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There is considerable expertise in the design department at Norske Backer AS. In total, the five employees in the department have almost 100 years of experience with the electrical heating specialist.
-"There are high demands on functional safety and quality in our industry, and since we aim to be a quality supplier of electric heating with associated advanced controls, often with international customers, we have to stay up to date and know what we're doing at all times," says Design Manager Sigurd Bergkvist.
Advanced solutions
Norske Backer AS has more than 50 years' experience of supplying market-leading heating products that, combined with measuring and control devices, provide complete, intelligent solutions. It is extremely rare for two identical heating elements to be delivered from the Norske Backer AS production facility at SIVA in Kongsvinger, and every single product has passed through the department of Bergkvist and his colleagues.
- It's usually our customers who come to us with some kind of heating requirement. Based on this problem, it's up to us to calculate power, size and all other parameters. Once the customer has approved the solution and we have found that the project is technically feasible, we submit the product's technical documentation, which is then ready for production," says Bergkvist.
Complementary expertise
The five engineers in the design department have extensive work experience and relevant practical backgrounds, specialist expertise, most have a trade certificate, and they often work closely together on the most demanding projects. Not infrequently, there is also cross-departmental collaboration in Norske Backer AS, and both the sales engineers and the production department may be involved in the development of a new product.
Four of the design engineers have offices in the main factory, and welding engineer Frank Sparby has an office in the hall where Norske Backer's mechanical department is located. He specializes in welding, but is also responsible for the mechanical part of production for most of Norske Backer's larger industrial products.
- Even though two products can be virtually 95 percent identical, there will almost always be labor-intensive customizations that need to be made in order for the product to function according to its intended purpose," says Sparby.
Rapid development
The design profession has changed a lot. The drawing boards with angles and rulers, technical tables for mechanical, thermal and flow calculations of the past have now been integrated into advanced computer software that has streamlined the way the design department at Norske Backer AS works. In the team, Espen Urne is the one with the most computer expertise. Originally both a construction and computer engineer, he has a complete overview of all the systems and programs used by the company and ensures that these are constantly updated and developed according to his own and customers' needs. Some of the design and calculation programs are developed in-house by Norske Backer AS.
Espen Urne explains that when the design department started using advanced 3D programs in the early 2000s, this opened up completely new ways of solving problems.
- "We have our own programs for strength calculations and a number of other special digital tools that enable us to solve technical challenges much faster and easier than before. In some cases, this can actually open up solutions that simply weren't possible without these tools," says Urne.
Some off-the-shelf products
Very few so-called off-the-shelf products are manufactured at Norske Backer AS' production facility. It is extremely rare for larger series than five units to be produced for larger electric heating products for industrial use. Production of larger series is handled by the sister company Backer OBR in Poland. However, these are also developed by the design department in Kongsvinger, and virtually all changes to Polish-made products with associated drawings and documentation are managed from Kongsvinger.
- For more industrial and complex products, internal discussions and the exchange of technical documentation between us and the customer are required before we can provide the customer with a quotation for a suitable product that meets their heating needs in a good way.
Ex certified products
Ole Kristian Såheim, a vocational school technician with a background in mechanical production, is behind the development and certification of the Exd certified heating flask that Norske Backer recently launched.
- The difference from the Exe certified electric heating products that the company has produced for a number of years, and which are based on a safety philosophy where no ignition source is allowed, this Exd The heating coil is designed in such a way that any explosion will be contained within the heating coil's junction box. In this way, it will not constitute a source of ignition for any surrounding explosive gas atmosphere. This gives us the opportunity to offer solid, cheaper and at the same time somewhat smaller and more manageable products," says Ole Kristian Såheim.
- In addition to product development and certification, keeping up to date with the European and international standards that form the basis for Ex certified products is an extensive task. Regular audits and product updates in consultation with, among others, NEMKO and DNV Presafe are necessary to maintain the certificates.
Local professionals
In addition to experience and expertise, the five engineers in the construction department at Norske Backer AS have one thing in common. They were all born and raised in the local area, Kongsvinger, Eidskog Solør and Odalen. Mechanical engineer Trond Rismoen, for example, was born in Kirkenær, just over three miles north in the Glomma valley. Like Sigurd Bergkvist, Rismoen started out in the workshop of Norske Backer AS, before applying, with some support from the company, to study engineering at Gjøvik University College.
Like his colleague Bergkvist, he remained with Norske Backer As after his years of service.
- "We have a fantastic environment here at Norske Backer AS, and we think it's great that there are mostly local professionals in the company. We have very little turnover, and rarely does anyone leave before they have to retire," says Rismoen, who also finds the field and not least the customer contact both exciting and challenging.