Simon helped company automate production
Palsgaard Spær from the village of Hampen, Denmark is one of the country’s largest and oldest rafter and element manufacturer. Simon Have Kjær, a former BDE student, is the company’s process development manager for production and logistics. During his studies in Herning, he did the initial analysis work that preceded Palsgaard Spær’s investment in a new plant, which has further led to the company’s transition from a craftsman’s business to an industrialised enterprise.
The production of rafters has so far been a manual carpentry process, but Palsgaard Spær’s new plant automates this process. In 2022, the company won the “Automation Award” at the AUTOMATIK fair, which brings together the robotics and automation industries across Denmark every two years.
Palsgaard Spær’s process development manager in production and logistics is Simon Have Kjær. He is a former BDE student (Bachelor of Engineering in Business Development) at our department in Herning.
During his internship and thesis writing at Aarhus University in Herning, Simon focused on the possibility of automating the company’s production of rafters. He did the initial analysis work prior to the investment in the plant, which preceded Palsgaard Spær’s transition from a craftsman’s business to an industrialised enterprise.
“The BDE study programme has given me the ability to analyse a situation and gain the knowledge I need. Originally, Palsgaard Spær was a craftsman-driven company, and my task was to think about automation and production in a new way. When you start in a company like that and have to make such a big change, you need to have a good dialogue with the different stakeholders and understand their situation. The BDE study programme had equipped me well to do that,” says Simon.
”From an academic perspective, you can say that the theoretical tools that I learned at the university have been very useful in the problem solving. I have learned to work in a structured way,” he continues.
Upon his graduation, Simon was employed as project manager for the implementation of the robot line, and today, he is the company’s process development manager for production and logistics.
Simon has recently hired Anna Cecilie Nielsen and Simon Frendrup Langhoff, both graduates from Aarhus University in Herning, where they have studied technology-based business development. Simon Frendrup Langhoff is also a former BDE student.
In this video, you can hear Simon Have Kjær tell about Palsgaard Spær’s new plant.
Photos: DIRA (Danish Industrial Robot Association).