Axelent

From “Us-and-Them” to a Shared Direction

When Axelent Group, a world-leading manufacturer of safety solutions for industry, faced challenges with delivery reliability, high sick leave, and pronounced “us-and-them” conflicts in its multicultural factory in Hillerstorp, they chose to engage IntegPartner. Through the Strategy Engine®, the entire Axelent Operations organization – from the management team to the shop floor – was engaged to take responsibility, collaborate, and achieve results together. In just one year, Axelent reversed the trend and strengthened quality, engagement, and unity throughout the organization.

Background

The first contact between IntegPartner and Axelent took place in spring 2024. Axelent Group, a global leader in machine and industrial process safety solutions, has its headquarters and large production facility in Hillerstorp, Småland. The company was founded in 1990 and has since grown rapidly, with over 350 employees and sales in more than 60 countries. Axelent offers a complete concept for machine, construction site, warehouse, and cable tray safety – with all product development, production, warehousing, and packing taking place in Hillerstorp under the motto “Made in Hillerstorp.”

With sales offices and warehouses in 11 countries and customers worldwide, Axelent is driven by a clear vision: to strengthen the competitiveness of Swedish industry through automation, safety, efficient routines, functionality, and competence. The company is characterized by strong innovation and high production complexity, as well as an unusually multicultural workforce with employees from many different countries.

Challenges

The Operations organization consists of both production and extensive warehousing and logistics management. Challenges were greatest in the warehouse – including delivery reliability issues, disorder following a system update, too many customer complaints, high sick leave, conflicts, and a clear “us-and-them” climate between departments.

Fredric Forsell, newly appointed Operations Director, saw the need to unite the organization around common goals and make the management team come together around the big picture. With support from IntegPartner, work began using the Strategy Engine® – a tool for making strategy come alive in everyday operations. Fredric asked IntegPartner to support the strategy work to clarify strategies, goals, and leadership, and to involve and increase engagement among employees. Additionally, he needed help forming the newly formed management team and to make them function effectively as a cohesive unit.

In summary, Axelent faced the following challenges:

• An unusually multicultural workforce, where language and cultural barriers affected collaboration and understanding.
• Inefficiency and lack of clarity in parts of the organization.
• High sick leave and poor delivery reliability, especially in the warehouse.
• Conflicts and lack of collaboration between groups and departments.
• A new management team that needed to form and find a shared direction.

Goals

Two overarching objectives were defined:

1. Form and strengthen the new Operations management team.
2. Engage the entire organization in improving delivery reliability, quality, and attendance – thereby creating pride, accountability, and workplace satisfaction.

Solution

The core of IntegPartner’s work was the Strategy Realization service and the deployment of the Strategy Engine® – a structured process to engage the entire organization in executing strategy in daily operations.

All employees within Operations were onboarded into the process, after which all groups, leaders, and management received ongoing coaching. The leadership team simultaneously received support in follow-ups, decision-making, and maintaining direction – a management support structure ensuring both pace and quality of execution.

Since Axelent had already invested in an external leadership program, IntegPartner focused primarily on practical support and coaching in everyday work, rather than, what IntegPartner traditionally do, to integrate coaching and support with new leadership training. The leadership program was perceived as good, stimulating, and energizing but had no noticeable long-term effect on daily operations. Additionally, IntegPartner trained internal consultants who could gradually take over, the work from IntegPartner, and carry the work forward.

A particular focus was on creating involvement “on the factory floor,” where everyone in the organization feels responsible for results and motivated to influence and improve with their own competence and experience – while also fostering respect, care, and understanding among employees from diverse backgrounds and languages.

Implementation

The work encompassed the entire Operations organization: approximately 140 people, 21 groups with as many leaders, plus the central management team. IntegPartner consultants were regularly on site – two days every other week – to drive the work forward together with leadership and employees.

The process began with a joint kick-off for all employees, followed by ongoing coaching, structured follow-ups, and joint seminars.

At the first half-year follow-up, something remarkable happened: instead of just leaders presenting their group’s results, entire groups went on stage together, eager to report their progress. A clear sign that new engagement and cohesion had been established.

How the implementation of Strategimotorn® was carried out:

• Ensuring long-term independence: Leaders were trained to coach each other, and internal consultants trained to take over IntegPartner’s role.
• Management team alignment: Initial interviews with managers to create understanding and engagement.
• Pre-study: Interviews with team leaders and employees to map the current state.
• Planning and preparation: Seminars and activities prepared together with IntegPartner.
• Employee and leadership seminars: Introduction of purpose, strategic dialogue, and kickoff of workgroups.
• Training: Focus on effective teamwork, meeting structure, tools, templates, and coaching of team leaders.
• Establishing support structures: Create and run work and support structures with follow-up in management meetings.
• Ongoing work: Team meetings every two weeks and monthly coaching.
• Half-year review: Reflection, celebration of successes, and further development of workgroups.
• Management support: Continuous training and support for the management team.

Results

The development of Axelent Operations has been remarkable. By spring 2025, Axelent reported significant improvements across all key areas:

• Sick leave decreased and showed a positive trend throughout 2025 compared to 2024.
• Customer complaints dropped dramatically – from January 2024 to April 2025, the number of complaint cases decreased by 68.5%.
• Delivery reliability improved – and the summer period, previously a critical period, passed without issues.
• Employee surveys showed significant improvements across all areas – engagement, collaboration, and pride.

The effect is not only measurable in numbers but also in the atmosphere on the factory floor: people who previously felt excluded now feel seen, heard, and valued. An example is how language barriers were transformed into collaboration – employees interpreting for each other and helping everyone understand and contribute.

Insights

The work at Axelent provided several important lessons:

• Leadership must remain alive. Without parallel work on a shared leadership program, creating a common leadership view was harder. Next time, regular leadership forums would be ensured even without formal training.
• Multiculturalism is a strength – but requires active work. Language and cultural differences can create obstacles, but also a source of innovation and learning when inclusion is actively fostered.
• Holistic involvement is crucial. To achieve full impact, the entire organization should be included – even sales, IT, and support functions. Otherwise, new “us-and-them” situations may arise.

Testimonials

“We have just concluded our employee seminar within Operations – a two-day strategy dialogue where all employees participated and had the opportunity to leave their mark and provide input on our shared direction going forward. Employees’ responses were clear: Yes, we agree. This is the right path forward. Now we leave these two days behind and look ahead. Over the next six months, each team will work one hour every two weeks – purposefully and in line with the strategy to achieve our strategic focus. In six months, we will meet again for the next employee seminar. This is culture in action. And this – is awesome!”

/ Emma Lindelöf, HR Site Manager – Axelent Group

“For a year and a half, we have worked with IntegPartner to implement a structure where we can break down our strategy and communicate it to all employees. It is clear how much energy is released and how many improvements this creates in an organization. It’s easy to get stuck focusing only on visible KPIs, but here you also see clear results in soft values such as engagement and people’s mindset in challenging fixed ideas. Together with IntegPartner, we have created a stable foundation that will support us greatly in our future work.”

/ Fredric Forsell, COO – Axelent Group

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