Operations and footprint
Ingrid Malmberg
Twelve years in plants before she advised one: production manager at a tube mill in Sandviken, then COO of a pump and valve group with sites in four countries. She co-founded Kvist in 2014.
Always asks
“Where does the work wait?”
Practice
Operations and footprint
Before Kvist
COO, a pump and valve group
At Kvist
Co-founder, 2014
Works in
Swedish, English, German
Next start
12 January 2027
Why that question
In every plant she ran, the machines were busy and the orders were late. Work spends most of its life waiting: for a changeover, a drawing, a signature, a truck. Utilisation reports don’t show it, because an order that is waiting isn’t on any machine.
So in the first week of an engagement she walks one order from the sales office to the loading dock, with a stopwatch and the order’s own paperwork. The answer to a capacity question is usually in the queue, not in the building.
Before Kvist
Process engineer at a tube mill in Sandviken.
Production manager at the same mill: 420 people on three shifts.
COO of a pump and valve group, with plants in Sweden, Poland, Czechia and Mexico.
Co-founded Kvist with Tomas Ekdahl.
Questions Ingrid is asked most
And the first test Ingrid runs on each, in week one.
Should we build the second plant?
First test · the changeover log, and two weeks on the floor of one line
Which of our two sites do we keep?
First test · landed cost per customer from each site, not cost per tonne
Why are we late when the plant isn’t full?
First test · one order walked from sales to the dock, timed
Engagements
The ones our clients have let us describe. Ask about the others.
A packaging group in Borås
Written up
Which of our two foundries do we keep?
A foundry group with two sites in Småland
Summary
Do we need our own warehouse in Poland?
A distributor of hydraulic parts
Summary
Notes
Next partner
Tomas Ekdahl
Pricing and commercial
·
“What did the customer actually pay?”
A question in Ingrid’s part of the world? Bring it; Ingrid reads it, and replies within two working days.