{"id":13559,"date":"2024-02-08T16:58:59","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T13:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uafm.com.ua\/?p=13559"},"modified":"2024-02-22T11:56:16","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T08:56:16","slug":"uam-v-oblychchyah-pro-tsogorichni-j-perspektyvni-plany-rozvytku-kompaniyi-pufetto-u-rozpovidi-yiyi-spivvlasnyka-sergiya-vygovskogo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uafm.com.ua\/en\/uam-v-oblychchyah-pro-tsogorichni-j-perspektyvni-plany-rozvytku-kompaniyi-pufetto-u-rozpovidi-yiyi-spivvlasnyka-sergiya-vygovskogo\/","title":{"rendered":"UAM in the Faces: On This Year’s and Future Development Plans of the Pufetto Company As Told by its Co-Owner Sergiy Vyhovskyi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before resuming furniture production, which was forced to stop due to the start of the war, in a few weeks, the Kyiv-based company “Pufetto”<\/a> contacted customers whose orders were ready by the end of that tragic February. At that time, due to force majeure circumstances, their furniture was not delivered to its destination. As soon as this became possible again, the company informed customers that it is ready to complete the contract with the same level of service that was promised to them when concluding it. And such close attention to customer interests is no coincidence, as company co-owner and managing partner Sergiy Vyhovskyi explained:<\/p>\n

-One of the competitive advantages of our company has been and remains \u2013 even in today’s more difficult conditions \u2013 providing top service to customers. “Pufetto”<\/a> is one of the few furniture companies in Ukraine with such a high level of customer service. It involves not only delivering purchased furniture to the customer’s home at a convenient time for them, but also carrying the cargo into their home \u2013 including into high-rises with non-working elevators at no extra charge \u2013 and performing assembly work if necessary, not to mention taking away packaging materials. Sometimes people also ask us to take away old furniture from the apartment at the same time.<\/em><\/p>\n

-The company’s information resources showed that even before production activities were resumed, your regional sales offices also started working \u2013 at first partially…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-But not all of them. Those close to combat zones or in cities that underwent regular shelling, like Kharkiv, still remain non-operational. Delivering products there has become dangerous and expensive, and therefore unprofitable for the company.<\/em><\/p>\n

-Even in today’s difficult economic and security conditions, every company, every furniture business starts a new year with plans for some progress in its development \u2013 albeit insignificant but to avoid stagnation. What plans does Pufetto have?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-The plan for that tragic 2022 was to open branded stores in all regional centers. But the war, as already mentioned, not only did not provide an opportunity to achieve this, but also reduced the number of pre-war regional representative offices. This year we intend to expand the dealer network. Of course, it is unrealistic to open our own representative offices in all regional centers for now, but we would like to compensate in other regions for those that have ceased to function.<\/em><\/p>\n

Even before the war, along with the development of the company’s core specialization \u2013 the production of upholstered furniture \u2013 we initiated a new line of business for the production of corpus furniture. The war suspended this process but did not deprive us of the desire to revive the production of case goods. However, given the realities, such a prospect seems more distant, we are unlikely to get to this work this year. In particular, an obstacle has arisen that entrepreneurs could not even think of two years ago \u2013 a personnel famine, which is becoming more pronounced in our industry for known reasons. And consumer demand for furniture in the domestic market is still far from pre-war levels.<\/em><\/p>\n

We also have foreign aspirations. We are considering Poland and Romania for export, where we want to open our affiliates. As soon as we activated the Polish direction, border troubles started. We are switching to Romania.<\/em><\/p>\n

-And as for the development of the company’s core specialization, what does it consist of in today’s conditions?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Essentially, it\u2019s the same as always: the regular update of the range, the offer of new original models to the market, for which the company has always been known. Oddly enough, this process has not only failed to slow down in today’s conditions, but has even become more intense. Due to the objective reduction in production volumes, there has been more time for creative processes. And this applies not only to designers but also to technologists, management.<\/em><\/p>\n

The company has always relied on the creative potential of its own designers who constantly generate fresh ideas, thanks to which our furniture always has high market potential. Because of this, the company both benefits and suffers.<\/em><\/p>\n

-What do you mean?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-I mean unfair competition and rampant plagiarism, which are quite common in our industry. Domestic intellectual property protection legislation is either imperfect or simply ignored by some companies, knowing that patent law in Ukraine only exists on paper. Because of this, even though we protect our models with patents, 80 percent of them are still shamelessly copied by competitors to a greater or lesser extent.<\/em><\/p>\n

Taking advantage of the fact that this article will be published on the website of the Ukrainian Furniture Association, I will once again emphasize this problem, which the UFA, according to its statutory obligations to its members, should be constantly concerned about. I won\u2019t claim that most UFA member manufacturers are guilty of plagiarism, but quite a few furniture companies remain outside it. It is primarily necessary to hold them accountable, to oppose our collective will, encouraging fair competition. If the UFA management conducted a survey of members on the issues that currently most annoy furniture manufacturers, I am sure that the issue of unfair competition would be among the main ones.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t