Tuomo Ruuska, an experienced solution sales professional, onboarded Pemamek’s sales team at the beginning of January as the Director, Segment sales of the heavy equipment sector.
We got the opportunity to sit down with him to find out what inspires him, how he crossed paths with Pemamek, and what is the future forecast for the industry.
Tuomo Ruuska started at Pemamek as the Director of segment sales and development of the Heavy Equipment sector at the beginning of January, 2021.
Anticipating future developments
A smiling and calm gentleman enters the room. With firm steps and over two decades of experience in solution sales and leading massive automation projects, the man sits down on the other side of the negotiation table. The warmly polite character has most likely to do with his international background.
“I’m from Finland, but I lived my childhood in Sweden. Later, I moved to the United States where I lived for one year. Additionally, I am an army paratrooper, which has thought me discipline and the meaning of hard work”, tells Tuomo Ruuska, the newly hired Director of segment sales and development of the Heavy Equipment sector at Pemamek.
Ruuska joined the ranks of Pemamek at the beginning of January 2021, to lead the global heavy equipment sales and development with a focus on new customer acquisition, but also to scan the future possibilities and advancements in the field.
“First and foremost, my responsibility is to support the global sales in the sector. I do market research, analyze, and transmit that information to our sales and product development. This ensures that we can better anticipate the future needs in the industry and prepare ourselves for small and big changes”, describes Ruuska.
Before teaming up with Pemamek, Tuomo has worked for over 15 years at Kalmar, the company that is known as the forerunner in terminal automation and energy-efficient container handling and is part of the Cargotec Group. At Kalmar, he worked as the Sales Director in the Automation and Projects Division for Kalmar, among other sales and project positions.
Ruuska continues, “The big and mega automation projects that I’ve had in my previous job are an asset in this position. One of the most memorable projects that I have led was an extensive three-year-long automation case in Los Angeles.”
Succeeding together
When it comes to his personality, Tuomo describes himself as calm, yet determined and equipped with a hint of competitive spirit. His tranquil and positive character has been also noted in the demanding corporate environment.
“I am slightly competitive, and because of that, I’m keen on constantly developing myself, whether it is in sports, work, or mind. In my previous job, I was invited to the invited especially to the most challenging negotiations, where a calm and diplomatic approach was needed. I guess it should be taken as a compliment”, smiles Ruuska.
At work, Tuomo appreciates teamwork and highlights that as one of the most aspiring things in the work environment. According to Ruuska, efficient collaboration, strategizing, and finally harvesting the fruits of success together is extremely rewarding.
Collaboration, strategizing, and succeeding together motivate Tuomo.
“Good teamwork from strategy planning to implementation inspires, motivates, and brings meaning to the work. Seeing the created strategy generating results and sales, and succeeding together is one of the best things at work.”
Ruuska sees much potential for Pemamek to gain further growth in the sector. Some of the key factors for growth he lists truly understanding customer needs and capability to think outside of the box.
The best partner for customers
Some of the aspects that interested Tuomo about Pemamek were the family company’s size, global nature, and above all, an interesting solution portfolio and project sales.
Ruuska comments, “Pemamek is big and global, but at the same time, it is small. By small, I mean that you can feel that it is a family company and it breathes the family company’s values, which is very different from a stock-listed corporation. Pemamek is dynamic and human-oriented, people work as a team. Additionally, the business is based on consultative solution sales, which provides interesting challenges.”
When it comes to his area of focus in his new role, the heavy equipment segment, Tuomo sees a lot of unused potential from the solution development and customer acquisition point of view.
“This industry changes now rapidly, and there’s much potential for us to strengthen our position as the leading solution provider. By truly learning to understand the industry needs and developing our capability to think outside of the box, we can be the best partner for our customers,” summarizes Ruuska.
