East Metal celebrates its 25th company anniversary
The company was established in 1997 by the two founders Bent Juul Larsen and Gert Westergaard in Latvia for the purpose of supplying the Danish industry with metal components. Danish companies could thus benefit from a favorable price level. An empty factory was found in Dobele, which had served as a machine shop for collective’s equipment and machinery. Following an upgrade of premises and equipment, East Metal started in February 1997.
In the early years, East Metal served the furniture industry with steel components, and sales developed into several other companies within the machinery industry: components for refrigerators, wood-burning stoves, and equipment for the fur industry.
With quite a few exceptions, East Metal’s revenue grew year by year based on a high quality of workmanship and delivery reliability. The number of employees has also grown, and East Metal's two main factories are among the largest employers in Dobele and Daugavpils, Latvia, respectively. Today, East Metal employs a total of almost 700 employees at the two factories as well as the factories in Jelgava, Latvia and Nakskov, Denmark.
East Metal got a solid push forward in the early 2000s when we got the chance to become a supplier to the wind turbine industry. This gave rise to the establishment of factory number 2 in Daugavpils, which became the centre of production of wind turbine items and biofuel boilers. The strict requirements for the welding and machining quality and the surface treatment fit well with our competencies and meant a welcome opportunity to invest in machining machines that matched the products in demand.
When the wind turbines began to be set up offshore, East Metal gained even more momentum and it gradually became the main market for the company. Thus, more than 2/3 of all offshore turbines installed in European waters contain East Metal-produced components.
From a small factory in 1997 with only a handful of employees, East Metal has grown big in the 25 years - almost like in H.C. Andersen's adventure from a small duckling to a large and beautiful swan.
Here in 2022, East Metal is entering a new era: in recent years, significant changes have taken place in the field of technology, so that we are fully on par with the Industry 4.0 level. In terms of the market, we have also proven that we are supplier to large customers outside the wind turbine industries. Today, our competencies extend to several other industries that demand complex supplier services, a full chain of manufacturing processes that bring value to the customer, and finally that with our competencies we can offer our customers to reduce the complexity of their processes. Partnerships with several new significant customers provide a good starting point for future East Metal growth.
Flemming Rasmussen, CEO: “The East Metal of the future will be an agile and flexible partner through its operational expertise, continuous momentum around process improvements and dedicated resources. The goal is for the customer to have great security and stability for their product deliveries, so that the market's challenges can be tackled through joint value-creating initiatives. We have taken a big step forward in recent years, but the journey does not stop yet: We must move on”.
