Cooperation and emotional patriotism take Telesteps to new heights

In the autumn of 2013, Peter Heim took over as CEO of Telesteps and soon after, he started to investigate the possibilities of moving production home from China. The goal was to find a cost-effective solution with a focus on proximity, accessibility and quality.

The process was slow and for a long time it looked progressively more difficult to get the right figures when production was moved from China to Sweden.

A phone call and everything started rolling

But suddenly one day Peter Heim got a phone call that would change everything. One of the Swedish suppliers that Peter had previously been in contact with called and asked if the production had been brought home from China yet. If not, they would like to present a proposal on how they could build a fully automated production for Telesteps.

– I hardly thought it was true, it felt almost too good, says Peter and he is silent for a second and it is noticeable how clearly, he remembers that conversation. It was July 12, 2018.

The next day, Peter visited the supplier. He was completely “blown away” as he himself describes it, by the large clean surfaces with fully automated machines that were skillfully maneuvered by a handful of people.

– It was so cool. In China, it took 30-40 people in production and the factories there are quite messy, but here it was just so big, efficient and so quiet.

Peter’s dream of a Swedish production took off again and he immediately started working with the project, making reality of his dream.

Major change required secrecy

In the beginning, it was basically only Peter who knew about the process at Telesteps. Working with strict secrecy in such large change processes is common. This is to secure smooth flow in the process and eliminating risks.

– I had a lot of sleepless nights during this time, Peter continues with weight in his words, but quickly adds that he has also never seen a project run as smoothly as this.

The factory is unique

When the machines for the new factory was ordered, was decided to simultaneously convert all of Telestep’s ladders to triangular aluminum profiles instead of the traditionally round profiles. It is a revolutionary construction that Telesteps has previously patented.

– As we proudly say, the triangular is one of the world’s strongest aluminum profiles.

The new factory is unique and the only one in the world to manufacture telescopic ladders with triangular aluminum profiles in fully automatized production processes.

A team effort beyond the ordinary

All component manufacturing, building our ladders is now within a radius of 50 km. It gives us a very efficient manufacturing process, says Peter. Avoiding shipping containers from China is an enormous advantage from an environmental perspective. It is also very good for our customers from a cost and quality perspective.

Everyone has been so incredibly committed and determined and I am so happy and grateful for that, I cannot stress enough, says Peter and concludes with:

– Wise and smart patriotism interspersed with entrepreneurship and loyalty between partners is what characterizes the project and what made it possible to realize my dream of moving production home from China – says Peter.

– Wise patriotism as we have been researching home production for many years. And smart patriotism when we, together with my partners, have created the world’s only automatic production in Sweden. The loyalty between us partners make it possible to compete with Chinese production.

In August 2021, the new factory was completed and in January 2022, all ladders delivered to Telestep’s customers are expected to be constructed with the revolutionary triangular aluminum profiles. Ladders made entirely in Sweden.