Steel manufacturer Erasteel has a proud history dating back to the 17th century. Based in classic mills such as Långshyttan, Söderfors and Vikmanshyttan, high-grade steel has been produced for generations to manufacture the most demanding of products. Today, it mainly supplies Powder Metallurgy and High Speed Steels for precision manufacturing in the tooling, automotive, aerospace and energy industries, among others. Erasteel is today a French-owned international company, with global coverage through its 8 factories, 6 service centers and 12 sales offices, spread across all continents.

Its plant in Långhyttan hot-rolls the material produced in the steelworks in France, which is then converted from steel ingots into steel billets at the Söderfors plant. Manufacturing is very energy intensive, which places high demands on electrical components. Transformers have to cope with high heat, harmonics and other debris created in such a specialized industrial environment.

It was a breakdown in the hot rolling mill in Långhyttan that first brought Erasteel into contact with TRAMO ETV. Normally there are reserves for the power supply to the critical parts of the factory, but this time it was different. After half a day of troubleshooting, it became clear that the outage was caused by a faulty transformer. "It was very urgent and the machine manufacturer had 7 weeks delivery time for the transformer we needed", says Anders Johansson, Maintenance Engineer at Erasteel. Instead, they turned to TRAMO ETV and their Trafo Emergency Services.

After discussing the requirements specification, TRAMO ETV was able to ensure that production started immediately. "We understand the great value of being able to provide manufacturing capacity when our customers' needs are greatest. When Erasteel contacted us, we reacted immediately", says Marcus Löfgren, CEO of TRAMO ETV.

Despite a somewhat odd specification (860 volts, among other things), the delivery was made quickly and less than 30 hours later a new, customized transformer was in the factory. "It is unique that you get such a fast delivery. Thanks to Trafo Emergency Servises, the rolling mill did not stand still for more than 48 hours", says Anders Johansson.

Many purchasing departments are now reviewing their partners. Factors such as environmental impact, proximity, reliability of supply have become increasingly important in the choice of suppliers. Here, initiatives such as Trafo Emergency Servises, but also a high level of service, are more and more decisive for the choice. "Price is not the primary consideration anymore, especially when the situation is urgent. In our case, downtime costs a lot of money, so proximity to the supplier is crucial. In addition, service and customer care were great. It doesn't get any better than that", concludes Anders Johansson.