Five minutes with... Pauliina Koponen, Rental Equipment Fleet Manager

Since she started her construction career in the workshop of Finnish dealer Rotator over 16 years ago, Pauliina Koponen has gained a unique insight into the industry. Now the Fleet Manager for Rotator subsidiary, Rotarent, she shares her thoughts on the Finnish rental market, what customers think of Hitachi construction machinery, and how she got into this male-dominated world…

Q&A

From serving drinks to servicing machines – how did you get started in the construction industry?

It was a bit of a coincidence – I was working in a bar and realised it wasn’t my thing. I applied to mechanical engineering school – I had no idea what a mechanic did, but it sounded interesting. From there, I went to work for a construction company, then a colleague persuaded me to come and work for Rotator, saying it’s a good place to work, with a good atmosphere. So, I applied for a job.

Sounds simple enough?

 I was asked, ‘Are you looking for work for yourself, or your son?’ I didn’t even have children then! I applied for myself and got the job, and here we are.

Tell us about the rental market in Finland…

 The Finnish rental machine business is developing well and has great potential to grow further. A rental plan is a good option if you don’t want to invest in or own machines.

In the past, rental periods were shorter, and now some of our customers work all year round with a rental machine. There are also customers who do not own machines at all – they rent all their machines from us.

New customers are constantly coming. In the past, many of our customers came from Rotator, but now Rotarent has its own customers, who contact us directly for renting machines.

What do your customers think about Hitachi construction machinery?

 Rotarent customers appreciate that it is reliable and efficient. It just works! There are rarely any problems.

Also, there are new machines coming out all the time, and customers can see that they are always getting better.

Which models are most popular to rent in Finland?

As we are in Finland, machines over 20 tonnes are the most popular, because they work all year around. As springtime comes and the ground starts to thaw, smaller crawlers and especially nine-tonne models, are in high demand – as are all the wheeled excavators.

However, they have a shorter season… It all depends on the weather, that is how it goes.

What do you think of Rotator and HCME’s partnership?

HCME and Rotator, 40 years together – congratulations to both of us! I think this is a great collaboration and I’m proud to work with both companies.