"337 Years of Change" – Husqvarna to Deliver Opening Address at Elmia Subcontractor

• Husqvarna will deliver the opening keynote at Elmia Subcontractor, focusing on its 337-year history of resilient adaptation as a competitive advantage.

• The company highlights the importance of operational, tactical, and strategic resilience in responding to recent supply chain disruptions and market challenges.

• Husqvarna stresses evolving supplier expectations, seeking partners who offer competitiveness, innovation, and resilience to help drive change.

• The keynote underscores the value of collaboration and rapid adaptation to maintain global competitiveness amid increasing uncertainty.

From rifles and sewing machines to chainsaws and robotic lawn mowers. Over the past 337 years, Husqvarna has repeatedly transformed both its products and production. But in a world where supply chain disruptions, new technologies and global competition have become part of everyday business, the ability to adapt is more important than ever. As Elmia Subcontractor opens on 10 November, Husqvarna will share its experiences – and what the company expects from the suppliers of tomorrow.

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Founded in Huskvarna in 1689, Husqvarna has evolved from a local manufacturer into a global industrial group over more than three centuries. Throughout its history, products, technologies and markets have changed fundamentally. Yet one thing has remained constant: the need to adapt to new circumstances.

Today, Husqvarna operates production facilities in several parts of the world, while an important part of its manufacturing remains in Huskvarna, just a few kilometres from Elmia.

When Carl-Johan Ljung, SVP Global Operations at Husqvarna, delivers the opening keynote at Elmia Subcontractor on 10 November, adaptability will be at the heart of his message. Under the title 337 Years of Resilient Adaptation: Resilience as a Competitive Advantage, he will connect the company's long history with the challenges facing today's manufacturing industry.

– The lesson from Husqvarna's 337-year history is simple: success does not come from avoiding change. It comes from adapting to it. Resilience is not about resisting the future. It is about embracing it and moving faster than the challenges in front of us, says Carl-Johan Ljung.

When the Unexpected Becomes Part of Everyday Business

In recent years, the manufacturing industry has faced a series of events that have put supply chains to the test. The pandemic, semiconductor shortages, port congestion, changing tariffs and geopolitical tensions have affected businesses in different ways.

For Husqvarna, the pandemic brought an unexpected surge in demand, while shortages of electronic components created major challenges for production. These experiences have also changed how the company works with strategically important suppliers, including closer relationships with component manufacturers further down the supply chain.

– None of these challenges were fully anticipated, and none could be solved through inventory alone. Success depended on the ability to react quickly, adapt, and find solutions in partnership with others, says Carl-Johan Ljung.

He distinguishes between three forms of resilience. Operational resilience involves managing predictable fluctuations through planning, forecasting and capacity balancing. Tactical resilience is about responding to unexpected disruptions. Strategic resilience means remaining relevant over time by continuously developing products, technologies and ways of working.

– No company can economically prepare for every possible disruption. Instead, resilience comes from building options, maintaining flexibility and, most importantly, increasing the speed at which an organisation can react. In a world of disruption, the fastest company to adapt often wins.

New Expectations for Tomorrow's Suppliers

For Husqvarna, collaboration with suppliers is a crucial part of its ability to respond to change. The company combines in-house manufacturing with external partners and continuously develops its global production structure.

At the same time, the competitive landscape is changing rapidly. Particularly in robotics, where technological development is moving quickly and competition is intense, innovation and cost efficiency are becoming increasingly important.

Carl-Johan Ljung emphasises that long-term supplier relationships remain essential, but that these relationships must also evolve alongside changing market conditions.

– No company develops resilience alone today. Husqvarna's success depends on a capable and adaptable network of partners. Looking ahead, we need three things from our supply base: competitiveness, innovation and resilience. We need partners who can not only respond to change but help drive it.

337 Years of Adaptation – Looking Ahead

Husqvarna's history is an example of strategic resilience. Over more than three centuries, the company has repeatedly developed new products, technologies and business models to meet changing needs.

But the ability to continue evolving is just as important for the future. New technologies, changing regulations, geopolitics and customer expectations are placing new demands on the entire industry. Carl-Johan Ljung highlights artificial intelligence as one example of an opportunity, while emphasising that technology must be combined with the right skills, processes and data to create real value.

This closely reflects the theme of this year's Elmia Subcontractor, Resilience powered by industry, which highlights the industry's ability to develop and grow through collaboration.

For Carl-Johan Ljung, the exhibition is also a place where the partnerships needed for future competitiveness can be strengthened.

– Ultimately, that is why events like Elmia Subcontractor matter. They bring together an extraordinary concentration of competence, ideas and industrial capability. If we work together, adapt together, and move quickly together, we can remain globally competitive despite increasing uncertainty.

On 10 November, Carl-Johan Ljung will deliver the opening keynote on Elmia Subcontractor's Main Stage, sharing Husqvarna's experiences under the title 337 Years of Resilient Adaptation: Resilience as a Competitive Advantage.