Page 22 - PlanWorld_2011_en_high

Highlights of Planmeca's product development history

40 years of better ergonomics,
high technology and design

Planmeca Oy, a health care technology
company established in 1971,

is one of the success stories of Finnish
business. Its input into product
development and innovation
is unrivalled. Today, it is quite

rare for a Finnish company to have
domestic private ownership and keep
its industrial production in Finland.
Over the past 40 years, the company

has become the world's largest
family business in its field.
This is the Planmeca story.

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Invitation Planmeca Oy started as a small-scale this worked well, providing a framework for
business importing dental equipment R&D investment.

IDS11, Hall 11.1, Stand H/H 010/011 and manufacturing instrument cabinets and Planmeca's very first dental unit was

dental stools. launched in New York in 1979. The new

Some lucky coincidences in the operating business was also noted in Finland. The

environment played a part in Planmeca's PM 2000 dental unit was the first step

1971-2 1971-2 success story. During the company's early towards enabling configuration, as one of
011
011

ki, Finland years, the universities of Oulu and Kuopio the first units to use cassette technology in
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establ­ished their institutes of dentistry. instruments. Each instrument was built as a

In those days, it was common to favour separate piece that could be easily installed

domestic suppliers in an attempt to promote in the instrument console in the desired

the growth of Finnish industry. For Planmeca, order. Instruments could also be added later