A YEAR OF SUPERLATIVES
The most difficult production conditions coincide with an unprecedented boom in the stove industry in 2022, which RIKA is meeting with a new expansion of the Adlwang production site – in absolute record time.
The strong increase in demand for RIKA stoves throughout Europe in the last two years reached its absolute peak in 2022: at the beginning of May, stove orders had already exceeded the entire capacity for the year – and this despite the fact that production has already been increased by 100% since 2019. During this same period, the number of employees within the RIKA Group grew from 300 to 400 people. However, the framework conditions for this incredibly rapid growth turned out to be extremely difficult. The global economic impact since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has been amplified by the Ukraine war and is particularly evident in supply chains and goods availability: suppliers are no longer available, delivery commitments are being cancelled, fixed delivery dates for semi-finished products hardly exist any more, strong price fluctuations and surcharges of up to 200% make long-term price calculations impossible. These are now well-known phenomena that hardly any industry is being spared from and which have long since become part of consumers’ everyday lives.
Tomislav Dramac, RIKA Produktion: "Our everyday working life is like a constant juggling act. Every day we receive new information that we have to react to quickly. The dynamics of our already very complex environment sometimes seem overwhelming."
RIKA invests millions
The massive increase in production already achieved under these circumstances could only be supported by the immeasurable commitment of RIKA employees – on the basis of the most innovative work processes and maximum organised flexibility. A new increase in production is being aimed for in 2023 with the expansion of the production site in Adlwang. In just six months, an extension of more than 2,000 m2 was completed, which not only allows shipping and logistics to be structured even more efficiently, but also makes it possible to run two additional complete assembly lines. As one of the largest regional employers, RIKA is creating numerous new green jobs as a result.
Peter Schwarzenbrunner, RIKA Standort Adlwang: "The expansion of the site took place parallel to normal production operation and within a very short period of time. We are very proud of this and are delighted to be able to therefore increase our production capacity to 70,000 stoves per year."
