Pekka Vauramo

The new president of Kalmar Industries, Pekka Vauramo, is driven, global-minded, inspired by Jack Welch and a member of the "Frosty Fellows", as Forkliftaction.com News reporter Christine Liew found out this week.

Finnish-born Vauramo loves the international side of Kalmar. He enjoys meeting people from all over the world and talking to them about the cargo handling equipment business. And that is what he has been doing since he took the helm from Christer Granskog who retired in September 2007.

"I'm not sure if I have a typical day," the 50-year-old mining engineer says. He has spent the past few months being introduced to Kalmar customers, personnel and key business contacts.

"Due to the global nature of the business, my week includes international travel, meeting with my staff and often visiting customers.

"Customer meetings are important opportunities to learn about the business and industry trends as well as how we are serving our customers," he says.

Vauramo was the managing director of Sandvik Mining and Construction (SMC) Oy and Sandvik Finland Oy. He thinks Sandvik and Kalmar have much in common. Both are "market leaders in their segments, growing rapidly in the service arena and have international operations".

Mikael Mäkinen, president of Kalmar's parent company Cargotec, agrees:

"Pekka has a strong track record in Sandvik of growing a global business profitably. Many of the challenges in the global scale and customer needs are similar to what we want to further develop within Kalmar. I am confident Pekka's experience and skills will contribute markedly as we continue to build Kalmar."

Vauramo's first job was as a mining engineer with Outokumpu after graduating with a Master's degree from the Helsinki University of Technology in Espoo, Finland. After two years, he was made mine superintendent at the Vihanti Mine followed by a short stint as mine design engineer at Enonkoski Mine.

In 1985, he moved to Sandvik when he worked as a mining engineer with Tamrock, a company that made drilling equipment, in Turku, Finland. The company changed its name from Tamrock to Sandvik and the company's headquarters and ownership transferred from Finland to Sweden. His roles in Sandvik for over 20 years were in sales, marketing, product development and product management in Finland, the Far East and North America.

"Many great business leaders have inspired and motivated me in my career and helped me find my own leadership style. Jack Welch is on top of my list but there are many others too," says Vauramo.

Besides reading business books, he finds ice hockey stimulating. He plays with the Senior Hockey Fellows where the only criteria for joining, he says, are "not too much playing experience, must be positive and cheerful and above 35 years old".

Since the Senior Hockey Fellows' schedule does not always match that of a busy managing director, Vauramo is also a part of other teams like the "Frosty Fellows".

He may play for fun but his personal motto for work came from a Finnish professional ice hockey coach that he says does not translate well into English. But he shares it with us anyway. "There is no free access to the goal, one has to go there.

"It reminds me of how important focus and dedication are in achieving [your] target."

Vauramo loves spending time with his wife Virpi and three University-aged children at their summer house in the Turku archipelago. In his spare time, he also goes boating, running and road and off-road cycling.