INTERVIEW
11
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014
access
INTERNATIONAL
become its primary product type.
The company namewas changed toDinolift
Oy in 1997whenLasseGodenhielm bought
the factory.Sadly,MrGodenhielmdied three
years ago.The company continues as a family
company and is owned by his daughtersEva
Godenhielm-Vuori andKarinNars and its
newmanaging director Petri Paavolainen.
Over the yearsDino platforms have been
sold tomore than 40 countries and the product
range has grown from two to 18models across
four products types, the significant one being
trailermounts.
Good experience
The latest offering is a new version of its 18
m trailer, theDino 180XT II.The outreach
has been extended to 11.2m,while the basket
rotation is hydraulic and rotates 1800 which
providesmore flexibility, said the company.
Mr Paavolainenhas been on the board
ofDinolift since 2012 and took over as
managing director fromKarinNars,who is
now chairman anddirector of sales,marketing
and communications. “From the firstmoment,
I thought it was an impressive company that is
in good shape,”saysMr Paavolainen.
It follows a 12 year stint at industrial crane
manufacturing giantKonecranes, also based
inFinland,where he held several positions.
Starting inproduction,he became factory
manager of an electricmotor factory,before
establishing a steel structure plant inEstonia,
before launching service operations in various
countries. In 2010Mr Paavolainenmoved
toAustriawhere he oversaw the acquisition
of a number of companies including a lift
truck sales, rental and service company.By
2013,he hadmoved back toFinland andwas
responsible for the business development in
thewholeEuropeanRegion.
There are similarities in liftingmaterial and
lifting people, such as the importance of safety,
but also some differences. “When it came to
the cranes, therewas practically no rental as
they aremore-or-less permanent installations.
Ownership is typically longer and they are
often tailor-made,”explainsMr Paavolainen.
“But acquiring and running a lift trucks
companywas good experience forme, as they
are, in away, standalonemachines,with a lot of
the same principles as platforms - you can sell
or rent them and they have an active second
handmarket, and youneed to service them.”
Two years on the board ofDinolift would
also provide a helpful insight intoDinolift.
Petri Paavolainen
, Dinolift’s newmanaging
director, made time leading up to the
company’s40th anniversary celebrations
to speakwith
EuanYoudale
.
S
et in tranquil farmland to the south
east of Finland,Dinolift’s produce is
far removed from the agricultural crops
grown by its direct neighbours.When the
first trailermount wasmanufactured at the
factory inLoimaa 40 years ago, theworldhad
barely heard of access equipment.All that has
changed, and as Petri Paavolainen,Dinolift’s
managing director of sevenmonths, tells
AI
,
he is preparing to take the company into a new
era of international expansion.
Dinoliftmarked those 40 yearswith
a celebratory evening of fine food and
entertainment at Loimaa in lateAugust.
The original company at theLoimaa site
wasKurpanKonepaja, established in 1956
by farmer and innovatorMaunoKurppa. It
manufactured undergrounddrainagemachines
for agriculture until themarket inNorthern
Europe for these products became saturated.
In 1973MrKurppa bought the rights to
Dino fromhis business colleagues Pentti and
Matti Ala-Nissilä and spent the following
months developing the brand alongside other
types ofmachinery.The firstDino trailer
platformwas produced in 1974 at the small
factory inLoimaa.Fourty years laterDino
access platforms are stillmade there andhave
Looking ahead
Petri Paavolainen,
Dinolift managing
director.
