On the docket for the day was a motion capture company named Qualisys and the world’s leading producer of ball bearings, SKF Ball Bearings. We arrived and were met by Magnus Sjölin, the Market Area Director and Helen Holmqvist-Rydén, the Marketing and Communication Manager, Global. They gave us a tour of the office and made a stop at the coffee maker to fill up on coffee before sitting down for the presentation. The presentation was in the downstairs Motion Capture studio where they have all their cameras and sensors set up. The presentation covered the main function of the company, what the capabilities of the cameras are, and what the customers of the company use the applications for.

Magnus talked a lot about what the market looks like for the Mo-Cap industry and one thing really stuck out to me in his presentation, he was talking about how the technology can be utilized for drone location and directions. The development of this technology is already underway with the hope that it can be used to create an autonomous fulfillment system for distribution centers. With over 2000 cameras produced per year, the industry is growing quickly and research into new applications will only accelerate as time passes. From a sales perspective, Magnus told us that new clients are generated half from referrals and half from outreach. For this reason, the sales team is smaller than other technology and Mo-Cap companies. The top selling camera is the Miqus M3.

After a demonstration from the Qualisys team on the running analysis as well as a program that is used to produce video game and movie animations. We enjoyed a wonderful lunch at their office, and were sent off with an amazing gift bag with some Qualisys swag! We then went across town to the SKF ball bearing headquarters and manufacturing plant. SKF was established in 1907 as a solution to the first industrial revolution causing fires from friction made off of rotating parts.

Lars was our tour guide and he was worked at SKF for 30 years. He started in manufacturing and then moved into product management after about 10 years. We started with an introduction video that was produced by their corporate team and then moved into a deep dive through their exhibit that they have set up in central building. Then we were fortunate enough to be able to go on a tour of the manufacturing facility. For safety we were not able to take pictures, but it was a lot of automated systems through ABB robotics. As well as self driving forklifts to buzz around the factory floor.

For we went to Di Vinci, which is right next door to the Pasta Haus that we went to on the first night in Sweden. I ordered a pizza and a Coca-Cola, had to show my true American colors at some point during this trip. It was very good and the Coca-Cola was unreal real sugar rather than High fructose corn syrup makes a huge difference!

Takeaways

• Mo-Cap technology is expanding at a very fast rate and is making the industry of animation much more accessible for many companies
• Ball Bearings have revolutionized how our mechanical products function and extended the lifespan. Additionally make them much safer to have in our homes and businesses.
• Using real sugar as opposed to high fructose corn syrup makes the soda taste so much better. @ US food and beverage companies.

Cheers!