Hannu Alitalo, the founder of Alitalo Konepaja, started his career as an engineer where many other advanced companies have ever started: in the garage. There, a young skilful young man with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, designed and assembled his first machines. The company started in 1978 in cooperation with his father Simo Alitalo, and the same year the first machine delivery, a self-made guillotine shears, was done. The first press brake delivery to the customer took place two years later. The product name was created by a proper combination of the company name and it has remained since then: Aliko.

Over the years, there have been ups and downs, however, always have been survived with a good group of people, Finnish spirit and a bit of madness. The 1990s and early 2000s were a time of different product applications and growth for us. The company renewed its product palette, for example new generation of ALIKO Giant press brakes and focused on the export market. However, customer needs have always been on the top of priority, as evidenced by long-term relationships with many customers.