Attila Beer has an experience of over 25 years in the field of facades systems.

He is a graduate of the Technical University in Budapest, and after a short stint as a journalist, started his activity at Alukönigstahl Hungary in 1993.

After the opening of the Romania branch in 1995, he trained and led the local sales team here. Like a good manager, he got personally involved in the most important projects to which Alukönigstahl has brought added value through its innovative solutions. As of 2016, he also manages the Alukönigstahl branch in the Republic of Moldova.

This year you will have 25 years of activity in Romania. How have you identified any evolution of the local market, and which were the most important moments that marked the evolution of Alukönigstahl in this period?

25 years represent a significant period for a human lifetime and for a company as well. Considering the over 150 years of Alukönigstahl history in Austria, the 25 years don’t seem to be very long, yet this was a rich time, in which we were happy to participate directly in the birth and evolution of a new field within the construction domain, that of modern glass facades and of aluminium windows and doors. The market evolution is visible when we compare the simple architecture of the 90’s, characterized by relatively small glass covering and a dense network of aluminium profiles, to contemporary spectacular designs for which we designed and tested special solutions. We have constantly invested energy in developing our cooperation with architects and designers, meeting them halfways with our new innovative solutions, that transformed sketches and dreams in real buildings.

At the same time, with our impressive product diversity, we are addressing both to office buildings and commercial centers investors, and to residential market investors. In the course of counselling we offer to architects and investors, we always produce several versions, to find the best solution to satisfy the investor and also to assure the building’s functionality under best conditions of termic and sound insulation and energetic efficiency throughout the entire lifetime.

When in first years of activity our portfolio featured mostly bank buildings, after 2000 we started to work on office buildings, followed afterwards by big residential developments.

Together with its partner Schüco, Alukönigstahl has always been a trendsetter, promoting highly energy efficient solutions. In the last years, these construction solutions are increasingly sought for, customers have become more and more aware of the importance of elements like thermal insulation and correct ventilation to the good functioning of buildings. Top solutions from the point of view of energy, lifespan and functionality are required particularly for one-family homes.

I can remember some milestones for our company. After the opening of our office in Bucharest in 1995, we also opened an office in Cluj in 1998. The start of the new millennium meant new things for us as well, like the opening of our showroom and our storage facility in Bucharest. In 2012 we opened a showroom in Cluj, and in 2015 brought the remodeling of our Bucharest one. In 2016 we relocated the storage facility to a larger hall to fit the current demands and the daily merchandise turnover.

We work continuously to increase our customers’ satisfaction level. The year 2020 came with added outcome for Alukönigstahl in the Supply Chain area, thanks to the measures taken to rise personnel efficiency. We have reorganised and reconfigured our storage facility in Jilava, we purchased new storage systems suitable for rapid merchandise flow and we have implemented modern management systems like locating features and barcodes for a better identification and traceability of articles, as well as portable scanners – all these to increase efficiency and at the same time to decrease risks from incorrect handling. We will continue to develop this activity by implementing an ERP that will be launched at the beginning of 2021.

One other important achievement is AKS Connect, our own digital platform, where our customers can place orders and follow their online deliveries, with possibilities to trace each article at any moment.

We can say that we are also leaders in the field of digitalizing our specific products, since we were the first throughout the industry to have online documentation in 2006. Now we have digitalised solutions for workshops. The Fabrication Data Center is a computer with a large touch display that renders work in the workshop easier, facilitates workers’ access to documentation and videoclips about the manufacture and assembly of elements.

We think long-term, we have been cooperating with some partners for 20 – 25 years, in some cases reaching the second generation of managers in the same family.

The number our employers has increased constantly, in the last year with an average of 65 persons. We grant much attention to the team, to its training and development both professionally as well as personally.

Currently, which are the reference projects in the portfolio of your company?

As I was saying earlier, given the technical solutions we have forwarded and put in practice, we have always seen ourselves as trendsetters. The list is long and there are many projects we could consider milestones in our industry. From the first structural facade in 1996 (BCR Piața Victoriei) to the first class A office building – Opera Plaza, in 2002, and the first office building complex made with unitised facade (a solution that allows for working inside at the same time with insulating each floor separately, which shortens the finishing time for the investment project) embodied by the S Park, in 2006. Or the tallest office buildings in Bucharest and Romania – the Sky Tower, Globalworth Tower and Ana Tower. Northern Bucharest, with its great density of office buildings, can be called without false modesty „the Schüco neighbourhood”. In the last years also, some more such „neighbourhoods” were developed in the city’s south (Sun Plaza and the Timpuri Noi Square) or in the west, from the older Sema Park to the Orhideea Towers, The Bridge and Bucharest Business Garden. We were and still are as active as ever in all the big cities such as Cluj, Craiova, Iași, Constanța, Brașov, Timișoara and Sibiu.

As for the residential field, we have provided aluminium window solutions to developments with high-level comfort requirements, such as Luxuria Residence, Cloud 9 Residence, Isho Living Timișoara, Nordis, Sea One, Neo Mamaia, and also for constructions within the „ANL” program.

How did the Alukönigstahl România business fare in this year, compared to 2019? Which are the main elements that have influenced the sales?

After 2018 and 2019, years in which our business turnover has grown constantly by 10 % in each, we were expecting a similar growth for 2020 as well. Just like many other domains, ours was also affected by the health crisis we are all going through. Work continued on most sites that were underway before the outbreak of the emergency state in March, so that we were able to deliver the orders. Not all projects for offices that were supposed to be initiated in 2020 could be activated, which affected the results achieved until now. Yet there have been some new projects we engaged, that are now very close to final delivery.

What measures have you implemented internally and how have you adapted your activity to meet the challenges of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic?

At the beginning of the crisis, our first objective was to protect our personnel and our activity. Our consultancy and sales teams continued their activity through telephone and online, the office personnel worked largely from home, while in the storerooms preventive measures were taken, such as splitting into two teams with alternative working schedule.

We went on with our work in training customers and presentation of products, by organizing online seminars, and were quite successful, with good attendance of these events.

Two years ago you announced your expansion on the market of the Republic of Moldova, by opening a showroom in Kishinew. What are your plans for short and mid-term development of this business?

We have been present in Kishinew since 2016, and in 2018 we opened a showroom there. With a minuscule team for the time being we managed to increase our business turnover. This year was good also, due to some big projects that are still under execution, such as the residential complex Solomon Dendrarium and the headquarters of the MAIB bank. Here, too, we are getting involved in educating partners in the industry, by supporting the new organisation Mold Green Council and promoting our solutions to architects and students in architecture.

In the end, I would like to thank my workmates in particular, along whom I have walked this road, as well as the customers who helped us improve our services and become better and better.

An Interview Ioan Dornescu

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