excellence in a demanding local market

2020 will see Teknos Sweden celebrate its 100-year anniversary. Founded in 1920, the paint and coating manufacturer Tranemo Färg was acquired by Teknos in 1989 and launched the Teknos brand into the Swedish market.

With three locations, more than 140 employees and a turnover of 57 million Euros, Teknos AB is now a leading paint and coating manufacturer in Sweden and an important part of the Teknos Group. Their main operations are in the interior and exterior industrial wood coating sector, and the corrosion protection and architectural coatings sectors.

Main locations in Tranemo and Vedevåg

The headquarters of the Swedish organisation is in Tranemo, about 100 kilometres east of Gothenburg. In addition to administration and operational functions such as marketing and sales, it also houses the central warehouse and the main logistics centre for Sweden. This site, together with the Vedevåg plant and an additional logistics hub in northern Sweden ensures optimum supply to customers, covering the vast 1,500 kilometres over which Sweden stretches north to south. Despite the majority of production coming out of Vedevåg, the traditional Swedish red exterior coatings are still produced in Tranemo and remain a prominent symbol of Swedish house building.

Teknos acquired the local industrial coatings manufacturer Wedevåg at the end of 2012 which today is fully integrated into the Teknos family. Almost 200 kilometres west of Stockholm it is now an important Teknos site for research, development and production.

Teknos in Vedevåg

Teknos Vedevåg primarily develops and produces high-performance water-based primers and topcoats for interior wood, such as TEKNOCOAT AQUA 2575. Solvent-based products are also developed and produced in Vedevåg and these continue to play an important role in industrial wood coating in Sweden and other countries.

A demanding market

Coating solutions for furniture and other interior wood surfaces are a key part of Teknos Sweden's business. “Having IKEA as a major customer and holding quality accreditations like Möbelfakta, means that there are strict requirements on the manufacturer,” explains Tomas Kjellker, who, as Managing Director of Teknos AB, is in charge of the business in Sweden. “That makes it important for us to have both international experience as well as an R&D department and highly qualified technicians on site to support our customers in fulfilling these requirements.”

Teknos has also found success in the Swedish exterior wood sector. Customers in the window and door sector include big international companies like the Inwido Group and many well-known garden furniture manufacturers also rely on coatings from Teknos. A growth area is in exterior cladding with innovative solutions such as the fire-retardant TEKNOSAFE coatings.

As well as industrial wood coatings, Teknos is a strong contender – and leads the field in some markets – in metal coatings, especially corrosion protection solutions. The big Swedish agricultural machine manufacturer Väderstad relies on corrosion protection solutions from Teknos as do many other organisations in steel construction and mechanical engineering.

Swedish agricultural machine manufacturer Väderstad relies on corrosion protection solutions from Teknos

Teknos supporting cross-country skiing and ice hockey

Architectural and decorative coatings are increasingly important to Teknos, with specialised retailers distributing coatings for exteriors and other surfaces to both tradespeople and homeowners. Establishing Teknos shops in the big cities together with successful advertising in popular sports such as cross-country skiing, ice hockey and football, have all helped to increase brand recognition amongst end customers.

“Teknos is very well-positioned in Sweden,” says Tomas Kjellker. “We are operating successfully in many market segments and can take advantage of the great potential of the entire Teknos Group in the process. Our own development department helps us stay close to the market so that we can react quickly to new requirements. Teknos customers in other countries also benefit from the solutions that are developed here in Sweden.”