Tadano regularly hosts customers, distributors, and associations from around the world to tour company facilities and meet with everyone from corporate leaders to the workers building and designing the cranes. A particular visit from Finland brought with it some unique history as well as tours, meetings, and goodwill.
INFRA, the Finnish Crane Association, arranged for 15 people from eight companies in Finland to visit Japan and tour the Shido and Kozai plants. They were led by INFRA Executive Director Mr. Antti Astrèn. These member companies primarily rent out various types of cranes such as tower cranes, telehandlers, and mobile cranes, and other models that transport heavy loads.
Tadano representatives hosting the Finnish visitors included Mr. Jere Kallio of Tadano Demag Scandinavia; Mr. Stephen Goluch of Tadano Faun GmbH; and three people from Tadano Ltd.’s International Sales division. At each plant, they met the Plant Managers along with representatives from the R&D and Strategic Planning departments.
Mechanization and electrification were big topics on the tours. A lack of environmental regulations in Finland has meant slower electrification at job sites. The anticipation of regulatory changes coupled with an interest in all aspects of advancing technology are reasons INFRA wanted to gather more information on newer cranes.
“Tadano Europe wanted to use actual machinery to introduce our efforts to people in Northern Europe, where electrification is advancing,” said Mr. Kallio. “So, we were presented with the eGR-1000XLL and received a demonstration of the eGR-250N.” The eGR-250N was introduced in 2023 as the first fully electrified rough terrain crane for the Japanese market.
Tadano representatives noted their impressions of these demonstrations, including EVOLT models.
“They were surprised by its quietness and strong initial acceleration.”
“We were most impressed with Tadano’s technological capabilities and automation of the Kozai plant’s production site,” added Mr. Astrèn.
Connection to both Tadano’s and Finland’s History
One attendee on the tour, Mr. Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen, is the Sales & Marketing manager of HONGISTO OY, a pioneering crane company in Finland. His grandfather, Väinö Hongisto, was the first person in Europe to purchase a Tadano crane. It was a TL-360 truck crane model that arrived in Oulu, Finland back in 1972. It was one of the most advanced cranes of its time.
“Tadano was so technologically advanced that we couldn’t even imagine it,” Mr. Hongisto said about the TL-360’s 1972 delivery in a 2001 interview. “A fully hydraulic boom, it was impressive then and still is today.”
Mr. Yrjö-Koskinen brought a framed photo of his grandfather and a photo of the current TL-360 as a souvenir. They were on display at the R&D office in Shido, catching the eyes of anyone in proximity.
One could call it a unification of history and future: Tadano’s first sale in Europe in 1972 has led to the original purchaser’s grandson to arrive in Japan to learn about the newest crane technology over half a century later.
The moments of both history and future were not lost on the Tadano representatives.
“Overall, they seemed to be impressed by the hospitality of the Japanese people at our Tadano Japan facilities, and it seemed that they came to like Tadano as a company and Japanese culture even more.”
Tadano continues to welcome customers and visitors across the globe to experience the company’s culture, plant tours, representative staff, and Japan in general. We look forward to hosting more of these visits and cementing further relationships.