He worked as director for stone company Ab Granit in 1889–1895, after which he returned to State Railways for another five years.

Engström left his position as company manager in 1918; this was affected by the death of his son in the previous Finnish Civil War.

The stepfather worked for the Finnish State Railways, and that way Adolf got familiar with engineering workshops and large machinery during his childhood.

The 1894 erected Tsar Alexander II statue in Senate Square, of which foundation was constructed by Granit, promoted the company's sales in Russia.

[1] Engström was appointed manager of Sandvikens Skeppsdocka och Mekaniska Verkstads Ab ("Hietalahti Shipyard and Engineering Works") in 1900.

[1] The Russo-Japanese War in 1904–1905 led to increased order intake of torpedo boats for the Imperial Russian Navy.

In addition to shipbuilding, the company produced large number of ship engines, steam boilers and also railway wagons.

[1] Engström's personal contribution was significant in the rolling stock production, and the wagon projects balanced the wintertime docking workload drop.

[4] Engström developed and modernised the shipyard; this meant new methods, as electrical welding and pneumatic tools.

Prior to the First World War, the company employed 597 people and the annual sales reached 2.4 million marks.

Engström had also further plans which did not actualise, such as a new dock layout, that would have enabled building many large ships simultaneously.

This led to a long-term strike, which eventually ended to defeat for the union – the engineering industry workers returned to work without having a collective agreement.

The couple donated a large sum to be shared as scholarships to young technicians, who were orientated to shipbuilding and engineering industry.