Since HMS received the Swedish Trade Council's Grand Export Award from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf four years ago, the company has increased sales by 45% and employed more than 100 people, in spite of financial crises and stagnating economies. This was explained to the King and Queen during their visit to HMS's head office in Halmstad, Tuesday 4 September.
During the visit, the King and Queen listened to a presentation of the company and met with staff in the highly automated production facility in Halmstad. The 180 employees gathered for a summary of the company's development since receiving the Grand Export Award, 18 May 2008.
HMS's management team, headed by CEO Staffan Dahlström, has invested vigorously in several export markets since 2008. The number of employees has increased from 150 to 250, most of them in Halmstad, Sweden. The international sales offices have been expanded, predominantly in Germany, USA, Japan and China, and new offices have started up in the U.K., Denmark and India.
During 2008, HMS reached one million installations at production facilities around the world. Less than four years later, the company installed its two-millionth module. The module in question was installed at one of HMS's first customers, Atlas Copco Tools, world-leader in industrial nutrunners used to increase efficiency at car manufacturing plants all over the world.
"The King and Queen were very interested in the reasons behind HMS's success and it was a great honor for our staff to show our head office in Halmstad," says Nicolas Hassbjer, founder and Vice Chairman of the Board.
The visit was concluded by Urban Jansson, Chairman of the Board, who spoke about the importance of entrepreneurship and thanked the King and Queen for visiting HMS.