Produktion2030’s Graduate School in Canada: Site visits

DAY 4 of our Produktion2030 course to Canada!

We started our day at AQ who produces wire harnesses for now 30 years! AQ has their head offices in Stockholm and we were welcomed with a Swedish-Canadian flag, to symbolize the friendship. We learned that AQ is a global company with quite independent local hubs, benefitting from the bigger group by having access to a large talent pool and managing crises together. This visit was an interesting connection since they are a supplier for Nova Bus, which we visited yesterday. The tour through the shop floor gave us interesting insights into optimizing a labour-intense production. We learned that it’s difficult and nearly impossible to automate wire harness assembly due to the non-rigid material. We also talked about sustainability requirements, that automotive companies are faced with, and eventually the suppliers too. The mindset is a bit different, but the work with sustainability is slowly starting. Here, Sweden seems to be seen as a “sustainability leader”. Lastly, it was inspiring to see how AQ tackles skill shortages by building their training center and creating a popular work environment for their employees. Thanks to Guy Joannette, Kathleen Stark, and Ahmed Hamdouni for your great hospitality and interesting discussions!

After a drive back to the city center of Montréal, we visited the Northvolt North America office. There, we got a super interesting presentation about the new Northvolt factory, which is currently built close to Montréal. It was interesting to hear about the strategic choice of the site – looking for a site in North America to meet the increasing pressure of electrification of industry, Montréal turned out to be a perfect fit with a 100% green mix of energy supply and a talent pool of an international city. We also learned about the battery ecosystem in North America and how Northvolt collaborates with universities all over the world. Then, we split into different rooms and had a mini-conference, where our team gave short presentations about our research topics and the Northvolt office joined for fruitful discussions.

Big thanks to Laura Mottola, Peter Olofsson, Kate Fatkulova, Luc Hovan, and the whole Northvolt office!