Eleonor Olsson in action: Precision and inclusion on ABB Metallurgy’s manufacturing floor

What does it mean to be a woman working to advance the sustainability of steel and aluminium production in a male-dominated technical-industrial environment?

Eleonor Olsson, production manager at ABB’s electromagnetic stirrer (EMS) manufacturing plant in Västerås, Sweden is characteristically inclusive, saying, “I never thought much about it. I mean, you work with people first, but having a mix of people in any environment is good – bringing more experience, perspectives and ideas into discussions often leads to better decisions and better results.”

This year, Eleonor, who has contributed to the success of ABB Metallurgy since 1994, is recognized on the local annual ‘40 over 40’ list. The accolade, which was established in 2022 by Swedish industry organizations Jernkontoret and Svemin, and the employer organization Industriarbetsgivarna, highlights women in mining and steel industries who have made significant contributions to their fields.

“I am very grateful to be one of the people recognized on the list. It is important to see that as a woman you can play a vital role in industry. Even today there are still more men than women in this sector, but we have come a long way. I would say to other women, don't hesitate to go into industry,” Eleonor explains.

“When I started working in metals, there weren’t many other women around. There was a period in the 1990s when it was me and the manager’s assistant in the whole of ABB Metallurgy. In Sweden, it has been fairly smooth to be a woman in industry, but when I have traveled abroad, it has been more of a challenge. Now our metallurgy team has a more balanced gender mix and many different nationalities – in fact we’re quite famous for that.”

As a girl, Eleonor’s curiosity about all things technical was ignited by the passion she shared with her older brother for motorcycles and cars; she followed him into the technical stream at high school to pursue mechanical engineering, and never looked back. As a manager, her commitment to team-based decision making, customer satisfaction and efficient manufacturing, is appreciated by her ABB colleagues and the metals industry at large.

Here, she talks about the sense of achievement in pursuing a combined technical-managerial role at ABB Metallurgy.

_{ABB Metallurgy's facility in Västerås, Sweden, where electromagnetic stirring and braking solutions for improving furnace efficiency and casting quality in metals production are manufactured.}

Our portfolio indeed includes many different sizes and shapes of EMS, but that's what makes it enjoyable for the people in my team and the whole metallurgy group, that almost every project brings its own challenges. One wonderful aspect of running EMS production is that our team of 20 has to work closely with other Metallurgy departments, such as mechanical design, and sales – we are as one unit. Sharing information quickly and transparently with each other is key.

I would say reduced energy consumption. It's like trying to dissolve a piece of sugar in your coffee; if you stir with a spoon it dissolves faster. That's the same if you are producing steel or aluminium alloys – when you use an electromagnetic stirrer the metals combine more quickly, so you need less energy to come to where you want to be in your process. It also results in output of a more consistent quality, so that manufacturers have less waste product, which again represents savings in energy and materials by reducing the need for reprocessing, and allowing more timely delivery of metal products to customers.

Our first ABB patent goes all the way back to 1937. When I started, more than 30 years ago, we made mostly small stirrers, but that has changed because we needed to help larger manufacturers produce steel more sustainably. And for several decades electromagnetic stirrers were only used for steel manufacturing, now they are also being applied to aluminium production.

In her role as Production Manager, Eleonor Olsson sees leadership as crucial to creating a strong safety culture, especially in workplaces like ABB Metallurgy's manufacturing facility, where heavy equipment is produced. 

We have had such a high workload for many years now, so it’s always a challenge to coordinate sub-suppliers, to plan and purchase materials – controlling for cost and quality – in a way that allows us to manufacture and deliver projects on time.

We also constantly work to broaden the capabilities of our people as a team, so that we can be flexible and respond as challenges arise. Many of our people have been here for a very long time, and we help each other.

In ABB’s metallurgy team we are very good at letting new people in. That's our reputation. We have a really experienced team who are always happy to share their knowledge with others. Although we are a small unit, metallurgy gets a big thumbs up from ABB’s trainee program participants as a great place to do one of their three six-month assignments. I's a good sign that we have that reputation and people want to come here as beginners in their working life.

As a student I worked during my summer vacations at another ABB unit producing asynchronous machines and motors, and straight out of school I got a permanent job there.

In line with my education, I subsequently moved to ABB Metallurgy to work as a mechanical designer of electromagnetic stirrers for the steel industry. I didn't know much about metals production at the time, but I saw it as a good opportunity to develop my skills and understanding.

_{Eleonor Olsson leads with listening and believes that inclusive decision-making, where more perspectives, experience and ideas can be captured, enables better decisions and better results.}

To listen to them. It's very important. Everyone wants to be seen. And then it's like any relationship: I believe in give and take, a fair exchange. I also try to let people in, to make decisions together about how we approach work processes and respond to Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) concerns. After all, everything is about our people, so they have to be included in what we decide to implement. We need to work together.

Yes, our people propose so many ideas on how we can improve. It could be about how we handle incoming materials so that we have everything in place for manufacturing and don't have to search for what we need. It may be about how we can make new products in more efficient ways; the expertise of our people means their input is essential to product development. For example, with help from manufacturing, the mechanical designer can design for smoother processes on the shop floor. Our people have so much experience, and to find the best way of doing things it's important that their opinions on how to do things are taken into account.

I like to consider many things and juggle many tasks at the same time. And yes, my role has changed over the past four or five years, in that I must produce more reports. Much of that has been focused on health and safety. You must have a safe workplace. And then you have the emissions to consider. Though most of the emissions related to an EMS are generated when it is being used, they also hep customers save a lot of energy and avoid emissions. It's a more efficient way of producing aluminium or steel. In the production phase here at ABB, we are for example using more recycled materials such as recycled copper to help lower the carbon footprint of our products.

It has changed a lot in recent years. We now understand that you have to start with the mindset of the people, and to change that takes time. When I started in this role, there was a narrower way of thinking, based around rules and regulations. Now we have a broader approach where we focus on taking care of each other, looking out for those around us, and advising colleagues when we see potentially dangerous situations. We think about how we carry out procedures, so that we don’t put anyone at risk. We are producing very heavy products; the larger electromagnetic stirrers can weigh up to 48 tons, and it’s very important that the environment is safe and calm when you’re working on, lifting or moving a piece of equipment like that. Leadership is crucial for creating a strong safety culture, and we have that at ABB. Safety is always top of the agenda.

You need to have good free time and to have other interests. My husband and I enjoy target shooting, with handguns. I like it because you need to focus, to think about nothing else, otherwise you won’t do well at all. It’s also quite a social sport — we spend time with other people who have the same interest. We also go to the gym regularly and we like to relax in our garden at home.

It's exciting in terms of developments – the constantly evolving nature of what you can provide. And it's satisfying when the customer is happy and says that our products have helped them. Of course, we make money in this business, but it's important to feel that you’re also accomplishing something, whether it’s for the environment, or in terms of efficient production or other benefits to the customer. That we as a team can produce these stirrers and deliver them all over the world is fantastic.