Green, hi-tech solutions that lead the market

The Infrastructure Division has a leading position in the Scandinavian market for technical solutions for infrastructure projects. The division’s strengths include a strong sales organisation, sound commercial skills and a portfolio of services that offers clients sustainable, hi-tech solutions. Through its ability to develop innovative solutions that boost client profitability and target fulfilment, the division is continuously enhancing its market potential.

The offer – sustainability as an integral aspect of all services

The Infrastructure Division comprises five business areas: Communications & Defence, Infrastructure Planning, Installations, Product Development and Sound & Vibrations.

The division is Sweden’s largest consulting company in the field of technical installations, offering qualified services related to the construction and modernisation of commercial, industrial and public-sector premises, where demand is frequently driven by an ambition to improve functionality, reduce operating costs or enhance environmental performance. Installations is also the largest of the division’s business areas.

For assignments in Communications & Defence the division offers consulting services in fixed and mobile telephony, maintenance technology and integrated logistic support (ILS). Clients come from both the private and defence sectors.

The Sound and Vibrations business area possesses unique cutting-edge expertise in acoustics and vibrations to meet the needs of industry, infrastructure planners, architects, property management companies and product developers.

Product Development offers services related to product development and hi-tech IT applications that include embedded systems, mechanical engineering and programming. One area of operations that is attracting increasing attention is the ÅF EcoDesign Center, which offers clients an eco-friendly product development service to improve the environmental performance of their products and increase profitability.

The focus for Infrastructure Planning is firmly on road and rail traffic and public transport. Services here range from surveys and investigations to more technically oriented installations assignments. Current rail projects in Sweden include the new Bothnia Line railway, the Stockholm City Line rail link, the City Tunnel in Malmö, the Halland Ridge Tunnel and Uppsala marshalling yard.

Clients – broad client base and limited sensitivity to the economic cycle

The division’s clients are often large organisations and leading names in their field, particularly within Infrastructure Planning, where projects often represent major investments that are funded by taxes or the public purse. Relations with clients tend to be long-term with a high proportion of repeat business.

As many major infrastructure projects extend beyond the horizon of a single economic cycle, the division’s sensitivity to fluctuations in the economy is relatively limited. Other mitigating factors in this regard are the division’s broad client base and the fact that many projects are driven by the need to improve efficiency, which always has a direct impact on clients’ profitability regardless of the state of the economy.

  • The division has approximately 5,000 clients.
  • Approximately 60 percent of clients are from the public sector, and approximately 40 percent from the private sector.
  • Between them the ten largest clients account for just under one third of the division’s earnings.
  • Important clients include Banverket (the Swedish Rail Administration), the Danish Road Directorate, Ericsson/Sony Ericsson, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), GE Healthcare, Saab AB, SkiStar, Statbygg (Norway), Stockholm’s regional transport authority (SL), Volvohandelns Utvecklings AB and local and regional authorities.
Market and trends – strong market and shortage of capacity

The market for the Infrastructure Division was mixed in 2009. For the Product Development business area things began slowly but improved towards the end of the year. In contrast, Infrastructure Planning continued to go from strength to strength. Other business areas showed steady development, but clients and investors do still remain cautious. The economic situation meant there were few new property projects for Installations, so there was a slight shift in the nature of the business area’s assignments towards smaller-scale improvement projects.

As far as the economy is concerned, the outlook remains uncertain and the prospects mixed. It is assumed that interest in environmental investments and energy-efficiency projects will remain keen and, thanks to political decisions that have already earmarked funds for long-term investments in the Nordic road and rail network, demand here is also expected to be good. Additionally, the economic downturn has also led to a number of publicly funded stimulus packages that are currently driving demand for short-term improvement projects.