Avskrift:

Dear Peter,

This letter is written to express my thanks for your time and kind hospitality. It has been a most interesting round-trip and I have in many ways been confirmed of my first impression of the 3R company. In some areas I have to revise such first opinions.

After 25 years of experience of the machine industry in and outside Sweden in the capacity of both supplier of components to, manufacturer of and user of machine tools, I guess I have learned the prerequisites of this industry.

I herewith take the liberty to sum up some of the notes regarding 3R I have made.

1. First and most important is the fact that 3R is a very fine company which however, like a raw gem needs to be polished and that fast! The challenge by our collegues EROWA is imminent. Unless we do not speed up the product development we will be overrun. In my opinion 3R has not been worse. The competitors have in the past been so much better that they now tend to eat our cake!

2. The machine manufacturers - the OEM customers - are a target group. A humble attitude at their service is clearly needed. Especially this is a pan-European task where the resources of all the "old world" must be coordinated.

3. The by me so often in other companies seen typically swedish attitude as the rest of the world being somewhat out of centre has to be revised. Our living is derived from pleased customers at their terms and where they are! However, the earlier years of proven ability to produce good and sometimes even ingenious products should strongly be encouraged, why not repeat successes from the seventies.

4. The present situation where the entire gross contribution goes to finance expenses has caused all the seed to be consumed. Nothing is left to seed again for the harvest of tomorrow. Unless the bank realises that fact there will not be any company left in a couple of years. There will not be any cow to milk anymore. I do not care of who or whom to blame. I just see a scenario and it is not a nice one.

5. If the various parts of the company do not match and people hang with their heads we are sure loosers. Leadership is at stake.

6. Everybody understands the need to have a road map when driving in an unknown country. But witn 3R we are driving if not blind fold clearly without any business plan worth the name.

7. 85% delivery reliability may sound high, but the issue is what yardstick is to be used. If 15% of the parts is missing on an air-craft I wish good luck to the one who wants to fly.

The standard reply that a delay cannot be that bad is probably not fully accepted by the 15% passengers finding that their booking for this Friday evenings last flight has been occupied by somebody else. Perhaps the reason was somebody in Sweden who left the job early to go to the dentist or pick up the kids at the nursery school.

It is indeed interesting to hear the outcry in this country because of shortness of jobs knowing it was not long ago customers were left drifting because it was the elk hunting season.

8. Right now I hold 4 differently designed 3R business cards in my hand. I hope these four are not an evidence of our ability to form a united force. A coheisive structure is clearly needed.

9. The biggest asset in a company is always the customer base. In 3R we still have the best customer base and that must with offensive marketing and sales efforts be sustained. With a good base we will get new repeat business and be attractive to the OEM's since they also have to please the end user. The day we start to cut back the direct sales force we will sign our death sentence.

During my talks with you and your collegues I have found a strong loyalty to 3R and the work originally initiated by Börje. No real bad talk has been heard but rather a cry for action. That shows a strength really worth building on. This company deserves a kind of restart.

If it will not be me to take on this relay-race I at least wish you the best of success. A job is not only a matter of having a steady income. It is also a matter of working with something one believes in - and that I found in you.