The year was 1995 and Jørgen Sørensen was sales manager at a company in Fredericia that produced and sold fishing nets. But something wasn't quite right.
- The owner and I didn't quite agree on which way we should go. So there was no doubt that I had to go, says Jørgen Sørensen with a composure that makes you think it seems hard to disagree with him.
While most people might need a breather after saying goodbye to their job, Jørgen Sørensen is a man of action, and it's not far from idea to implementation.
- I got in my car and drove to Alicante in Spain to a factory that makes fishing nets, he says.
It was a drive of almost 2,600 km that ended with Jørgen Sørensen initiating a collaboration with the Spanish company. Back home in Denmark, he started selling fishing nets from Spain.
- I started at home in a children's room. I was a salesman during the day and I did the rest in the evenings, says Jørgen Sørensen, CEO and owner of Dynamica Ropes.
It went well, and it wasn't long before Jørgen Sørensen was the Spanish fishing net manufacturer's best customer. But one thing was, as you might imagine, about the southern Danish company.
- The products were good, and they were nice people – but the delivery times were like a city in Russia. We never knew when we would receive the things, says Jørgen Sørensen about the Spanish family business, which he still has fond memories of.
- The idea of setting up a factory in Eastern Europe had been around for a while. We thought it would be in Poland, because Kate is from there, he says.
Polish plans ended in Lithuania
Kate Christensen was one of Dynamica Rope's first employees, she is originally from Poland. Today she is the company's sales manager and together with Jørgen Sørensen they clearly form a well-rounded team. The two went on a research trip to Eastern Europe. It ended in 2003 with a different result than initially thought.
- We liked Lithuania, so we bought a factory site there, says Kate Christensen.
The first used net machines were bought in Norway, and later more net machines were bought in Esbjerg. Eventually the company in Fredericia, where Jørgen Sørensen had been sales manager before he became self-employed, closed down. So here the rope-making machines were purchased and moved to Taulov.
- We were lucky to hire a young team back then, and they are still there, says Kate Christensen.
There are currently 170 employees at the factory in Lithuania, which is so well-functioning and self-driving that neither Jørgen Sørensen nor Kate Christensen have been there since before corona hit the world. The factory in Taulov currently has 25 employees.
The fishing nets are still sold in Denmark and in Norway, the Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Poland and Estonia, among other places.
The road into the wind turbine industry
But Dynamica Ropes also produces slings in Dyneema, which is the world's strongest fiber. These slings are used to replace steel cables. There are several advantages to slings in Dyneema, because they weigh seven to ten times less than steel. Dyneema also does not absorb water, unlike polyester, for example, so the material is not broken down by salt water in an offshore environment.
That is why it is also widely used in the oil and gas industry and the wind turbine industry, but the latter was unknown to Dynamica Ropes as late as 2012.
- We had a visit from a competitor who told us that slings are used in the wind turbine industry. "Do you use ropes in the wind turbine industry?" we asked, says Kate Christensen, who, together with her boss, has a good laugh about their ignorance at the time.
- Today we really laugh at ourselves about it, the director and sales manager say almost in agreement.
They produce slings and fiber round slings for the wind turbine industry on a large scale, which are used for lifting TPs, nacelles and towers, among other things. Siemens Gamesa was one of the first customers. In 2015, Dynamica Ropes was ISO 9001 certified, and at the same time the company got Denmark's longest test bench to test slings with. Quality assurance and testing are important in order to be able to deliver to several industries.
Has delivered to Stiesdal TetraSpar
Most recently, Dynamica Ropes has also delivered to Henrik Stiesdal's floating offshore wind turbine, which has been towed from Grenå Harbour to a position off Stavanger in Norway. But it all started with an unconventional meeting in Esbjerg.
- We were at a meeting in Energy Cluster Denmark, where Henrik Stiesdal came up to me. He asked if our ropes could be used for certain things in the construction. He drew the construction on a napkin for me, says Kate Christensen.
The napkin was then carefully packed in Henrik Stiesdal's own pocket, after the sales manager had nodded in agreement to the possible use in Stiesdal TetraSpar. This is how Dynamica Ropes ended up supplying the winch and keellines for the floating offshore wind turbine. It is among the connections between the substructure and the superstructure that the Taulov company has been responsible for.
Expansion in Taulov and recycling of Dyneema
Things are going so well at Dynamica Ropes that a new production hall has just been built in Taulov. The hall, which with its ceiling height almost resembles a cathedral, will house the world's largest rope braiding machine, which is expected from the supplier in Germany soon. So the really large dimensions may come from Taulov in the future.
Dynamica Ropes also works purposefully with sustainability, but so far recycling of used slings and other Dyneema products has been a problem. The fibers are so strong that it has been a problem to granulate them so that they could be melted down and turned into new products.
- We have now found a company in England that has promised that they can granulate and recycle Dyneema by remelting. We have otherwise tried with two companies in Denmark and one in Lithuania, all of which ended up not being able to solve the task, says Kate Christensen.
But the recycled Dyneema will not be made into slings again.
- When recycled, the dyneema will be used for other things that only require low density, explains Jørgen Sørensen finally.
But the company also provides servicing and testing of used slings, where the outer cover may be replaced, so that the lifespan of the slings is improved even further.
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Dynamics Ropes on the way to recycling the world's strongest fibers
Dyneema is an extremely durable part of slings for lifting from the company in Taulov. But recycling has been
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