New premises

„KOPA invests in new premises – the company can expand and the clients can take a nap“

Saulius Mudėnas, KOPA manager, says to VŽ that the company has received EU support for the expansion of its production capacity, which can be used for the manufacture of new equipment and construction of new production facilities – this was an incentive to engage in the project. Saulius Mudėnas says that industrial investment in real estate (RE) does not yield direct value added and “eats” financial resources, therefore, it is often beneficial for companies to take advantage of the “build to suit” service – to find a real estate developer who invests in the construction of the premises adapted for the company, and later leases these premises. However, it is not the best option for printing companies, S.Mudėnas says.

“It is great to be able to attract external investors. But it is important for investors that the project is more or less universal – they are not interested in adhering to special conditions and specific requirements, which are costly but do not bring added value if the tenant is changed. Such cases would require a lot of compromise, additional investment for adaptation of premises, making it unattractive. In our industry, I only have witnessed unsuccessful examples of the “build to suit”, says S.Mudėnas. According to him, own property guarantees the security for the printing house.

Moving the manufacture out of the city centre

The KOPA manager says that the company has set itself a target to become the printing industry leader in Western Europe, but the current production facilities limit the growth of the company.
“In order to be competitive and to ensure the highest standards of quality, we have to adapt the new technological schemes and new equipment, expand our capacity and increase productivity – our current premises have become too small. We were considering their expansion, or moving out of the city centre to a more suitable location and designing new premises to suit our needs”, S. Mudėnas says.

According to him, the company decided to move and apply the best industry practices – first, to design technologies, then to adapt the building project to them, and, finally, find the best land parcel for the project.
So far, we were doing everything the opposite way and learned that adaptation to the building and the land costs a lot of effort and efficiency dividend. However, construction of a new industrial building in the short term is a more expensive option compared to the expansion of the current facilities. On the other hand, in a long run a building specially designed for the printing functions will increase efficiency”, S. Mudėnas says.

The company has not yet decided what to do with its production buildings in Žaliakalnis, Kaunas, after the move to the new premises in Kaunas FEZ.
“We own the buildings, but the question of their destiny remains open”, the director says.

Customers can have a nap

The area of the new industrial building with office space will be about 7,200 square meters and it should be ready within 13 months.
According to S.Mudėnas, the project will be adapted both for the needs of employees and customers.

“We abandoned the idea of an open office, because it has disadvantages. Each unit will have its own space, leaving the possibility of personalized workplaces and separate spaces, where the staff will be able to work together if they want. We will equip recreation areas and a gym”, tells the KOPA manager. Office interior was designed by Aketuri architects.

The new premises will host a recreation area for customers who want to participate in the printing process.

“We work with customers from all over the world, and sometimes they want to participate in the printing of their publication, but this process may take up to a day. Therefore, we decided to equip a comfortable lounge and a work area for our customers, with good lighting to check the prints, and a bed for a nap. We have never seen such solution anywhere else, therefore, I might say, it will be an innovation in line with our today’s customer needs”, S. Mudėnas says.

The article was published on the Verslo žinios business news portal.
Author: Inga Razmaitė