The alarm clock rings early, and after a delicious breakfast, I'm picked up well-nourished and am back at Rasa's production facility right on time.
Punctuality is highly valued here; no one ever seems to be late. Throughout the day, Rasa accompanies me, always with a smile on her face and proving to be a wonderful hostess.
With my camera, I'll be documenting an important step today: The packaging of the LANIUS pieces.
Arrival
Knowing nothing about the country, I set off for Lithuania and landed in a true winter wonderland and a beautifully snow-covered landscape. At frosty temperatures of what felt like -10°C, I met consistently friendly and very courteous people. I made a stopover in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, and would visit our production facility, which is about an hour away, the next day.
There, the perfect initial conditions prevailed to put one of our passion projects through a test phase: the conversion of our clothing packaging! It is packaged in bags made of recycled polyethylene, so-called polybags. The search for a sustainable, ecological alternative occupied us for a long time, and now we may have finally found one: bags made of glassine paper! To test their practicality, durability, and lightfastness, we selected our production partner in Lithuania for a first test run.
Tour of the production facility
At noon on the second day, I arrive at the production facility and am immediately warmly welcomed by Rasa, our Sales Manager, who is actually much more than that. She acts as the interface between LANIUS and each individual department. Therefore, she is involved in all processes and knows her way around perfectly. I am very impressed. And the first impression of the production facility is also thoroughly positive. It is certainly not the first LANIUS visit to Lithuania, but it is my first time. The facility is modern and has an innovative focus.
"Vertical" working method
The production facility is "vertical" – this means that all production steps take place in-house: from yarn, dyeing, and printing, to cutting, sewing, packing, quality assurance, and logistics. This is very sustainable and very rare! I am guided through each of the production steps and departments mentioned, and everything is explained to me. Rasa is involved in each step. She knows the quality requirements of every single style.
A calm and relaxed atmosphere
Once again, I'm fascinated by how many hands each garment passes through and how much it depends on the skills of each individual. Despite the 800 employees and numerous production steps, it's a very calm and relaxed atmosphere. No rushing, no clocks timing every step. In many areas – especially quality assurance – there’s a quiet discussion about the materials.
And Action – the shooting day
The focus is on our new protective covers made of glassine paper, which are currently undergoing a pilot test run and are being used for the first time. I am very much looking forward to the feedback from the employees on site.
For lunch, we head to the canteen, which offers a wide range of options for the 800-strong workforce. Lunch is 50% subsidized by the company, making the food very affordable. A popular meeting point is, of course, the coffee machine. This is where people chat and exchange ideas.
After lunch, we continue filming, and I get an insight into the printing process. Our charity shirts for the Spring/Summer 2019 season are currently being printed here. For each of the four prints, the color pigments are applied using a screen printing process. Every move is perfect! Then we come to the sewing station: The final touches are currently being made here. The charity shirts receive their LANIUS label, hem finishes, and hangtags. Finally, we visit the packing stations and I get to experience firsthand how our parchment bags are used for the first time!
