Tom Rosland heads a department that has grown steadily since Rosland himself started here in 2013. Back then, there were two employees in the department; today there are 11 people. Several of them have been hired this year.
- When everything else in the company is growing, we have to keep up. It's been a natural development.
The technical department at Nordic Steel works daily to turn ideas into reality, and hypotheses into quality products that create benefit and value. The department consists of technical draughtsmen, mechanical engineers and civil engineers - all professionals with extensive experience from various industries.
The work tasks have also changed. They are more extensive in size and time, and also more versatile.
Little is too little and nothing is too big, and the variety of assignments is huge.
- It's pretty much anything you can think of. From small, simple brackets to large constructions.
- What is the most exciting or challenging thing you have worked on?
- That's a difficult question to answer. The National Museum was challenging. It was perhaps not because of the complexity, but the duration over several years.
For the technical department, the job starts with an internal order from a salesperson or a project manager in Nordic Steel for something to be drawn or designed and prepared for production.
- An example might be an order for a staircase. We might be given some simple sketches that tell us something about the goal of the staircase, and then it's our job to design and construct what that staircase will look like.
- Do you sometimes find an order so complicated that you have to say no?
- We've sometimes thought that this will be so complicated that it might not work, but we've never said no. It works out in the end.
- Never given up?
- No, no... That hasn't happened. We'll make it happen.
- Can you make anything?
- In steel - within what Nordic Steel does - I would say yes. On the other hand, airplanes are also made of steel. We can't. But the point is that something can initially look very complicated and overwhelming. When you start to break it down into small parts and put them together, it's not so difficult after all.
The range of assignments is vast. It can involve building facades, bridges, stairs, salmon attenuators, ventilation, fences, tanks, frameworks - among other things.
- I would almost say we're doing everything. Right now I've been working on a large wine rack with space for a few thousand bottles of wine. We haven't done that before.
- Do you remember what you envisioned when you started ten years ago?
- "Yes, I remember thinking that it would be good to start in a small company again. I came from a company that had grown from 30 employees to 100. Then things started to balloon here too, but it's been done in a more controlled way. Nordic Steel is a very good place to work. We have a good environment and very few people leave. The strategy has been to grow, and everyone is pulling their weight.
Rune Håland is one of the employees in the department. While most of the rest of us are still asleep, Håland has already completed the day's workout and is fully engaged in the day's tasks. Time often flies faster when you have enough energy. The 51-year-old from Bryne has worked as a technical draughtsman at Nordic Steel for over two years, having joined the company from a competitor. He has never doubted that.
Håland has always been interested in technical drawing and construction. At Nordic Steel, he has many challenges to overcome.
- It's a really good company to work for. Great assignments, lots of nice people who want to do something and get things done. Employees are taken care of, and we get to be involved in a lot of different things.
- What are you doing at the moment?
- "We have an interesting customer who is involved in fast charging of construction equipment, and we have designed some units that will be mounted on ready-made trailers that will be rented out to contractors. Now there are environmental requirements for some of the equipment in the construction industry to be electric. Using these units we make, you can charge two machines during your lunch break. And once that's done, they have enough power for the rest of the day. My task has been to come up with something that is manufacturable and relatively inexpensive to make. I've had fairly free rein, but in close dialog with the customer.
- How long does it take to create such a prototype?
- It quickly adds up to a couple of hundred hours. But I like assignments where you have to be creative and get to create and produce something in collaboration with the customer and project manager. You rarely work on just one thing. I have maybe five or six projects that I'm involved in at the same time. No two days are ever the same. This makes it extra interesting to go to work. You don't really know what challenges await, and I like that. It's extra fun to get it right when someone thinks this won't work.
Connie Ranatunga is one of the most recent employees. She is 45 years old and joined the company just before the summer. One of her first tasks was to design corten steel curbs for a Norwegian airport.
- I've never seen the material before, but that makes it even more exciting.
Connie worked in a company in Stavanger before joining Nordic Steel. She is originally from Vassøy, but chose to settle in Bryne several years ago.
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- "I really enjoy working at Bryne. It takes me three minutes to cycle to work," says Connie.
She currently works as a Project Engineer/CAD designer at Nordic Steel. She also has extensive experience as a technical draftsman and preparation of production drawings and production documentation, customer drawings and documentation. She also has experience in graphic design.
- There were two reasons why I joined Nordic Steel. I saw a lot of what was being written about the company on social media, and it seemed very exciting to me. At the same time, I was looking for a workplace closer to where I live. I've been very well received here. I think the atmosphere in the workplace is very pleasant.
