„I am proud of our loyal team, which has come together in the face of challenges and performed a tremendous job in a short time. Our aim was to recover from the disaster as quickly as possible and to resume our commitments to our overseas customers, at least in minimal quantities. We are in constant contact with them and they understand our situation and agree to wait for our products. The company is currently operating at a quarter of its capacity. Of the 400 employees, 150 have returned to production, but not all workshops are operational. We have used contractors to help with some of the operations,“ says Tomas Mauricas, director of Kauno Baldai.
According to him, the sewing, cutting, and upholstery workshops are not fully operational at the moment. In parallel, equipment is being installed so that the sheet materials and frames production departments can be put into operation in the near future and the production scale can be increased.
„I am grateful to our focused team that moved the equipment, which was not damaged by the fire, into the new factory building and got it ready for operation in a very short time. They are also making sure that the new equipment from the suppliers, instead of the equipment that was irreparably damaged in the fire, reaches us as soon as possible. Thanks to dedicated employees from the technical, logistics-supply, production, quality, and other departments, the company was able to resume production just over a month after the disaster,“ says T. Mauricas.
Despite the fire that disrupted development and production plans, the Kauno Baldai team is working on new products and collections, which will be presented at an international exhibition in Germany in September and hopes to bring back new orders from there.
Kauno Baldai is currently implementing a building conversion and building a new 28,000 sqm factory. The first stage of construction has already been completed. The investment in the whole project amounts to almost EUR 23 million. It is scheduled for completion in 2023. The new plant will allow sales to increase one and a half times in a few years to around EUR 70 million.
Kauno Baldai, the SBA Group’s soft furnishings producer, sold almost EUR 15 million worth of products in the first half of this year, 8% more than in the same period last year. Total sales for 2021 amounted to EUR 27.6 million and were one third higher than in 2020.
