Logger’s best friend Ponsse

LOGGER’S BEST FRIEND

With its roots deep in the Finnish countryside, Ponsse has grown into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of forest machinery. A strong focus on product development ensures that Ponsse’s products continue to meet the requirements of forest professionals.

Ponsse plc is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of cutto-length forest machines and a textbook example of how a business has grown from a machine entrepreneur’s dream into an international export company. Founded in 1970 by Einari Vidgrén, the son of a small farmer from Northern Savonia, who at the age of 14 started working at logging sites using a frame saw, the company is still based in Vieremä, in the same location where his first forest machine factory was opened.

After a difficult beginning, a giant leap took place in machine development in the 1980s when its legendary PONSSE S15 forwarder was launched, and the rest in history. The first harvester, PONSSE HS15, was launched in 1987, followed by the first PONSSE measuring devices in 1988.

In 1994, Ponsse was the first forest machine manufacturer in the world to be awarded the ISO 9001 quality certificate. This led to intensified machine development work and an expansion of the product range. When the export market opened up, the company was listed on the stock exchange in 1995. Today, Ponsse operates in harvesting markets in 40 different countries, and nearly 80% of its net sales come from exports.

Claimed to be ‘a logger’s best friend’, Ponsse provides its clients with the best tools for all tree species and harvesting environments. Ponsse forest machinery is based on environmentally friendly cut-tolength (CTL) logging, where trees are felled, delimbed and cut into various log assortments before they leave the forest. The product range covers all size categories of forest machinery, from first thinning and the harvesting of forest energy to heavy-duty regeneration felling, as well as all logging sites, from soft soil to steep slopes.

Awarded for innovation

Ponsse’s flagship product is the Scorpio harvester, first introduced to the general public in 2013, which has become a global sales success and an international symbol of responsible forestry. Over 1,200 Scorpions have been made and can now be found in more than 25 countries around the world.

Now, eight years later, the Scorpion has shed its skin. In February, Ponsse introduced to the market a thoroughly modernised Scorpion harvester range that meets all the requirements of today’s forestry work.

The Scorpion’s characteristics include its excellent visibility and handling. One of the most prominent changes is a new one-piece windscreen that extends to the roof of the cabin, offering even better visibility and work safety under all conditions. In addition, the unique crane solution offers excellent visibility in every direction. The new Scorpion raises productivity and ergonomics in harvesting to an even higher level and sets a new standard for the operator’s working environment.

The new Future Cabin included in the PONSSE Scorpion launched in February won a product design award in the internationally acclaimed Red Dot design competition. This was the highest recognition that could be achieved in the competition, granted to the best products of the various award categories.

“The starting point for the development of the new Scorpion cabin was once again forest machinery operators and their feedback. This discussion is extremely important to us, and we engage in it continuously as part of our everyday work. The cabin workspace, for which we received this great award, was modified to make it more practical and to develop it into a quiet workplace with a view to supporting the operator’s comfort and well-being. The operator’s well-being at work is key to the machine’s productive operation”, says Juha Inberg, Technology and R&D Director at Ponsse.

Strong operational development

Following a difficult 2020, the forest machinery market experienced positive development in the first quarter of 2021. “Demand was

stimulated from the very start of the year by the forest industry’s favourable outlook, and we received an increasing flow of orders throughout the quarter. Ponsse achieved an excellent order flow to the value of €299 million, increasing our order book to €308 million. The full capacity of our Vieremä factory was used to produce new Ponsse forest machines,” says Ponsse President and CEO Juho Nummela, noting that demand in large markets has grown, reaching excellent levels in Russia and Finland in particular.

Still, the development is not without its challenges, some of which have had a significant impact across a range of industries. “Increased demand for machine and equipment manufacturing has affected our supplier network, resulting in challenges in the availability of parts,” added Nummela.

He affirms that considering the circumstances, Ponsse has managed the challenges in availability successfully, and the Vieremä factory has produced machines on schedule. “Marked attempts to hike the prices of parts and components have posed additional challenges from our supplier network, in addition to availability. There has been significant pressure for cost escalation, and we are seeking sustainable solutions in cooperation with our suppliers to control cost increases.”

In spite of the exceptional circumstances, the company has continued its strong operational development, based on Ponsse’s foundation stones of a good product range and confident customer relationships supported by its strong values, committed personnel, as well as by its history and traditions. n