Underground containers
Introduction
Molok Oy operates in more than 40 countries. It has two subsidiaries: Molok France and Molok Spain.[6] Molok is a registered trademark.
History
1991-2009
Veikko Salli founded Molok Oy in 1991. During the 1980s he had worked in the hotel sector. As she looked at the unsightly, dirty trash cans in the backyard of her hotel, Salli wondered aloud what she could do with them. His wife, fed up with his reflections, told him to bury them underground, and thus the idea of burying garbage containers emerged, which led to Molok products.[4].
In 1993, Molok Oy focused on the development and promotion of its products. More than ten Finnish subcontractors participated in the manufacturing of its products. The company had a commercial network of independent representatives in Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Portugal, Australia and the United States.[7].
Molok began manufacturing large parts overseas for Southern European orders in Santos-Malo, France, while Molok containers for the Finnish and Central European markets continued to be manufactured in Finland.[8].
In 1998, Molok introduced a multi-compartment container suitable for sorting different waste fractions. Pilot products were sold to Oulu.[9][10].
In 2002, Molok manufactured containers for the collection of general garbage, paper, glass, small metal objects and organic waste, as well as for use in parks. He employed 22 people at Nokia and Lavia.[10].
In 2004, Molok lost the patent protection it had received for its deep collection system in 1988. Molok centralized all of its Finnish operations into Nokia and the company itself began molding container bodies. At Nokia, a 5,000 square meter warehouse was built for the assembly and development of the Deep Collection system products. The management, marketing and finance departments were also in the same location.[6][12].
By 2005 Molok had produced more than 40,000 Deep Collection containers. The company employed 35 people and its main business areas were Finland, Sweden, Spain, Brazil, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.[6].
In 2007, both the company's production and office building were located in Nokia. It also had assembly factories in Canada, Portugal, Belgium and Switzerland.[4].
And in 2009, Molok won a long-running product copying dispute. The company's former representative in France had marketed copies of the product under the name Molok and was ordered to pay substantial compensation. The Hamburg Arbitration Court recognized Molok Oy's position as the original developer of the Deep Collection method and as the official holder of the Molok trademark.[13] In May 2009, the company participated in the Playful New Finnish Design event during New York Design Week together with Artek "Artek (furniture)"), Durat, Marimekko and IVANA Helsinki.[14].