KSL: The market dictates what we need to improve and what to innovate

KSL has been producing mounts for audio-video equipment since 2009. The company has designed and manufactured many solutions for a variety of audio-video projects ever since. The professional product line is made of lightweight and extremely durable aluminum profiles that have been elaborately designed by their design engineers. The design and ability to sustain heavy loads while being light-weighted — this is what distinguishes our products and allows them to keep the lead in the Ukrainian market. Being the partner of GTInvest company, KSL does complex metalworking and serial production of sheet metal products. This is a modern Ukrainian plant with the latest equipment and high-quality products that meet international standards. In an interview with Alexey Prokhorenko, the CEO of KSL Konstantin Lymar spoke about how the metalworking business will evolve in five years and how new TV models will trigger a revolution in the TV mounts market.

- Konstantin, how has the ongoing crisis affected your business and customer relationships?

- The covid pandemic primarily has not affected our market, but the company itself: it revealed our bottlenecks and strengths. Today we have a different look at remote work, performance, as well as at numerous business processes. During the crisis, when public transportation halted and people were locked at home, there was a temporary spike in TV sales and, accordingly, our products. But when the shopping malls closed, the goods were lying around unsold. And then our sales tanked by 60%. But we did not stop our production and fully delivered on our commitments to customers. However, communication with them and coordination of technical issues took place online. Those zoom meetings save our customers’ time they had previously spent traveling, but the quality of communication was not compromised. And now I must say that any crisis is a chance to better reveal the opportunities and latent resources of your business. Success depends on the ability to adapt to circumstances and shift the course of business at the right time.

- How are things now on the mounts market and what are the trends for 2021?

- As long as there are no significant changes, no new products, and no new technological updates in sight, many things are being fine-tuned now. The revolution will come about later, when new TV models will be available to the mass market, which can simply be taken out of the tube, like a picture, unfold and hung on a wall. And then the mounts market will undergo significant changes. Now I see the consumption of TVs and their accessories is growing.

- How much harder has it become to maintain leadership in the market?

- It’s hard to say whether it has become harder or easier to stay first because we have always set a high bar for ourselves. If we are talking about leadership in the market, it means that we are heading towards 60% of the market share. This is our goal and it is not easy by default. However, over the past 2 years, we have been pacing in this direction fairly actively. With the growth of consumption and competition our approaches change. We start looking at the market differently, try other tactics, and assess customers’ reactions.

- What should clients pay attention to when they order your services?

- I would advise them to comprehensively consider the offer, and not start evaluating it from the price. If we are talking about serial products, then it is important to clarify availability in stock in sufficient quantity, delivery time, and negotiate prompt extra production during the high season. It’s not rare when customers find a competitor’s lower-priced product, but that product is not in stock anymore, it is impossible to produce it quickly, and the item drops out of the assortment for a few months. This is already a big loss for any business. Naturally, we avoid such cases.

Service and warranty service is crucial. For example, if in our company the products are subject to a warranty replacement, then this issue is resolved within 1–2 days. We are customer-oriented and value people’s time. But quality, convenience, and agility cannot be cheap, so we do not seek to undercut the pricing to the detriment of our reputation. Quality is big to us and KSL brand for many is already a synonym of quality and reliability. Even if we take a non-standard order, our clients know we will deliver everything on time and they do not worry.

- How do new products appear in your portfolio? Could you describe this process?

- The market always dictates the conditions. Our latest products are touch-sensitive automatic non-contact sanitizers and ultraviolet quartz lamps that disinfect the room. This need arose during quarantine, and we offered it to people. But even in our normal course of business, we are constantly looking for new products that we will be able to add to our portfolio and produce permanently.

Our strategic marketers and business development specialists analyze various product ideas and scrutinize market capacity. Following that, all data are consolidated and a decision is made on a test launch of a new product. A test batch is released, we ask customers how they view the new product, are they ready to include it in their product line and promote it. We thoroughly test a new product in real life, get feedback from the market, and promote a product. It is a routine practice.

- How long does it take to estimate and manufacture a new product?

- White label mounts take up to 1.5 months starting from the moment of SKU approval, design of a specific model till selling of the product. That is, we put in three weeks agreeing on the tech spec, design, and signing contracts, and three weeks on manufacturing packaging and mounts for a client. If we are talking about professional audio and video solutions, the execution time is about the same. We can speed up the process as much as possible, do drawings, and make adjustments quicker. But a lot depends on how quickly the client responds and provides the necessary information. In metalworking products, if clients send us product drawings, it is harder to estimate and takes longer to correctly assess the complexity of manufacturing a product, since it requires adjusting the design to our tools and equipment. It might take approximately 2–3 weeks. But only the production of a prototype enables us to evaluate all the technological aspects and labor intensity of the process. Clients evaluate the quality they want to receive on a test sample, and then we either proceed with manufacturing the product or making adjustments.

- What technological innovations do you use in your business?

- In regards to production, all our processes are digitized and timed. We are invariably looking for new solutions that can speed them up. Recently, we launched an automatic machine for welding components, which streamlined the process by 2.5 times, while not requiring a highly qualified welder. The machine is designed specifically for our requirements. It automatically makes two welds at a time. It is programmed to work like a robot arm. We have also upgraded the deburring — we started using upgraded discs and other technologies. It expedited the entire process by 1.5–2 times and refined the deburring. After painting, seams become invisible. This process is rapid. As far as bending, our tools allow us to simultaneously make several bends. Assembly in our facility is done on assembly lines. If a particular part is not mass-produced, we use laser cutting for any metal product. But when a part becomes mass-produced and large-scale production is required, we manufacture a stamp and transfer the production of the part to presses. It substantially increases productivity and reduces our costs. Business dictates what we need to improve and what to innovate.

- How much time and attention does the company dedicate to client service? What can you offer your clients in terms of service?

- Today our attention is focused on the continuous improvement of our service because it affects relationships with clients. Should a client want extra work from our side other than it was originally designed, then we are always ready to discuss it. More often than not we offer our help where it is needed and do not wait for a request. Since there are ins and outs when working with B2B on serial mounts for TVs, and our distributors are large retail chains with branches throughout Ukraine and abroad, with 10 thousand SKUs, it is rather difficult to pay enough attention to a single product in our portfolio. Therefore, we take on the task: the client provides us with relevant analytical data, we process them and give recommendations on planning the optimum layout of products on their shelves and offer pricing recommendations, both for Ukraine and abroad. We also undertake market research. For example, this was the case with our partners in Belarus. We conducted full market research for them, told them what product matrix they need to purchase, what stock reserves they should keep, who the key market players are, and gave them other suggestions. It is just one example. The requests can be different. Sometimes our designers help clients develop their products. But more often, clients come with their drawings. We, in response, provide recommendations for optimizing their products for mass production and make a prototype. Clients appreciate this. The price of our services is defined by the above approach.

Yes, there are lower prices out there, but they hide many other nuances concerning quality and time. Our goal is to do everything professionally and quickly, and those who work with us understand and appreciate our attitude. Partnerships should be mutually beneficial.

- Tell us about the automation of processes in your company? What software do you use?

- We digitize all the processes that take place in our company and measure their effectiveness in terms of money and time spent on them. Our IT system is constantly being updated and adjusted to the current needs of our company. The purpose of the software is to reduce the time of processes that do not directly affect our income. That is why we incentivize employees to optimize our workflows. After implementing their idea, the person receives a bonus from the money the company saved. All company data are maintained in a single system so that employees can analyze them and offer changes to increase efficiency.

- How do you see your business in 5 years?

- We are permanently looking for new solutions, but the flight direction is set by the market, which is not easy to predict. Today the market is filled with software, but an important component is still skipped — the physical production of products. In five years, I see my company as a huge factory that produces its line of products and takes external orders as a contractor, where clients can come simply with a drawing and get laser cutting, stamping, bending, milling, turning, and other services. At the end of the day, they pick up the finished product. The point is in a single production facility it will be possible to get the whole range of services because now it’s expensive to maintain all the production facilities in one enterprise and not always necessary. I’m thinking of a B2B partnership, where the two companies do different businesses, but when they put their efforts together, they get great synergetic results. For example, one company makes furniture or exhibition stands, and we help them make a metal semi-finished product, the part, the fittings that they need for their final products. All this can be organized in a single big factory. At the moment there is nothing like this in Ukraine.

- Konstantin, what life values and rules help you grow?

- The values that I get across in my company can be defined as: efficiency, integrity, proactivity, professionalism, responsibility, and a united team. A successful company and employees need continuous development. If you stagnate in growth and do not learn anything new in your area, then you get behind. I am learning all the time, our people do internal and external training courses. Our company has a special program that reimburses 30–100% of training costs. Moreover, people must take responsibility for their decisions and know how to defend their point of view. All these components inevitably lead to success.