PROJECT ENGINEER | CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER | CAREER DEVELOPMENT
In 2005 Simo Pöyhiä started working as project engineer for Laitex. Throughout the years and company growth he advanced to chief technology officer.
When Pöyhiä joined Laitex he had just graduated as mechanical engineer from the local polytechnic. He worked as project engineer for seven years. After that Pöyhiä’s responsibilities grew to product management and he also started leading the project engineering department. Now he is leading the technology and project engineering department and is part of Laitex management team.
“After graduation you have good theory knowledge, but I’ve learned the most through work. When you get to design equipment, your experience and knowhow start to really accumulate. At Laitex I’ve been able to also learn leadership skills and management team work, which I didn’t have any previous experience of”, Pöyhiä says.
Product information management and discoverability part of chief technology officers work
One of the most noteworthy and challenging projects for Pöyhiä has been to gather tacit knowledge from customer projects and equipment into one place. “Collecting and compiling the information from individuals’ minds is an important part of our company’s growth and risk management. Developing product information management also helps me free up time for leadership and product development issues”, Pöyhiä explains.
Pöyhiä works in the management team in conjunction to his daily tasks. Combining concrete work with strategic thinking has been challenging, but has also helped him merge the big picture and long term goals with operative planning. “The most important task for management is naturally to implement our strategy and enable reaching our goals. In my daily work I transform the ideas for operational and process development as well as better leadership into concrete actions”, Pöyhiä says.
Good team spirit between departments eases the work of chief technology officer
Pöyhiä acts as a link between several different organisations, consulting both sales’ and engineering’s needs. “Working in an international company is interesting, and we work with large, inspiring projects. At Laitex, cooperation between departments runs smoothly, helping us tackle for example schedule and resourcing challenges”, says Pöyhiä thanking his colleagues for team effort.
Laitex company culture is in a constant state of development towards each individual taking into account the bigger picture, not just their own daily work. The low level of bureaucracy ensures flexibility in all operations, and streamlines decision making. “This environment is extremely fruitful for example for younger engineers: you get to see your designs come to life from the first line you’ve drawn to the first weld at the workshop all the way to the finalised product in action”, says Pöyhiä.
Pöyhiä praises the company culture for having a good balance between freedom and responsibility.
“Here, people are not just resources: without our people Laitex wouldn’t exist. As colleagues we can trust each other and everyone works together for a common goal, even though things might get a little ugly sometimes – as can happen when working in project business. I’m really proud to be working here”
Simo Pöyhiä, Chief Technology Officer at Laitex
