Arnt Terje Aksnes started out as a toolmaker. Now he is the new Managing Director at Industriverktøy, one of Alvi Group’s plants in Leksvik. Aksnes has a long career behind him in the industrial Leksvik-area before he formally took over in August. Just like most Leksvik-locals, Aksnes is not that keen on receiving attention.

Coincidences

He started his journey with Industriverktøy nine years ago, having worked at Lycro before that. Coming from an ordinary background as a toolmaker, he has slowly but surely worked his way up the organization.

“It is thanks to the opportunities I’ve had,” the 52 year-old explains, characterizing his rise through the ranks as a bit of a coincidence.

Precision Engineering

Industriverktøy is a key part of Alvi Group, with its speciality being machining and the building of injection moulding tools. These products are manufactured with extremely small tolerances. A millimetre is considered coarse. Aksnes explains that they work with hundredths of a millimetre, and they even split those.

When marketing themselves abroad, they have started using the Alvi name, moving away from the Industriverktøy abbreviation, IV. Aksnes clarifies the strategic decision:

“The abbreviation IV can be associated with the Roman numeral four, which is considered unlucky in Chinese culture – similar to the significance of the number thirteen in the West.”

The name Alvi is derived from the Old Norse word for river, fittingly, as a river flows directly past the Leksvik facility. The river serves as a powerful metaphor for the company: it is always the same river, but the water that flows through it, is always new.

“That is a good representation of ourselves. We’ve been here for 60 years, but we keep renewing ourselves, and I believe our customers appreciate that. We all step up,” he says.

Recruitment

While the industrial environment in Leksvik is competitive, Industriverktøy maintains a strong commitment to local talent, actively recruiting young people. The company currently employs two dedicated apprentices.

Aksnes emphasizes the company’s role in shaping new talent while encouraging independence:

“They should find the best in themselves,” he says, underscoring the importance of allowing apprentices to discover their own unique path within the trade.

Aksnes describes his new role as fairly straightforward. With a sickness absence rate of 0.7 percent and low staff turnover, Industriverktøy can point to a good working environment.

“The employees are continuously focused on innovation and development,” he states. “They don’t need to be managed; they manage themselves. It’s a very easy group to work with.”