Ponsse celebrates its 50th anniversary
This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ponsse Plc. Today, the family-owned company, which started from the dream of forest machine entrepreneur Einari Vidgrén in a small village workshop, operates in harvesting markets in 40 different countries. During these 50 years, the company has become one of the world’s largest manufacturers of forest machines based on the environmentally friendly cut-to-length method.
“Ponsse has grown and developed, above all, thanks to its customers, stakeholders and personnel. Throughout our company's history, our customers have given us direct feedback to steer our research and development. What is more, the high quality, environmental and efficiency requirements set by forest companies and sawmills have clarified the direction of our R&D activities. We wouldn’t have been able to become one of the world’s leading forest machine manufacturers if it were not for our committed and professional personnel,” says Juha Vidgrén, Chairman of Ponsse’s Board of Directors.
“The highly demanding harvesting industry calls for determination and close cooperation. To quote our company’s founder Einari Vidgrén: “No one man could have done this on their own. It’s vital to find the right people.” Ponsse continues to work following this same spirit, even today,” Juha Vidgrén says.
Environmentally friendly harvesting and customer-driven R&D activities heavily steer Ponsse’s operations. The goal is to develop innovative products and services in line with sustainable development, with everything starting from customer needs.
Celebrating together round the world
Ponsse celebrates its 50th anniversary at logging sites, together with its customers. The massive roadshow started in Finland on 23 January, with an anniversary lorry leading the way. From Finland, the Together roadshow will pass through Europe on its way to North and South America, Asia and Australia, covering 30 countries and 110 locations altogether. The roadshow will stop at the FinnMETKO fair in Jämsä, Finland, at the beginning of September. Demonstrations will feature the latest models, the PONSSE Cobra harvester and the PONSSE Bison forwarder, and the flagship of the model series, PONSSE Scorpion. All forest industry professionals and everyone else interested in the field are welcome to watch the demonstrations!
At home in the world’s forests
Continuous investments and development have been Ponsse’s cornerstones ever since the 1970s. This has helped the company to improve its competitiveness. During the past few years, Ponsse has created more than 200 jobs and invested EUR 145 million in its service businesses, R&D and production. All PONSSE forest machines are still manufactured in the company’s birthplace in Northern Savonia, where the four-hectare forest machine factory represents the most modern manufacturing technology in the world. Last year, the 15,000th PONSSE forest machine was manufactured in Vieremä.
Today, Ponsse has more than 1,800 employees in ten different countries and, in addition to the parent company, Ponsse Group consists of subsidiaries in Sweden, Norway, France, Russia, the UK, Ireland, the USA, China, Uruguay and Brazil, and Epec Oy in Seinäjoki, Finland, a manufacturer of machine control systems. The retailer network consists of 35 PONSSE retailers.
Einari Vidgrén, Ponsse’s founder, Juha Vidgrén, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Jarmo Vidgrén, Sales and Marketing Director, tell Ponsse’s story on a video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwYx-sN_r2Y
Welcome to our roadshow! Follow news at www.ponsse.com/ponsse50 and share your own harvesting story at stories.ponsse.com to be opened by the end of February. See you at the logging site!
If you want to remember Ponsse for its anniversary, please pay your gift to the following account:
SP Optia, Vieremä HELSFIHH FI7246001520000286 (enter “anniversary gift” in the message field). All funds paid to this account will be donated to welfare services for children and young people.
Vieremä, 7 February 2020
PONSSE PLC
FURTHER INFORMATION:
Juha-Matti Raatikainen, marketing manager, tel. +358 40 482 8166
Katja Paananen, communications manager, tel. +358 40 553 2921
Katja Paananen
Ponsse Plc, communications manager
tel. +358 40 553 2921, katja.paananen@ponsse.com
Ponsse Plc is a company specialising in the sales, manufacture, servicing and technology of cut-to-length method forest machines and is driven by genuine interest in its customers and their business. Ponsse develops and manufactures sustainable and innovative harvesting solutions based on customers’ needs. The company was established by forest machine entrepreneur Einari Vidgrén in 1970, and it has been a leader in timber harvesting solutions based on the cut-to-length method ever since. Ponsse is headquartered in Vieremä, Finland. The company’s shares are quoted on the NASDAQ OMX Nordic List.