RETRO CORNER

History room presents Ponsse’s 50-year journey

“Welcome to Ponsse’s history room,” says Juha Vidgren and leads his guests further to study items, photos, machines, and videos covering Ponsse’s 50-year history. The stunning journey from a small village forge to international logging sites has been colourful and truly worth taking. “Over the years, the old masters have created a stunning story,” says Vidgren.

Tihe history room was built in Ponsse’s first hall, which was completed in the 1970s and used as storage space until autumn 2020.

“We present our history in this very room. Normally, approximately 4,000 people visit Ponsse every year, and now they’re able to see how the company has changed over the decades,” says Juha Vidgren.

“The space was completely renovated, and we added different kinds of functionalities and a lot of detail about Ponsse’s 50-year history. An interior designer designed the history room for their diploma work. Now it’s ready, and we love it,” says Juha-Matti Raatikainen, marketing manager at Ponsse.

There is a timeline stretching from wall to wall. It presents the company’s journey in small steps from 1970 to the 2020s. The photos show people from the past decades starting from the first pioneers. The map of the world in the cafeteria presents Ponsse’s 50-year journey and shows how the company geographically expanded from the small village of Vieremä and became a global market leader manufacturing CTL forest machines and operating in 45 countries.

A whole bunch of old newspaper clippings were collected, and people can also listen to their content in different languages. “No worries, as long as you try hard” says a major headline quoting Einari Vidgren. More of Einari’s thoughts can be found in his biography.

“The story dates back to 1970 when Ponsse wasn’t even established yet. The article had to be written as proof to bank managers that business was on a firm footing and to convince them to give a loan. But it didn’t help Einari get the loan,” says Juha Vidgren.

The hall also features PONSSE PAZ, Ponsse’s very first factory-made machine, which was completed in 1971. The machine is still in good condition, and it is planned that the beauty will be driven at exhibitions when the pandemic allows it.

Ponsse’s first engineer Jouko Kelppe started to work in Vieremä on 1 May 1971. He was in charge of the designs of the first Ponsse machine, and they are now proudly presented in the hall, in addition to the legendary drawing board and other office furniture dating back to the 1970s.

“The chairs and tables in the room were reproduced based on old photos and 3D models. Originally, they were made and welded at Ponsse for our own purposes,” says Raatikainen.

Ponsse has always invested significant amounts of money in the latest equipment. The computers from the past decades now seem retro and clumsy in the history room, but the objective to enhance operations with IT has remained unchanged.

“In addition, the changes in Ponsse’s use of colours in the course of history are presented on one wall. The colour of Ponsse machines has varied from yellowish green to the different shades of grey, but the original colour was yellow, and it returned to Ponsse machines in 2005,” say Vidgren and Raatikainen.

Ponsse has supported many athletes on their way to success with a long-term focus. These partnerships are presented on the second floor with the help of photos, videos, and old 8 mm films.

“The history room has been designed to be a unique experience. At the same time, it’s a tribute to Ponsse employees and customers. The room is a great addition to the guest package, which includes a company presentation, factory visit and a visit to a logging site to see machines in action,” says Juha-Matti Raatikainen, expressing his thanks.

“The history room means a lot to us. The best thing is that we can be in the same 330-m2 hall where Ponsse was established – the circle closes,” Juha Vidgren summarises.