Who are you and what does your company do?
My name is Dick Edström, and I work as a production manager at Solving. I have been with Solving
for 30 years, starting even during my studies. I have held various positions within the company,
from working on the production floor to being a designer, project manager, and now a production
manager. Over the years, the organization has grown significantly, and we now have a more
systematic and structured way of working. Technologically, the advancements have been even
greater. Previously, we manufactured more manual solutions, but now the level of automation in
our trucks is considerably higher, and the standards have also increased.
Solving is a company specializing in the design and manufacturing of heavy load handling systems.
The company offers a range of products, from simple manual units to high-tech automated
handling systems that utilize both air cushions and wheels. Solving has successfully created
handling systems for the most complex and challenging applications in various industries around
the world. Their material handling systems can be customized for almost any type of load,
regardless of size, weight, or handling frequency. Solving has been in operation for over 40 years
and is now a leading player in its field. Their products are present in over 60 countries and serve
more than 20 industries.
How has the recruitment process been for you?
In the past, we primarily used traditional methods like newspaper advertisements for recruitment,
but nowadays, we mainly recruit through social media. Recently, it has become more challenging
to find both production personnel and engineers. Overall, we have been successful in recruiting
personnel, and we will continue to recruit our own employees while complementing with workers
from staffing agencies.
Our products require specific knowledge, which makes it somewhat harder to find suitable
workers. However, we do not expect the individuals we hire to know everything from the start; we
provide training on the systems we use. Our employees often stay with us for a long time, which
indicates that they enjoy working here. We are grateful for this because the onboarding process is
quite lengthy. Lately, we have also focused on increasing our local visibility to address our
recruitment needs, even though the majority of our customers are located elsewhere.
How has it been to hire a worker through Dobra?
By hiring a production worker through Dobra, we needed to translate some documents into
English, which required some effort. However, now we have them ready for any future needs, and
we are not limited to only Swedish and Finnish. We appreciated not having to deal with
accommodation arrangements, registrations for foreign workers, or occupational healthcare
because we would not have had the resources to handle it ourselves. Now we just need to order
the workforce, and Dobra takes care of ensuring that the worker has all the necessary permits and
paperwork to work in Finland. We can rely on them to handle everything correctly. We also do not
need to manage salary payments or take the risk of employing someone who does not deliver as
promised.
What factors influenced your decision to use external labor?
We had been searching for a long time but could not find the type of worker we were looking for.
We have previously worked with other staffing agencies and hired local self-employed contractors
ourselves. However, we had not employed any foreign workers in our production before. The
person we hired through Dobra has been skilled, and I have been positively surprised. He is very
friendly and wants to do things right. He fits well within our team and asks questions when he
needs clarification. Language has not been a problem for us since both he and the people he works
with speak English well.
How has external labor affected your productivity and profitability?
We have not directly measured it, but all the hired workers have had the right attitude and
mindset, which is crucial. The idea behind hiring external labor is to fill production peaks to make it
economically viable, but we have noticed that it has also been profitable for longer-term
employment when we have not been able to find workers ourselves. Other factors such as
planning and material procurement also influence productivity.
We set goals, and it is up to the individual to find their way to achieve them. Therefore, it is
important for us to find employees who take the initiative to plan their work without
compromising on quality because quality is essential to us. A minor problem in production can
become a significant and costly issue once the product is delivered to the customer. We believe
that Dobra has successfully found a worker who meets the quality requirements we have for our
employees.
How did Dobra perform in the recruitment process?
I thought Dobra was quick in finding several candidates, and they quickly identified the type of
competence we were seeking. In the early stages of recruitment, they familiarized themselves with
the requirements for success in such a position, even though it was a new type of worker they
were searching for. We had, for example, one worker in the recruitment pipeline who was already
approved but ultimately did not join us. Of course, I understand that these things happen, even
though it was disappointing at the time. Dobra quickly found a replacement, and we are very
satisfied with the person we ultimately got.
How do you feel about the communication throughout the process?
I think the communication has been very good. We received answers to our questions whenever
we had any doubts, and we maintained contact as needed. It is important to have open
communication, and in that regard, I think Dobra has succeeded. They have also promptly
informed us about unpleasant matters and kept us aware of what is happening.
