On the 9-14 November, Lionwood.software’s team visited Sweden as part of the TechStep Sweden program by the IT Ukraine Association, along with representatives of seven other Ukrainian companies. This initiative, developed in collaboration with OTGS – Open Trade Gate Sweden, has been around for almost a year by now, connecting Ukrainian tech providers with the Swedish market.
This curated succession of business events, spanning several days of diverse activities, helped us gain a deeper understanding of the Swedish manufacturing industry landscape – and form ideas of how Lionwood’s services are helpful. Here is what Head of Business Development Iryna Hanchevska has to say on the matter.
At one of Gothenburg’s piers, there’s a magnificent sailing ship, the kind you’d expect to see in movies – a fully functional replica of a 18-century trading vessel. Apart from being an obvious tourist attraction and an homage to the city’s shipbuilding and manufacturing traditions, the ship actually completed a rescue job some two years ago. What worked back then works now, too.
Some half an hour’s walk from the pier, at Volvo’s CampX office, meanwhile, the famous automotive corporation runs a startup accelerator program, fostering innovation across industry branches with modern technologies. We’ve had the pleasure to visit the office and have a talk with Volvo’s representatives, and the contrast between the old and the new in Gothenburg is actually very telling of the Swedish approach to tech.
The Nordics find their own balance between traditional know-hows and innovation, and will never forsake one for the sake of the other, either way. This makes Sweden’s manufacturing industry landscape a highly particular, but also promising one for a software vendor. You aren’t likely to sell novelties for novelty’s sake: what’s expected is you finding a precise way your offering fits into what already works to improve it.
That’s the spirit that dominated the Elmia Subcontractor event in Jönköping – a large networking platform connecting manufacturing businesses from the entire Nordic region (Baltics included). Of the public presentations given at the stage, only a minority was dedicated to, say, AI – and they were very sober and pragmatic, dedicated to AI readiness and sound data foundations, like the one delivered by Marian Ciupeiu of Accesa IT System. The dominant theme instead was circular economy and sustainability – with its own range of relevant high tech considerations.
A sound approach, indeed! While with innovative tech generating buzzwords here and there, we often find people thinking in terms of “what can this or that tech allow us to do?” – but the Nordics reason: “we know what we want; which tech can furnish it?”
This was also felt at the booths: an ocean of diverse manufacturer companies navigating niche challenges and solutions and finding their way to each other by virtue of being specific and down-to-earth. Software-wise this is a climate where either very broadly defined off-the-shelf products are relevant – or narrowly customized, tailored, unique ones find their users. Something that Lionwood.software is focused on doing, too.
Returning to the AI topic, it’s now not difficult to guess that the manufacturer community doesn’t really lack interest – quite the contrary. However, since the actual applications of artificial intelligence that raise the most interest are very process-specific, AI as a theme circulates not as much on stage as in between booths and handshakes. It’s not AI in general that the industry is seeking, but AI as applied to their concrete use cases.
The Swedish market for custom software can’t be said to be exactly easy to enter – it has its own rules and needs – but it is still open and friendly, even at the top level. Individual organizations’ interests are supplemented by institutional empathy, too. We were excited to meet Benjamin Dousa, Minister of Trade and Development Cooperation, visiting us at the OTGS stand on Tuesday in person. Back in Gothenburg, on Thursday, we were treated to a networking session with the West Sweden Chamber of Commerce, too.
Overall, there is every reason to be optimistic about the perspectives of Swedish-Ukrainian tech partnerships. First of all, because the waters have already been tested. During our visit to Recorded Future, a prominent and innovative cybersecurity company, for example, it turned out they already have positive experience collaborating with Ukrainian developer teams – and that is not the only instance, either. What is needed to extract more value from such partnerships besides the benefits of outsourcing is a deeper level of familiarity – with both the business climate and culture.
And it is for this we would like to thank OTGS and the IT Ukraine Association – providing a platform for collaborations that can unlock immense value. Our team is currently working to deepen our cooperations in the Nordic region, and our expertise in multiple manufacturing domains is expanding, too. Delivering highly custom tools that use tech like IoT and AI exactly where they deliver an actual impact, with attention to the minutiae of operational workflows is a common ground for both Lionwood.software and the general spirit of the Swedish manufacturing industry as we’ve seen it – and we’re happy to offer this expertise to build perfect solutions.
You can learn more about Lionwood.software’s manufacturing solution development services here.
