The Industrial Act of the Year award has nationwide importance

Column  25.09.2022

Last year, we won the Industrial Act of the Year award and are still very touched and proud about it. Reasons for the win included AGCO Power’s heavy investment in the production of engines and transmission components at Linnavuori in Nokia. Our broad-minded application of automation in various processes and investments in expertise also played a part in why we were chosen.

AGCO Power is a good example of a business where the foreign owner is ready to invest in due to the high level of expertise in the company. Our five-year investment programme, which started in 2019, includes approximately EUR 70M investments in modern and flexible manufacturing technology, logistics, assembly and machining.

To my mind, the Industrial Act of the Year award is a great way to highlight the importance of industry to national economy. It is sometimes overlooked, despite of the many great Finnish businesses that employ vast numbers of skilled people and bring much-needed tax revenue to our country. As this award brings forth a wider awareness of the importance of industry, I hope it will also increase its appreciation.

We are already facing a lack of skilled industrial labour, and as younger generations grow smaller, the trend is alarming. Young people often have the wrong impression of how modern industrial work looks like, and they may not consider industry as a career option. It is important to showcase that the sector offers many kinds of interesting jobs in versatile surroundings.

The society should ensure that both secondary and tertiary education respond to our rapidly evolving needs by providing skilled graduates. It is important to create opportunities for industry to grow and develop to face the fierce international competition. In addition, Finland should make it easy to invest and expand operations without unnecessary bureaucracy.

The Industrial Act of the Year award brought much positive attention to AGCO Power and well-earned praise to our experts who worked so hard to achieve it.

Our wish for the future is that the operational environment will normalise and we can further develop our operations without additional challenges due to pandemics, wars, energy crises, etc. We also hope that labour shortages will not create boundaries for our continued growth.

Juha Tervala
VP, AGCO Power
AGCO Power Inc.