Not long ago, I had the unfortunate occasion to talk about furniture companies from our UAFM community whose production facilities suffered destruction, or even complete obliteration. It is all the more pleasant to find out that there are some that, on the contrary, have grown new production areas during the period of war. There are not many of them, but they do exist. And one of them is the company “Lomus” from Zbarazh, in the Ternopil region. Here is the information we received after talking to its commercial director, Volodymyr Kukharskyi.

– Even before the war, being quite successful in the market, the company decided not only to expand, but also to become even more modern, and began construction of a new factory that would be new not only in premises, but also modern in terms of the content of these premises. Oriented towards wide use of lean processes and mechanisms.

In total, we are talking about a whole complex of buildings. In addition to production premises, it includes an administrative building and a dormitory. Before the war, they managed to build one production building. Of course, the war slowed down construction work. But not only that. Due to the lack of orders in the first period of Russian aggression, the furniture activities of the factory were practically suspended. We did not idly wait out this pause, but decided to use it usefully. In other words, we decided to turn the minus into a plus – to complete the construction work. And we managed to do this.

Undoubtedly, such a renovation is a significant step in the development of the company, especially since it was done in unfavorable economic and psychological conditions. But we did not rejoice at the new premises for long. The war once again did not delay in making itself felt. It reduced the staff to the point where it became unprofitable to operate the spacious workshops of the new factory – to heat and light (only 5,000 lamps would be needed for this) large areas where a small group of manufacturers works. So we were forced to return to the old premises, leaving the new ones mothballed until better times.

– What other innovations have appeared in the company?

– There have been changes in the wholesale sales of our upholstered furniture. But these are more changes with a negative sign. Before the war, in a number of large cities in different regions, we had our own warehouses through which we carried out wholesale sales, that is, the company itself acted as regional dealers. The complications and increased cost of logistics during the wartime forced us to get rid of regional warehouses and use the services of local dealers who are engaged in wholesale sales not only of our furniture, but also of products from other factories.

And the delivery of products to the regions has also changed. It is now unprofitable to transport a few sofas with our own large-capacity vehicles (45-cubic vans), so we use the services of other carriers in the form of ride-sharing deliveries. In this way, without using our own transport, we are adhering to our commitment to customers to deliver ordered furniture within a week of ordering.

Before the war, only in the Kyiv, Odesa, and Dnipropetrovsk regions, we sold up to 1,200 sofas per month, not to mention good indicators in other regions and in our own region. We also received offers from abroad, but feeling so confident in the domestic market, we did not see the need to bother with setting up export supplies. We did not manage to fulfill domestic orders on time, so sometimes we had to have people work on Sundays.

– But now the positions in the domestic market have been seriously shaken for almost all furniture makers, so many have started urgently looking for ways to enter foreign markets. What about you?

– Of course, we also have this need, because production and sales volumes in Ukraine have fallen by 70 percent compared to the pre-war level. We have the financial capacity to establish exports, but we need a partner who could help us do all the preparatory work for this. To put it figuratively, take us by the hand and lead us through all the labyrinths and difficulties of this path. We will ask the Association to assist in this. We should have done this immediately after joining the UAM last year, but we needed time to, so to speak, settle in, get acquainted with all the opportunities of the Association and its partners, with the practice of corporate relations.

– The company’s website states that a significant guarantee of its success is a highly productive team of furniture makers that has been formed over the years of its existence. Has the staff reduction, which has significantly impoverished almost all labor collectives in the country over the two years of war due to defense needs, affected the quality of your products?

– Not yet, because the production core of the team is still preserved. Even before the war, preparing for the expansion of the company, for which the new buildings were being built, we actively invited young people, graduates of specialized educational institutions, to work. We adapted them to the specifics of our production, assigning experienced mentors to them, including those who have been with us since the company was founded in the format of “garage furniture making.” The mobilization process “pulls out” young workers from the team, and their mentors remain to train reinforcements again.

And in general, in the conditions of staff shortages, we have chosen a strategy of universalization, thanks to which a smaller number of workers can perform the required amount of work. If earlier a worker specialized in a separate operation, now he performs several. This is beneficial both for the enterprise and for him – the salary has increased.