Åke Gustafson

"Åke Gustafson and his colleagues had completed their prototype machine for manufacturing square packages. The new package, which Gustafson and his colleagues had been working on day and night, had now been named Tetra Brik. Åke Gustafson was satisfied and proud of what they had accomplished. They had solved a task that many within the company considered completely impossible. Soon, the Brik machine would be demonstrated for the technical director, also vice president, of Dairy Central, Ragnar Benedictsson. Ruben and Holger, who were strongly pressured to get the new machine on the market, gave Gustafson detailed instructions on what should and should not be said. “If he asks when the machine can be ready for dairy operation, you must say ‘in two years’,” Holger informed him. Gustafson kindly replied that he could not do that, as it was impossible to have it ready in such a short time. “Benedictsson and I have had a very good relationship with each other. It has been based on honesty and I do not intend to change that now.” “You do not understand this. It’s about business. You have to say that you can be ready in two years,” Holger replied in a stern tone. Ruben agreed by nodding. Gustafson bent, but did it under sharp protest. “I will do it, but at the same time, I will ask to resign. Not with immediate effect, but as soon as I consider the Brik system functional, I will leave,” he clarified for them. It did not seem as though either Holger or Ruben took it seriously."

"Shortly after the subsidiary directors’ meeting, which ended in a general slashing of Brik, Hans called Åke Gustafson, who was now working on entirely different projects, and asked him to come back and help Tetra Pak. Although he would never have admitted it openly, Hans was desperate; the losses for Brik and the development costs for Rex and Rigello began to devour the capital that had been borrowed and the money that had been freed up with the sale of Åkerlund & Rausing. And the money that could have been used – the commission money that went into the foundations – the company was not allowed to touch by Ruben. If the situation was as bad as the subsidiary directors described, there were only two possibilities to solve the situation. One was to borrow more money to resolve the liquidity crisis that had arisen, but that would, on the other hand, be only artificial respiration. The other possibility was to once and for all get Brik in order so as to avoid this large black hole that just sucked capital."

"Gustafson was not satisfied with just solving the leakage problems but wanted to design his own milk packaging. Åke Gustafson became irritated by seeing things that were not perfect. And the tetrahedron was definitely not perfect: it was consumer-unfriendly, and the one-liter package was difficult both to pour from and so large that it was difficult to fit into a refrigerator. Moreover, he realized what Ruben had not: the tetrahedron was not the ultimate, rational packaging. The shape made it so that the packages could not be optimally stowed, forcing a considerable amount of air to be left in trucks and storage spaces. Åke Gustafson wanted to move forward. He wanted to design the optimal milk packaging, the square package. He conducted the development work alongside his regular duties."

"Without showing it, Hans was shaken by the subsidiary managers’ message. Eventually, he realized that the company could not solve the problems on its own. What was needed was Brik’s chief designer, Åke Gustafson – the man who left Tetra Pak in 1964 after being forced to exaggerate the machines’ excellence and hasten their delivery times. Since his departure, efforts had been made to make the machines and materials work reliably – attempts that were largely fruitless."

"It turned out quite quickly that Åke Gustafson was right. The problems were solved and the “torpedo” Palm had managed to get the technicians in order at the factories. Once it was working, Tetra had an aseptic packaging that was both easy to pack at the dairies and consumer-friendly. At the same time, the packaging was inexpensive compared to what the competitors could offer. The main competitor, Pure Pak, did not have an aseptic packaging and was thus excluded from many markets. The system gave Tetra Pak nearly twenty years of lead."

"As soon as Åke Gustafson had wound up his current assignments, he rented a plane at Tetra Pak’s expense and set out to visit the company’s various production facilities. He was met with a miserable sight. During the first company visits, Gustafson thought it was merely a coincidence, but eventually, it became clear to him that there was a pattern within the group; significant demoralization had occurred within the organization, there was great confusion and uncertainty about what the group’s policy really was, and the technical departments were functioning poorly. He also found a long line of managers who had been promoted beyond their level of competence."

"The conflict between Gustafson and Järund was a living proof of what can happen when two different cultures must collaborate. Järund, who was primarily a practitioner of the old engineering tribe, had no understanding whatsoever of Åke Gustafson’s theoretical reasoning. On his part, Åke Gustafson believed that one cannot keep trying things randomly without scientific development work. It was simply a total collision between the old and the new engineering cultures."