From airplanes to nurseries

Transport and concept development

1960

Per Inge Iversen

Per Inge Iversen, Regional Manager South at 4Serivce, is a born and raised Kristiansander. Thanks to an uncle who already worked in the sector, he began his carrier in cleaning services in 1982.

“The first stop was Bergen,” he smiles.
“Since then, I’ve tried my hand at most roles you could imagine. I have really benefited from these diverse experiences so far in my career.

In 2001, Iversen set up Serviceparter1, and when 4Service approached him about a potential acquisition, the decision was easy for the then general manager.

“Both we and 4Service shared a clear ambition to develop people and make managers out of cleaners. We both believed in the importance of a strong culture, as well as in striving for the opportunities in front of us. Since the acquisition in 2022, development has marched on, and we are now stronger together than we were individually.”

One of the reasons 4Service was interested in Iversen and Servicepartner1 was their expertise and innovation within transport.

“We have been cleaning buses and planes for a long time. Through our contracts with Widerøe and Aviator, we clean for airlines like Norwegian, SAS, Air France, Lufthansa and KLM. It is not just the planes we keep clean, but also areas inside airports here in the region.”

4Service is focusing heavily on transport and has many contracts both regionally and nationally. Iversen is convinced that there will be many more opportunities in the market in the years ahead.

“Definitely! We have a number of tasks on our wishlist. Buses are, for example, something we will be focusing on a lot. The knowledge we have acquired, and our skilled employees, will give us vital competitive advantages within this market in the coming years.”

To succeed in an ever more competitive industry, good concepts are crucial. New ways of thinking, while retaining relevant knowledge, is not something every company is blessed with having.

“Being daring was a core part of the old Servicepartner1 culture, and it is just as strong, if not stronger, at 4Service,” says Iversen enthusiastically.

“We work systematically on innovation and concept development. If something works at the local level, the path to implement and develop it nationally is not long. This gives us the adaptability and flexibility that are crucial for our customers.”

A strong cleaning concept needs to be able to systematise work tasks, ensure proper and effective equipment for the task, follow HSE guidelines around, for example, stress and sick leave, be flexible and facilitate close cooperation with customers, and not least involve the right training programme.

“All components are important, of course, but the training programme is something that really differentiates us,” says Iversen.

“Since we started back in 2001, we have worked hard to further develop our concepts. We have always aimed at delivering cost-effective, stable and high-quality solutions. However, the most recent contribution,” say Iversen eagerly, his voice picking up tempo, “is perhaps the most exciting!”

In 2023, Iversen and his colleagues decided to film the process of cleaning an aircraft. This proved to be extremely successful.

“When cleaning, it’s important to do things in the correct way. This goes for both ergonomics and efficiency. Systematising things and conceptualising the entire cleaning process gave us insight and data that we could then use to train others. We have many employees that don’t speak Norwegian natively. The video allowed us a great opportunity to show off all the secrets, big and small, that it usually takes months, if not years, to learn.”

The idea of filming came as a result of the aforementioned company culture.

“An important part of our cultural work has been to go to trade fairs and always be on the lookout for inspiration and new solutions. Our willingness to deliver something better tomorrow than we did today is not something that comes only from above or below. It is a shared ambition that must resonate at every level of the company. At 4Service, it doesn’t matter what your title is. If the idea is good enough, we’ll test it out.”

The Great Norwegian Encyclopedia (SNL) defines a concept as: a collection of ideas or a plan that forms the basis for the design of a product, event or business. An equally important principle for concept development at 4Service is that there must be a market need. Development for the sake of development is of little merit.

“That’s right,” Iversen confirms.
“A good example is how we have passed on the experience from filming us cleaning an aircraft to our new nursery concept. We started the innovation process by gathering all the relevant resource personnel for a work meeting. There, we shared experiences and ideas as to how we could better clean nurseries. It felt natural to see whether we should also film this task, and it wasn’t long before we understood that many of the techniques we use in the aircraft cleaning training programme could be transferred to cleaning nurseries. Then we put all this into a presentation and sold the solutions to nurseries across our region. So far, we have received 32 contracts, and customers tell us that our unique approach was one of the most important reasons that they chose us as a partner,” says Iversen.