Central Norway’s oldest landscape gardener company scores high on competence, quality and documentation. What is the secret?
Hageanlegg AS, a well-established landscaping company in Trondheim, has over time shown a remarkable ability to combine expertise, quality and comprehensive documentation. Their journey from 1964, when Kåre Berntsen and Jarle Krognes founded the business, to today, tells an inspiring story of growth, adaptation and success.
On the way to their 60th anniversary in 2024, we give you an insight into their working methods and corporate culture.
We visited the company in Trondheim and met general manager Ronny Olaussen and HSE/KS manager Stein Tore Engesbak.
– It has been quite a journey! From a time when Kåre and Jarle went around the city on a motorcycle with a wheelbarrow to carry out gardening tasks, to today we are a professional landscape gardening company with modern machines and over 30 employees, says managing director Ronny Olaussen.
Reputation and customer base
The stability and loyalty of the employees gives strength to the company, which has given the company a depth of experience and understanding that is difficult to match.
– We have had a very stable work team in recent years, and had little pull through, which has been a key factor in the fact that things are now going well.
Hageanlegg AS’ built-up reputation and customer base over almost six decades is decisive for their success and position as a preferred choice in the landscaping industry. This has helped them through challenging times and allowed them to continue and prosper.
Recently, the company has welcomed Tverås Maskin & Transport AS as a shareholder. With Tverås by its side, Hageanlegg has gained a reliable partner, increased security and stability, which further strengthens its future prospects.
Today, the assignment list is full of projects in and around Trondheim for Hageanlegg AS. Everything points in the right direction for the 60-year-old.
Another reason for the company’s success is their focus on documentation. Something we will look at in more detail in the coming sections.
Landscape gardener Alexander loves his job
Alexander Wulff has a professional certificate as a landscape gardener and thinks it’s nice that digital tools have made inroads in the same way as other tools he uses on a daily basis.
Landscape gardener Alexander loves his job
Alexander Wulff has a professional certificate as a landscape gardener and thinks it’s nice that digital tools have made inroads in the same way as other tools he uses on a daily basis.
Saves time and money on digital documentation
Like everyone else in the building and construction industry, the increased costs have not gone unnoticed at Hageanlegg either.
The costs of fuel and electricity have increased significantly, as well as material costs. In addition, the costs of filling material have increased due to the fact that there are few landfill sites near the projects. All this means that the companies must have full focus on operating economically sensibly.
– We drive less, and plan our trips better so that we can drive a larger quantity when we do drive. In addition, the machines are never standing still, and there is a great focus on reuse, Ronny mentions as some of the measures.
In addition, he highlights control of projects and documentation as one of the most important measures.
Documentation has become a cornerstone in Hageanlegg’s everyday life, which provides significant benefits for both the company and its customers. Garden facilities use SmartDok to document hours, machine hours and HSEQ, which results in significant time and cost savings.
Ronny and Stein Tore agree that there are significant savings with the use of SmartDok.
– I am 100% convinced that we save time and money. Just look at how much time we save with pay driving! In addition, we use photo documentation of work carried out, which ensures less rework and complaints.
HSEQ manager Stein Tore Engesbak holds out a bag of documents showing documentation on one of the machines. This documentation
is now easily accessible through the SmartDok app, and thus the employees are freed from stacks of manuals on the project.
147 years of experience
Ronny Olaussen is proud of his workforce, which is one of the industry’s most experienced. When he submitted a tender to Trondheim municipality some time ago, he could boast that the plant managers in the company had a total of 147 years of experience in the field.
– It’s fun to get recognition for just this!
This is a concrete example of Hageanlegg’s dedication to the industry and their commitment to deliver quality work. They place great importance on training future generations of landscape gardeners through their apprenticeship programme, which currently has 4 active apprentices.
Horticulture defines success on a project basis – completing the project without major adverse events, minimizing changes, achieving profit and most of all, ensuring customer satisfaction. This is achieved with a combination of experienced, skilled employees and their extensive system of documentation.
Through six decades of unwavering commitment, adaptive innovation and continuous focus on quality, Hageanlegg AS has established itself as one of Trondheim’s leading landscape gardeners, and is well equipped for the coming years.
Ida Kolsås started as a landscape gardener’s apprentice at Hageanlegg in 2023, and then has 2 years of apprenticeship before she takes the trade test.
She enters all documentation into the SmartDok app. Here she is visited by general manager Ronny out on the project in Leangenbukta.
