Approximately 30 types of components from large-format MDF wooden boards for the Swedish company BJS, which supplies them to Ikea together with other products from other manufacturers, are currently in the portfolio of the Slovak company Lukamasiv from Kriváň. They produce about 400,000 to 500,000 pieces a month. These are, for example, parts for beds, chests of drawers, cabinets or cupboards. The company was established in 2014 on the initiative of Ľubomír Očenáš and his wife Katarína, when since 1997 they have been producing wooden bedroom furniture from solid wood as self-employed persons and sold it in a retail network in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In 2001, the range was expanded to include the production of additional furniture components for Sweden's Ikea and its Swedwood Slovakia plant in Závažná Poruba. However in 2009, a fire hit the company's premises, during which the entire part of production burned down. The company was left with only materials and machines for production from MDF. "Paradoxically, the fire directed us to the area in which we still work," explains the owner of the company Očenáš. As he stated, in the following years, despite the crisis, the company managed to grow by 70 to 100% per year, thanks to the focus on the product range built on MDF furniture parts and also for market orientation in the Czech Republic and Sweden. This made it possible to set aside investments in more modern machines and technologies, which was also reflected in an increase in production volume. From the original production area of 2,500 square meters, after the purchase of new land and premises of the company, the area has grown to the current 6,000 square meters. However, the new and more efficient arrangement of technologies and processes has reduced the number of employees from the original about 100 to the current 70, while the production volume has doubled. However, the owner does not agree with the statement that robots take people's jobs: “Today we have so much work that people are more lacking. When we replace a job with a robot or new technology, we immediately have a replacement job for the affected worker. Rather, automation helps us replace hard or dangerous work. ” According to Očenáš, the company's goal for the coming years is to increase the volume of production and replace those activities that create bottlenecks with automation and robotics.

Resources: https://www.teraz.sk/ekonomika/spolocnost-lukamasiv-vyrobi-pre-ikeu/425417-clanok.html