History of KOPA printing house
„History of KOPA printing house“
On 15 April 1991, when Lithuania regained its independence, a small advertising agency located in the attic of a building at Gediminas g. 13, Kaunas, began providing advertising design and production services. The agency had three employees sharing one table and two chairs, and this is where the history of KOPA printing house began...
Being one of the first advertising agencies in those days, it began providing advertising design and production services to young businesses of the city and the country: it was the first in the city to begin using professional graphic software and Macintosh computers tailored for it, and computer-controlled application drafting equipment for production, while offering higher level of services compared to those available on the market, in co-operation with major Lithuanian printing houses.
At that time, the work with all major Lithuanian printing houses was posing many challenges – we wanted a much better result compared to what the then printers could offer. Therefore we had to take care about deficient Finnish paper, foreign inks, look for the best layout designer’s and printers of the time, learn about printing technologies and share this invaluable knowledge with printing house specialists.
While being focused on development, we began consider doing everything ourselves on the basis of our technical facilities. In 1995 we decided to abandon the outsourcing of advertising, and established KOPA printing house. Since then, the agency ‘s activities were filled by design, publishing and printing tasks, and the company moved from the tight loft to an office and industrial building currently accommodating modern machinery and equipment.
Printing house building before reconstruction (1994).
Various events and competitive environment constantly encouraging for new endeavours was significant for the development of the printing house. It encouraged us to be a flexible company, responsive to changes in the market.
The number of our clients was growing, and included both small and large companies, advertising agencies and publishers. Some of these customers tell their story to the present day, and continue partnership in the field of printing arts. Economic developments and open opportunities outside Lithuania led to co-operation with foreign partners and customers. Today, 50 per cent of the printing house output is exported to Germany, Holland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, UK and other European countries.
KOPA printing house after reconstruction
All 23 years we worked hand-in-hand with our business partners and customers, thanks to whom we created a successful history of collaboration, turning errors into lessons that encouraged new solutions and improvement of processes.
Cross-cultural communication and different needs of customers is our driving force in looking for custom solutions, learning and constant self-improvement. Therefore, the main shareholders and founders of the printing house Saulius and Žaneta Mudėnas are confident that today the greatest asset of KOPA printing house is creative, curious and honest staff who have grown into real professionals of the field over the lifetime of the company.
What about the future of KOPA? The summer of 2018 was marked by reaching an important milestone - moving to the new printing premises located at the Kaunas Free Economic Zone. We have been growing so fast that we eventually ran out of space, so it was only natural to build a new home that would allow us to grow, improve and create without any restrictions. We are sure that 7200 square meters are more than enough for us to fulfill both our current and future needs.
KOPA printing house today
The past is understood only from the perspective of the present, and the present can be better understood only from the perspective of the past. Therefore, knowing who we are and remembering what is important, we step ahead trusting in perspectives, our customers and ourselves.