Finncont® – Together We Are More by Mainostoimisto Uniikki

TOGETHER WE ARE

PEOPLE OF THE COMPANY

Finncont is building a cleaner tomorrow Established in 1974, Finncont is a fast-growing specialist company in Virrat developing environmentally friendly products and solutions for waste management and safe transport and storage of chemicals and food. Our Finncont Design Studio® design department is a key part of both the contract manufacturing service and the creation of new products. Finncont Group employs a significant number of experts in the field, and the desire to grow is strong. The company is the largest private employer in Virrat. The Finncont Group includes Finncont Oy, which operates in Virrat, Finncont AB in Sweden and Finncont Ympäristötuotteet Oy in Lahti. Finncont’s employees are skilled, caring and committed. In this publication, you can get to know more about them and how they take care of long-term partnerships and personal service, which is the heart of Finncont. Finncont already has retailers in more than ten countries. The Group’s companies are ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certified. If you are interested in Finncont’s services and jobs, feel free to contact us. As our product designer Tomi Huhtanen always says: “We are constantly looking for better solutions for the future.” Find out more at www.finncont.com 2

Publisher: Finncont Oy | Author: T:mi ViestintäTÄHTI, Anne Karppinen | Images and layout: Mainostoimisto Uniikki Oy, Juha-Matti Wilska, Henna Wilska

JYRI PARTANEN, MANAGING DIRECTOR AT FINNCONT GROUP

The leader If a man from southeastern Finland settles down in Virrat and makes his longest career there, it can truly be said that he has found a home. And so Jyri Partanen says. ”I have a great team of people around me. That’s why I like it here.”

understand better how people see us and how we can help deliver the promised continuity as Continuity is Finncont’s brand.” And a good brand also sounds great! Although his daughter is nowadays the one playing the violin, Jyri can be seen as a kind of a bandleader responsible for the sound of the whole string band. Ambitious growth has been recorded in the strategy for the next few years. Exports are also one part of the set.

He came to Finncont in 2010 and started as a head of operations, as a production manager. Seven years later, he became the Managing Director. Before moving to Virrat from Estonia, Jyri worked abroad for five years, most of it in Hungary. ”However, my very first job was in the Savo region in eastern Finland, where I stayed for 12 years. The last job I had there was in Sorsakoski, as the factory manager at Hackman factories.”

Finncont AB has been operating in Sweden since 2019 and has retailers in more than ten countries. Exports account for about a third of sales, indirectly already just over half. ”A large part of our products is exported through our Finnish partners. Finland alone is a narrow market in terms of growth.”

Knowledge of the steel-hard brand of pots and pans has clarified Jyri’s vision of environmental responsibility, circular economy and products. One of Finncont’s tasks is to clarify the idea of environmental responsibility in everyday life. Services that make life easier is the trend. ”Products and services are intertwined. Strong digitalisation is changing the structure and forms of services. We have our own roadmap on how it will affect Finncont’s future. Time will tell how the relationship between products and services will eventually develop.”

As a group, Finncont gives the management a solid ground to build the family company’s identity. ”You must show your skills by actions. Trust must be gained, and you either gain it, or you don’t. That is commitment,” says Jyri. The Group’s Managing Director and Deputy Managing Director are a doubles team and Jyri is the one serving the aces, like in tennis. You have to be ready for new moves like you would play in Wimbledon – and a former competing tennis player knows how to do that.

Whatever shape the future takes, it is certain that Finncont will be part of people’s everyday lives more closely. ”We are constantly trying to

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You must show your skills by actions. Trust must be gained, and you either gain it, or you don’t. That is commitment.

HANNU RANTA-LASSILA, DEPUTY MANAGING DIRECTOR AT FINNCONT GROUP

Sustainability expert

Hannu Ranta-Lassila’s endurance qualities are emphasised in building trust. It’s about the company’s identity, values, and long-built corporate culture. ”The task of the head of operations is to take care of the development of operations, to build trust and deliver on the promises made to customers, or even exceed expectations,” Hannu describes his role. ”Trust is built on both products and people.”

Finncont has a strong will to develop something new in the industry. ”It takes strong market knowledge, understanding and the courage to make pioneer solutions and find something that is not yet out there”, Hannu says about the importance of Finncont Design Studio. ”The importance of product development is undeniable, and we already have a multi-year plan to develop it. We do continuously strengthen and build Finncont Design Studio’s resources and systems. The scope of our product range is in the of our core business, and that is why we need more inventive and innovative people.”

His first contact with the company took place already in the early 90s as a summer employee. He became a Purchasing Manager and joined the company’s Management Team in 2006. Now he is responsible for the company’s operations: finance, human resources, procurement, design, and production. ”I am also the head of the Finncont Academy steering group.”

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The Finncont Academy, established in 2008 in co-operation with educational institutions in the region, is a key factor in building continuity and trust. ”We have trained our staff significantly over the years. First we created a special vocational degree in plastic mechanics as the rotational molding technique we use is practically not taught in any schools. It is a lesser-known method in the plastics industry.”

We have trained our staff significantly over the years. First we created a special vocational degree in plastic mechanics as the rotational molding technique we use is practically not taught in any schools.

Thanks to apprenticeship training and orientation coordinated by Finncont Academy, the company has kept its competence stable even in difficult situations. ”Naturally, people come and go for different reasons. For example, a few years ago, several of our old stagers retired from the metal factory in a short time. Our concern was where to get young people to replace them so to keep the competence, punctuality and quality of work up to par. All this is vital in production.” The change was successful after the situation had been identified in advance and the new employees got to work alongside the masters in good time. ”Tacit information is shared and transferred during those overlapping working hours. At the same time, we create permanence. Even young people have long careers in our company.”

According to Hannu, Finncont’s heart and soul are the people. The company has also changed now in the 2020s. The road to the circular economy is a consciously chosen direction at Finncont. The company also lives as it preaches. For example, the company’s factories use only their own products for waste sorting and safe storage, and they also have a certified environmental system.

Environmental legislation and requirements to increase recycling will inevitably be tightened in the future. As a large employer in a small municipality,

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Clinging to old ideas is not an option. I want to develop, get into bigger projects, learn more about the design process...

TOMI HUHTANEN, PRODUCT DESIGNER

A good man! ”I am a good man,” says Tomi Huhtanen with a smirk when asked what kind of person he is. He works as a Product Designer at Finncont Design Studio.

Tomi has learned much about the differents dimensions of the job. The work of a designer is varied and in addition to the actual design work, he clarifies and organises things, and builds strategies with sales. ”The designer has to serve both production and sales, and at the same time also think about the development of the product itself.”

Tomi chose to work at Finncont after graduating as a mechanical engineer from Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences. However, he had also other options. ”I chose Finncont because the reception was better here when I came for a job interview. For example, if the interviewee is expected to be punctual, the same can be required of the interviewer. I have not regretted my choice.”

Tomi’s strengths are sociality and a desire to find solutions. His self-initiative stems from the fact that unfinished things annoy him. ”It is difficult to see your own growth afterwards. A lot has happened since I came here as a novice. My responsibilities have increased in the last couple of years. I’m a completely different person than in the beginning, a much better person.” Needless to say,Tomi grins again.

He is a father of three and originally came to work at the metal production. He describes his current role in Finncont as a multi-purpose resource for design. The job description is quite diverse, although his current main task is to tailor environmental products to meet customer needs. ”We are constantly looking for better solutions for the future.”

”The thirst and desire for knowledge have grown all the time. The resources the company offers are quite awesome, but you learn most when you go through things with your co-workers. We are a diverse group of people of different ages, both experienced and inexperienced together. There is strength in teamwork.”

”I never thought of myself as a designer. I thought I was more of a supervisor type of person. I had no design experience, so I thought designers work quietly, just sitting behind their desks. I’m not like that, not always. In the beginning, I tried to contain myself and keep quiet a bit, not to lose my job during the probationary period,” Tomi says with a grin in a way that has become familiar to his colleagues.

Tomi is fascinated by the intellectualizing of environmental solutions: ”Clinging to old ideas is not an option. I want to develop, get into bigger projects, learn more about the design process... After all, we will have smarter environmental products that will improve the chances of taking care of the environment in every way in the future. I want to take part in building that future.”

Now is a good time to ask what kind of designer he has become. With a grin he says: ”A decent designer, at best.”

PAULI RAISKINMÄKI, DEVELOPMENT AND QUALITY ENGINEER

Everything

starts with a mold 10

Pauli Raiskinmäki is a man of molds. ”I always notice all the challenges when I see our product somewhere. It just happens because I really dive into my work and strive to make things better.” Luckily Pauli does not want to mold the people he meets. But in his work, everything starts with a mold. ”When I see new products on the screen, I immediately think of the mold and notice if any part of the design is not working due to the requirements of the mold. A good mold is worth a fortune to the customer.” Pauli starts his mornings with a hall tour with the Manufacturing Manager. The casted products are reviewed and checked. They intervene in the production immediately if something seems to be wrong. ”When I am involved in new projects, we naturally have to be proactive so that we do not make the same mistakes twice. It is in our interest, and above all in the customer’s, to do the job as well as possible from the beginning.”

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This is an important industry for a prosperous and clean future. It’s nice to be creating products like this.

Pauli graduated as an IT engineer and came to Finncont to work ‘on the floor’, as a three-shift worker on the rotational molding machine. ”I quickly ended up doing trial runs and became a clerk. When there was a vacancy in the design department, I got a transfer there. After that, I got the job as a Quality Engineer.” Regarding quality, Pauli defines it as a vast and diverse entity; quality is everywhere, and everything influences it. ”At its simplest, it is that the customer has an expectation of quality, and we have to redeem it. Better still, to exceed the expectations.” He loves to come to work. In a couple of decades, the working pace has accelerated. People work in three shifts on the floor and Pauli oversees the work of one shift at a time. Even the best plans can change completely during the day. ”Quality requirements are tightening and competition in the industry intensifies, which means that we face many challenges. We have a great team, and we also have fun, although it is sometimes hard as there is always something that needs fixing. Fortunately, I am an engineer at heart, which means we first identify the challenge, explore what can be done and then do it. A systematic way of doing things is the key. The work is disciplined, processed and measurable and, in that way, quite clear and straightforward.” He is a family man living in Seinäjärvi, in the Virrat region, and satisfied with his versatile, innovative work. ”This is an important industry for a prosperous and clean future. It’s nice to be creating products like this. I always remember to point out and show our products to my son. It is important to do meaningful work.”

EILA ARO, WAREHOUSE OPERATIVE

A woman of action In the fall of 1984, Eila Aro decided to seize the opportunity. ”I was born and raised here in Virrat and in a small village everyone knows each other. I had been working in the metal industry before, so I decided to take a position here. I stayed and it was a good decision.

the professional qualification in warehouse management alongside work. ”You have to be active here all the time. I can’t just stand and do nothing. I feel satisfied with my job when I can solve a challenge. I want to see the customer satisfied, then I know I have succeeded.”

Eila started as a metal worker in Mety Finncont’s part manufacturing. She then worked at the paint shop and later transferred to the warehouse and has seen Finncont grow as a company over the past four decades.”

”Practicality is the best thing and I prefer to be the implementer, I like to do things.” Eila says she learned her work ethic already at home. In a farmhouse, it was totally normal that everyone did their bit. And everyone worked hard, she adds. She mentions occasional moments in work that might cause stress, like when a shipment to a customer is almost delayed, or there is a mix-up in the delivery. For these moments, she has her own turbo gear. ”You don’t start to worry over what has happened, you step up and fix things.”

In the beginning there was only one hall, the current metal production, and the mold department with one rotational molding machine. ”All this started on quite a small scale,” says Eila, the absolute matriarch of the warehouse. There are dozens of men working in the production but no women, but that does not bother this woman who enjoys motorcycling. ”I have the best colleagues in the world.”

For Eila, Finncont is an employer easy to appreciate in today’s world of fragmented employment. ”Every morning, when I come to the factory gates, I have a feeling that this work is valuable.”

She must have some action in her life, so warehouse management with its versatile tasks and diverse situations is just the thing for Eila. Without Eila, the joints between the design, sales, production and work management would be rusty and nothing would move. Even the designers sometimes ask Eila for help. ”I’ve been handling different parts and components here for so long that I can help them think about what the parts are like in practice.” Warehouse management really is her thing. She did

”When I succeed at work, it helps things at home, and vice versa. My life is in perfect order. I live here in Virrat, have my roots and my family here. My work is interesting. I have never needed to leave.” Eila is the one who remembers what the old spirit duplicator smelled like and the noises the fax machine made.

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I can’t just stand and do nothing. I feel satisfied with my job when I can solve a challenge. I want to see the customer satisfied, then I know I have succeeded.

TIMO OLLILA, SALES PERSON

A people person Timo Ollila is an officer’s son and has learnt that you have to be somewhat meticulous and precise in order to be also relaxed and jovial. With this attitude, Timo approaches the customer. He sees them as a person, does not press on but offers solutions, options and savings. ”That is perhaps the most beautiful way to describe my work.”

meets our own values. We think of people first and sincerely seek sustainable and responsible environmental solutions to make everyone’s lives better,” says Timo about his application for a job in the construction industry to work for Finncont in Lahti. He is responsible for the sales of large waste collection systems in the Uusimaa and Eastern Finland regions.

However, customers do not buy massive waste collection systems for purely moral reasons. The same factors influence the decisions as otherwise in life, and sometimes you just don’t have no choice. ”People are conscious and aware. In new apartment buildings, waste collection and sorting must be taken into account in any case. Housing companies have woken up to the need for more recycling capacity as the waste legislation changes. When environmental issues affect your finances, you wake up at the latest.” That’s how people behave.

”This is an interesting and evolving industry, even if it’s not as sexy as selling sports cars,” Timo says with a grin. ”The need and demand for these products will not decrease, far from it.” Timo also appreciates his colleagues a lot: ”We have an excellent team here!” Grown up in the 80s, he continues where his parents left off. ”I’m all about fair play and good team spirit. You have to see beneath the surface. Success in sales is easy to measure in numbers. When your work is realised as orders, then you know you have succeeded. The numbers show that you have done your job well.”

Timo has finances in mind also when he works, naturally. ”We all litter and produce waste. The more carelessly we approach the issue in everyday life, the more expensive it becomes and we ourselves have to pay for everything after all. ”Then it is essential that the solution offered is the right price and corresponds to what is promised and makes everyone’s life easier.”

But most of all: ”I learnt good and refined manners as a child and therefore developed a certain kind of consideration for others and a way of doing things. I am very friendly to customers, too. You don’t always have to talk about only products and business. After all, we are building life here,” Timo says. He knows about building life as a divorced man who has changed his career, built two detached houses and bought one. The intended sabbatical leave was quite short in the end.

”I take care of my own sorting and became interested in Finncont as a workplace because of that. It is nice to come to work when the work

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I’m all about fair play and good team spirit. You have to see beneath the surface.

SATU VAARA, SALES AND MARKETING COORDINATOR

Feeling the

pulse of the world

”When I first about heard it, I got goose bumps! It is brilliant!” Satu Vaara talks about Finncont’s brand Continuity. ”It is wonderful that our great products that promote continuity are shipped from this small place to different parts of the world.” The company also lives what it preaches: At Finncont, raw materials are reused as well as possible. She has the whole world in her hands. This little woman is the centre of international trade, so to speak. She is one of the contact persons for Finncont Sweden in Virrat, and she handles all orders for environmental products from the company’s foreign retailers in Denmark, Russia, Ukraine and Portugal, among others.

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The company lives in the moment, and that is very important today. We work in a modern and advanced workplace that cares about the environment and safety.

Satu thought of continuity when she moved back to her hometown. After years spent around the world, the peaceful daily life of a family with children in a small town and the closeness of relatives Finncont’s growth story, part of the running machine, as a link between production and the world. ”Virrat offers diverse recreational opportunities, a new school and beautiful nature. This is a dream town for families.” ”After all, I could live in many different cities, in many different countries, I am a chameleon.” It is now 15 years since my years in Italy and a little more since I was an exchange student in St. Petersburg. She developed an interest in foreign trade as early as high school. The international Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Turku was the door to that world. Now Satu feels the pulse of international trade through her work in an atmosphere equal to the heart rate of a medium-sized European city. ”The work is quite hectic here. There are a lot of products, dozens and dozens of people with a huge amount of expertise. The company lives in the moment, and that is very important today. We work in a modern and advanced workplace that cares about the environment and safety.” ”Different countries require different flexibility in both interaction and product solutions. It is necessary to understand the needs of each culture and know the practices, for example, what kind of locks the waste management systems need to have in different parts of the world. Our retailers have the latest information on environmental developments outside Finland. We get information about various trends also through our export projects. All this makes this job awesome.” Satu is a creative citizen of the world. ”Things are now more or less balanced in my life. I can be both a meticulous organiser and a creative person at the same time.”

HANS JOHANSON, JUTTA KESKINEN JA KASPER

Passionate about people

”I came for three years, now more than 30 have passed.” Hans Johanson was just a novice when he stepped up to lead GWS Finncont at the age of 33 in the early 1990s. The relationship deepened with the acquisition in February 2002. ”By then, I had tried to buy two other companies. I had a passion for being an entrepreneur.”

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I’ve often wondered not as an owner but as a manager - where do I get my kicks. Money loses its meaning pretty quickly. But when a person develops or succeeds in the organisation you have built, that is a great moment.

”Sometimes I’ve wondered if I was driven by money or the desire to be independent. It is more about being independent, I think.” Now there are already three generations involved in the company, as his daughter Jutta Keskinen works in the company as a Marketing Coordinator and his grandson is the future. He started his career as a Managing Director at the age of 29 in Kuopio, and now he is the owner of the company and the Chairman of the Board. ”It is all about the people. Nothing else matters. If a company wants to succeed, it must employ the best possible people.” Sometimes you make mistakes with people, and then just must keep going: ”This is like cooking with ingredients not quite known to you.” ”I’ve often wondered - not as an owner but as a manager - where do I get my kicks. Money loses its meaning pretty quickly. But when a person develops or succeeds in the organisation you have built, that is a great moment.” His grandson Kasper is interested in a boat bailer and granddad tells him what it is used for.

cleaning the toilets. According to my father’s guidance, I also worked elsewhere, in a bakery and a restaurant.”

”My mom taught me three things: You do not go to the dances. Pike is not a fish. You do not become an entrepreneur. - Well, pike is still not a fish to me.”

New generations shape the world, yet generations are also united by shared experiences. Hasse thought of staying in Ivalo in their own sawmill to work as a forklift driver. His mother strongly disagreed, even with a few swear words. “Mom literally drove me away from home. She said I shouldn’t stay here.” She saw her son’s future in a place other than a small northern town with no study opportunities.

”At the age of 13, I went to work at a sawmill. My daughters started working when they were 14 years old. I appreciate the relevance of work. Through work, the understanding of the value of knowledge and money grows.” Jutta also takes part in the discussion. ”At the age of 13, I was also at the factory. I started by

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Through my parenting, my current job in the company feels more personal than ownership, which means more to me now than before.

Now it is Jutta’s turn to be part of the continuum. She has noticed that parenting is changing the way we see and experience the world. “Before I had Kasper, I thought I had to work at least twice as much as the others, that I certainly wouldn’t offend dad in any way. I thought things through ownership, it was strongly in the back of my mind all the time. When you have a child, your thoughts change. I started to think about the next generation. You get a different perspective on the things you do. Through my parenting, my current job in the company feels more personal than ownership, which means more to me now than before. I get to be building a safe world for Kasper.”

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If a company wants to succeed, it must employ the best possible people.

The ownership was transferred from GWS to the current Finncont. Both father and daughter agree that the company’s interests are the most important. Then even ownership is weighed against it. ”The company must always have the best owners for the situation. The most important thing is the company’s ability to succeed. It can be done in many different ways. The possibilities for Finncont are endless,” Hasse says.

”A company thrives when it is able to provide people with the opportunity to grow and develop.” The interest of the company is also the interest of the owner, the interest of the owner may not always be the interest of the company. There is a big difference.

Based on values At the beginning of the 21st century, Hans Johanson and his partner Isto Lahti reflected Finncont’s values. The focus was clear: result was the number one value. ”It is obvious.” If there is no result, you cannot pay for the work done, let alone pay your debts. ”No one actually said it out loud when we looked at the values of other companies.” Trust was also defined as a fundamental value. ”Trust is an easy value. Either there is trust or there is not. There is no such thing as 96% trust.” There must be trust in every direction: trust in the customers, employees, owners, business partners, financiers, and products. Competence became the third value. ”When you have both competence and trust, you create results.”