Making a difference
Planmeca is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people around the world. With sustainability and corporate social responsibility at the core of our operations, we want to make a difference.
Committed to health care
Our safe and ergonomic products are designed to improve the daily workflow of dental and medical professionals, resulting in a better quality of health care and a safer treatment environment. We are also paying special attention to patient safety. We have been able to reduce the patient dose with up to 77% with the Planmeca Ultra Low Dose™ technology and developed different intelligent systems to ensure that the water in our dental units is always clean.
We are committed to increasing the quality and availability of dental education worldwide and involved in global health care efforts for example by providing dental equipment and donations to those in need.
Sustainable innovations
We focus on future-proof innovations by investing strongly in R&D. The innovative product design ensures that our long-lasting solutions can be upgraded with new features instead of replacing them. When our products finally do come to the end of their life cycle, over 90% of their components can be recycled. We consider the environment in our production procedures as well.
Future-proof and sustainable product design
All Planmeca equipment have been designed and developed with the future in mind. Our platform-based solutions with timeless design are easy to upgrade with software updates and new features instead of replacing them, which saves a significant amount of resources. Our dental units and X-ray devices are built from lightweight yet robust and durable aluminium that stand the test of time.
We offer our customers regular maintenance and instructions for preventive care, with which the lifespan of our products can be further extended.
We also consider the water consumption in the development of our dental units and include exact information on the water consumption for each function in the user manuals to prevent excessive water use.
Recyclable components
Our products have been manufactured from almost entirely recyclable materials and over 90% of their components can be recycled. Planmeca dental units and X-ray devices are built from aluminium, which is fully recyclable. The aluminium parts can be recycled to new aluminium products, saving energy and raw materials. Using recycled aluminium consumes only 5% of the energy needed for creating a comparable amount of metal from raw materials.
We encourage our customers to return designated used products to us with an exchange parts programme to enable the reuse of devices and product parts. Recycling instructions are included in our user manuals to ensure that our customers process all materials properly. The recycling instructions also include a list of all hazardous substances used in our products as well as instructions for their handling.
We use recycled cardboard and renewable wood as our packaging materials. The packaging materials are also fully recyclable for further use.
Sustainable and resource-efficient production
We consider the environment in our production procedures as well. The consumption of raw materials has been taken into account already in our product and package design in order to minimise the use of raw materials and their environmental impact.
Our closed-loop production system in our machining facility, centralised wastewater filtering and management system, and advanced waste sorting system minimise waste while maximising the sustainability of our manufacturing processes. In our high-tech machining and powder-painting departments, we recycle and reuse all surplus residues.
Uncompromising quality
All our products are developed with the strictest quality control standards. Every product is carefully tested before it leaves the factory to ensure that our customers only receive products of the highest quality. Our operations comply with international standards and the mandatory requirements of applicable Finnish legislation, which has one of the highest regulatory standards in the world.
Complying to rigorous quality standards
All our products are developed with strict quality control standards and tested before they leave the factory. Our approach is global yet local: we are a family-owned company and most of our operations are under one roof. That makes us flexible and enables us to better control our production process by following rigorous quality and sustainability standards, such as:
• ISO 9001:2015 – Quality Management Systems
• ISO 13485:2016 – Medical Devices -- Quality management systems
• ISO 14001:2015 – Environmental Management Systems
Additionally, we consider the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) by the European Union in our operations.
The management group of Planmeca carefully follows the compliance of the requirements set by ISO in management reviews. The reviews also include monitoring environmental aspects, such the level of achieving environmental goals, risk analysis and possibilities for improvement.
Responsible and trusted partner
We are a trusted partner wherever we operate, collaborating with a comprehensive network of distribution companies around the world. Our suppliers have been chosen carefully with safety and environmental awareness in mind.
We expect our stakeholders throughout the supply chain to comply with our Distributor and Supplier Code of Conduct and Anti-Corruption Policy.
Corporate social responsibility
Our financial stability makes us a reliable partner and guarantees a long-term focus for our business. We are one of the largest corporate taxpayers in Finland and one of the largest employers in the manufacturing sector in Helsinki capital region. We also donate to different charitable purposes each year and provide equipment to crisis areas and developing countries.
Responsible employer
We employ over 2800 people globally and 1000 employees in Finland. Safe and healthy working environment is our highest priority. We make sure our employees have the necessary competences, tools and instructions to perform their work professionally and safely.
Since contributing to health care is at the core of our business, we also want to invest in the physical and mental wellbeing of our employees. Our HR strategy aims to ensure the engagement, motivation, and continuous development of our employees. We promote equal opportunities and encourage our employees to innovate together to deliver the best results.
The employee engagement is regularly reviewed with a personnel survey. We have received several employer awards, for example the Smartum award for exemplary promotion of employee wellbeing in 2013.
Promoting youth employment
Youth employment is a particular focus area for us. Each year, we provide summer jobs, traineeships, vocational training programmes, and thesis opportunities for young people. We collaborate with local vocational schools and universities to establish new models for apprenticeship, training and employment in order to create new career opportunities for young people.
Contributing to surrounding society
We donate to different charitable purposes each year, often related to the health and well-being of youth and children. In recent years, these have included e.g. CMI (Crisis Management Initiative), Tukikummit ry, The Finnish Association of People with Disabilities, The Finnish Red Cross and Save the Children. We have also provided equipment donations to crisis areas and developing countries.
In the United States, we have participated in the Mission of Mercy events for almost 10 years. The charitable Mission of Mercy clinics provide dental treatment to underserved people with limited resources or access to dental services throughout the country. Planmeca participates yearly in approximately 25 mission by providing the clinics with dental imaging units and Romexis software for enhanced diagnostics.
Global collaboration
Many of our innovations have been born from research collaboration with leading universities. Our solutions the choice of over 200 dental universities around the world.
We also contribute to the global dental community by providing private practitioners and universities with dental technology training and by bringing professionals together in our numerous events.