Petter Rönnlöf, the recently appointed chief executive of Finnish aerial work platforms specialist Dinolift, is forthright in his self-assessment. “I am a sales guy,” he says, leaning back in his chair with a grin.
Appointed in March to lead the business in the place of owner Karin Godenhielm, Rönnlöf brings to the role a mix of commercial flair and operational leadership, having spent 15 years at building materials major Paroc and held chief executive posts at a spa manufacturer and a diving technology firm.
While those businesses might appear far removed from the access equipment sector, Rönnlöf insists the lessons are highly transferrable. “Being CEO of those two smaller companies gave me a chance to use the knowledge I had from a much bigger company with several thousand employees in relation to processes and efficiency on a larger scale,” he says.
He adds: “I was at both of them during a transition period, with one of the ambitions [being] to get more international presence and building up the dealer networks.”
Transition, both as a theme and a necessity, features prominently in Rönnlöf’s early agenda. He takes the helm at a time of geopolitical and economic volatility, not least with US President Donald Trump threatening to introduce additional trade tariffs this summer. “That is also something that I will try to bring to the company – that the only sure thing is that we will have change – one thing that is going to be stable is instability, whether we like it or not,” he says.
He also faces the task of succeeding Karin Godenhielm, who led Dinolift for 15 years, following the retirement of her father and company acquirer Lasse Godenhielm in 1997. Though she is stepping away from daily operations, she retains a stake in the business alongside her sister and intends to remain involved. “An active owner,” is how she now describes her role.
Lightweight aerial platforms
Dinolift has established a strong reputation in lightweight aerial platforms, a niche in which Rönnlöf sees further headroom for growth. International expansion and a broader product portfolio are both on the table, though he remains clear-eyed about the company’s strategic guardrails.
“The lightweight concept is still a core part of Dinolift. I do not see any reason for changing that – that’s what we are known for and what our operation is built on,” he says. “I think it’s too early to talk about the product roadmap. I have some ideas already about where I would like to go based on my evaluation of the segment and its needs and which segments are growing and what segments are not growing.”
That expansion will be supported by what Rönnlöf describes as highly adaptable production capabilities. “We have very flexible production where we can produce, more or less, whatever we want to. We make a lot of the components in-house, compared to many other competitors, so in that sense we are flexible. But we have to also be realistic about what we can do efficiently.”
Godenhielm concurs. “It’s a complex business environment at the moment. We can’t rely on things being the same as they were two years ago or five years ago. We need to broaden our product segment, but we can’t be everywhere.”
At this year’s Bauma, Dinolift launched a newly-updated Dino 280RXTE Long Range boom lift,
She adds: “We want to remain a niche manufacturer. It does not make sense to go head-to-head with the huge competition out there [with large volume products like scissor and boom lifts]. We want to look at possible cooperations and maybe make acquisitions in areas where we are strong. We want to invest in growth and remain relevant.”
While Rönnlöf is reluctant to set out a detailed multi-year strategy at this stage, he draws clear parallels with past transformation work. “It is about the journey of where we want to take Dino in the future. Customer focus is a big part, along with operational excellence and securing the company’s culture and its core values and focusing on where we want to be in five years’ time.”
Durability and aftermarket support are central, particularly in rental markets. “If you look at the rental business it’s important that you provide good service and aftermarket. Customers want a product that after 10, 20, 30 years still has some value. This, of course, is nothing new but having this sort of logic in our thinking will be very important.”
Bauma launches
At Bauma this year, Dinolift unveiled the updated Dino 280RXTE Long Range boom lift, featuring a significantly enhanced 580Ah AGM battery promising double the runtime of its predecessor. The firm also launched a slim version of its Dino 120TLB, which made its international debut following a domestic rollout in Finland.
Rönnlöf believes his background, even in adjacent industries, will support his ambitions. “The companies I previously led were very different businesses, but they have their similarities, especially in the sense that we [at Dinolift] have an international presence but we want to grow that,” he says. “It was dealer-driven, not a rental-driven business [like access], but the production process was surprisingly similar – you have a lot of automatizations through welding and robotics but you also have manual operators involved.”
Though change is underway, Rönnlöf is clear that he views his appointment in long-term terms. “It’s a long-term position. We are not in a hurry, and we have a good foundation to stand upon. We don’t have any big problems; it’s just about making the right decisions and putting those into practice,” he says. “You also need to have the right team around you – you are not going to do this alone – you need to get the whole company with you.”
