Vitebsk "Belwest" focuses on creating new jobs, zero-waste production, and e-commerce
— In Russia, we plan to open about 70 more stores, — said Mikhail Shatunov, Deputy General Director for Relations with State Authorities. — In Belarus, we have started to enter large retail chains, where we are opening our sales divisions. Due to the fact that we are increasing the number of retail outlets, it is necessary to increase the volume of manufactured shoes, and for this, we have started to recruit staff. This primarily concerns production personnel, piece-rate workers who are involved in shoe manufacturing.
The enterprise always thinks about the material incentives for employees: for December of last year, the average earnings were 700.9 rubles, and for workers, it was almost 598 rubles. Also, since the beginning of the year, the bonuses for workers have been increased by 30 percent.
— The enterprise is open to everyone, and we are ready to hire new staff. Strangely enough, it is very difficult to hire them now. However, in January 2017, we hired 100 people, but in order to "integrate" them into the production process, because most people are not ready for conveyor work, we decided to open our own training production facility based on one of the workshops. This division has a full production cycle, and it trains employees in all professions needed by the enterprise, — Mikhail Mikhailovich continued.
In general, over the year, "Belvest" plans to increase its workforce by 500 people. The company has switched to a seven-day work week with a flexible schedule in two shifts. The enterprise is constantly modernizing production and developing new products.
— Previously, we produced 200-300 shoe SKUs, and this year we plan to expand the range to 2000, so the variety of our products is increasing exponentially, — emphasized the interlocutor. — We work according to the needs
market. Marketers study it thoroughly, primarily the Russian market, where we sell up to 80 percent of our products, and 20 percent goes to Belarus and Latvia.
Belwest, as before, continues to work with Italian designers and German technologists. These specialists provide the necessary assistance in the development of advanced technologies that exist in the EU. In addition, for about six years, a specialist from Brazil has been working at the enterprise to develop its own last. 3D technologies are used for this.
— Having the last design, we had to solve the issue of sole production. Despite the fact that we make its sample on a 3D printer ourselves, we still do not mass-produce these components at Belwest, — noted Mikhail Shatunov. — But this year we plan to open a sole production workshop: the equipment has already been delivered, and we expect to launch it by March. Using the casting method in their production, the company also solves another important issue — environmental. Instead of burying production waste, for which significant sums have to be paid, we decided together with VSTU to create a technology for their secondary use. Now the remnants of both leather and polyurethane will go into the production of soles and other components.
The company pays great attention to online trading. It began to develop it from the year before last, and now the creation of an online store is in the final stage.
In a word, the prospects for the enterprise's development are quite clear, and it is important that the lion's share of products goes for export, ensuring stable tax payments, including the replenishment of the local budget.
Andrei SHCHERBITSKY. Photos by Oleg KLIMOVICH. "Vitbichi".