DAV NORDIC turns 90 years old in 2018 and stands on a strong foundation that will be further developed in the coming years. The company no longer only provides solutions for construction projects, but moves into the building industry with success.
Ulrik Toft Marcussen, Admin. Director/CEO of DAV NORDIC explains: “DAV NORDIC is in rapid development, and our business, which was previously primarily concerned with crash barriers and guards, is now more evenly distributed across a wide range of product areas, such as noise screens, railings, traffic guards, poles, steel structures for construction, crash barriers, etc. The assembly and maintenance of the roads, which we handle on 80% of all Danish roads, are also big areas for us. Steel structures for construction are a new business area for us. It has proved easy to enter that market because we work with the same quality standards and requirement specifications for the steel solutions for the roads and because we have the right supplier network. I am very pleased with that."
The cost controls the construction projects
Ulrik Toft Marcussen explains: “In recent years, we have seen a tendency for the cost to have a greater and greater impact on contracts. Today, price is by far the most important parameter and 100% decisive for who gets the assignment.
I think that is a bit too uniform and a sad development. Of course, it is good that there is more competition to ensure that the entrepreneur gets the highest value for their money, but the lowest common denominator is often the norm, and this is at the expense of the quality. I think that it will take revenge on the maintenance account in the coming years, and we as suppliers are not satisfied that we cannot always deliver good and durable quality.”
Many road projects in the upcoming years
”For many years we have talked about the fact that enough crash barriers have been delivered in Denmark, but in the next 5-10 years, we see many new projects, such as the expansion of the E45, the expansion over Fyn, the Fehmarn connection and the Hærvej Highway. In addition, there is an increasing traffic figure that requires safety. I see many new opportunities for our large business area - road safety - in the future”, says Ulrik Toft Marcussen.
Development in DAV NORDIC
DAV NORDIC was, at its earliest beginning, a manufacturing company that, with the invention of the crash barrier, came to supply this to most of the world. The crash barrier was invented and launched by founder Svend Aage Rasmussen in 1935. The international breakthrough came in 1951:
http://filmcentralen.dk/museum/danmark-paa-film/klip/realistisk-demonstration-af-dansk-autovaern.
It gave the company explosive growth and put Denmark on the world map in safety. Today, the company is primarily a trading company with a smaller production. Due to many years of experience, the company sells all the recognized products for the roads and is the market leader. “In relation to our size, we have a unique position in the market, which among other things, is because Denmark is a small country, but also that our customers, who are primarily the Danish Road Directorate, Banedanmark and the municipalities, have wanted to cooperate with us throughout the years. We owe them a big thank you for that”, Ulrik Toft Marcussen continues.