The newly-launched CEORA is targeted towards commercial turf care , and manufactured at Husqvarna ’ s Aycliffe Business Park facility .
Caraline said : “ We ’ ve carried out a gap analysis of our teams in order to identify the skills currently present within our workforce , with a focus on both training of our existing employees but also recruiting more people equipped to both project manage and industrialise the new product introductions we ’ re expecting to make in the coming years , along with the development and support of the expansion of our manufacturing capabilities and automatic production processes .
“ We now spend more than £ 100,000 a year on training and development of people . We have a large number of people across a number of technical disciplines , and will be recruiting an additional five technical apprentices this year .
“ At the same time , we ’ re anticipating several retirements over the next few years , including several managers ,” she continues .
“ There ’ s lots of opportunity for new talent – for example , automation engineers , new product engineers with design and project management skills , existing products engineers managing bills of materials and product change management , tooling engineers , injection moulding setters , facilities and multi-skilled technicians and materials schedulers .
“ We are recruiting for these vacancies
now and we welcome applications from anyone who is interested in a career with us .
“ Applications can be made via our website at husqvarnagroup . com / en / joinus .”
For those set to join Husqvarna in the coming months , there ’ s plenty to look forward to .
“ It ’ s an opportunity to be involved at the beginning of the development of exciting new robotic lawnmowers , at a very promising time for automation in garden and lawn care ,” Caraline insists .
“ We ’ re already the leaders in the supply of robotic lawnmowers to residential customers where there are more innovations to come , and we ’ re now starting to see commercial opportunities emerge in what is a relatively untapped market with CEORA .” New product launches With more than 42 years of experience at Husqvarna , Caraline believes that the culture within the company speaks for itself . “ I wouldn ’ t have been here for that long if I didn ’ t really enjoy working here ,” she says .
“ It ’ s a very collaborative environment on site , many departments regularly engage and team up with our colleagues abroad , in particular our R & D teams based in Sweden . The culture we promote and the mindset we try to develop is one of collaboration and problem solving or ‘ What can I do – what can I do to go the extra mile to support my colleagues in their work ? What can I do to help the business to thrive ?’ We also have a strong focus on diversity and inclusion ( D & I ) as a business , with an emphasis on D & I awareness training .”
With initial product sales for CEORA already underway , the prospects for Husqvarna are bright . “ Moving forward , we have a number of new product introductions planned ,” Caraline confirms .
“ As ever , we ’ ll retain a strong focus on robotics , and we ’ ll continue to innovate across our range from both a design and manufacturing perspective .
“ We have plans to introduce new systems and processes , including a manufacturing execution system ,” she concludes .
“ The technology itself is not brand new , but it ’ s something that we ’ ll be embracing in order to help gather real-time data about our processes , to drive efficiency improvements more effectively .
“ In parallel , we ’ ll be expanding our automation and assembly facilities to support this fantastic UK manufacturing business for the bright future we have ahead of us .”
Visit husqvarna . com / uk to find out more about Husqvarna ’ s products and career opportunities .
Feature reproduced with permission from Manufacturing Today Magazine .
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 19