvarna – a specialist in the manufacture of a broad range of garden and forest equipment , including chainsaws , tractors , and robotic lawnmowers .
The emergence of Covid-19 in 2020 , with government-mandated lockdowns which impacted operations at its Aycliffe site , led to actions being taken quickly to respond to the new normal .
“ We are a highly seasonal business , and Covid-19 started just as we were at the peak of production in 2020 ,” reflects Caraline Robinson , manufacturing director at Husqvarna .
“ Nevertheless , we adapted well as a business , segregating our teams around the site , introducing masks and temperature checks , and moving online where possible – changes which we are currently in the process of now being able to ease .”
But with more than 300 years of history , Husqvarna isn ’ t going anywhere . In 2022 , the company launched CEORA , an autonomous robotic lawnmowing solution .
“ CEORA is very much targeted towards commercial turf care ,” Caraline explains .
“ It offers the cutting results you would expect from a Husqvarna robotic solution , but on a greater scale , thanks to systematic cutting and zone-management technology . It ’ s ideal for use on sports pitches , golf courses , or large public areas .” Further investments As a brand-new product , without a comparable equivalent on the market , it ’ s an exciting time for Husqvarna , and particularly for its Aycliffe manufacturing site .
“ We ’ re the only factory in the Husqvarna Group producing CEORA at this time ,” Caraline notes .
“ One of our residential robotic lawnmowing products will contain approximately 300 components . In CEORA , there ’ s almost four times that number – so it ’ s a complex assembly process , and we have developed our own in-house systems to be able to guarantee the build quality we require .
“ At the same time , we ’ re also rolling out the production of lithium-ion battery packs , for
Husqvarna launched the new CEORA , an autonomous robotic lawnmowing solution , in 2022 .
use across our complete robotic lawnmower range ,” she adds .
“ We ’ ve invested over £ 1m into semiautomatic production processes in order to create an in-house battery manufacturing facility providing a battery pack dual sourcing opportunity for risk mitigation purposes , encompassing everything from automatic welding , soldering , laser marking , and testing .”
To support this broadening of its technical capabilities , Husqvarna is making further investments in the development of its teams , a practice referred to within the company as ‘ strategic workforce planning ’.
18 | Aycliffe Business