A quiet revolution in Finland is reshaping the future of mobile working machines. Known for engineering excellence and digital innovation, the country is emerging as a global powerhouse where heavy machinery meets advanced technology and sustainability.

Currently, the sector employs approximately 45,000 people, generates €19 billion in revenue, and accounts for over 10% of Finland’s total goods and services exports. With the Mobile Machine Growth Strategy 2035, the goal is to triple industry revenue to €60 billion, aiming for 10% annual growth between 2024 and 2035.

At the center of this transformation is Sustainable Industry X (SIX), a national-level initiative aimed at orchestrating systemic change across the industrial landscape.

A national agenda, a global opportunity

“The SIX initiative isn’t just a project or ecosystem,” explains Harri Nieminen, Co-creation Manager and Head of SIX at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. “It’s a national renewal agenda for industry.” Through clusters like Mobile Work Machines, SIX unites OEMs, technology providers, researchers, and policymakers to co-create actionable roadmaps, tools, and infrastructures that support innovation and growth.

According to Janne Kari, Head of Industry, ICT and Digitalization at Invest in Finland, “Finland is well-positioned thanks to strong digital competencies, such as user experience, augmented reality, and communications for autonomous machines.”

“Much of this stems from Finland’s long-standing engineering expertise and close industry-university collaboration in automation, software, and systems engineering. That foundation now drives advances in next-generation intelligent and autonomous mobile machinery,” adds Hanna Hyttinen Chauveau, Senior Advisor at Invest in Finland.

Today, the country’s ICT strengths directly support the transformation of mobile working machines, which include:

• Industry 4.0 and IoT
• Precision positioning
• Telematics and HMI platforms
• Autonomy and robotics
• Cybersecurity and open data

One of Finland’s most compelling assets is its co-innovation model. “We’re a small country. We know each other, and we genuinely want to work together. It’s rare globally to have this level of openness and cooperation,” Nieminen notes. Hyttinen Chauveau adds, “The engagement we see even beyond the SIX initiative underscores the depth and diversity of Finland’s mobile machinery ecosystem.”

Infrastructure, data, and systemic innovation

Finland is currently mapping its national infrastructure landscape to support the mobile machinery roadmap, identifying critical assets for testing, education, and “test-before-invest” use cases. These include connected environments, virtual labs, and data repositories, all of which are made more accessible through a new joint playbook, which is expected to be available by the end of 2025.

The vision extends beyond building better machines to enabling new data-oriented business models. It sees the machine as a platform for value creation. As mobile machines operate, they collect data from themselves, their environment, and the processes they engage in. This data can be transformed into new services, insights, and even entirely new businesses, some of which extend beyond the traditional machinery sector.

"These solutions are so complex and multidimensional that no single company can develop them in-house." – Janne Kari

Realizing this potential requires not just technology, but also systemic thinking, including new business models, customer-centric design, and cross-sector collaboration. “The biggest innovation potential lies at the intersections of silos,” Nieminen emphasizes. “We need joint agendas and novel ways to collaborate.”

The country is also pioneering cross-organizational data sharing. Through initiatives like the Data Spaces Alliance Finland, the government is enabling frameworks that enable secure, fair, and scalable data exchange. Business Finland supports these efforts, acting as both funder and strategic partner.

One key area for improvement is absorptive capacity, the ability of companies to recognize, absorb, and apply research results. Making innovation visible and actionable is a top priority for the SIX initiative.

A testbed for the future of machines

Harsh arctic conditions, a collaborative ecosystem, and digital infrastructure make Finland an ideal testbed for autonomous and intelligent machines. A compelling example of the country’s collaborative ecosystem is the Schaeffler Industry 4.0 case.

The German automotive and industrial supplier partnered with eight Finnish tech companies to develop a wireless IoT-based condition monitoring system. With support from Invest in Finland and Stora Enso, a Finnish-Swedish forest industry company serving as a pilot customer, the project transitioned from concept to an industrial-grade solution in just 12 months.

"We need joint agendas and novel ways to collaborate." – Harri Nieminen

This kind of rapid development is made possible by a dense network of global OEMs, innovative SMEs, and foreign-owned companies. Firms including Sandvik, Kalmar, Ponsse, and Danfoss are investing heavily in R&D and innovation, reinforcing Finland’s reputation as a powerhouse in mobile machinery.

As Kari puts it, “These solutions are so complex and multidimensional that no single company can develop them in-house. Our global customers have realized this and learned to value the network of partners they have across the country.”

So when international firms ask, “Is Finland strong in mobile working machines?”, the answer is a resounding yes – backed by a collaborative ecosystem, cutting-edge technology, and a relentless drive to innovate.