It is a cold morning in February when we get out of the car at MR's parking lot. On the red and white facade is not only the sign for "MR Arbogavagnar AB", close by is also a HIAB sign... more about this later...
We walk in through the front door, and are greeted by a warm and welcoming entrance and office space. We turn right through the next door and enter the company's production facility. There is not only the smell of petroleum and lubricants, but also full activity among all the trucks. Niklas Jarmelid, CEO of MR, meets us with his handshake in full swing.
Behind Niklas on the construction sites are several more or less finished trucks. - "Right now we are full, we have nine sites to build on and do everything on site here, including registration and inspection," he says. "Hydraulics and painting are also in the building, but in the form of separate operations, which makes the process very smooth, as neither we nor the trucks need to leave the area".
Just behind Niklas, his long-time colleague Mikael "Miche" Adamsson comes up to greet us. You could say that these two gentlemen are real veterans in the industry. They have both worked at MR for 15 and 20 years respectively, but have been in the business for much longer than that. Niklas owned and worked with his own haulage company before taking over MR after his father and grandfather who started it in the 1960s. Miche came from the trailer industry where he has worked most of his working life.
MR currently has 20 employees, of which 3 in the office and the remaining 17 in production, and the company had a turnover of almost SEK 30 million in 2023. "Right now we have full capacity until the holidays and we usually get about 80 - 100 cars a year," says Niklas as we walk between the trucks.
We stop at the bottom of the production line, by an old blue-red tanker trailer. -"This is actually one of Jan-Krister 's* old constructions. We have renovated it for a few weeks for a customer here from Arboga, so now it should be able to roll for a few more years." says Miche and smiles.
MR has a long history with us at Alf Pettersson AB. Already at the time when we packed products in the trunk of our own car and traveled with a printed map to the customer. Together we have developed many prototypes and products over the years.
Those who are attentive can find clear traces on alfpettersson.com - all articles on the website whose article number begins with "K10507-" have at some point been developed together with Miche and Niklas at MR. They are also articles that Lasse at MR's warehouse still orders regularly from us.
* Jan-Krister Johansson, now CEO of Alf Pettersson AB.
We continue our tour and can't help but notice the large number of HIAB cranes installed. "Today, about 90% of the trucks are ordered through Cargotec/HIAB* " says Niklas and adds"...above all, it is the hooklifts and crane trucks that we build and now in recent years it is usually Scania Komplett that goes through us."
The cooperation between Cargotec and MR started many years ago. Miche tells us that he "...had a contact at Cargotec and that's probably why we got our first order from them... and since then it's just become more and more." he laughs.
The tour continues on the outside and just then a crane truck backs out of one of the gates and Miche says: "He came in earlier today and had trouble with his crane, we are really busy, but think it is important to protect all our customers, large and small! If he's happy, I'mhappy". So there went another satisfied customer out of MR's plant in Arboga.
* Hence the HIAB façade sign we mentioned earlier.
And speaking of satisfied customers, MR in Arboga is one of the many satisfied customers of Alf Pettersson AB. "You deliver good quality and manufacture products that work." Niklas interjects.
Since both Niklas and Miche share an interest in nature - as hunters and anglers - they try to give each other a day now and then to recharge their batteries in the forest.
Niklas breeds West Siberian and East Siberian Lajka and Jämthundar - versatile hunting dogs, but elk hunting is particularly close to Niklas' heart. Miche, on the other hand, is happy with smaller game, namely pike perch, pike or perch. Both appreciate being in the forest and countryside as often as possible.
We end our tour with a cup of coffee in the lunch room where we hear many stories and anecdotes from the past that we can't fit into this article. We continue to collect memories and funny stories as our collaboration progresses, so we will have the opportunity to return to Nicklas and Miche at MR in a while.
Thank you for visiting Miche and Niklas!
Clara, Roland and Eivaz.
