Getinge stars looking back at inspiring careers

Bo-Christer Svensson spent more than 50 years working for Getinge in various roles, one of them was to help build up the Suzhou factory in China. In the latter part of his career, he became Director of Operations for the factory in the village of Getinge where he himself had been building sterilizers in the early years.

“When I first started back in 1960, Getinge was still part of Electrolux. It started with building sterilizers for both hospitals and Life Science customers, but there was also general Electrolux production such as coffee machines and other kitchen electronics. We quickly adapted the setup in the assembly lines to meet the needs,” Bo-Christer recalls.

Bengt Axelsson began at the same factory in 1973. He also started his career in the assembly line and tried out numerous positions before becoming Head of Logistics.

“In 1989, Swedish entrepreneurs Rune Andersson and Carl Bennet acquired Getinge from Electrolux, beginning an era of expansion and development. In the decades to come, Getinge acquired many different infection control and sterilization companies across Europe and the US that enabled us to become a global leader in the field of surgical workflows. Eventually, we also expanded into acute care therapies,” says Bengt.

Bo-Christer and Bengt describe Getinge as a workplace where new ideas and suggestions for improvements have always been welcome.

“People are given responsibility and are inspired to dare to try new things. I think this means a lot to the company culture, the fact that all employees are so actively involved in the success,” says Bo Christer.

Bengt agrees:

“Trust is a keyword at Getinge, which is inspiring to any co-worker, partner or customer. It is also fantastic to see how a company from a small rural town became a global player as the organization kept growing. It means a lot to the society in the village of Getinge where it all started, and still being active.”

Bo-Christer and Bengt think some of the other success factors for Getinge throughout the years are the ability to remain the customers in focus, to maintain high quality and safety and to keep developing new products and solutions that bring extended value to health care and life science institutions worldwide.

“People are also passionate, which should never be underestimated. Getinge employees are often involved in honorable missions beyond their jobs. For example, many of the co-workers in the factory in the Getinge village are voluntary firefighters. I remember when the Swedish Prime Minister came to visit; an alarm went off somewhere in the village and most employees had to leave him in the middle of the factory tour,” Bo-Christer says and smiles.

Although Bo-Christer and Bengt are happily retired, they often miss the good old Getinge days.

“We want to take this opportunity to wish all customers and employees a fantastic future with the Getinge solutions. Keep up the productive collaborations and the good mentality and you will continue to make a sustainable difference for patients worldwide, and have fun while you are at it.”

Learn more about Getinge’s history >>

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This article is part of a series of stories highlighting Getinge’s 90-year-old history of building sterilizers. This text is intended to provide information to an international audience outside of the US.