Case: Solving
Solving hired a foreign worker and received help to address labor shortages
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.

What does your company do?
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?
Hiring a production worker through Dobra required us to translate some documents into English, which took some effort. However, now those documents are ready for future use, allowing us to expand beyond Swedish and Finnish.
We appreciated not having to handle accommodation arrangements, registrations for foreign workers, or occupational healthcare ourselves, as we didn’t have the resources to manage these tasks. Now, we simply order the workforce, and Dobra ensures that the worker has all the necessary permits and paperwork to work in Finland.
We can trust them to handle everything correctly, including salary payments, and avoid the risk of employing someone who doesn’t deliver as expected.
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.
JRT Bygg gained industry knowledge from their accountants
Tommy Tupeli, CEO of JRT Bygg

Cramo in Kokkola received assistance in growing and keeping track of their finances.
Lucas Grankulla, CEO of Ab Tomaskin Oy

”I would recommend companies to try it!”
— Magnus Björkskog, Amada

Do you have any questions?
Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. Apply for an open position or submit an open application.

Anna-Karin Snellman
Recruitment manager
+358 50 350 0127
anna-karin.snellman@dobrafinland.fi