Saying "Sure, why not?" has paid off for Joacim Henningsson. His curiosity and willingness to take on challenges have sent him around the world and given him a front-row seat to dramatic advancements in forestry technology.
Henningsson's career at Komatsu started after he realized that his boyhood dream of being a truck driver wasn't working out; getting started during an icy Swedish winter probably didn't help. So, when his then-father-in-law, who owned a forestry business, asked him if he'd like to trade trucks for harvesters and forwarders, he said, "Sure, why not?"
That job exposed him to field-testing equipment for the company that later became Komatsu Forest. When they needed an operator for three months to help train customers in North America, Henningsson again answered, “Sure, why not?” — even though the English he had learned in high school didn’t exactly give him the vocabulary to explain forestry equipment. He said yes again when the short-term gig led to a full-time job offer, and again when the full-time job led to larger opportunities.
Over a career that has included technical support, training, management and test driving, Joacim Henningsson has worked in the forest and in the office.Here, he takes a break from test-driving a Komatsu S92 harvester head
Henningsson took that initial job offer 27 years ago. He has always been based in Umeå, Sweden, and is now working in the new state-of-the-art Komatsu Forest factory. He began as a test driver before moving to technical support and training for 18 years, including a stint as general manager.
Training was a stretch for him at first. “When I was growing up, I was very shy, I didn't like talking in front of people. But once I started to do this, I started to enjoy it more and more.” He liked sharing his knowledge and seeing that knowledge put to work. Even more, he enjoyed becoming intimately familiar with every engineering upgrade and technical advancement as he supported and trained customers. “During this time, I was traveling all over the world — Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America and South America.”
Joacim Henningsson and a colleague take a break from operating a Komatsu 895 forwarder
The advancements came at a fast pace, and the pace isn’t slowing. “We are always on top of technology here, and I like that a lot.”
Today, Henningsson is once again a test driver, with days that might be spent at the factory, in the forest or at his home office. He made the change when, after transitioning back to work from a sick leave, he was asked to help test equipment with upgrades that included the then-new Tier 4 engine (also known as the EU Stage V engine) and a completely new control system. Realizing how much he loved operating machines and being in the field, he asked himself, “Why not be a test driver again?” His supervisors were supportive, and he’s happy he did it.
“I’m an even bigger part of all the new product development going on now,” he says. “And most of what’s coming in three years or five years, it's more or less coming through me. I have to learn new things all the time.”
Henningsson has two pieces of advice for anyone considering a career like his. First: Collect as much knowledge as you can from the people around you, both inside the company and outside. “The more knowledge you get, the more interesting it gets.” Second: “Go for it!”
Over a career that has included technical support, training, management and test driving, Joacim Henningsson has worked in the forest and in the office. Here, he’s test-driving a Komatsu S92 harvester head.
