Cutting-edge tech companies create business opportunities for industry

Keep up with the technological transformation – whether it’s robotics, drones, VR or AI. This is the message from tech hub THINGS, which is exhibiting with eight cutting-edge tech companies at Elmia Subcontractor.

The world is changing and progress is moving faster than ever – and this is something that industry must understand. This is according to Magnus Melander, founder of the THINGS tech hub in Stockholm. Modern developments entail even bigger changes than the internet did when it first broke through.

“It’s important that we can cope with the transformation that new technology entails. But at the same time, all established companies think that the way they work is the best approach, and that they don’t need any input from outside. That’s unfortunately what the culture is right now. But no one today knows what the results of the technological transformation will be,” says Magnus.

He points to three challenges that Sweden’s manufacturing industry is facing if it wants to remain competitive on the global market: efficiency, safety and sustainability. Without the new technology, he says, we can’t meet these challenges.

“All companies must learn to develop with modern technology. For instance we can already see that the processes for purchasing are digital, and the company that’s not keeping up with this development is already losing out. It’s not about whether they like what’s happening or not, they simply have to keep up,” he says.

Magnus Melander founded THINGS in 2015 with a clear vision: to establish lasting international business relations between cutting-edge tech companies and established companies. The focus is on deep tech – i.e. research-based technology – in industry, infrastructure, utilities and mobility.

The small start-up company Inkonova, which has five employees, has been with THINGS since 2015, and is one of the companies co-attending Elmia Subcontractor. Inkonova has developed a laser-controlled 3D scanner for mapping inaccessible spaces. The scanner is unique in that the laser provides information in real time, opening up a host of applications in areas such as infrastructure, firefighting and ssfety.

“Events like Elmia Subcontractor are absolutely essential for us, as we want to find business partners and suppliers. Already on the first day we booked a meeting with a supplier to see if they could produce the system,” says Pau Mallol, CEO and founder of Inkonova.

THINGS has about 100 member companies from Tokyo to Silicon Valley. Taking part in Elmia Subcontractor is one part of the process of linking start-up companies with established companies in the manufacturing industry.

For software company MTEK – which provides comprehensive digital solutions to manufacturing companies – Elmia Subcontractor is therefore a great arena to showcase itself.

“Most of our customers are attracted by the simplicity and the ability to get the entire digitalisation in one system. Normally they have to put everything together from different systems, but we can eliminate the need for that approach. The strength of our system is that it’s possible to connect between factories – so between the supplier and the OEM for example – in order to improve delivery precision,” says Oscar Wallner, Chief Commercial Manager at MTEK.