Behind the gaskets | Expert interview: Coffee keeps the positive Quality Manager going
The working days of Matti Järvinen, LEAN and Quality Manager at TT Gaskets, are always different. He strives to integrate routine work into processes to save time for innovation and development.
Matti is responsible for the development and maintenance of quality, environmental, safety and corporate responsibility processes. His tasks require a holistic understanding of how a company operates. Resilience, pressure and stress tolerance, and good interaction skills are also needed.
– My work includes quite a few surprising situations and challenging encounters that must be coped with creatively. We all work together as a team. The goal is always that the customer gets what they want and has peace of mind about us having it all under control, Matti says.
”My own interests guided my career development”
After studying mechanical engineering, Matti started working for production at TT Gaskets in 2010. The last six years he has spent as Quality Manager and Environmental and Occupational Safety Manager. Matti’s career path has developed according to what he has learned and his own interests.
– I’m at my best when managing, developing, innovating, and solving problems. I understand what creates value for the customer. LEAN reasoning is a characteristic of mine, and I master the tools of the LEAN philosophy pretty well. I also know my co-workers, machines, products, and our system very well.
Matti is motivated by interesting and varied tasks and the results of his work. The satisfaction of customers’ and TT Gaskets’ employees is important to him. Matti draws strength from a great work community, which he praises as a receptive, pro-development and change-friendly team.
– The dialogue is good, and people have a lot of ideas. We’re a work community that builds the same gasket together, Matti concludes.
The future is inspiring
As befits a person who does development work, Matti still learns new things every week. He thinks the company is never ready, but things can always be done smarter and better. Matti praises TT Gaskets’ strategy, values, and style of doing things.
– We have the courage to do things the right way. We care about employees and stakeholders. It’s great that we’ve been able to adapt to a changing world. We haven’t got stuck in old habits; we have boldly sought the optimal ways to do things.
Matti is eagerly awaiting the future, as something new and interesting is coming up almost every quarter next year. He sees a lot of great opportunities in the future of the industry.
– Our corporate responsibility is growing in line with our strategy. Smart gasket solutions are on their way. Our goal is for the gasket to be more than just a cheap piece in an engine or piping. That would clearly save environment and money. Gaskets will provide a rich source of data, Matti says enthusiastically.
Plenty to do in free time too
The daily life of a father with three small children is full of action with family, a wide circle of friends, and sports. Matti has an extremely positive attitude and therefore feels that a fast-paced life is in excellent balance. He puts the job out of his mind when he gets home.
– There’s always something to do or somewhere to go, 16 hours a day. I must admit that the coffee keeps this man going, and besides that there are only a few other routines in my life except for brushing my teeth, Matti says and laughs.