Scanfil - Company

Scanfil factory network

Our 16 production facilities in Europe, USA, China, Malaysia and Australia give flexibility to our customers. Regardless of location, all Scanfilians work under the same high standard.

Factories Offices

Turnover

M€ 780

Industrial 47%, Energy & Cleantech 34% and Medtech & Life Science 19%.

Personnel

4,700

Scanfil Group employs about 4,700 people in ten countries on four continents.

Factories

Our factories are located in Australia (1), China (1), Estonia (1), Finland (1), Germany (1), Italy (4), Malaysia (1), Poland (2) , Sweden (2) and the USA (2).

Experience

45+

Scanfil has over 45 years of experience from demanding customer-driven manufacturing.

Scanfil values

We believe that companies and people need well designed and built products made in a sustainable way by valuing the people who make them. Our working culture is grounded on four guiding principles.

Customer focused

We add value for our customers and help customers achieve their goals. We build and nurture long-term partnerships. We treat customers fairly and expect fair treatment.

Achieving together

We collaborate across teams and sites and support each other. We benefit from diversity and respect every individual. We celebrate progress and achievements.

Empowered

We take ownership for own performance, behavior and growth. We explore opportunities to improve and learn from mistakes. We make decisions in own responsibility area based on data and evidence.

Engaged to perform

We keep our promises: deliver on time, with quality, at competitive cost. We proactively detect and solve challenges with solution focus. We continuously improve our competences and capabilities.

History

From Garage to Factory – Scanfil’s Early Years 1976-1989

Humble beginnings

Scanfil’s founder Jorma J. Takanen made his way forward from modest beginnings. His father was a small-scale farmer from Sievi who had fought wars. With his wife, they had 13 children, including Jorma.

Despite the humble beginnings, Jorma, a talented pupil especially in mathematics got a chance to study further than many of his contemporaries, graduating in chemical engineering from Tampere University of Technology while working and raising then a family of four.

Good elsewhere, best in Sievi

Jorma and his wife Riitta and their relatives all shared an interest in entrepreneurship. Jorma envisioned a company focused on manufacturing ventilation filters the market of which looked promising as filters sold in Finland were almost entirely and expensive imported product. The company was also planning to produce vehicle and specialty filters.

The first shareholders of Scanfil were Jorma, his older brothers, his brother-in-law and Riitta’s father who invested an equal share in the company’s capital. The company was based in Sievi as the business-friendly municipality suffering from population shrinkage offered to build the company a new industrial hall designed to specifications and help with other running costs as well.

Scanfil was registered in the Trade Register on 4 June 1976 with Jorma as its CEO. The operations started in his older brother’s garage until the hall was constructed. First employees were hired through a vocational training program.

From filters to metal sheet processing

Recession caused by an oil crisis cast a shadow over the filtering business, as home heating, lighting and the use of cars was regulated in entire Finland. Filters did not sell particularly well. Luckily, the company had invested in machines to process metal sheets needed for filters, which became the basis of new business for Scanfil: mechanics.

Scanfil’s move into mechanics and the issues created by Sievi’s location 500 kms north of Helsinki made Jorma Takanen realize that in order to succeed, Scanfil had to assemble, manufacture, and process customer parts in-house as much as possible as it made no sense to send half-finished metal parts from Sievi all the way to Helsinki for processing as their competitors did. By doing more themselves, margins would increase and customer service would improve. The company invested in new (or used) machines, including Japanese Amada Pega sheet-metal machines, whenever cash flow allowed.

Expanding business and customers through acquisitions in Finland

In 1982, Scanfil made its first acquisition in Finland by acquiring an electronics manufacturer Elektrovieska Oy, who had run into financial trouble. Jorma saw that expanding into electronics fit perfectly with Scanfil’s strategy of producing customer products in-house as much as possible. However, it was a bold move as Jorma did not have expertise in electronics.

In 1980’s Scanfil also purchased a refrigerator equipment manufacturer Dinsi Oy and an electronics engineering company Elacon Oy.

With the purchase of Eletrovieska, Scanfil’s customer base expanded to Oy Kone Ab. Around this time, long-lasting relationships were also built with Vaisala Oy and Oy Nokia Ab. With Nokia, cooperation began with their MikroMikko computers. Partnership with Nokia opened a new chapter in Scanfil business offering immerse growth and international expansion of the business.