Lithuanian capital company Lavango Engineering, which manufactures food industry equipment, increased its revenue by 124 percent last year. According to the company's CEO Jevgenij Sakovskij, this growth has been achieved by fundamentally reviewing and streamlining its internal management and production processes.

Most of the changes have been made in customer service and sales as well as streamlining production processes. The ISO 9000 quality management standard has been adapted and allowed a 30 % increase in deals and a 71 %  increase in the average value of the project even if the number of employees grew by only a quarter.

According to Jevgenij Sakovskij, the current structure and operating model allows increasing activity at least twice more. "The production volume can be increased because of an additional 2000 sq.m. production area too - it is planned to be opened very soon in May. Unfortunately, the disruptions we are seeing at the moment are global. "All the equipment we develop is automated, so the global deficit of semiconductors, as well as the supply of raw metal, are the factors that make it impossible to shift the highest gear on our ride," he says.

"For a number of years, our exports have significantly exceeded our domestic market revenues, but the pandemic has rebalanced these scales despite our rapid growth. In 2021 we received more than half of our orders from Lithuania, ”says the head of the company.

One of Lavango Engineering's largest projects in Lithuania last year was the conveyor system for Mars Lietuva, the installation at the Hes-Pro Vilnius mayonnaise plant,Žemaitijos Pienas, and the Vičiunų Group, for which production and cooling equipment was developed.

"In most cases, it wasn’t the first project for these companies, and the choice of our team was determined if not by good previous experience, then by market feedback about our work. However, we cannot rule out the fact that the choice of a nearby supplier was also a deliberate decision of the food industry to reduce the risks of planned renovation or development of production facilities. Meaning, to ensure that everything is on time and to avoid disruption when equipment installers face restrictions on-site - most food businesses experienced this at the start of the pandemic, ”says J.Sakovskij.

Scandinavia remained the Lavango Engineering's main export market in 2021 - last year the company's specialists installed about 20% of manufactured equipment there. Representatives of the company say that the foundations were also laid in the French and German export markets last year. "We are seeing the results today. This year, we will complete a number of orders for industrial companies operating in these countries, ”says the head of the company.

During this period, the company has made a breakthrough not only in geographic development but also in the field of engineering innovation with the development of a fully automated crab processing line that includes the management of crab cooking, cooling and refrigeration processes without human intervention. "It's a significant innovation - I haven't heard of such an advanced analog. Our equipment is already installed onboard and processes crabs caught in the North Sea, ” says the company's director.

Speaking about the company's plans for this year, the head of the company does not hide that they are ambitious, but there is no hurry to share specific details, saying that today things are moving according to the schedule: Lavango Engineering production is already planned till the end of October this year.