Foxa is known as an expert in workwear, military and outdoor fabrics, but the company now also offers its customers simple ready products. This new venture is based on strong material expertise, extensive factory networks and a desire to develop products in collaboration with customers.
Over the years, Foxa has built a reputation as a supplier of high-quality workwear, military and outdoor clothing fabrics. Now the company is taking the next step by also offering its customers ready products.
Päivi Pajunen, who is responsible for production and manufacturing at Foxa, explains that demand for more comprehensive solutions has grown significantly.
– Customers increasingly want ready-made solutions rather than just materials. We are able to offer both fabrics and finished products using the same expertise, says Pajunen.
Foxa’s ready products are developed specifically for the needs of hospitals, hotels and the armed forces. The range already includes bedspreads, mattress covers, pillowcases, lifting sheets and various protective textiles.
Although these ready products may look simple, their manufacture requires a great deal of specialist expertise. In public tenders, quality and the products’ long service life are key factors alongside price.
– The products are subjected to really heavy use and are constantly being washed. In that case, it’s not enough to just buy something straight from a catalogue. The materials and construction really have to hold up, Pajunen emphasises.
Tested quality for demanding conditions
According to Pajunen, Foxa’s strength lies in its ability to combine material expertise, factory networks and quality control. The company constantly gathers information on the strengths of different factories and which products are best suited to be manufactured where.
– It’s easy to write anything on paper, but our job is to ensure, on the customer’s behalf, that the products actually work in practice and withstand the specific conditions for which they were designed.
This is particularly important for hospital products, where materials must behave in a controlled manner both under operating conditions and during washing (e.g. bed pads combine knitted fabric, absorbent layers, a film and a base material).
In product development, Foxa also works closely with laundries. Products are sent for test washes at an early stage so that any potential issues can be identified quickly.
– We want to test the products ourselves as thoroughly as possible before sending them to laundries. This saves everyone time and resources. We receive valuable feedback from laundries on the performance of the materials.
For example, the lifting sheets specified by hospitals utilise polyester-cotton blend, a material familiar from workwear.
A more challenging product currently under development is a sliding sheet for the safe movement of patients, which combines materials with different washing behaviours into a single product.
New ideas and sustainable solutions
At Foxa, it is believed that textiles can be adapted to a much wider range of uses than at present. The company is constantly seeking new opportunities at trade fairs, factory visits and customer meetings.
“When you see what’s being done in the factories and what can be achieved with the materials, new ideas and connections between different products start to emerge,” says Pajunen.
One interesting future possibility is washable rescue and thermal blankets that combine tent materials, heat-reflective surfaces and reusability.
At Foxa, sustainability is seen first and foremost as durability and a long service life.
– We don’t want to make single-use products if we can develop washable and reusable alternatives.
Foxa sees its new business venture as an opportunity to offer customers an even more comprehensive service.
– We welcome and encourage challenges to develop new solutions.