MEDANTA BUILDS ON ITS FOUR CORE VALUES

By: Elmo Ropponen
MEDANTA BUILDS ON ITS FOUR CORE VALUES

Medanta’s values are based on ambition, joy and cooperation – for the customer’s benefit! Its four core values were defined together with all the employees, and these values are also reflected in everyone’s work.

Medanta’s brand is based on the idea of making people’s lives easier by producing the best possible work clothes. To celebrate our tenth anniversary, we updated our strategy and values in early 2018.

“Our four core values draw on ambition and emotion: having drive, being practical, working together and being bubbly. As part of the process, we also created word clouds of the thoughts and ideas behind our values,” says Anu Kivelä, Founder and CEO of Medanta.

A well-built and well-implemented brand is a significant part of the company’s capital. Above all, it’s a feeling we evoke in our customers and partners: they believe in and love our brand.

“A brand is a strong emotional bond that is based on trust and guides our operations. I believe we have created a credible, warm and effective brand for Medanta,” says Taina Steiner, Founder and Director of Design and Production at Medanta.

According to Kivelä, the discussions with all the employees on values helped the company identify the core aspects of its ways of working.

“It was touching to realise that Medanta means something special to each of us.”

Having drive: ambition gives us energy and inspiration

“Courage for renewal”

“Over the past ten years, we have changed the game in work clothing. This used to be a conservative industry, but we have introduced a new approach. We design our own fabrics, which have many technical properties and endure industrial washing. We constantly seek to make our clothes even nicer and more colourful and comfortable – and even easier to use and care for.

We were the first company to introduce an industrially washable line of work clothes made from a flexible material. We have also launched an entirely new type of material for patient clothes: a silky-soft knitted fabric. It’s light and breathable and doesn’t crease. This development work has often played a role in competitive bidding processes, as many customers include flexibility in their criteria.

We have also developed an antibacterial treatment. In other words, we are leading the way: we invest a great deal of time in research and product development, and we create new materials. We are also preparing for the future: one day it may be possible to produce clothes using a 3D printer.”

Taina Steiner, Director of Design and Production

“Smart entrepreneurship”

“We are driven by endless curiosity and a desire to understand our customers’ needs. Our business is a combination of brainwork and practical action. When a customer has a new question or need, we will find the smartest possible solution together with the customer. We always aim for a solution that is optimal for the customer.

Putting the idea into practice is what eventually determines your level of success, along with the effort you are willing to put in. Reaching the top is an uphill battle. Don’t stop walking if you want to succeed!”

Susanne Stadius, Sales Director

“Free-flowing inspiration”

“We work together with a good drive. We are passionate about our work and let our creativity run free. A free flow of ideas helps us see what is ultimately important and focus even more strongly on our goals. We are hectic in a positive way and always focus on the customer.”

Minna Vikatmaa

Being practical: we want to produce the best possible work clothes for our customers

“The customer always comes first”

“Our company would not exist without our customers. In other words, the customer always comes first in everything we do. Listening and discussing are important parts of our work. By involving our customers and partners, we can achieve our goals more rapidly, producing a result that benefits all parties. We are good at listening to our customers – to their needs and wishes. In production, we discuss the practical implementation of our ideas with representatives from the factories.

Ensuring consistent design and production is challenging. Consistently good quality is one of our basic principles. In addition to our basic collections, we create customised collections for our customers in line with their brands.

Sufficient time must be allowed for designing work clothes, both with the customer and in production. Our design process begins with a mood board for the shapes, forms and colours – that is, the starting points of the design work. The final result looks nice and effortless, but is based on an extensive process. Good feedback from the customer means that we were able to complete the process successfully.”

Helena Manninen, Designer

Working together: collaboration is the secret of our success

“Innovation through cooperation”

“Medanta’s operations are based on close cooperation with customers and stakeholders, and this cooperation is increasing.

Unlike other companies, we involve our customers in research and development from the very beginning. Other stakeholders are also very important. It’s wonderful that we have an opportunity to cooperate with health technology experts, for example. As a small company, we would not be able to develop anything new on our own.

We have set our sights on international expansion, and networking offers opportunities for this. For example, we participated in the 2018 Arab Health trade fair in Dubai with three other Finnish companies. With these three companies, we also intend to develop projects together in Finland, in hospital laundry and waste management, among other fields. We operate in different sectors, but the prevention of infections is a common goal for all of us. Together we are better and wiser, and our customers also benefit from our cooperation.”

Anu Kivelä, CEO

“Success through teamwork”

“We all have different personalities and skills. Everyone has special expertise, and we can always count on others to help us: we solve problems together. Teamwork is the best way to get the job done and serve the customer as well as possible.”

Kia Vikberg, Storage Manager

“Success requires motion”

“We are a courageous and colourful group, and we work together as a team. A collegial spirit is one of our key strengths. Having professional expertise and sharing information are essential for the successful completion of each process and project. We all support one another, and we also know how to coach each other, when necessary. I greatly appreciate our strong team spirit – it’s a source of energy and joy!

We are different, but we have one thing in common: we are highly committed to our work. Success requires motion, which is why we promote progress and innovation with great ambition.”

Henna Saarikoski, Account Manager

Being bubbly: work would be boring without joy!

“Working with joy and determination”

“We are dynamic and determined: in the face of challenges, we roll up our sleeves and take action. We work to achieve our goals full on, each in our own style, but we know that having a good drive is also about joy.

We work together as a close-knit team, providing our customers with exactly the type of products they want. For example, we wanted to create an apron with a new twist for the trade fair season in autumn 2018. We soon came up with an idea, which Helena, our designer, converted into a drawing. The twist is a changeable loop at the back of the neck. The customer can customise the loop to a theme, such as the pink ribbon, or have it made from old tablecloths, scarves or ties, for example.

We presented a prototype at a trade fair in Tampere and are already receiving orders. When we work together with joy, the time required to convert an idea into a final product can be very short!”

Satu Mikkola, Key Account Manager

“Celebrating success”

“All of our values are closely linked together. Being bubbly is about having completed a project or assignment. We must remember to pat ourselves and others on the back, no matter how busy we are.

We also need to know how to celebrate success and positive feedback. For example, we were recently included by the Kauppalehti financial newspaper in its list of the most successful companies, which is fantastic!”

Taina Steiner, Director of Design and Production

Subscribe to Stay Informed

We’ll email you updates about new products, case studies, research results, and innovations with workwear.