Better garment management: the story behind Workwear Alarm

Workwear Alarm is a loss prevention system we developed in collaboration with our customer to keep garments on-site and ensure they’re always professionally cleaned. This is the story of how it went from an idea to a fully launched product in 2025, with plenty of collaboration, testing, and lessons learned along the way.

In this article, Heidi Tulensalo, Workwear Service Owner at Lindström and Ilari Laitinen, Service Designer at Lindström, share how it all came together. 

Where it all began: Why we developed Workwear Alarm 

Workwear Alarm was born from Lindström’s regional team in Central Europe, who had spent years working closely with customers and saw their pain points firsthand. Our pilot customer, a food manufacturer in Central Europe, needed a way to prevent garments from leaving the factory and to meet audit requirements for food safety compliance.

Especially in regulated industries like food production, you need to guarantee that garments are cleaned and maintained professionally.

Heidi Tulensalo, Workwear Service Owner

“Workwear Alarm brings more control and transparency to garment management while reducing loss,” Heidi explains. 

As with all products and services we develop, our mission was to maximise the service’s potential while making our customers’ lives easier.  

The development process

Here’s how our workwear team turned customer feedback and hands-on testing into a fully functional prototype ready for launch.

Validating the problem with our customer

To fully understand our customer’s challenges and kickstart the Workwear Alarm project, Heidi and Ilari travelled to the customer site and interviewed key representatives. “That visit laid the foundation for Workwear Alarm’s design and functionality,” says Ilari. 

From there, they began forming hypotheses and specific design requirements. For example, the system needed an alert light to activate upon detecting a Lindström garment. It had to work outdoors, withstand different weather conditions, and enable data reporting. These reports make it easy to prove compliance with quality and hygiene standards, helping customers meet their industry requirements.

Building and testing the prototype 

With clear requirements at hand, Heidi and Ilari brought in Lindström’s digital solutions and development experts. They drew on experiences from past projects to bring the Workwear Alarm concept to life. 

Using an agile approach, the team developed both hardware and software through multiple prototype iterations, working in weekly sprints to ensure continuous progress and feedback loops.

At the same time, the team took an iterative approach to refining the service concept, continuously updating sales materials, installation guides, and support documentation based on learnings from each development cycle.

In just two months, the first prototype was ready. “It wasn’t perfect, but it allowed us to see how the system worked and refine it.

Ilari Laitinen, Service Designer

Initial testing at our head office helped the team uncover technical limitations and finalise the design before sharing it with our customer.

Testing didn’t stop there—the team also brought the prototype to an internal conference in Latvia. “We knew we’d need to transport the prototype for customer installations,” says Heidi. “Testing in a new environment and fixing bugs gave us confidence in the system’s portability and functionality.”

Piloting Workwear Alarm for better garment management

After successful internal trials, we installed the prototype at our pilot customer’s site. Customer collaboration was key to the pilot’s success.

On-site observations, workshops, and feedback from the customer and local team gave us invaluable insights.

Heidi Tulensalo, Workwear Service Owner

Ilari highlights the importance of this hands-on approach: “Prototypes are essential to development because they’re the only way to truly learn—especially when working on complex new products or services. You can’t predict exactly how people will interact with something, but testing in real-life setups shows what works and what needs adapting.”

Prototypes also make it easier for customers to share ideas and meaningful feedback. Heidi notes, “Having something tangible sparks real discussions. That’s the beauty of having a physical prototype—it drives better results.” 

Our pilot customer’s focus on employee awareness was another crucial factor in the pilot’s success. They launched an extensive internal information campaign, displaying multilingual posters to remind staff that garments shouldn’t leave the site and that protective measures were in place. Info screens and emails reinforced the message, ensuring everyone was in the loop. 

“Having a communications package to help raise employee awareness is crucial, as is security training,” says Ilari. “We’ve now prepared clear guidelines for customers on how to react to alerts, handle situations professionally, and manage garment searches or confiscations when necessary.”

Launching Workwear Alarm and looking ahead 

Workwear Alarm will be available for our European customers starting from March 2025, but the story doesn’t end there. “We’re already thinking ahead,” says Heidi. “There’s potential to expand the system’s capabilities for garment management and adapt it to other industries. This is just the beginning.”

Ilari adds, “Lindström has many service lines, so this system could be used for different types of tracking in the future and for internal processes.”

The development of Workwear Alarm shows what’s possible when you truly understand customer needs and prioritise collaboration, user-focused design, and thorough testing.

Workwear that works for you.

Keep your workwear where it belongs—on-site, clean, and ready to use.

Yes please!