Company Report: SSP Technology
Leading mould manufacturer for blades SSP Technology used to manufacture blades, but have moved into the moulding side – where, through a key patent, they have a strong advantage

SSP Technology was founded in 2001

SSP Technology used to manufacture blades, but have moved in

The company is currently working on a large contract for an

Blade mould and component manufacturer SSP Technology began in 2001 and was started by cofounders Rune Schytt- Nielsen and Flemming Sørensen, two pioneers of rotor blade manufacture.

The company used to be a blade manufacturer itself, but now it specialises in moulds and components for blade manufacture. The core of the business is in the craftsmanship of the product – and crucial to the company’s success is the patented root joint technology that is the envy of many others in the trade. Sales Director Soeren Horn Petersen joined the company in 2009. He came from a commercial education and has plentiful experience as CEO in the project management side of companies.

“I arrived at SSP in September where the company was just in the preface off a turn around. I am part of that turnaround team. So far we are doing ok, we have just begun but we’re definitely on the right track,” he says. “We had to go from being a reactive to a proactive company in great progress. Listening to and understanding our customers is the key to our coming success,” he adds.

CONTRACT IN INDIA
On the table are a number of prospects. The company is currently working on a large contract for an Indian operation, where SSP will help setting up root joint production in India. As mentioned, the company no longer manufactures blades but supports its customers to build factories and makes sure they have the most competitive way of manufacturing blades, enabling them to build factories in a changing environment.

“The blade manufacturing was the start, but it’s very difficult to be a blade manufacturer,” says Horn Petersen. “If you want to be a blade manufacturer you have to focus on mass production. And that compromises sometimes on quality, and we’re moving away from compromising on quality to focusing on it.”

The company has built specific blade components which ensure the quality is high in the blades, and the company is thinking globally – to expand the business from European to Asian and American markets. In particular is the patent the company has in regard to the root joint technology – the USP. “The patent means our product is much stronger than traditional cheaper solutions; you can carry much more in the root joint itself, taking the weight from the rest of the blade,” says Horn Petersen.

NO LUCK FOR COPYCATS
There have been a lot of people looking at the patent and trying to copy the product but so far without any luck. “We have, however, had a lot of approaches from customers who want to include the root joint in their design,” says Horn Petersen. Such a situation would likely result in a licensing agreement of some kind. “We either license the production of the root joint away or we sell the root joint as a specific item to our customers.”

One goal on the immediate horizon for the company is the aim to establish a global market position – and it is currently in the process of doing exactly that.

“The main challenge right now is that there’s a lot of newcomers on the market place that all want to build new factories,” says Horn Petersen. 79 people work for the company which is a significant reduction compared to 12 months ago. “We over employed,” says Horn Petersen. The problem, of course, was exacerbated by the financial crisis which led to people stopping investing in new moulds and new manufacturing facilities.

Now, however, with a more streamlined and efficient operation, the company is surely destined to conquer the markets it is targeting. With its unique patent on the root joint, and with its own quality system to be certified soon, SSP Technology certainly has a bright future ahead at home and abroad.

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