Petrašin Jakovljević, CEO of Metalac - We are getting ready for new markets

It already becomes a tradition that web portal eKapija grants Aurea awards to the top investors of the year. This year`s awards ceremony will take place at the end of March. Since the new cycle is approaching, we paid a visit to the companies that were shortlisted for last year`s award to check what state of business development they reached.

At the end of August 2008, company Metalac from Gornji Milanovac put in operation a modern waste water treatment system worth about 1m EUR. Realization of that project put Metalac among very rare tableware factories that managed to solve the problem of enamel water treatment. The company kept investing in ecological projects in 2009.

In the interview for eKapija, Petrašin Jakovljević, the CEO of Metalac, speaks about new environment protection projects, the fact that they did not lose a single buyer in the year of the crisis, opening of the company in USA, etc.

(Petrašin Jakovljević)

eKapija: What ecological projects did you start in 2009?

- Year 2009 was not exactly the year for new projects, but we considered it necessary to start introducing the pulver-enamelling technology (enamelling with the use of enamel powder) because it is an environment-friendly technology in which 99.8% of enamel is used in the process, so that the waste is reduced to a minimum. In addition, the process does not require the use of water. We invested about 400,000 EUR in pulver-enamelling equipment. Besides, we also worked on further reduction of water consumption through replacement of installations, introduction of water-saving rinsing, partial use of treated technological water and installation of water-saving valves.

eKapija: In 2008, you put in operation a modern waste water treatment system that meets the standards of European Union. Which were the effects of that system on the environment in 2009?

- It was one of exceptionally significant events for Metalac, the crown of the process that took 15 years, cost about 1m EUR and resulted in the creation of maximally completed waste water treatment system. After more than one year after the last enamel water treatment system was put in operation, the quality of water that is released into the city collector always and completely satisfies the requirements of the City Regulations governing the incident-free waste water release. Treated water is partially used as technical water for washing equipment and units. The aim is that total quantity of treated water be returned to the process by means of recirculation instead of being released into the collector.

By the way, introduction of water-saving rinsing cut the consumption of technical/river water by about 40%, which is only one of 55 parameters that we measure and improve. What is the most important is constant progress in the development of ecological awareness of workers, which, in this case, meant more conscientious attitude towards use of enamel and fuels as raw materials.

eKapija: Have you registered some commercial effects since that treatment system was put in operation?

- In short, reduction of water consumption in combination with the measures for reduction of waste water pollution result in about 45,000 EUR worth of savings on annual basis.

eKapija: What does your company recycle? What is the profit from recycling?

- We have developed the culture of selection and classification of waste materials and their preparation for recycling process in company Metalac. The whole quantity of decapped, inox and aluminum sheet metal, plastic, cardboard, paper and packaging waste is sent to reprocessing. All waste materials (used car batteries, waste oil, tires, electric and electronic products and fluorescent tubes) are also separated and recycled through authorized companies. All processes are continuously run according to ISO 14000 standards.

Since 2007, Metalac is one of the first signatories to the project of the Center for Cleaner Production in Serbia, which was created at the initiative of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and authorized ministries. Cleaner production in enterprises means more rational use of raw materials, water and energy, replacement of dangerous matters with their ecologically acceptable equivalents and reduction of toxicity and emmission of harmful gases and waste in the nature. Already in the first year after we introduced this system in our units and invested 250,000 EUR in it, we calculated that annual savings amount to about 135,000 EUR. Metalac does not let "one gram" of recyclable waste to end at the landfill. Of course, that means that every link in the chain wins - company, employees, consumers, environment, public community...

eKapija: What can you tell us about your business results in 2009?

- Although we registered 22% smaller income than in 2008, we turned the profit of about 3.5m EUR, kept all our workers and maintained all partner relations with all the buyers in 25 countries worldwide. We especially take pride in the fact that we respected the agreement we had made with our employees, nearly 1,600 of them, that we would not lay off any of them and that we would try to share the load of the crisis all together in order to finish the year with as small losses as possible. It is very important that we did not lose any of our buyers, while the drop in sales was the result of reduced orders.

eKapija: You also put accent on socially-responsible operations?

- We are proud of the fact that, in the year of the economic crisis, we remained consistent to the projects and behaviour that puts us among top socially-responsible companies. About 100,000 EUR was invested in further support to the increase in natality rate, primarily in Metalac where we got record 50 babies, and we gave cot, mattress and check to 10,000 RSD to each of 360 babies who were born in the Maternity Ward in Gornji Milanovac. We kept helping seven out of nine sports clubs in Milanovac with the aim of keeping the children away from the street and developing the spirit of competition. We also kept granting scholarship to all regular students whose parents work in our company, and there are 145 of them at the universities in Serbia at the moment. We also did our best to maintain the level of activities and dedication to ecological projects.

eKapija: You announced opening of a company in Milwaukee. When do you expect that to happen?

- Realization of that idea is still in progress. Metalac was present in the US market 30 years ago. At the time of the sanctions, we suspended our operations in USA for 11 years. Over the last few years, we have been working on the quality comeback. Regular appearances at the trade fairs in Chicago and relatively small arrangements led to one step further and, based on good experience we had in Moscow, Zagreb and Podgorica, we decided to open a company in Milwaukee as well. We already have a partner for this project. We will open a joint venture, with a warehouse, which can satisfty the needs of quality and competitive offer for the US market. We plan to finish that project by the end of March.

eKapija: Do you plan to start exporting your products to other markets? What are Metalac's plans for year 2010?

- We plan to register growth of 8% in 2010, That is not going to be easy and existing markets will not be enough. We must seek the chance in some new markets, new products and even better offer. Namely, although we did not lose a single buyer in the world, the fact is that the drop in sales was the result of reduced orders. The crisis is not over yet. Many business subjects will diseapper, and our aim is to be at good shape when the crisis ends and to readily response to the market growth. Everything we do now goes that direction.