What sets Bronto Skylift apart from its competitors?
Antti Suoniemi: In a single year, we deliver more 90m-plus units than all of our competitors combined. We are fortunate in that government bodies in countries such as China, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have chosen us as their strategic partners. This enables us to have the infrastructure in place in Finland and abroad.
What sets us apart is the expertise and knowledge we have gained from delivering 100 units in our lifetime, versus the usual ten to 15. We’ve always had the biggest platforms in the market – for example, the units for wind turbine maintenance are mainly 90-100m. That’s because we serve two areas: the fire sector, including fire departments, such as those in Shanghai, Beijing, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, which use our units for rescue and firefighting operations, and the access sector, where we work with industrial customers such as our strategic partner, Bladefence, a Finnish company that provides high-quality repairs and maintenance for wind turbine blades.
What can customers expect when they partner with you?
AS: We never take anything for granted. The most important thing is that we will never leave a customer stranded if problems arise with a unit. We will do everything in our power to give them the best customer support, service, maintenance and training possible. It doesn’t matter if they have one unit, 15 or 50 – we will give them the best customer experience possible. We have a vast network with dealers and partners spread over 100 different countries globally, so we are ready to serve our customers no matter where in the world they are.
What is your research and development process?
AS: We travel around the world to sit down with our customers and hear them out. In different parts of the world, different specifications might be required to fulfil the customer need. This is something that we realised early on and so we try to stay as flexible as possible. Recently, we hosted a research and development session where we invited some customers to attend to discuss their business and how they see working with Bronto Skylift. We want to involve our customers in the R&D as much as we can.
What is in the pipeline for Bronto Skylift next year?
AS: At the beginning of 2018, we are putting more emphasis on the industrial side of Bronto. We are expanding our sales and R&D divisions, and it will include not only new units, but also a better service and sales network.
So far, how has the experience of working with Bronto Skylift been for Bladefence?
Joni Alasaari: We see Bronto as one of our service partners. People at Bronto are knowledgeable and always willing to help. When it comes to product lines, Bronto can offer a best-in- class user experience, which is crucial in our business to offer top-quality services to our customers. Safety and reliability are two of our key factors when selecting equipment, and with Bronto’s solid boom, we are able to work safely, even in challenging weather conditions.
In Finland, we are official service partners for Bronto and that way we’re able to ensure that our fleet is always maintained and serviced, and that we have spare parts available. This is key when the focus is on safely lifting people.
What were Bladefence’s priorities when choosing a partner?
JA: Our aim is to provide the best possible service to our customers in a cost-effective way. This means that our partner needs to share our vision, and have the experience to analyse and execute challenging operations in a manner that adds value to our customers. For a successful venture, an honest and trustworthy partner is needed, but, more so, our partner needs to have the same passion that we have for continuously developing and improving techniques so that we are able to exceed the high standards our customers expect from us.