Brokk was founded 50 years ago as a solution to a problem faced by a small but innovative team of contractors.

Brokk’s journey began in northern Sweden, inside a smelter furnace at Rönnskärsverken. Faced with dangerous manual demolition tasks, brothers Lars and Per-Martin Holmgren created a new solution: a remotely operated machine capable of doing the job with greater safety and efficiency. Their first prototype did far more than solve a local challenge, it laid the foundation for a new industry.

“It was truly see-a-need, fill-a-need. They’re entrepreneurial guys that saw this is something that is needed and they made it.  It’s quite remarkable,” said Lars Lindgren, President of Brokk North America.

At World of Concrete in January, the demolition robotics company celebrated the 50

anniversary since the Holmgren brothers (now retired) made their first model.

“Brokk was born from necessity, to protect workers and improve productivity in some of the toughest industrial settings,” said Martin Krupicka, CEO of Brokk Group. “Fifty years later, that driving purpose remains unchanged. While our technology has evolved dramatically, our commitment to solving real-world challenges for our customers is as strong as ever.”

The first machine was constructed using an old mining machine, adding a three-piece arm system and converting it to an electric power supply.

Following the success of their invention or their own contracting business, the first Brokk robotic demolition machine became commercially available in 1981. Like the original, the commercially available Brokk 250 was electric, remote controlled and featured a three-piece arm system.

“That was the genesis of the three-piece arm system — the first machine in the world with a three-piece arm system,” Lindgren said. “It gives you a very compact machine, but long reach.”

From that first machine to today’s advanced fleet on 14-models operating around the globe, Brokk has remained true to its mission to protect workers, increase efficiency and engineer equipment built for demanding environments.

Today, Brokk has sold more than 15,000 robots worldwide, which operate in industries including construction, cement and metal processing, nuclear decommissioning, tunnelling and mining. The company continues to develop specialized machines and attachments designed to meet the evolving needs of complex and high-risk workplaces.

Lindgren joined the company two years after it started at 17-years-old as a mechanic. On the advice of one of his teachers, he applied and was quickly hired by one of the Holmgren brothers.

“It’s like pure luck. I mean, that’s just serendipity all the way,” he said.

Now, 48 years after he started his career with Brokk, Lindgren said he could have never imagined the company would evolve into a global manufacturer.

“We were basically making maybe 12to 15 a year at the first few years and now it’s like 600,” Lindgren said. “It’s been a long, strange trip.”