An entrepreneurial success story
Since its foundation in 1993, Danish company CKJ Steel has developed advanced processing equipment, primarily for customers in the life science industry. Today, CKJ Steel produces stainless steel pressure vessels, tanks, pipe systems and complete processing solutions for its customers, which can also be found in other industries with stringent technical requirements, such as biotechnology, food, energy and offshore.
Carsten Jensen was just 24 years old when he founded CKJ Steel. He chose to build his business on a conviction that is still very much part of the company’s DNA: “We decided at an early stage that our own requirements should exceed those of our customers. That is how we make sure we are the best. We might be a little more expensive than our competitors, but we always deliver on time and to the very highest quality standards”, explains Carsten.
The industries the company works with are particularly demanding when it comes to both quality and safety. All aspects of products and production processes must therefore be extensively documented.
Growing with life science
Projects generally start with the customer producing a user requirement specification (URS) setting out what it needs. CKJ Steel’s engineering team then come up with a set of proposals. Once approved, the equipment is assembled at the company’s facilities, which are designed for the production of large and advanced processing solutions from stainless steel.
“We have built close partnerships with many customers over the years. This means that we can deal with practical issues early on and quickly find the best solution together with the customer”, says Carsten.
The principal market is Denmark, which is the main hub for the life science industry in the An entrepreneurial success story Nordic countries and home to Medicon Valley, an international cluster of innovative pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical technology companies. Novo Nordisk has been the standout success here, and this has benefited CKJ Steel.
“Working with these customers requires us to meet ever more exacting requirements and extensions. If we have the drive and ability to handle this, we will develop and grow as a company. This is one of the secrets of our success”, says Carsten.
“Just as important is to have the courage to trust our instincts, sense which way the wind is blowing, and pivot accordingly.”
Success factors
A strong winning mentality is another factor that Carsten singles out as important for the company’s growth over the past 30 years. He contributes to this himself, partly by maintaining a high profile and inspiring employees in their day-to-day work, and partly by ensuring that everyone knows exactly what they should be working towards, whether these are business targets for the whole company or goals for a specific customer project.
“If you succeed in this, I think everything else falls into place almost automatically as everyone wants to be part of a winning team. A winning mentality is also something we emphasise when recruiting new employees.”
Another success factor is striving constantly to work more quickly and come up with better and cheaper solutions for customers, and focusing on demanding engineering projects:
“To achieve this, we must always be curious and willing to question how we work, and aim to offer solutions that differ from those of our competitors and/or solve more complex problems.”
Retaining the corporate culture
A new chapter in the company’s story began in 2021 when Indutrade acquired CKJ Steel. The company had been approached by several potential buyers:
“Some of them even offered a higher price, but we still opted for Indutrade. One reason was that we wanted to keep our name, our structure and our corporate culture. Indutrade were very clear that we would get to do that”, says Carsten.
One of the aims of selling the company was to make it easier to expand into other markets in the Nordic region. This requires a larger organisation with different kinds of expertise and experience – something that Indutrade could provide.
“We feel that there is clear support for our growth plans. We can also make use of Indutrade’s skills in other areas, such as sustainability, where we are getting help with reducing our carbon footprint.”
Increased digitalisation
Continuous improvement is a natural part of CKJ Steel’s corporate culture and an attitude that has contributed to its success story. One example is the digitalisation project that Carsten and his team are currently working hard on:
“Within some years, we will be fully digital and working with everything from AI to advanced robotics. This will create value for customers. The connected systems we are now developing will enable them to follow our work on developing their processing equipment in real time”, Casten says.
