Fisheries manufacturer moves entire production from Asia to Lithuania in €3 million expansion

As part of its bold plans for expansion, net and fishing equipment manufacturer Vonin Lithuania has decided to shift its entire production activities to Lithuania. The company, which is part of the international Vonin Group, will open a new production facility next to its existing operations in the city of Šauliai in Northern Lithuania, almost tripling the number of specialists it employs in the city.

Vonin Lithuania has been operating from Šiauliai Industrial Park since 2014. And according to the city municipality, the new production facility the company plans to build will be 1.5 times larger than its existing unit in Šiauliai, and will be on line by September 2017.

Currently, 88 employees work in Vonin Lithuania’s 4,000 square metre plant in Šauliai, which produces various types of fishing nets, trawls, cages and other products for the fisheries sector. The company’s new unit will cover an area of 6,000 square meters, with total employee numbers set to rise to 250 when the plant opens.

As Rūta Solovjova, Director General of the company, explains, the company have fast tracked their expansion plans thanks to the Šiauliai unit’s strong performance. “When we started up in the Industrial Park, we already had further expansion in mind,” she comments. “That’s why we chose a large plot (almost 2 hectares). But our initial intention was to implement these plans much later. I am very happy that the shareholders are satisfied with the company’s activity in Šiauliai and have decided to move the rest of the manufacturing from Asia to Šauliai,” she adds.

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Ms Solovjova told Lithuanian business daily VŽ that one of the main reasons this decision was taken was logistics. From Lithuania, the company’s output can be delivered to its customer base much faster. Ms Solovjova also pointed out that Vonin does not have its own industrial premises in Asia, meaning it has to hire subcontractors. As a result, quality control is an issue. “Transporting the produce from Asia takes time and the quality needs to be constantly controlled,” the Director General explained.

As to the question of recruiting an additional 160 skilled operatives, she is confident that, thanks to the step-by-step approach the company will take, this will be straightforward.

Investors from the Faroe Islands

Vonin Lithuania belongs to the Faroe Islands-based Danish company Von. The company will invest €3 million into the expansion. The group of companies also operates in Greenland, Iceland, Russia, Norway and Canada.

According to data from Creditinfo, last year Vonin Lithuania’s income amounted to €3.4 million, up significantly from the €2 million figure the company published when it came to Lithuania in 2013.

The main reasons for this success, says Hjalmar Petersen, Von’s executive director, is the combination of skilled experts with state-of-the-art technology. “Lithuania has a well developed textiles sector and an experienced workforce,” Mr Petersen points out. “Their competencies are very important to us as we use highly innovative decisions in our business activity. We hope that the input of our Lithuanian team coupled with the advanced production equipment we use in the Šiauliai facility will further accelerate our production modernisation process,” he concludes.

Source: vz.lt