Year 2016 might be the most successful year in the history of the company Intral BH. Due to expansion of the volume of operations, the company moved from Lukavac to Tuzla. Prior to moving, Intral BH rented the production plants of the Shoe Factory Aida in bankruptcy. At the beginning of 2016, Intral BH had 230 employees and only this year additional 80 people were hired. By the end of the year, they expect new deals, production and export to foreign markets, because the enterprise from Tuzla managed to make a deal with the prestigious Austrian company Lorenz Shoe Group.
Director of the company Intral BH Alija Šehović stated that the cooperation has just been established and that the entire project with the Austrians is just beginning.
Lorenz Shoe Group has more than 1.200 employees, 200 of whom are working at the company headquarters in Pram, Austria. In their collection they have shoe brands Hogl, Ganter and Hassia, their annual income amounts to 90 million EUR and they produce more than 1.5 million pairs of high-quality footwear annually. Export of this Austrian company has a share of 90 percent in total sales, and their products can be found in 40 countries.
It is speculated that Intral BH might produce women shoes for the Austrians, for which another 70 to 100 workers will be hired and trained.
Director of Intral BH explained that in cooperation with the relevant institutions in the Tuzla Canton and the High School Center Tuzla they tried to come up with a model of training additional workforce.
“Generally, all production-oriented companies have the problem with finding adequate staff. In cooperation with partners, the department for shoemaking should be opened in the High School Center Tuzla. Students in this department would practice in our production plants, with our mentors. The aim is to produce workers for the needs of shoemaking industry, which has a perspective,” Šehović said.
According to Šehović, 2016 is an excellent business year for Intral BH. He said the company now employs 310 workers and they also recorded a growth in the volume of production by 40 percent in the first six months of this year, in comparison with the same period in 2015.
“Our entire production is intended for export. We export to the markets of Germany, Italy, Austria, France, while partners distribute our shoes to the markets of EU, North and Central America, and the Middle East,” Šehović said.
(Source: faktor.ba)
