Timo Skog

Timo Skog joins Andy as the truly global supply-chain perspective in the foundational cohort, Finnish, 21 years at KONE (lifts and escalators; 70-country global; 110 years old; originally Finnish), career path Finland → Tokyo (5 years) → China (8 years; one of KONE's biggest escalator factories) → Singapore (Head of Q&S APAC, 3.5 years) → NZ Regional Manager (3 years at recording). Vertical transportation is the niche-but-essential category, "you can't have apartments, you can't build vertically without elevators." Urbanisation and aging populations are the global demand drivers. The conversation is one of the podcast's earliest and sharpest entries on NZ's structural decision-making slowness: in other countries Timo has worked in, the typical project rhythm is 3 months from hearing about a project to tender and deliver; in NZ, KONE is "working on things a year before orders are booked." The cost of indecision is enormous and poorly understood. The supply-chain disruption thread is concrete: NZ's small-market constraints + COVID + port delays mean ships have literally skipped NZ ports, sailing on to other destinations rather than waiting in the gulf. The conversation closes with Andy's signature time-vs-money philosophy: "Time is more important than money. You can take away all my money, I can make more money. I can't manufacture time." Time is the finite, irreplaceable resource, a framing Andy comes back to verbatim in Ep 01 (different framing, same conclusion: quality + time + cost all-three imperative) and that recurs across the podcast as a structural argument for ECI / front-end-loading. The episode also surfaces a specialist-vs-generalist career-shape observation, small markets force generalism; large markets allow specialisation, that becomes one of Timo's most-quoted insights for NZ-context career strategy.

Key Topics Discussed

• Vertical transportation as essential. Niche-but-essential: apartments / vertical buildings impossible without elevators. Urbanisation + aging populations drive demand globally. Equipment is "relatively costly" but the volume requirement makes the market viable only at urbanisation scale.
• NZ decision-making slowness, the headline stat. In other countries Timo has worked: 3 months hearing-about-project → tender → deliver. In NZ: KONE is "working on things a year before orders are booked." The cost of indecision is enormous and poorly understood by NZ clients.
• Supply Chain and Procurement, just-in-time vs NZ-reality. KONE aims for just-in-time delivery globally. NZ's market size + COVID + port delays force early ordering at extra cost. Ships have literally skipped NZ ports, "waiting in the gulf harbour, then due to delays decided to just keep sailing somewhere else." Direct connection to Ep 04 material-escalation context + Ep 01 "anything that comes from a road has been challenging."
• Time vs money, Andy's signature philosophy. "Time is more important than money. You can take away all my money, I can make more. I can't manufacture time." Recurring across the podcast as a structural argument for early-engagement / ECI / front-end-loading procurement.
• Specialist vs generalist by market size. In small markets you need to be a generalist (Timo in NZ does design + supply + install + maintenance + business leadership); in larger markets specialisation is possible (KONE's China escalator factory specialism). Pattern explains why NZ careers have a different shape from international careers.
• Multinational career path, Finland → Japan → China → Singapore → NZ. 21 years at KONE; 5 countries. R&D engineer Finland → Tokyo 5 yrs → China 8 yrs (escalator factory leadership) → Singapore Head of Q&S APAC 3.5 yrs → NZ Regional Manager. The career arc that NZ doesn't typically offer to its own talent, see Brain Drain Timeline.
• Urbanisation as global demand driver. Cities growing; population aging; longer life expectancies; vertical-build necessity. Macroeconomic foundation of KONE's business model.
• NZ as a small market, the structural challenge. Volume requirement for niche-equipment economics; small market = pipeline-building takes longer; decision-making cycles longer than internationally optimal.
• Pre-order at extra cost as NZ-specific risk. KONE forced to pre-order equipment earlier than ideal because of NZ's slow decision cadence + supply-chain unreliability. Cost flows somewhere; NZ market ultimately pays.

Notable Quotes

Timo: "We're present in 70 countries around the world… originally from Finland; we've been growing gradually over the past 110 years."

Timo: "Without our equipment you can't have apartments, you can't build vertically without elevators."

Timo (on global vs NZ rhythm): "In other countries, three months from hearing about a project to delivery. In NZ, we start working a year before we get orders booked."

Timo (on supply chain): "Ships have been waiting in the gulf harbour, then due to delays decided to just keep sailing somewhere else."

Andy (signature line): "Time is more important than money. You can take away all my money, I can make more. I can't manufacture time."

Timo (on career shape): "Being in a small market means doing everything; in larger markets, you specialise."

Guest Background

Timo Skog is Finnish, with 21 years at KONE (Finnish-headquartered global lifts/escalators company; 70 countries; 110 years old). Career path: R&D engineer in Finland → Tokyo (5 years) → China (8 years) at one of KONE's biggest escalator factories → Singapore (Head of Q&S APAC, 3.5 years) → NZ Regional Manager (3 years at time of recording). At time of recording: design, supply, install, and maintenance of lifts and escalators across all of NZ as KONE's NZ business leader. Genuinely one of the most-distinctive global supply-chain perspectives in the podcast's first 30 episodes.