“Customers usually come to us with a problem, and we handle the rest,” Mantas Leknius says confidently. The electrical engineer has been the managing director of VMG Technics since 2018 and has contributed substantially to the success of the VMG subsidiary. Over the past five years, VMG Technics has managed to quadruple its revenue to €33 million, partly thanks to growing internationalization. Yet, the ambitious company is far from reaching its peak.
We build machines using our brains, not just steel.
Competence concentrated in one place
Proud of the status quo of the new VMG machine manufacturing center: managing director Mantas Leknius (right) alongside the group’s business development manager Paulius Milcius © Raphael Kerschbaumer
Three years ago, VMG Technics started building a new technology park in the Lithuanian port city of Klaipeda. Located just a stone’s throw away from one of the largest freight ports in the Baltics, the company is well-equipped for international exports.
In fact, it needs to be, as the management of VMG Technics is thinking big. With the new location, the company wants to make a regional statement and concentrate the country’s technological know-how in one place. “VMG Technics has seen constant growth over the past few years. We are no longer just a maintenance operation for our parent company. Today, our order books are mostly filled with orders from large international companies in the timber industry and beyond,” Leknius tells us and adds: “Today, we have a multitude of highly trained young people from different fields and with various qualifications. Together with them, we want to be more than just a new machine manufacturer. We want to create a technology and development hub in Klaipeda that works solution-oriented on complex problems and leads innovative prototypes to series maturity.”
State-of-the-art production
A look inside the production hall: Research and development are crucial parts of the daily work of the mechanical engineers. In the future, more prototypes are to be developed to series maturity in the halls © Raphael Kerschbaumer
The new branch in Klaipeda will be officially inaugurated this summer. Already at the turn of the year, VMG Technics moved its production there along with its nearly 180 employees. “We have a great mix of young innovative spirit and experience here. You can also feel that in the numerous successful projects. For us, ‘outside-the-box thinking’ is not just a phrase,” the dedicated entrepreneur emphasizes.
Not only the employees, the machines and plants at the site, too, go beyond the usual industrial standard. The VMG Group invested more than €30 million euros in the new headquarters of its subsidiary.
The company manufactures all machinery and equipment in-house. “Something that certainly distinguishes us from the competition is our vertical range of manufacture. We do everything ourselves: from building steel structures, to varnishing elements and programming robots that are used in complex production lines. As a result, we know every part and every screw of our machine solutions inside out,” Leknius tells us.
This also has a positive effect on the services offered by VMG Technics. “Plant availability is more important than ever today. With our 24-hour service, we are able to guarantee it,” Leknius adds.
No fixed patterns
Focus on automation: “In terms of automation, furniture production is unmatched in the timber industry,” VMG Technics’ managing director Mantas Leknius says. Numerous production and packaging lines for international industry leaders have been planned and built by the Lithuanian specialists © Raphael Kerschbaumer
As VMG Technics emphasizes, it successfully keeps a balance between innovative research projects and mass production. In addition to complex packaging solutions, which clearly focus on automation and the use of artificial intelligence, the company also manufactures simple furniture fittings mainly for international bulk buyers but also for the group’s own furniture production.
So, which business area and industry does VMG Technics think of as its core business? CEO Leknius cannot give a definite answer to this question. “Although our roots are in the timber and furniture industry, we can’t and don’t want to limit ourselves to one industry or sector. We are primarily passionate about exciting and innovative projects. In general, we want to remain open-minded when doing business.”
In the timber industry, most projects involve the furniture sector because “nowadays, it has the highest degree of automation”, according to Leknius. In recent history, the company has impressively demonstrated its competence in structural timber construction, too, and gained valuable experience in this area. “We have learned a lot carrying out large projects, such as the great LVL plant of VMG Lignum or the furniture production at the same site in Akmene, and acquired expertise in the field of automation and robotics for timber construction. We see a lot of potential especially in highly automated prefabrication in the timber construction sector. In this area, we are already working on further projects with various international partners. We are also confident that we can help small and medium-sized companies increase their efficiency significantly. Modern automation solutions can make both furniture manufacturers and carpenters fit for the future and offer a major competitive advantage,” Leknius says, giving an outlook. “Many of our current projects also involve the food or waste disposal industries, for example. I am convinced that the variety of orders is a huge advantage for us as a company because many solutions and learnings can also provide great added value for our customers across industries,” he adds in conclusion.
VMG Technics in action
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