INTELLIGENT GARDEN TOOLS The Finnish company, Fiskars, is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of gardening equipment. Joseph Altham spoke to Thomas Enckell, the president of the Fiskars garden division for the EMEA region, to find out about a company that prizes intelligent design and has established a strong presence in central and eastern Europe.
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iskars makes all kinds of consumer goods, from saucepans to hunting knives. The company is famous all over Europe for its distinctive orange scissors and has sold more than a billion pairs of scissors since the product was launched in 1967. The Fiskars Group has an annual turnover of €743 million and employs around 3400 people, while the gardening business represents around 40 per cent of total net sales. The spades, sheers and secateurs that Fiskars produces are widely available in garden centres and home improvement stores throughout Europe. Fiskars describes the concept behind its gardening range as one of “ingenious simplicity”. The aim is to produce tools that help make gardening fun, and Fiskars puts a lot of effort into designing garden tools that are lightweight and easy to use. The process of product development involves extensive test-
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ing to ensure that the finished product is of the best possible quality and will perform well over time. As Mr Enckell explained, Fiskars believes in the philosophy of continuous improvement, and pays serious attention to feedback from consumers before bringing out any new product. “Our way of working is a continuous flow involving prototyping, testing and learning from consumers. We have different ways of getting consumer insight, such as working with garden schools.”
International recognition The Fiskars emphasis on design has won the company many awards. In 2012, they won three awards for their gardening products at the prestigious Red Dot design competition in Germany. The Fiskars Quantum cutting tools took a “best of the best” award for product design. The aluminium handles of the Quantum pruners and shears have
cork grips to stop the gardener from getting sweaty hands. The Quantum hedge shears achieve a clean and precise cut, thanks to their precision ground hardened steel blades. The shears employ the company’s PowerGear technology. This ensures optimal cutting power by distributing user effort evenly throughout the cut, thereby minimising strain on the wrists. Fiskars also won a design award for its Xtract handsaw. The retractable saw is intended for pruning fresh wood and branches. The ergonomic shape and protective finger guard of the handsaw make it safe and comfortable to hold, and it comes with a useful belt clip as well. Fiskars won a third Red Dot award in 2012 for its XSharp axe and knife sharpener. The XSharp contains two sharpeners in one and is very light and portable, while its tough ceramic grindstone cutting grooves will keep an axe
