Janplast (Kavadarci): business diagnosis to prepare for export

Small-scale manufacturer Janplast from Kavadarci is using an external business diagnosis to tighten internal processes, raise sales and prepare for wider markets beyond the municipality. The company makes PVC and aluminium windows and doors and currently employs nine people.

From local workshops to export ambition

Owner Janko Kostov, who left a career in the police to found the firm in 2014 and became sole owner in 2024, says the business faces immediate pressure from volatile raw-material prices. PVC compounds come from petrochemical derivatives and global price swings tied to geopolitical events — from the war in Ukraine to instability in the Middle East — make medium-term planning difficult.

“There are too many challenges and I would single out only a few of them. So, the prices and movements of our procurement goods and raw materials are fluctuating almost day by day, because they are linked to geopolitical events across the world. That would be one challenge. The second challenge would be, as you mentioned, qualified labour. The trend of our qualified workers leaving for jobs abroad represents an additional burden for us and certainly, fundamentally, the organisation of the production process. That is a possibility and work that we control ourselves and where we can contribute the most,” Kostov says.

Janplast began as a local producer and gradually expanded; Kostov estimates roughly 70 percent of output continues to serve clients in Kavadarci and the Tikvešija region, while the remaining 30 percent is sold across North Macedonia. Investments in a new production hall and larger capacity, he says, make now the right moment to look beyond the local market.

Through a Swiss-supported modernisation project implemented by Swisscontact, Janplast underwent a full business diagnosis. Consultants identified bottlenecks and recommended steps to make production more efficient and to improve the company’s ability to enter new markets.

Business adviser Natasha Razmoska from BizzBee Solutions warns that small manufacturers are often so involved in day-to-day operations that they lack time to see the bigger picture. Her team found Janplast has established experience, a customer base and expanding capacity, and now needs to focus on systematic improvements in sales and processes — growth must be synchronised with process stability to avoid quality drops under pressure.

Statistical data show that in 2025 North Macedonia exported over €7.5 million worth of PVC doors, windows, thresholds, frames, shutters and covers, while aluminium doors and window exports were nearly €2.9 million. Main export destinations for PVC windows and doors include Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the United States and regional neighbours; aluminium products go mainly to Germany, Serbia, Greece, Italy and Switzerland.

Kostov says the realistic plan for Janplast is to consolidate internal processes in the first one to two years, increase utilisation of its production, raise sales and then step by step enter business-to-business relations outside Kavadarci with an eye to international competition over time.

Longstanding technical knowledge combined with independent analysis and an external viewpoint, company representatives conclude, creates a foundation for improved competitiveness and gradual market expansion.

Photo: press material from the event