How to remain effective producers in times of war

In 1997, the Ukrainian-Polish company Modern Expo, headquartered in Lutsk, appeared on the industrial map of Ukraine. It has been a leader in creating modern retail ecosystems for over 20 years. It’s not just about the physical space of stores, but also about solutions for e-commerce, warehouses, logistics and a complete supply chain. Modern Expo is nine high-tech production sites that specialize in different types of equipment. The company’s production is one of the most powerful in the world, “Modern Expo” provides mass replication of products through the flow of individual products and ensures compliance with European standards of safety and quality (EN and FEM).

What’s more, Modern Expo is a platform that brings together the best multidisciplinary professionals into powerful teams in R&D, IT, retail design, engineering, etc., working in synergy to create the perfect retail of the future from Modern Expo.

Although ModernExpo did not find itself in a zone of direct hostilities as a result of the russian war against Ukraine, it, like every Ukrainian business, was affected by these horrific events. Deputy Director General for Operations Andriy Honcharuk spoke about how it is possible to organize work during the war.

– Indeed, the first four or five days we were disoriented by the disaster that happened to the country. We were forced to stop production for a while, but soon enough, so to speak, came to their senses, realizing: we need to keep working. After all, in a warring country, both the military front and the labor front must be equally effective. At first, they resumed work in one shift, and then they entered their usual work schedule – weekly and round-the-clock.

Of course, the normal working process is hindered by periodically roaring sirens of air alarm. This was especially noticeable in the early days of the war, when they sounded quite often. During the alarm, the plant stops working, all the people immediately go down to the bomb shelters. This work is somewhat reminiscent of hurdles. Now the situation has relatively stabilized: sirens sound less often, so the “torn” work shifts have become less.

The war disrupted the usual work of production units in another sense: some were underloaded in terms of output, others, on the contrary – overloaded. We had to optimize their work by moving workers from one shop to another.

 

– I do not know whether there will be production in our industry, which in the current conditions would not be forced to reduce the volume of its products, adjust its range. First of all, due to the reduction of domestic market needs. But the fact that some of your units are even overloaded, explain.

 

– Most of our customers are representatives of the European market. We continue to work with them under pre-war contracts and, which makes us very happy, we receive new orders. For example, export orders for the manufacture of warehouse racks have recently intensified. Due to this, the production load on those shops that specialize in this product has increased. Thus, the total volume of output remains almost at the level of last year’s figures.

Unfortunately, almost the entire Ukrainian market is now really “on pause”. However, this is not the case in western regions, where retailers’ investment in business continues and sometimes even increases. We hope that soon the production activity will resume on the whole territory of our Motherland. We are already actively working on solutions that will allow us to quickly restore the retail infrastructure of Ukraine.

 

– Is the shortage of staff in martial law a problem for the company?

 

– Of course, some employees either voluntarily or on call changed the labor front to the front of hostilities, but their outflow was not critical for the company. So far, there is no urgent need to recruit new staff.

 

– What about the current supply of your production facilities? First of all, the metal that is the main for most of your products?

 

– This question is really difficult. We mainly use domestic metal. Mostly Ukrainian metallurgical facilities in the east. Some of them stopped, some were destroyed. It is horrible to even imagine the scale of russia’s losses to Ukraine in this area.

However, there is no crisis with materials at Modern Expo. First of all, we have a strategic reserve that can provide us with autonomy for several months. This allows you to safely and efficiently resolve issues with future deliveries. We have already reoriented our applications for domestic metal to those metallurgical plants that have recovered and started working again.

At the same time, we are considering increasing the share of imports of materials from the EU. The problematic factor here is the general shortage of metal in the world and, as a result, the cost of materials from Europe has almost doubled.

We hope that the war will end soon, and we will soon return to proven Ukrainian suppliers.

 

– Has the delivery of export products to European customers not become more difficult?

 

– Despite the fact that logistics in Ukraine have become much more complicated, there are no delays in the receipt of products from “Modern Expo”. Our largest logistics center is located in Lublin. And this allows us to freely deliver products throughout Europe.

 

– Some of your fellow exporters load their vehicles returning from Europe with humanitarian aid and thus volunteer…

 

– We are no exception. And Modern Exp is making every effort to ensure that Ukraine’s victory comes as soon as possible. Our company has already sent over 10 million hryvnias to support the defenders of our country and internally displaced persons.

Also in 2014, immediately after the war, we, together with partners from Poland, created charitable foundations “Together with Ukraine” and “VOLYN-2014”. In these funds, we accumulate funds for humanitarian aid, which we regularly send to hotspots to help those who need it most. The funds also take care of Ukrainians forcibly resettled in Poland.

Anyone can help and join the fundraiser, information and links to the funds can be found on our pages on social networks.

 

– The Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers expresses great gratitude to your company for such a productive patriotic position, which is a telling example for others.