The Swedish group Mölnlycke, which employs more than 8,000 people, is the world leader in wound dressings. A sector much more innovative than it seems. Its COO in charge of sustainability, the Belgian Eric De Kesel, tells us about it this week in the Trends Summer Talks.
You do not know Molnlycke ? However, it is a group of more than 8000 employees, active in the field of health and of which one of the main managers is Belgian: Eric De Kesel, COO and responsible for sustainability within the group. This engineer, who has been sailing for twenty years between Gothenburg (headquarters of Mölnlycke) and Belgium, is the guest of the Trends Summer Talk which will be broadcast this weekend on Canal Z.
In this interview, Eric De Kesel tells us about main products of the Swedish company : dressings, surgical drapes (sheets that protect the patient during an operation) and other surgical gloves. It seems basic like that but this engineer tells us that there is a lot of research and innovation behind it, to develop what he calls “sticky plaster sticky note” Where “the Rolls-Royce of surgical gloves“.
These products are manufactured all over the world, but still massively in Europe with factories in England, the Czech Republic, Finland and also in Belgium (in Waremme), where surgical drapes are produced. “We have highly automated productionwhich allows us to be as profitable as manual production in Asian countries”, explains Eric De Kesel.
In charge of sustainability within the group, Eric De Kesel also details efforts, particularly in researchmade by Mölnlycke to make its production more environmentally friendlyenvironment. “Just because a product is single-use doesn’t mean it has a worse ecological footprint than a textile product that needs to be washed to be reused,” he says.
In these Trends Summer Talks, we interview Belgian leaders who work abroad every week. We ask them to bring an object that symbolizes, for them, their host country. Eric De Kesel presented us with a small wooden horse, carved by hand, present in many Swedish houses. It symbolizes, he says, the importance of tradition in an otherwise very innovative country; and solidarity deeply rooted in Swedish society. The story of this little horse indeed dates back to warlike episodes in Sweden, during which active solidarity made it possible to feed many fighters.
Find the full interview with Eric De Kesel, this Saturday at 11 a.m. on Z channel. The show will be broadcast on a loop throughout the weekend. It will also be available on the Trends-Tendances website
You don’t know Molnlycke? However, it is a group of more than 8,000 employees, active in the field of health and of which one of the main managers is Belgian: Eric De Kesel, COO and responsible for sustainability within the group. This engineer, who has been sailing for twenty years between Gothenburg (headquarters of Mölnlycke) and Belgium, is the guest of the Trends Summer Talk which will be broadcast this weekend on Canal Z. In this interview, Eric De Kesel talks to us about the main products of the Swedish company: dressings, surgical drapes (sheets that protect the patient during an operation) and other surgical gloves. It seems basic like that, but this engineer tells us that there is a lot of research and innovation behind it, to develop what he calls “the post-it of the plaster” or “the Rolls-Royce of gloves surgical products”. These products are manufactured all over the world, but still massively in Europe with factories in England, the Czech Republic, Finland and also in Belgium (in Waremme), where surgical drapes are produced. “We have highly automated production, which allows us to be as profitable as manual production in Asian countries”, explains Eric De Kesel. In charge of sustainability within the group, Eric De Kesel also details the efforts, particularly in research, made by Mölnlycke to make its production more respectful of the environment. “Just because a product is single-use doesn’t mean it has a worse ecological footprint than a textile product that has to be washed to be reused,” he says. In these Trends Summer Talks, we ask every week Belgian leaders, who officiate abroad. We ask them to bring an object that symbolizes, for them, their host country. Eric De Kesel presented us with a small wooden horse, carved by hand, present in many Swedish houses. It symbolizes, he says, the importance of tradition in an otherwise very innovative country; and the solidarity deeply rooted in Swedish society. The story of this little horse goes back to warlike episodes in Sweden, during which active solidarity helped feed many fighters. Find the full interview with Eric De Kesel, this Saturday at 11 a.m. on Canal Z. The show will be broadcast on a loop throughout the weekend. It will also be available on the Trends-Tendances website
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