A defining moment for the company was the launch of the X-Guard series in 2008
Johan has been a driving force behind the company’s product development and design. The focus has long been more on ensuring that the products meet the requirements for production than on being spectacular to look at. Current product manager, Mikael Ström, tells us that Axelent is hard at work today to be close to the market and to constantly improve its responsivityeness to customer feedback.
“The focus is always on the user’s perspective. The fact that we have become better at listening to the market and developing products that the market needs is important to our product development. We have been and continue to be good at ’Axelentifying’ products: dressing them up with added value and other details”.
Mikael Ström has overall responsibility for the product managers at Axelent, and acting as project manager. The advantage of both leading the production process and owning the product is that Axelent can literally follow the process from start to finish – from the start of production until the product is introduced on the market.
“We are constantly working to improve the products we have on the market, both our smaller products that support our existing products and larger product concepts that will replace our existing products. We have a list of some 20 new future products, and we always try to find a design that lends the products a distinct Axelent profile. It might be a small depression in the material, with a visible X or Axelent logo”, says Mikael Ström. As mentioned, a defining moment for the company was the launch of the X-Guard series in 2008.
Like a small link in a larger chain, where everything is an integral part of the greater whole
With its simplicity and user-friendly design, the series made a huge impact and has paved the way for Axelent’s expansion into the world market. Both Johan Axelsson and Mikael Ström highlight how X-Guard has simplified their product work because customers know exactly what they are getting. And it has provided the company with a clearer design path to follow for the development of new products. Every Axelent product should serve a specific purpose and, as mentioned, focus on user friendliness. A similar defining moment occurred in 1999 when the black and yellow logo was born and became an integral part of the design of the products.
The black and yellow fit together nicely and settled in quickly, which was something we felt both internally and in feedback from the customers. “Initially, the posts were black and the mesh was yellow, but we switched to yellow posts and black mesh. We wanted the posts to draw attention and ensure that you could see the hazard through the mesh”, says Johan. Today, Axelent’s product range includes just about anything you can imagine, from cable trays and industrial panels to machine protection. Axelent is constantly adding to the range with updated or new products. Each new addition becomes a part of the black and yellow company logo – like a small link in a larger chain, where everything is an integral part of the greater whole.
