In an old black and white film, a man is seen carrying a coil of metal wire on his crooked back. He enters a greying wooden shed, a wire-drawing mill powered by a waterwheel beside a fast-flowing stream.
Although the district is the same, almost a century separates the reality depicted in the film from the automated, digitalised production at today’s Garantell factory, which is hundreds of times larger. That said, the metal wire in the film and that used in today’s factory are remarkably similar, even if the coils of wire used today are much larger and lifted into place by forklift trucks rather than on the crooked backs of lone workers.
Our story does not however begin with the man in the film. The common thread can be traced even further back in time and explains why, to this day, there are several manufacturers of wire-mesh products in the area around Värnamo and Gnosjö in the Swedish county of Småland. As early as the seventeenth century, when Sweden was a constantly warring imperial power, Småland was established as a county of forges, many of them producing weapons. The raw material was iron processed at nearby mills. For the peasants living in the sparse local settlements, the forges and wire-drawing mills were one way to increase their income. Lubricated with pork rind and using power from a waterwheel the wire was drawn through special drawing dies, making it thinner and thinner. By the end of the nineteenth century, some 150 wire-drawing mills had at some time been operating in the Gnosjö district.
Some of these are associated with their own special stories, not least Johannes Andersson’s wire-drawing mill. Having only just started his business, Johannes was conscripted to fight for Sweden against the Russians in the Finnish War of 1808-1809. Once there, however, he soon deserted. His uniform was found and it was thought that he had drowned. In actual fact, he was in hiding in a cabin in the forest in his home district, supplied with food and clothing by his parents. He spent his time developing his enterprise by excavating a mill pond and a kilometre-long canal to drive his waterwheel. Today, the remnants of his business, known as Svikarens koja [the Deserter’s Cabin] and Svikarens kanal [The Deserter’s Canal], are tourist attractions.
Despite deserting from the army and going into hiding, Andersson did perform one service for the district. Once the war was over, he “returned” to become a successful entrepreneur and in 1815, he was awarded a gold medal for his innovative hydro-powered wire-drawing mill. His story can be viewed as a typical example of the so-called Gnosjö spirit that still characterises the local business community: professionalism, diligence, thrift, humility, respect, collaboration and entrepreneurship or – according to others good KPIs, industriousness, mechanical ingenuity and self-sufficiency – combined with certain cultural attributes such as a local relatively high level of religiosity.
Another wire-drawing mill opened in the 1830s in the village of Målskog, just outside Gnosjö, in a building that has stood as a tourist attraction in Jönköping City Park since the early twentieth century. This mill largely manufactured woven wire products, the most popular of which was wire cloth for sifting flour. Other products manufactured locally included hooks and eyelets, needles and flyswatters. The work of producing these simple products often engaged the entire family, a tradition that has survived, as many companies in the Gnosjö region remain family businesses to this day – including Garantell, which was founded and is still owned by two brothers. Their father also started a still-active company in the same industry, while their sons also work at Garantell and thus follow the common thread.
Of course, today metal mesh is no longer manufactured to sieve flour or swat flies but in considerably larger dimensions for machine guards, fall protection, shelving and storage solutions.
Time is one of the few things in life that is truly equal – no one can complain or insist that the quota is unfair. Although, the 24 hours a day we all have at our disposal can be utilised or wasted in various ways. However, only the things we manage to accomplish endure over time.
This year, many traditions have had to take a back seat. Due to the spread of the coronavirus, there are restrictions regarding the maximum number of people permitted to gather in one place, and festive events have had to adapt. This has affected the ability to hold everything from weddings to funerals in the usual way. Online funerals have become common in Sweden, while holidays such as Midsummer, crayfish parties or birthdays have been celebrated within the immediate family instead of as is usually the case with the extended family and friends. Christmas, which is considered the major holiday period in much of Europe, is now on the horizon. That too will be different for many people this year, as older relatives are unable to participate in the festivities in the same way as usual.
The winter is now approaching and in Småland we can look back on magical August evenings when the sun went down at half past nine. Sitting by a reflective dark lake watching the sunset behind the treetops is really something magical. For those who believe in lake monsters, it goes without saying that August evenings, with their shadows and fantastic sunsets, are the height of lake monster season.
Looking after staff is considered a matter of course for many companies in Sweden, and it’s done in various ways. Not only by, for example, providing breakfast, but also by offering employees a sum of money to enable them to purchase a gym membership or treat themselves to a back massage. We also enjoy exercising together in our lunch break. A short run or a tabata session can be squeezed in before lunch. Sounds strange? Maybe. However, we don’t just see it as exercise. It’s also a chance to socialise with our colleagues. Just like Friday’s after-work session can be of value because it increases the sense of well-being within the team.
Both as a company and as individual employees, we must respond to a world in which technology is developing at an increasing pace, with an accelerating flow of information. Our products and services must constantly develop, change and improve. Ideally, we should be presenting innovative solutions that our customers had no idea they needed.
When I cycle to Garantell in the mornings, I pedal through a typical Småland landscape (if you’re curious about Småland, open a book by Astrid Lindgren: our national hero and Pippi Longstocking’s mom). Astrid Lindgren’s descriptions of the Småland landscape are still accurate today: forests, gravel roads, cows feeding in pastures, red cottages with white trim, all accompanied by birdsong. Foxes and deer are frequently spotted, and if you hear a loud crack and crash in the forest, it’s guaranteed to be a moose or wild boar. I also cycle alongside Lake Vidöstern and, if I’m lucky, I see a naked Smålander enjoying a morning dip. For us Swedes, a morning dip is quite natural, but my colleagues have said to me that it’s a quintessentially Swedish thing to do. So what is a morning dip? Basically, you get out of bed and go down to the lake (wearing a bathrobe if you have neighbours, naked if you don’t). In Småland, the lakes are placid and dark, and an early morning swim in the light of dawn is something absolutely amazing that I hope you all get the chance to experience at some point.
When I started working at Garantell as a Belgian city girl, I was introduced to a lot of new habits and routines on the work floor. Swedish style. Yes, some are more peculiar than others. One of these habits is eating breakfast together with all the Garantell employees. Every day, at 9 o’clock on the dot, a bunch of sandwiches, eggs and yoghurt is waiting for us, joined by the fresh smell of a cup of coffee. The latter seems a detail, but it is serious business this coffee: Swedes are famous for their coffee drinking. As a food lover, I surely appreciate the fact of getting a paid breakfast, but the most important fact about this company breakfast is not the food, but the talk.
As a little girl living in the Polish countryside, I was a very good sales person in the school’s candy shop. Of course part of the profit disappeared in my mouth, but that is a pleasant detail … And now I am in a completely other line of business, mesh products, a great learning experience. However, occasionally I feel like the little candy seller again, as one my most favourite things to do is to go to the factory. To me it feels like the excitement of a school trip, or even more, I feel like a character in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the wonderful book by Roald Dahl. There is so much to see, and every time I discover something new. So today, I want to take you along on a trip to my favourite magic place, the one where our mesh panels are created.