CEO resigns, Pole changes

The CEO of Pole Bicycle Company Oy, Lauri Hulkkonen, resigns after three years of service. This significant change is for us to evolve as a company. We want our service and customer experience to meet better with our philosophy and values. Pole will continue as an owner-managed company, as Leo Kokkonen takes the leading role. Hulkkonen stays in a company as a shareholder. The resignation process started in early August and takes effect starting today, 30th of October 2020.

Three grand years of progress

Within the past three years, we climbed up to the highest peak of our success so far. We introduced big things to the mountain biking community, gained fame for our products and made a big overall impact on the scene. As a company, to match the growth, we made considerable investments to fit the increased need. For example, we bought the machines and figured out a way to produce the CNC’d frames. The direction we were going was excellent in many ways. The latest significant change was moving to a new factory. Lauri was a big part of all these major decisions and changes and a key player implementing them. We thank him for these years.

Flatter organization – better service

Despite the good things and the growth, we found ourselves from a spot where responsibilities were too centralized. This situation had paralyzed and plunged us into a shallow point of our story. 

After careful analysis of us as a company, we decided to flatten the organization, sharing responsibilities based on expertise each of us has. Flattening the organization the way we are doing, makes us more agile than before. To prevent work overload from happening, we introduced new powerful tools for our operations. We also adopted new ways of handling tasks and internal communications. This change already shows results: We are catching up with the customer service queue.

Logistics and production are also in change. During the current year, we have struggled to get components like forks and brakes from suppliers. This problem goes both ways, and by working smarter in every sector, we can tackle many obstacles seen past times.

We are confident that this change in Pole as a company is good.

Apologies for the inconvenience

We sincerely apologize to those who are upset because of our actions during this past year. We have identified two critical problems causing anger and intrust between the customer and us:

• Slow customer service especially in after-sales
• Failing Stamina frames

The changes that we now make will work to solve these problems.

During the last 12 months, we have witnessed around ten cases of Stamina frames that have failed and gone public. Even while there are many happy Stamina riders, each break down has significantly lowered the trust towards our machined frames. We apologize for this but want to assure you that the production method works. We have assessed the failed frames carefully. The failures are not severe, and we don’t see a reason for a recall. Our warranty continues to cover problems that are caused by manufacturing, and the process of handling after-sales support will be better.

Taking the action

One thing we are known for is that we do take action and make the change. Just look at how the industry has changed since we introduced our geometry and how the aluminium bikes have become relevant again. Now, it is time to take actions that initiate an internal change.

• Change the internal processes and share the responsibilities to serve faster.
• Improve user instructions to prevent actions that may damage or weaken the frame permanently.
• Handle and close each currently open warranty case within the next ten weeks.
• Stick with the promised delivery time on bikes and frames, continually improving the process.
• Inform customers more frequently about the state of their orders.

We base the actions mentioned to the feedback received lately.

Future of Pole Bicycles

Quote from Pole philosophy still describes our future: “Pole wants to create the fastest, most striking, and most thoughtfully designed machines.” 

If we don’t make the change, we don’t see how we would have that future. 

Sincerely,

Pole Bicycle Company Oy

Written by Sampo Virmasalo

* Edited 2/11/2020: Due to misunderstandings, we edited some of the text. The critical content remains untouched. Additions: 

• We added that Hulkkonen remains in a company as a shareholder.
• Removed inaccurate timeframe about results achieved by new ways of working
• Changed word “last” to “current” from phrase about logistics and components
• We changed the chapter about the problems in the management as it might have led into unintentional negative image towards the people who worked or works in the management.
• Writers name included. We saw that there was a misunderstanding about the conception of pursuing a personal interest.