About trust
Dimex is customer number 5 in Foxa Oy’s customer register. Dimex was the fifth customer to place an order with our start-up company. That was extremely important to us at the time. A big thank you for that.
Foxa Oy’s roots go back to Finlayson Forssa Oy, which went bankrupt in November 2008. The shock was huge for everyone – staff, suppliers and customers alike. Even though the company had been doing poorly for the last few years, no one believed that a 160-year-old institution could come to an end. But it can.
After the bankruptcy I wondered what I should do next. At first I waited for quick calls from headhunters, those nice guys who a few years earlier had so smoothly offered me sparkling new challenges. They didn’t call. They must have lost my phone number. Or maybe the reason was that my personal “best before” date had passed.
When no job offers came, I started thinking about setting up a business. When I managed to persuade Marjaana Naatula, who had been responsible for product development at Finlayson Forssa, to join me, we got down to business. The timing wasn’t ideal. The recession caused by the US housing bubble was at its worst. I remember us saying that things could only get better from here. Well, it’s been pretty grey in this republic ever since too.
We set up the office in the attic room of our house. Then we negotiated financing, sketched a logo, bought a copier, made supply agreements and took care of the miscellaneous tasks involved in starting a new company. We were still missing something – we needed customers. We didn’t have much to offer apart from our personal professional skills. One of our first customers was Dimex. I bet Jukka had his doubts. But he trusted us.
Now, six years later, the valley of death for a start-up is behind us and the company is firmly on its feet. In Forssa we have a versatile fabric laboratory and fairly large fabric stocks. With Carrington on board, our range of workwear fabrics is probably the widest on the market.
Over these years it’s been great to watch Dimex develop. The company has always been well run and the Dimex brand has been built with admirably long-term commitment. With the generational change, the hurricane energy of the young women who came on board has blown the dust off the collection and sharpened the concept even further. Dealing with everyone at Dimex has always been straightforward and pleasant. A great bunch of people.
Trust is not some five-year YYA treaty. It has to be earned again every morning and with every delivery. And if something goes wrong, that’s when trust is put to the test. Then even the difficult issues must be handled promptly and in good mutual understanding.
FOXA OY
Jukka Sipilä
Managing Director
CHANGES KEEP COMPANIES MOVING
YKK has been in Finland for over three decades, since 1979. Once a zipper factory specializing in mass production, over the past couple of decades it has transformed into a small sales and marketing office. Radical changes have been necessary to remain competitive.
Whether changes in a company are small or large, they always cause uncertainty, rumors, and confusion. In the midst of change, you must adapt to the new and proceed systematically toward set goals. Through all this, it’s important to remember why we exist: to provide our customers with quality products. According to YKK’s philosophy, no one prospers unless they are of benefit to others.
“No One Prospers Unless He Renders Benefit to Others”
CHANGES KEEP COMPANIES MOVING
YKK has been in Finland for over three decades, since 1979. The zipper factory that once specialized in mass production has transformed itself into a sales and marketing office with a few people over the past couple of decades. Radical changes have been necessary to maintain competitiveness.
Whether changes are small or large in a company, they always cause uncertainty, rumors and ambiguities. In the midst of change, you have to adapt to the new and move systematically towards the set goals. In the midst of all this, you have to remember what our operations are for: to produce quality products for our customers. According to YKK's philosophy, no one succeeds unless they are of benefit to others.
“No One Prospers Unless He Renders Benefit to Others”
Dimex Oy has been a very important partner for YKK for three decades. We have delivered our first orders in 1984. Today, the partnership can be described as very significant and our cooperation covers all of YKK's product families.
Working with Dimex has been a rewarding time. Together we have overcome the changes that have been necessary over the years. The changes have not always been pleasant. Open and honest communication has played a major role in implementing the changes, and has helped to ensure that the collaboration continues even in difficult times.
Few companies succeed without the ability to innovate. I have also been able to closely follow the change and innovation that Dimex employees have undergone for over a decade. In the midst of change, company management and staff motivation are key. We can learn from Krogerus' Jukka about change management - Dimex has a can-do attitude!
I would like to thank all Dimex employees for their long-standing cooperation!
YKK Finland
Petri Castle
General Manager
CHANGES KEEP COMPANIES MOVING
YKK has been in Finland for over three decades, since 1979. Once a zipper factory specializing in mass production, over the past couple of decades it has transformed into a small sales and marketing office. Radical changes have been necessary to remain competitive.
Whether changes in a company are small or large, they always cause uncertainty, rumors, and confusion. In the midst of change, you must adapt to the new and proceed systematically toward set goals. Through all this, it’s important to remember why we exist: to provide our customers with quality products. According to YKK’s philosophy, no one prospers unless they are of benefit to others.
“No One Prospers Unless He Renders Benefit to Others”
CHANGES KEEP COMPANIES MOVING
YKK has been in Finland for over three decades, since 1979. The zipper factory that once specialized in mass production has transformed itself into a sales and marketing office with a few people over the past couple of decades. Radical changes have been necessary to maintain competitiveness.
Whether changes are small or large in a company, they always cause uncertainty, rumors and ambiguities. In the midst of change, you have to adapt to the new and move systematically towards the set goals. In the midst of all this, you have to remember what our operations are for: to produce quality products for our customers. According to YKK's philosophy, no one succeeds unless they are of benefit to others.
“No One Prospers Unless He Renders Benefit to Others”
Dimex Oy has been a very important partner for YKK for three decades. We have delivered our first orders in 1984. Today, the partnership can be described as very significant and our cooperation covers all of YKK's product families.
Working with Dimex has been a rewarding time. Together we have overcome the changes that have been necessary over the years. The changes have not always been pleasant. Open and honest communication has played a major role in implementing the changes, and has helped to ensure that the collaboration continues even in difficult times.
Few companies succeed without the ability to innovate. I have also been able to closely follow the change and innovation that Dimex employees have undergone for over a decade. In the midst of change, company management and staff motivation are key. We can learn from Krogerus' Jukka about change management - Dimex has a can-do attitude!
I would like to thank all Dimex employees for their long-standing cooperation!
YKK Finland
Petri Castle
General Manager