Ponsse China 10 years

庞赛 “PANG SAI” MEANS A BIG MACHINE – AND A STRONG COMPETITOR

In Chinese, every name has a meaning. Ponsse’s Chinese name, Pang Sai, describes Ponsse’s machinery and operations on the Chinese market. In other words, the “big machine” is a strong competitor.

Ponsse’s story in China began when Stora Enso chose the company in 2007 as its partner for timber harvesting. In Guangxi Province in southern China, plans were made for a factory that needed raw material requirements for extensive eucalyptus plantations. “In committing to cooperation, Ponsse at the same time undertook to set up its own subsidiary in the area. From the very start Ponsse was responsible for spare parts, training and deliveries. Ponsse China CEO Risto Kääriäinen describes the decision to set up a subsidiary, covering matters such as Ponsse’s customer-oriented operations. “Managing cooperation from Finland was out of the question.”

PONSSE China:

• founded in 2007 in Guangxi province, with 27 employees

• in China there are about 40 PONSSE Ergo and PONSSE Buffalo forestry machines, about 10 H6 and H7euca harvester heads, and two simulators – one for Ponsse’s use in its training and the other at Northeast Forestry University.

• the company has sold 50 forest machines to entrepreneurs outside of China

• the local customers are mainly entrepreneurs supplying Stora Enso

• the company has trained 183 forest machine drivers

• member of the Guangxi Forestry Industry Association

• member of China Forestry Machinery Association

• university cooperation: Northeast Forestry University, Beijing Forestry University, Nanning Forestry University

A pioneering spirit

The company began all its activities from scratch, including the search for premises. The best channel for finding a job came by word of mouth and local recommendations.

The most important thing was to get driver training and maintenance underway quickly. Before the first machines had come from the port, the trainers used a simulator and a small agricultural tractor in teaching. Driver training started out entirely from scratch. The students did not have experience in the forest area, and many didn’t even have a driving licences. Even terminology related to forest machines also had to be created from scratch, because no mechanical logging had even been done in the country.

The company’s activities were run by a small organization of ten. Everyone had to get involved in everything that came their way, and cultural differences were seen as just different ways of working.

“The days were long and tough, but enthusiasm ran high with everyone for being involved in creating something completely new,” remembers Risto Kääriäinen.

“The first three pioneers in China were Kalle Mäenpää, Janne Loponen and Lars Ahlberg. They were responsible for maintenance and training. The three arrived in the Beihai heat from the Finnish autumn in the middle of the night with only their backpacks. But each of them had long experience in Ponsse, and in maintenance and training throughout the world. The working days began with the division of labour, and ended in the evening at Tommy’s Bar, where the day’s achievements were assessed.

“Bureaucratic matters were handled by the Chinese-born lawyer Jihua Wang from the Vieremä factory. Risto Kääriäinen came to us a few months later; he had worked in China before.

The first local employees were Kiddo Jian and Vanilla Huang, maintenance engineer Du Shao Ming, and sales manager Samuel Shi. The company’s current accountant, Luo Ying, handled Ponsse matters at a local accounting office. “Everyone brought with them solid professionalism and the courage to rise to this new challenge. Most of the people from the early years are still employed by the company,” Kääriäinen says.

Patience and progress lead to Success

Today, Guangxi Province in southern China has a thriving new culture of mechanical harvesting and growing expertise in it. The Ponsse China organisation has grown to 28 employees, two of whom are Finns. Responsibilities have been clarified over the years and been made more systematic. Also, the increased machine fleet has become operational. Timber harvesting has shifted mainly to steep slopes, which means that most of the new machine fleet are winch machines. In the subtropical climate, eucalyptus trees are ready for harvesting in about seven years.

According to Risto Kääriäinen, it was well known that the road to mechanised harvesting in China would be long. “However, change and market growth have been surprisingly slow.

We are still strongly involved and committed to our cooperation with Stora Enso. Our operations have in many ways been pioneering. It can be said that when talking about Chinese timber harvesting, one is talking about PONSSE forestry machines.

No other company makes machines like these.” As a business environment, China is completely different from Western countries, particularly when it comes to cooperation with the authorities.

The local presence and commitment, however, have been Ponsse’s strengths in China. “The importance of skilled personnel cannot be overestimated. We started out from nothing with a small group, and now we offer technology and services that are ideally suited to local conditions.”

“We have succeeded in bringing the Ponsse spirit to China, and the company’s everyday operations are guided by the same values as the company’s birthplace in Vieremä. Communication is important. Juha and Jarmo Vidgrén visit Beihai regularly, and half of the local staff have visited the Vieremä factory.” “In my opinion, one of our biggest achievements is the driver training concept.

Ponsse has trained 183 forestry machine drivers in China.

We have trained and certified 183 drivers in this enormous and culturally conservative,” Kääriäinen says.

Ponsse China has been operating from the very beginning in the same premises in the Hepu industrial area, together with the Stora Enso machine team. The facilities have been renovated several times, and the spare parts warehouse has had to be expanded. Ponsse’s internal quality and safety audits have proven to be a very useful tool for developing our activities.

The Prospects

Ponsse China sales manager Samuel Shi says that China already has a large amount of planted forests, and the harvesting targets are high.

“The mechanization of harvesting is necessary to meet the goals, since the cost of manual harvesting increases and labour supply has become more difficult. Safety factors also spur mechanisation.

In general, Chinese logging is undeveloped and the degree of mechanisation is small compared to what is the case in Chinese agriculture, for instance. Stora Enso Guangxi is an exception, and a forerunner in timber harvesting in China. Ponsse is committed to the Chinese market and to our customers. The Chinese timber harvesting market is undoubtedly leading the way.”

Driver training started from nothing in 2007. Although many of those who began the training had no experience in engineering, they had a great deal of motivation to succeed.

China Forestry Industry in Brief

• 21.6% of the country’s area is forested

• the total volume of tree stands is 15.1 billion m 3 , which is the world’s sixth-largest amount

• 122 million hectares of natural forest, with a combined tree stand volume of 12.3 billion m 3

• 69 million hectares of planted forest, with a combined tree stand volume of 2.5 billion m 3

• annual industrial timber harvesting volume is 80 million m³, and total annual felling volume is 334 million m 3

• half of the wood used in China is imported

• annual growth in volume of tree stands of 300 million m³

• industrial companies rent the lands they use from the Chinese state, which owns all the land

• North China forests are mainly coniferous mixed forests in the middle of the country. In the southern and western parts of the country, the forests are mainly poplar and eucalyptus

• forest companies have a total of about 1.5 million employees

• 2016 The value of exports and imports of Chinese forestry products was about USD 140 billion

• the most important export products are furniture, paper, panels and main products, logs, sawn timber, paper and pulp

“What we value most in Ponsse is the company’s commitment to customers, after-sales service, and continuous development.”

PARTNERS

Stora Enso Guangxi

Stora Enso’s cooperation with Ponsse goes back to 2007, when the country’s first cut-to-length harvesters and forwarders were delivered to Guangxi. Harvesting on a larger scale began only in 2013, and since then the operations have developed at a rapid pace.

“The dream of an industrial wood supply chain that produces certified and sustainable wood for the needs of the South China Consumer Packaging Board Mill has come true,”, says Stora Enso Guangxi CEO Ian Blande.

Australian-born Ian Blanden, 51, knows what he’s talking about. He has spent his entire career working with eucalyptus plantations. Blanden has been living with his wife Gianella in Beihai ever since the launch of largerscale commercial timber harvesting in China in 2013.

Stora Enso started forest operations in Guangxi, in the south of mainland China, in 2002. The province is mainly rural, and the company manages 83,560 hectares there. About 70,000 hectares of that land are planted with eucalyptus. “When I heard what the Finnish word sisu means, I began to understand what Ponsse’s long-term commitment to Stora Enso is about.

Sisu is a peculiarly Finnish characteristic. It is about endurance, resilience, perseverance and determination. Sisu means that whatever you start, you finish. There is no giving up in the middle of things – everything is seen through to the end without making a fuss,” Blanden says.

“Despite the delays in the project and the many challenges, Ponsse has remained committed to cooperating with us. Ponsse’s persistence and determination are a fine example of Finnish sisu. I think this characteristic is precisely what is needed to succeed in forestry in a place like Guangxi.”

“What we value most in Ponsse is the company’s commitment to customers, after-sales service, and continuous development.”

Ponsse’s services are not limited to machine deliveries; they also cover driver training, secondary marketing and spare parts deliveries.

In total, Ponsse has trained 176 drivers for Stora Enso since 2007.

The Mission: Sustainable Business

Stora Enso’s operations in Guangxi are guided by security and sustainable forestry. The mission is to ensure the continuous availability of high-quality, certified and mechanically harvested timber from its own sustainable forests planted in Beihai.

“We also see it as our responsibility to support the modernisation of Chinese forestry by introducing the latest technology and safe working practices in our logging operations. We directly employ more than 650 people in forestry.”

Stora Enso Guangxi spent years on the acquisition of land and forestry and building the organisation.

The first industrial fellings were done manually, and were based on old methods of timber harvesting after fires and storms. In 2015 forest operations were intensified through the introduction of winch-assisted PONSSE forest machines and centralised resource management.

The change from manual harvesting to fully mechanised harvesting got underway.

Currently, Stora Enso Guangxi employs 105 forest machine drivers and owns 34 PONSSE forest machines, of which 16 are harvesters and 18 are forwarders. More than half of the machines are winch machines, for timber harvesting on the toughest slopes of Guangxi in a safe and environmentally sustainable way. The de-barked eucalyptus logs are delivered to Stora Enso’s Beihai bleached Chemi-thermomechanical pulp (BCTMP) mill. Blanden is impressed with the efficiency of the supply chain. “All the wood we have supplied has been harvested and de-barked by Ponsse harvesters. Colleagues of mine in industrial operations have set very high wood requirements, for example concerning the amount of bark. I am very pleased that we have been able to fully meet the demands when the timber has been de-barked and in the harvesting phase. Every year we sell over one million cubic metres of wood.”

“The Guangxi Forest Organization, including our staff and external partners, are fully committed to continuously developing a safer, more profitable and sustainable business. Ponsse is naturally an essential part of this committed and dedicated team. Together we are a winning combination.”

Facts about Stora Enso in Guangxi:

2002 Stora Enso begins forest operations in Guangxi

2007 Stora Enso Guangxi acquires its first PONSSE harvester and forwarder Ponsse begins operations in Guangxi

2012 Stora Enso Guangxi receives CFCC and FSC ® certification for its operations 2013 Beginning of large-scale and continuous harvesting 2015 Stora Enso Guangxi acquires the first winch-assisted machines for steep slopes logging

2016 Stora Enso Guangxi makes a large-scale switch from manual timber harvesting to fully mechanised harvesting Stora Enso’s consumer board mill becomes operational The first batch of de-barked eucalyptus logs delivered to the Beihai mill for testing on 18 October 2016

2017 Ponsse and Stora Enso celebrate their tenth anniversary of cooperation in Guangxi

A Story of Growth in the Ponsse Family:

Spare Parts Manager Huang Jia Fang

Huang Jia Fang is one of the pioneers at Ponsse and indeed pioneers at cut-to-length method in China. In addition, she is the first woman to be employed by Ponsse at the managerial level of the service business network.

The sympathetic Huang Jia Fang, who also goes by the Western name Vanilla, has been working for Ponsse’s Chinese subsidiary as a spare parts manager since the summer of 2016.However, her career at Ponsse China began ten years earlier, when the company was just starting out in China.

“I started at Ponsse in January 2007 after my teacher tipped me off about a foreign company looking for an assistant with English skills. Before my interview at Ponsse, I knew nothing about the company.I had no idea what a harvester was. But when they told me they wanted to hire me, I knew a completely new life was waiting for me in a new city,” she says.

At first, Vanilla worked almost exclusively in the region’s forests. She assisted trainers who taught people how to operate forestry machines and how to service them. After the two-month probationary period, both parties were eager to continue the employment.

”The best part about this job is the team which is small but extremely strong. We get along quite well and the team spirit is definitely there."

“When the new trainees passed the assessment and became operators capable of working independently, I was proud of each and every one of them,” Vanilla says.

She worked as an interpreter during training and helped trainees to complete the program. This gave her an opportunity to learn a lot about the technology, which proved to be helpful in her later responsibilities. In 2009, Vanilla transferred to the office to work as a machine servicing assistant and soon moved on to the position of an after-market sales assistant, helping operators obtain service for their machines.

Vanilla has worked in her most recent position as a spare parts manager for a little over a year. She thinks her job is challenging but also a great opportunity. “The work is quite demanding, and there’s a lot of pressure at times. However, it has truly been a privilege to have been involved in the work I’m doing. I’ve learned so much during the past year,” she says.

What's in a name? The Ponsse Family, apparently

Huang Jia Fang’s name turned out to be auspicious as far as her career is concerned. Her last name, Huang, means ‘yellow’ and Jia translates to ‘family’. “I have worked and grown together with Ponsse China for ten years,” says Vanilla, who recently turned 30.

“The best part about this job is the team which is small but extremely strong. We get along quite well and the team spirit is definitely there. I have learned a lot working together with these people. I’m grateful for the opportunity that has given me both space to develop myself and a lot of responsibility, and I have my superiors to thank for that,” says Vanilla.

Ponsse’s Chinese subsidiary is located in Beihai, a beautiful coastal city of about 1.6 million people in South China. Her commute to the Ponsse office takes 45 minutes each way.

“I’m relaxed and optimistic by nature. I enjoy my work very much, and I’m quite happy with my personal life too! I run or walk for an hour daily after work. This keeps me fit and also keeps my weight in check. However, exercise is just one of my hobbies. I love to read and watch movies, I travel frequently, and I love the outdoors.”

But there’s another reason for Vanilla’s seemingly infinite happiness: she got married in August.

A show of true Ponsse Spirit

In December 2007, Ponsse was looking for to hire a training assistant and interpreter with excellent English skills. Twelve young people who were all English majors from a local university were interviewed for the position. Vanilla’s carefully polished CV stood out from the other candidates. She responded assuredly to all questions and also had questions of her own regarding the company and possible career options. The choice to hire her was made quickly.

On Christmas Eve of 2007, the first Ponsse machines in China were released by customs at the Beihai seaport. The work began in earnest at the beginning of the following year. On 12 January 2008, a Ponsse harvester cut the first Chinese trees. A training assistant’s job requires working in adverse conditions in the nature and throughout changing seasons. Working days can often be long. In addition, Vanilla’s interpreting job was made more difficult by the fact that

she had to work with new terminology. Neither she nor the Chinese students were familiar with the vocabulary that the training required them to understand. However, Vanilla did exceptionally well and even learned to drive both a harvester and a front loader during the scheduled training. This led to an interesting moment when a group of male students were horsing around instead of listening to the trainer’s instructions. Vanilla became irritated at the group’s inattentiveness, and she asked for permission to show the young men how the machine was supposed to be driven. The male trainees’ expressions were priceless. After getting schooled on proper techniques by a girl, the group’s collective attitude changed. The young men finally started to pay attention and completed their training without further issues.

In 2009, Vanilla started as a machine servicing assistant, a task which required

supporting the maintenance help desk. Soon, she moved on to the position of an after-market sales assistant. During these years, she spent much of her free time studying various computer software used at Ponsse. Her dedication, development and ability to show initiative during a decade of employment at Ponsse has been exceptional.

Thanks to her hard work, Vanilla has truly earned her position as the spare parts manager of Ponsse China. From the start, she has worked with customers and as a result she is familiar with their needs. She has a thorough understanding of the machines and their operating systems, and is utterly familiar with the Ponsse organisation and staff.

Vanilla has shown true Ponsse spirit, and everyone around her appreciates her positive outlook. (( Kalle Mäenpää After Sales Manager, Ponsse China ))