Tronrud engineers hi-tech solutions

Over the last three decades, Tronrud Engineering has grown from a one-man company to a leading provider of advanced technological solutions for a wide range of industries, including the automotive, aerospace and photovoltaic sectors.

Its wide-ranging expertise has been used to make machines for packaging toothbrushes and CDs, the assembly of car airbag sensors and mobile phones, the production of stapler guns, the recycling of TV screens, the conversion of analog movies to digital format and even mapping the ocean floor.

Now with more than 100 employees, the Norwegian company is one of the largest special machinery makers in Scandinavia.

To meet burgeoning demand, it moved to a new 9,000 sq m production facility at a private airport this year that will also house its research and development center.

Specialized in building complete factories with production lines for silicon wafers, Tronrud Engineering boosted its business in the international photovoltaic market over the past few years.

Due to in-house development of solutions that increase speed and output quality, the demand for its production equipment has doubled every two years since 2000. It is now making fifth-generation equipment for the biggest solar cell companies around the world.

In aerospace, Tronrud Engineering has made an automated production line for welding on vanes for jet turbines.

The company has also developed an automated baiting machine for commercial fishing, an innovation that has challenged traditional non-selective fishing methods, and is currently the only fishing method that does not damage the seabed.

It has also made production lines for fish crates as well as other units for food processing and snack packaging.

Another of its advanced products is TC-1, a computer-controlled, manually operated jacquard and dobby loom marketed by Digital Weaving Norway, its division for the textile market.

With potential to cater to China's enormous textile industry, the machine is sold around the world, primarily to textile artists and designers as well as design schools.

Tronrud Engineering says it hopes to collaborate in China with partners to develop and produce more innovative solutions and provide its customers with a competitive advantage for further profitability.

www.tronrud.no

(China Daily 04/14/2008 page29)