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by Timo Laurinen
Senior Correspondent, Finland
“A product line from skateboard to bulldozer, so to speak – and ingenious engineering throughout the range. This is a
salesperson’s dream,” says Jan Linden, the newly appointed export manager at Lillbacka Powerco.
While Jan, with an engineering degree in power technology, says crimping
and related machines take some studying to start with, international marketing of technology has always been his line of business. At 46, he has a background of
18 years at ABB, the multinational specialist in power and automation technologies.
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Jan’s responsibilities included the marketing and sales of electric motors and frequency converters in Finland and abroad. Of the
total ABB workforce of 160,000 some 10,000 work in the company’s Finnish operation; currently the group is the No. 1 European
manufacturer of electric motors.
At the turn of the millennium Jan felt it was time for change and left the company for a
position as sales manager of pressure cast components for automotive and other industries. The company, Laihian Metalli Oy, could only
benefit from Jan’s expertise for eighteen months before the exciting opportunity to join Lillbacka Powerco Oy presented itself and was
seized by January.
As opposed to regrettably many countries in Europe, Finland is noted for the excellent way the country
copes with a population speaking two totally unrelated languages - Finnish and Swedish. Himself a member of the Swedish-speaking
minority, Jan jokingly says at home the language of command is Finnish. (His wife is a native speaker of Finnish, and in the Finnish
armed forces, Finnish is the language of command).
The Lindens have two daughters, aged 12 and 7, whose hobbies include
ballet dancing, horseriding and playing classical music. This means a considerable part of the parents’ free time is spent in driving
the active girls from home to the music school or the stables, whichever the case may be.
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Thus Jan’s beloved soccer, a lifetime passion, has suffered a little, but he has set his priorities without regret.
“Fine products – a fine team.”
Jan’s first month in his new duties passed in getting to know the products, his own
marketing team, and other departments at Lillbacka Powerco.
“To be assigned responsibilities with such an esteemed
product line is a real honor. Finn-Power crimpers gained global market leadership in just seven years’ time, and that as early as
1970’s. They have retained this position – I, for one, consider it a challenge to maintain and fortify that position as best I can.”
“And with the sort of welcome I got from my colleagues I know we have a winning team!”
What especially
interested Jan in his new job was the highly international nature of the business.
“Many solutions and applications that
have been developed by Finn-Power USA, Inc., together with American customers, offer a vast, global potential. I consider it one of my
most important duties to help signals and ideas move freely from one market to another. Everybody benefits; this is the true beauty of
a technology business that is international through and through!”
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