What is the current demand for FAKRO products, given the slowdown in the construction industry in Poland seen in recent months?
It’s different on individual markets. We have a slowdown in Poland, similarly in Europe. The Ukrainian market has fallen to 20 percent, people in this country are not thinking about building, but about survival. The American market is developing well for us. In Poland, something is starting to shake, we hope that the situation with loans will improve, despite the fact that interest rates are going up. In Europe, the worst is in Germany.
To what extent is the slowdown in Germany affecting your business?
The German market is not a large part of our sales, although I would divide it into investment and renovation. Investments have “stopped” completely, new construction has stopped, but the renovation and insulation market is developing and we have successes and growth here. This should move forward even more.
Continuing the foreign thread: why did you decide to build the plant in the United States? You would think that the costs would be lower in Poland.
There were two reasons. We wanted to build a hall in Nowy Sącz for this production, but we did not obtain permission from the city president. It would be a shame to waste the growth on the American market and wait for a building permit. We have been fighting for it for 4 years. In the States, we managed to buy a ready-made production hall, I think it will start functioning well by the end of the year. However, in terms of costs, the production there will be more of an assembly plant. Some of the components will be made in Europe, but what is cheaper, with local certificates – in America. So it will come to the same thing, because we will save on transport, which has become much more expensive.
Americans are very careful to buy American products, and we have received information from some chains that in such a case they will buy more from us than they do now.
Do you have any ideas for further expansion of FAKRO?
Wherever there is a market for our products, we are already present, from Japan to Chile. Of course, the best market for roof windows is Europe. When it comes to loft ladders, our second product, where we are the world leader, we sell them everywhere. In the case of basic ladders, there are many local manufacturers, but when we talk about high-end ladders, opened by remote control or a button, economies of scale are very important, smaller competitors cannot achieve them. We ship our ladders from Nowy Sącz all over the world.
When it comes to challenges in the country, the situation on the labor market is important for companies like FAKRO. Is there a shortage of workers?
Of course, the drop in unemployment has made it increasingly difficult to find employees. The situation on the labor market is causing the average salary to rise. In order to be able to pay employees, economies of scale and greater automation are needed. However, we generally have no problems with employees. We try to pay them well and treat them properly. Employees identify with our company, we have very low turnover. I will add that we also offer transport to reduce the costs of commuting for employees. Aspects related to environmental protection are also important here.
A shortened version of the interview conducted during the XXXIII Economic Forum in Karpacz. The entire interview can be viewed at forsal.pl
