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Professionals across the manufacturing and technology sectors are increasingly focused on sustainability as a way to improve every stage of a product’s lifecycle and strengthen overall business performance. At Innokas, Solution Architect Antti Virtanen is one of the key experts advancing this work. In addition to his technical role, he has become an important voice in developing circular design practices that help Innokas' customers improve lifecycle value, enable new service‑driven revenue models, and build more resilient products.

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Finding the best practices

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Antti’s involvement in sustainability began during leadership training in 2022–2023, where the topic first emerged as a central theme. “The training highlighted the importance of taking responsibility for the environment and society when designing technological solutions. Since then, I’ve been part of working groups where the main goal has been pushing the topic forward in practical ways,” Antti explains.

A key part of this effort is understanding how circularity and lifecycle thinking can open new opportunities for customers' business, from optimizing material use and maintenance efficiency to creating service‑based business models or recommerce concepts. Antti has contributed to the development of a sustainability playbook that guides product teams in applying these principles from the earliest collaborative concept phases. “A key part of our vision is to empower our customers with insight and expertise that positively influences their future.”

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Sustainability as an investment in the company’s future

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Antti notes that demand for sustainable product development is increasing, especially due to increasingly stricter regulatory changes. There is no time like the present to begin preparing and adapting for that chance. “We stand ready to engage with customers early in the project lifecycle. That way, we can help them with those initial critical decisions and present concrete improvement ideas.”

A recent milestone in Innokas’ sustainability journey last year was achieving the Ecovadis Bronze rating under newly tightened criteria. “It shows we’re heading in the right direction. The criteria have clearly become stricter, but we prevailed. This shows that we are able to adapt and that our actions stand up to scrutiny,” Antti says.

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Looking ahead

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Antti emphasizes that promoting sustainability is an ongoing journey. “The goal is to make sustainability principles part of everyday decision-making. When circular economy solutions are linked to tangible savings and benefits, they naturally become part of the business.”

He also sees growing interest in how sustainability can build supply‑chain resilience and reduce long‑term risks. “When you design products with lifecycle value in mind, you’re not just improving environmental performance. You’re strengthening the whole product system.”