History of Parker Hannifin in Sweden
From its humble beginnings in 1917 as the Parker Appliance Company, today's Parker Hannifin Corporation has evolved into a global leader in motion and control technology with some 55,000 employees in approximately 50 countries worldwide.
Parker's European operations started in 1960 with a sales and service centre at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. Now, over 60 years later, Parker operates more than 150 sites in Europe, manufacturing and selling products and systems in all areas of technology.
The story in Sweden began in 1970 when Stig Eklund AB became the company's distributor. After a little more than ten years, Parker Hannifin Sverige AB was founded, with both manufacturing and sales. As Parker's strategy is to grow through, among other things, strategic acquisitions, a number of companies with operations in Sweden have become part of the Parker family over the years:
1992
Trelleborg AB (hydraulic hoses)
1994
Finn-Filter (hydraulic filter)
1994
Atlas Copco Automation (pneumatics)
1996
VOAC Hydraulics AB (hydraulics)
1998
Commercial Intertech (hydraulics)
2000
Denison (hydraulics)
2005
SSD Drives (electromechanical)
2005
Domnick Hunter (filter)
2007
Rectus-Tema (couplings for hydraulics and pneumatics)
2007
A-Filter (hydraulic filter)
2008
Origa (pneumatic cylinders)
2008
Legris (pneumatic couplings and hoses)
2012
Olaer (coolers and accumulators for hydraulics)
Split into two legal entities
In 2011, Parker Hannifin Sverige AB was split into two legal entities, one responsible for sales in Sweden and one for manufacturing. The manufacturing company is called Parker Hannifin Manufacturing Sweden AB and has manufacturing units in four locations in Sweden:
Skövde, Sweden development and manufacture of quick couplings
Trollhättan - development and manufacture of hydraulic pumps and motors
Falköping - development and manufacture of hydraulic cylinders
Borås/Mölnlycke - development and manufacture of hydraulic valves and control systems
Parker Hannifin Manufacturing Sweden employs nearly 1,000 people at its facilities and sells its products worldwide.
Parker Hannifin AB is the name of the sales company and has its head office in Borås, as well as sales representatives in a handful of other locations around the country. More than 100 employees work with direct sales, product support, order reception and delivery monitoring. The company offers the entire Parker product programme (except Aerospace) and therefore has customers in industries as diverse as mining machinery and Life Science. Much of the work is done in close co-operation with the development departments of the customer companies. This has given the company extensive knowledge of various applications, making Parker the market leader in many segments. A large proportion of sales are also made via distributors with local connections in the country. Several of these distributors also operate a ParkerStore, which is Parker's store concept for over-the-counter sales.