A dirty or torn surgical glove can cause a life-threatening infection, which is why Mölnlycke wants its double gloves to be used in every surgery in the future. The company’s conquest of Finland is being conducted from the Joki Visitor Centre, and Joki has the global company absolutely buzzing with excitement.
New business needs the support of new types of partners and networks, as well as a new kind of thinking.
Although Mölnlycke is a large, global manufacturer of healthcare solutions, it essentially gave birth to a startup internally when its surgical gloves were spun off into a separate business unit just over a year ago.
There is a lot of growth potential in the gloves, and the goal for the future is to have the company’s gloves used in every surgery performed in Finland. This requires a lot of hard work, a new way of thinking, and good partners. Joki Visitor Centre and the opportunities it offers have emerged as one of the most important partners.
– The very first time we came to visit Joki, we had a strong 'aha' moment that we would go far with this partnership, says Lena Bäckman, Business Director of Surgical Gloves at Mölnlycke.
Now that the collaboration is well underway, the entire international company is absolutely crazy about Joki.
– Our company’s headquarters are in Gothenburg, and one would think that there would be plenty of similar places in Sweden, for example, but there aren't. Joki is completely unique in terms of technology, versatility, and networking opportunities, Bäckman praises.
– My international colleagues always want to return to this topic and say, 'Please tell me again about the Zoki,' Bäckman laughs.
Joki is also an excellent partner in terms of location, as Turku is becoming the headquarters for Mölnlycke’s entire glove business.
– In my opinion, this area was the most natural option for our operations. Turku is the cradle of biomedicine; the region has many significant pharmaceutical companies and drug development, as well as many important educational and higher education institutions. Additionally, we would like to be a value-based procurement partner for the new Southwest Finland wellbeing services county.
When it comes to surgical gloves, we are not just talking about the product itself; in the big picture, health, safety, and hand well-being are at the center of everything. Hands are a surgeon’s most important instrument, and a medical professional might be handling solutions worth thousands of euros. A hole can easily occur in a glove, but if it is small, it is not easy to notice. However, a hole can lead to an infection for either the doctor or the patient, or skin contact with an undesirable substance for the medical professional.
– For a child, an elderly person, or even a cancer patient, an infection can be a life-threatening condition, so this is a really big deal, says Bäckman.
She explains that the special feature of the double gloves produced by the company is an indicator system that alerts the user if a hole appears in the glove. It is clearly visible and signals to the user that it is time to change into new, intact gloves.
– There are certainly other double gloves on the market, but the specialty of our product is how widely and clearly the hole stands out. Additionally, the comfort of the glove is in a class of its own.
In the pharmaceutical industry, product launches and demonstrations have until now often been handled in a traditional style: through meetings, presentations, and footwork. However, Mölnlycke, which has a strong digital strategy, has decided that from now on, all new product launches will be done purely digitally.
The first new product launch for the Finnish market was filmed at Joki for an entire day.
– It’s great that Joki has competent partners like Rajupaja. It was really easy to work with them, and with their expertise, the launch will be an interesting and even entertaining experience that is something entirely different from a traditional Teams meeting, Bäckman praises.
In the future, you will also occasionally be able to pop over from Joki to Malaysia, where all of Mölnlycke’s gloves are manufactured. Since the main raw material for the gloves is the rubber tree grown in Malaysia, it makes the most sense to process the raw material into a final product in the same country rather than transporting it elsewhere.
– Previously, buyers might have been flown to Malaysia to see the plantations or the factory. However, such air travel is no longer considered responsible practice, so we prefer to show our customers here in Finland how things are done via video.