Solita and Mirka wanted to create as reliable and fast an application as possible. This target was reached. “Both Mirka.com and the MyMirka app are significant strides in our operation that provide an effortless customer experience to our customers. But the innovations won’t end here. Continuous new development is our way,” says Mirka’s CX Program Manager, Matias Sandås.
Mirka, a manufacturer of sanding and polishing equipment, is one of the best-hidden secrets of Finnish industry: the products of this family-owned Finnish company are sold in more than a hundred countries and 97 per cent of its production is exported.
Traditional industries need to keep up with the changing world. To stay competitive, innovation and development are absolutely necessary. Mirka is a family business with 80 years of history that has always strived to think innovatively and find new perspectives on its business.
According to him, Mirka is currently undergoing a transformation in both its physical and online businesses. “We have noticed that customer behaviour has become more mobile. We want to offer our customers a state-of-the-art experience across all channels.”
“After the release, we will listen to the customers’ feedback and use it to develop further functionalities. Based on customer feedback, the website, content and functionalities, for example, will be developed further. The website is built and maintained with modern, iterative methods that enable continuous renewal and make sure that the ability to create value for all our customers is always at the heart of our operations,” adds Sandås.
Results
Mirka has built a modern application for end users in a traditional industry, with which end users can prevent occupational health risks and increase their safety at work.
A clear and mobile-friendly website with a centralised content distribution service that will make it easy to integrate new kinds of services through APIs in the future.
Harmonisation and improvement of the user experience through a shared design system in various Mirka services.
Instead of offering only products, it is easier for Mirka to offer its customers solutions to a variety of problems.
Stronger customer focus and loyalty.
While its business model is to sell products through wholesalers around the world, Mirka wanted to work with Solita to provide modern services directly to the end user to minimise health exposures, among other things.
In order to find out what the customers need and want, 11 customer interviews were held in five different countries and stakeholder interviews were conducted in three countries during the project design phase.
MyMirka is a world-class, reliable application that communicates with sanders using Bluetooth. The application makes it possible to prevent work-related illnesses while promoting job satisfaction in many different industries.
It can also be used to determine, in addition to the duration of the operation, things like the rpm of a machine.
“For example, if you are doing sanding work on a luxury Swan sailboat, the application allows you to make various fine adjustments and increments, as well as adjust the average speed. MyMirka therefore influences both the outcome of the work and the employee’s well-being,” says Solita’s Technical Project Manager Eeva Riistama.
In addition, Solita redesigned the former, obscure Mirka.com website into a structured, clear experience. Now, all the channels and services provide a consistent user experience. Above all, a modern platform makes it possible to integrate new services.
“We don’t use our website to only showcase our products, but also to offer solutions to various problems for our customers. We also wanted to create a website that would enable new functionalities in the future,” says Mirka’s Sandås.
The MyMirka app enables Mirka to provide end users with healthier and safer user experiences. By making the proper adjustments in the application, the operator is not exposed to excessive vibration during a workday.
The new website has also received praise. “The site is now better optimised, and according to feedback, it is also clearly more mobile friendly,” says Sandås.
According to him, cooperation with Solita has been what he expected.
According to Sandås, Mirka’s goal is to help companies and people to succeed and operate in a safer and more environmentally friendly way.
“We start with the core questions – what do our customers need to build the perfect foundation for their operations? What are the challenges that our customers face? From this foundation, we try to help and find solutions to their business needs and problems in a simple, fast and efficient way,” says Sandås.
“There will be more solutions to make the process easier,” he adds.
More case studies
Discover how simple digital transformation can be
