Valtteri Klippi is the Product Development Manager at Dieta kettles. The engineering graduate dived into the world of intelligent professional kettles in 2016 and has had time to get to grips with the devices, which hide a surprising amount of technology under their simple exterior.
Through technology-enabled solutions, he helps ensure every customer gets a kettle that pleases and meets their needs.
An engineer's journey to Dieta kettles
Valtteri is responsible for product development projects at Dietatec. He ensures that Dieta kettles meet the requirements of directives and standards, which provide the product's safety — it is pressure equipment, after all. Valtteri is also responsible for setting and maintaining the schedule, not forgetting Dieta's quality standards.
Valtteri's journey towards Dieta kettles started in Kotka, a maritime city, where he began his engineering studies in 2006. After graduation, he worked on boats and oil spill response systems until he started his postgraduate studies at the university. Dieta hired a future graduate engineer in 2016.
When he started with Dieta kettles, the engineer was familiar with mechanical design. Still, he had to start from scratch with the kitchen equipment, let alone smart professional kitchen kettles. The kettle's seemingly simple exterior hides many things, the number of which initially surprised the new product development manager. Learning everything always takes time for new members of the Dieta team.
Problem-solving as motivation
With all their features and possibilities today, Dieta kettles are as familiar to Valtteri as his own pockets.
The work is often done with the sales staff, technical support, and maintenance. As the sales staff has provided Ville with the customer's wishes and needs, he looks at possible implementation and scheduling. Finally, he initiates the project and ensures it proceeds on schedule until completion.
The product development manager's job is project management in the big picture; different projects make for varied days. In a small dedicated team, like with Dieta kettles, it is also characteristic that everyone gets to do a little bit of everything. In addition to project management, Valtteri is also involved in a bit of planning.
Dieta's kettles have a proven foundation on which functions and features are designed according to the customer's wishes. This customization opportunity for customers gives Valtteri's work the right kind of challenge, as he is passionate about finding solutions and satisfying customers.
"The job's core consists of driving projects forward, and the challenges are often related to solving and figuring out new technological solutions. The customer always benefits from product development. In my work, I strive to ensure that customers can trust us to deliver the best quality equipment that perfectly meets their needs."
At Dieta, thoughts are constantly on our distributors and end customers. Valtteri's work is reflected in good project management; customers must get what they request within the agreed timeframe. Positive feedback is always good because you can be positive that everything went as it should.
Developing technology for the benefit of the customer
For Valtteri, technology in smart kitchen appliances means ease of use and efficiency for the user, who ultimately prepares and serves the food. It helps to make work more efficient, for example, with programmable recipes that ensure uniformity and easy and efficient preparation of different sizes.
HACCP reports, generated automatically during food preparation, ensure food safety and reduce paper waste by allowing reports to be read directly from the touch screen of the kettle without the need to print them out separately.
It is these efficiency-enhancing and development-generating technology solutions that Valtteri is working to solve and explore.
The human being behind the intelligent kettle
The push of technology into professional kitchens is a forced change. The kitchen professionals of the future will be those for whom touchscreens, for example, are such a normal part of everyday life that finding them in the kitchen is a pleasant surprise and, ultimately, an assumption.
But Dieta's kettles are still made by people: at Dieta kettles team, people develop and design the kettles, assemble, test, and pack them. It is a raw, manual process, aided by machines but also guided by people.
"Without technology, Dieta's kettles wouldn't be what they are, but without people, they wouldn't be at all."
Leisure time with an active family
After the working day, the family gathers at home; Valtteri, his wife, and two school-age children. But they don't spend their free time at home, as the family is very active with hobbies.
"Our free time is largely spent on our children's hobbies. In winter, we ski, and in summer, we do road cycling. The latest addition to cycling is cross-country skiing."
When there's time to have his own time, Valtteri enjoys music: playing the drums with his bandmates takes his mind elsewhere, away from intelligent professional kitchen kettles, towards a human-produced sound.
What to read next?
About productivity: Increase productivity with smart kitchen equipment
About capacity: The capacity to produce the necessary amount of meals
About cost control: How professional kitchens cook high-quality and healthy food efficiently
