Ilsbo

Blue means quality

We are located in the heart of Hälsingland. We rest on a long tradition of craftsmanship, innovation and quality that we are proud to carry on.

Join us on our 100-year journey

SMP has a long history that takes us back 100 years in time. Our story starts in a garage in 1919 and brings us to where we are today.
A place where craftsmanship, innovation and quality have been, and continue to be, front and center.

From bike-
mechanics to truck trailers
1919

The beginning of our journey

In 1919, brothers Jonas Gunnar and Fredrik Höglund started the Bröderna Höglunds Verkstäder company. On December 1 of that year, their forging and carpentry workshop was established in Ilsbo.

In the beginning, the brothers repaired bicycles, motorcycles and occasionally, a T-Ford. But in 1927, a visit from Albin Lindberg from Njurunda outside Sundsvall changed the direction of the business.

“If I buy a truck, can you build a trailer that can be tipped?” Lindberg asked.
“I’m sure we could arrange that. We build tipping trailers for horse-drawn carts,” Jonas Gunnar answered.

They developed the design and before long, the first tipping trailer for trucks came to be.

1929

The business develops

As trucks became more prevalent, larger and more robust, it was necessary to start thinking more innovatively when it came to tipping equipment on trailers.

In 1929, the brothers began to develop a telescopic tipping mechanism to be placed in the center of the truck’s trailer that would be run by oil pump. In July of the same year, all the hydraulic tipping components were ready for mounting.

Following this revolutionary innovation, the business rapidly expanded and in 1937, a new workshop was built that would employ about 35 people in the 1940s. During this period, the focus gradually shifted from forging to hydraulics.

1957

“The Mecca of Hydraulics”

In 1957, Royal Governor John Lingman visited Ilsbo. Later, John expressed his gratitude for having been given an inside view of “the Mecca of Hydraulics”.

In 1962, the Höglund brothers were awarded a medal by His Majesty King Gustav VI Adolf: “To the Knights of the First Class Vasa Order” for their efforts in technical development.

The business in Ilsbo continued to grow after this and by 1965, they had 213 employees.

1966

The Höglund brothers’ workshops are sold

In 1966, the Bröderna Höglunds Verkstäder workshops were merged with Trima och Hildings Mekaniska. One year later, they went under the common name of Ilsbo Industrier AB.

In 1971, Ilsbo Industrier moved to Enånger, and there they remain today but under another guise. Nowadays, their headquarters are just outside Stockholm. In Ilsbo, there is still a sign indicating the origins of the Bröderna Höglunds Verkstäder company and the innovative Ilsbo tipping mechanism.

From garage to factory
1980

SMP is established

In an entirely differnt time, two other motivated people had the idea to create quality machinery and equipment for excavators and wheel loaders. Their idea came to fruition and their small operations, Svets och Maskinprodukter (now SMP Parts), started from a garage.

The company started out small but grew rapidly. Soon, they outgrew their garage and were given the opportunity to move into the Höglund brothers’ old workshop. There, they took over the tradition of craftsmanship and expertise found in Ilsbo since 1919.

1989

SMP innovates the industry

SMP embraced the innovative thinking of the Höglund brothers and as early as 1983, we developed our own patented quick coupler. A few years later, we also developed the rotator and the Swingotilt product.

In 1989, we expanded outside the boundaries of Sweden and started a subsidiary in Norway and then another in Germany in 1993. Nowadays, we have partners all over the world and an increased global demand for our innovative, quality products.

Man with tattoos making holes with a drill in to a quick coupler for excavators
our journey continues
– we are in it for the long haul
2021

Quality products through the generations

Over 100 years after the brothers started their small business, we remain in the same place. Today, SMP has over 100 employees, most of whom work in the Ilsbo factory.

We are unique in our industry in that we have our own factory where we make our own products, and we can proudly say that our main strength is our employees.

Our goal is, and has always been, to develop and manufacture products that withstand the test of time – generation after generation.