We are pleased that we were able to build on the success of 2016 and 2017, which makes 2018 an even better year. Further improvements were achieved in 2018 throughout R&D and through our improvement philosophy we continued to improve our defined KPIs to achieve higher customer satisfaction as well as increase productivity. Which in turn has made us even more competitive. On the sales and customer side, we continued to win new projects with existing customers in addition to building relationships with new customers, both within industry and the automotive industry, says Magnus Emeus, CEO of IV Group.

The continuous improvement philosophy and mentality that has been implemented in the company in recent years paves the way for our further planned improvements across the entire group in the years to come.

In our 3-year strategic plan, we outline how we will develop the group and the respective subsidiaries in the coming years. Growth is obviously our highest priority going forward, along with areas such as productivity, quality and delivery improvements. These priorities go hand in hand as a prerequisite for growth is almost always to ensure that your operational KPIs continue to develop in a positive way, concludes Magnus Emeus.

IV Techmould in Suzhou outside Shanghai is IV Group's largest operation. They have continued to improve during 2018, where winning new sales along with further productivity improvements are the highlights.

"2018 was the best year in IV Techmould's history where improvements were achieved in many areas. The most important thing was that customers continued to show faith in us by assigning us several new projects where we will supply them parts for the next 4 years. In addition to further improved productivity, we also invested in new and efficient equipment to support our new business prices going forward, says Fredrik Carlsson, MD at IV Techmould."

IV Moulding, in Leksvik Norway, has introduced 2 new important customers during 2018 and the company therefore expects to increase sales over the next 3 years.

"Starting up production for two new strategic customers during 2018 is very gratifying for IV Moulding. These grants together with a continued high focus on new sales activities will help the company to increase sales in the coming years. In parallel, we have continued to lower the cost level which means an even lower level of coverage. We will continue to focus on both of these areas to ensure good development for the company in the coming years, says Magnus Emeus, acting director of IV Microplast."

Industrial tools, also in Leksvik Norway, improve year by year. After seeing a good improvement during 2017, the company came out even better in 2018.

"We are growing in each of our business segments, tool manufacturing, maintenance and repair of tools and machining. In parallel, we are developing our organization and our way of working, to make ourselves more efficient and improve our KPIs. We will continue to improve in the aforementioned the areas and combine this with a number of good machine investments that will make us even stronger on the market, "says Kaj Vidar Sandvold, MD at Industriutilket.