Published 21 September 2017 • Inter IKEA newsroom

“IKEA Industry sees great potential in Kazlų Rūda. When it comes to operational experience, competencies of co-workers, opportunities in attracting new co-workers and availability of raw materials, Lithuania is truly competitive,” says Inga Urbonavičiūtė, Managing Director of IKEA Industry Lithuania.

Productivity boosted in new-generation factory
The construction of the factory is scheduled to begin this autumn and planned to be completed in the summer of 2019.

“The investments will not only increase the volume of furniture production, but also improve it. The new equipment will be more efficient and help us to manufacture faster and allow more efficient use of raw materials, which will reduce costs and waste generation. Additionally, the level of automation will be much higher, and an advanced automatic quality control system will increase the quality for our customers”, says Karolis Jonaitis, Manager of IKEA Industry Lithuania furniture factory.

Better workplace
Some of the most important changes are related to the working conditions in the factory. Improvement areas cover ergonomics of workplaces and changing work schedules from 7 to 5 business days a week.

“Offering a safe and modern workplace is very important to us. We want to be a great place to work and preferred employer and the new-generation factory will help us in this ambition,“ says Karolis Jonaitis.

“IKEA Industry’s new-generation factory is an example of how new technology and automated systems, with only a few handful additional co-workers, can double the production capacities, which is changing the attitude to production in Lithuania”, says Mantas Katinas, Managing Director of the foreign investment promotion agency Invest Lithuania.

Sustainable furniture production
IKEA Industry has high ambitions when it comes to being a responsible company and to operate business with care for the environment. IKEA Industry Lithuania has strict control measures to comply with environmental regulations and to ensure that the new factory will operate in harmony with the environment and the local community.

Industry
The IKEA factories in Kazlų Rūda employ more than 700 co-workers, producing particle board and furniture.

Year 2016 saw the production of 1.2 million pcs of ready-made furniture and 545 thousand cubic meters of particle board. It is estimated that development in the furniture production will lead to the creation of 20 new job positions and doubled production capacity.

IKEA Industry Lithuania is one of the largest employers in Kazlų Rūda, as well as one of the largest wood buyers in Lithuania. Currently, about 70% of the co-workers are from Kazlų Rūda and the remaining part from regions of Marijampolė, Vilkaviškis, Kaunas and other cities.

IKEA Industry is the world’s largest producer of wooden furniture, and is an integrated part of the IKEA value chain. IKEA Industry has 41 production units in 10 countries with about 19 000 co-workers. Every year IKEA Industry factories produce more than 100 million units of furniture.

IKEA Industry has been operating in Lithuania and Kazlų Rūda since 2008.

For more information:

Živilė Kaminskienė, UAB IC Baltic, mobile: +37068293777, email: zivile@icbaltic.lt.