A Year of Reneval

Internal development for the benefit of the customer

For Oscar, the year 2021 was a time of development and acceleration. The software company updated its internal structures and modified its operations heavily. The changes stemmed from a desire for increased customer orientation in terms of products and services. In practice, this has meant process development, new recruitments and the training of current personnel. As regards net sales, Oscar’s financial year was like the previous one. The many recruitments were mainly conducted early on and late in the financial year.

New products and services centered around high-level expertise

The development efforts also generated new products and services, such as web-based working hour monitoring and entirely new technological solutions for the warehouse in the form of portable terminal interfaces. The first customer relationships for the OscarAPI layer were also formed during the financial period. Due to changes in the customer base of the financial administration services, services requiring deeper and more expansive accounting expertise were created for the corporate restructuring and tax planning segments, for example.

Panostaja provides support for staff development

Each individual always adapts to change differently, which is why Panostaja has supported Oscar first and foremost in matters related to staff development, in addition to efficient board work.

In 2022, Oscar will continue its internal development, seeking substantial growth. The efforts conducted in the previous financial period are beginning to bear fruit and, in the coming financial period, Oscar will focus even more on the customer interface.

The company’s first own patent is the highlight of the year

CoreHW’s year was overshadowed by two global challenges: the coronavirus and the capacity issues of semiconductor manufacturers. The coronavirus restrictions put foreign travel and international trade fairs on hold far into the fall, which made CoreHW’s sales even more difficult. Availability issues with semiconductors, on the other hand, resulted in the product manufacturing plans of customers’ projects having to be postponed. For these reasons, CoreHW’s net sales dropped by 24% compared to 2020.

There were also successes with new deals being closed remotely and CoreHW’s productivity remaining solid despite the need for remote work arrangements. However, the most important success of the year was the first patent granted to a CoreHW product. In product business, two new product prototypes were tested with excellent results. In 2021, CoreHW also completed a minor organizational update, which increased the emphasis on the components business. In addition to this, some recruitment took place over the course of the year, but the number of employees did not increase as much as in the previous year.

Trade fairs and travel resume

In the fall, the incremental lifting of the coronavirus restrictions manifested itself at CoreHW as resumed customer meetings and a general opening up of opportunities: plans for trade fairs and travel could finally be made. The year 2022 seems partially uncertain, especially due to the capacity shortage of semiconductors, as mentioned above. On the other hand, this can open up new opportunities for a technology company. Another positive sign is that the demand for design services looks to recover to a good level in 2022.

Growth and international opportunities

This year, Hygga’s service solutions sparked interest in the international markets. Hygga Flow garnered praise in Sweden, where Hygga’s pilot project in the municipality of Lindesberg managed to shorten the two-year patient queues to three months. In the spring of 2021, Hygga hired a representative for Sweden to support market growth in the country.

Increasing the efficiency of dental care is a topic that interests people across Europe, and not just in Sweden.

Next year, business opportunities in both oral and basic health care are expected in the Netherlands and Belgium, among other locations. The coming year looks very promising for Hygga.

This year, the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect Hygga’s operations but strong signs of recovery are in the air. The outsourcing services initiated in Helsinki in November 2020 doubled Hygga’s net sales compared to last year. In the previous financial period, the net sales of Hygga’s clinic and licensing business stood at MEUR 4.1, and now they are MEUR 8.1.

The rapid development has provided new opportunities but also caused some growing pains, which is understandable. Increasing patient numbers led to a resource deficit and necessitated the growth of the clinical organization – a challenge that has been met with new recruitments.

On a mission to extend the operating model’s reach to cover the entire health care sector

This year, Hygga’s licensing business has focused on basic health care. For example, public health service providers in Porvoo utilize the Hygga Flow operating model. The model enables reacting to changes in the operating environment quickly, providing an efficient solution for working through long waiting lists and managing customer flows in health care in a comprehensive manner. The company’s mission is to make the solution the operating model of the future throughout the entire health care sector.

As regards the Aster project which was reported on earlier, however, Hygga will not be continuing the development efforts, as the entire project fell apart after the Central Finland Health Care District decided against it. Within the scope of the project, Hygga was responsible for providing a patient information system for oral health care and supplying the Hygga Flow ERP system.

Panostaja once again provides support and vision

This year, Panostaja has had a key role in Hygga’s Board of Directors. During this period of remote contact, the connection has remained strong and matters at hand have been tackled systematically through digital channels. In addition to board work, Panostaja has been an active sparring partner and opened up new cooperation networks.

Toward a comprehensive range of services

Grano’s net sales fell short of the target levels but reached MEUR 107.9. Despite the digitalization of the field, print-related products still yield the majority of the net sales. The translation business grew by 25% during the year, as the public administration’s translation needs increased due to the increased communications necessitated by the coronavirus crisis. Alongside its printing business, Grano has become a prominent producer of digital content in Finland.

In November 2021, Grano’s Senior Vice President Kimmo Kolari assumed the position of acting CEO as Pekka Mettälä stepped down from his management duties. The aim is to continue mobilizing the strategy prepared in 2019 and steering current product lineups toward more comprehensive services. Sales are being developed and customer understanding is being improved to ensure that Grano can provide its customers with the full range of content production assistance as effortlessly as possible.

Responsibility is at the core of Grano’s operations. In the past financial period, the company’s carbon footprint decreased by 10%; Grano is aiming for full carbon neutrality by 2030.

Grano predicts growth for 2022

In January 2021, the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic swept through Finland and deteriorated demand across the subsidiaries Grano Oy, Grano Digital Oy and Grano Diesel Oy. Due to the strain imposed by the challenging extraordinary circumstances, occupational well-being was chosen as a major strategic theme for 2022. Particularly sizeable investments are now being made in the coping and motivation of employees.

The coronavirus crisis has also resulted in uncertainty and unpredictability in the operating environment. That said, the field is beginning to show positive signs. For example, events and trade fairs are in the process of recovery. As such, Grano is expecting growth in 2022, provided that the company does not need to pump the brakes due to the coronavirus situation.

Panostaja continued its active role

This year, Grano has been particularly grateful for Panostaja’s active role in sparring the management. Panostaja’s support has made it easier to develop Grano’s internal operations and drive the organization forward. Panostaja has also provided much-needed vision and assistance for the development of financial systems and for management team efforts. Over the course of the past financial year, Grano worked with Panostaja to focus on risk management, data security and data protection. The assistance gained from sparring with Panostaja’s portfolio companies has also been rewarding.

Trailblazer in children’s clothing invests in digital marketing

Gugguu’s year has been out of the ordinary but successful. The net sales of the company known for high-quality and responsible children’s clothing have increased by 20% midway through the financial period*. The growth has mostly taken place in online trade, which is an extremely important element in Gugguu’s business operations. At the moment, the company gets 80% of its net sales from online trade. There have also been plenty of visitors at the Gugguu store in the Helsinki Outlet shopping village.

Gugguu’s digital marketing took strides in 2021. During the coronavirus pandemic, the company has invested strongly in developing its digital capabilities and tested new kinds of marketing methods bravely, since families with children is a target group that requires keeping abreast with current developments. Even though customer events ceased during the COVID-19 period, the company finds that it has been spared the biggest challenges of the crisis. For example, the pandemic had almost no effect at all on production.

Responsibility is at the core of Gugguu’s operations, and in the fall of 2021 the company released its second responsibility report. It indicates that plenty of measures have once again been taken to benefit the environment. For example, Gugguu began using a new tricot fabric, which is made of GOTS-certified organic cotton. At the same time, the company replaced the polyester fabric it was using with a recycled grade compliant with the GRS standard.

Gugguu aims for international markets

Internationalization has been Gugguu’s most important mission for a few years now. There have been successes, but much remains to be done. The competition abroad is fierce and requires a company to make sizeable marketing investments, among other things.

During the year, Gugguu has advanced the internationalization process organically online. To support the achievement of its goal, the company has received support and conducted marketing research and a variety of tests, for example. As such, Gugguu is heading into 2022 with a strong focus on internationalization.

Panostaja has become an important partner and provider of constructive feedback

This year too, Panostaja’s influence was evident in Gugguu’s operations. Particularly the internationalization support over the course of the year has been important – the company has not needed to make big decisions alone. With Panostaja’s help, Gugguu has also succeeded in building a substantial network, which it could not have done on its own. Additionally, the company has gained concrete tools for day-to-day board work as well as supervisor and mentor programs.

* In contrast to Panostaja, Gugguu’s financial period is April 1–March 31