In 2024, IEK GROUP celebrated its 25th anniversary. Over a quarter of a century, the company has continuously developed and improved — and has become one of the leaders in the Russian electrical engineering market.
The company's market repositioning and the adoption of a new business strategy aimed at becoming the leader of the domestic industry with the best product selection and world-class customer services were timed to coincide with the IEK GROUP anniversary. Everything needed for this is in place: high-tech production, expertise, modern testing centers, and strict quality control. Thanks to the combination of these factors, the company can offer customers equipment that successfully replaces products from European brands.
For the anniversary, IEK GROUP updated its corporate identity, presenting a new slogan and logo.
The logo acquired more stable proportions, reflecting the company's high level of expertise and confidence in its competencies. Corporate colors were preserved, but the shades became brighter and more energetic.
The new slogan "Getting Involved in Life!" reflects IEK GROUP's desire to focus on people and their needs: the company gets involved in the life and business of every client. And knowing consumer demands, it offers optimal solutions for their tasks.
The new corporate identity and logo were presented by the company at the industry exhibitions "Electro-2024" and Interlight-2024. Bright stands attracted a large number of visitors; in the "Electroreklama-2024" competition, IEK GROUP became the absolute winner, winning 3 nominations and receiving the Grand Prix. The new corporate identity, positioning, and development of the product portfolio were also highly appreciated by the expert jury of the "Brand of the Year in Russia" competition: the company became the winner in the "Electrical Products" category.
What else made the anniversary year for IEK memorable?
Production Expansion
In the spring of 2024, IEK GROUP announced plans to produce the entire range of metal cable support systems — all types of trays and accessories for them, heavy and light "ladder" cable trays — in the Kaluga region. For these purposes, the company purchased an industrial facility with an area of 20 thousand sq. m in the city of Balabanovo. Currently, work on preparing production premises and engineering networks for equipment placement and production start-up is being completed at the site. It is planned to start production in the 1st quarter of 2025; three lines for manufacturing metal trays and one line for light "ladder" trays will be launched.
The investment amount in the project will be over 1 billion rubles, which will ensure growth of payments to the regional tax budget and create more than 500 jobs. The complex in the Kaluga region will become the 12th production site of IEK.
Metal trays are used for laying cable lines in various industries, and IEK is one of the market leaders in terms of their production volume.
Also, a new plant is being built in Kazan; it will become part of the electrical engineering cluster. At the moment, the foundation is installed, the frame is erected, engineering networks are ready, work is underway to install side walls and the roof. In Kazan, factories of the LEDEL and FEREKS brands are already located, which carry out the development and full production cycle of lighting products.
Launch of New Products
The breakthrough of the year — the innovative low-voltage switchgear (LVS) FORMAT PRO. The rich experience and high qualifications of the engineers who joined the team for the development of this system allowed them to create a product that surpasses many competitors in its indicators and technical characteristics. FORMAT PRO combines ARMAT switches and FORMAT IEK metal enclosures and is, thus, the only LVS assembled from products of a single brand and tested in an accredited laboratory.
Another breakthrough product in the Russian market, developed and patented by IEK GROUP — the line of electrical installation equipment FORTE&PIANO. These are sockets and switches of a special, frameless, design, which does not limit their number in a single row. At the presentation of the collection, a row of 25 FORTE&PIANO sockets and switches was assembled, which is an absolute world record.
The growth of SKUs due to new products in the IEK GROUP assortment per year is 5.5–6%. This indicates that IEK GROUP is gradually updating the entire product spectrum. For example, last year the lines of modular equipment and accessories ARMAT and KARAT were expanded, plastic enclosures KREPTA 5 were launched for sale, the range of luminaires, tools, and additional equipment for TITAN panels was increased.
Opening of Warehouse Complexes
IEK strives to be closer to customers: new warehouses with an area of about 6500 sq. m and 5500 sq. m opened in Yekaterinburg and Rostov-on-Don. They will reduce service time for the company's customers and partners in the Ural, Southern, and North Caucasus federal districts.
In the industrial park "Kuvekino", an IEK GROUP warehouse with an area of 68 thousand sq. m will be located. Construction began in 2024; in 2025, the company's main logistics hub is planned to be commissioned here.
The deal to create the warehouse between the park developer company Parametr (part of the PIK structure) and IEK GROUP became the largest deal in the warehouse real estate market of the Moscow region in 2024.
New Approach
IEK monitors the quality of its products and uses various tools for this purpose. In 2024, a new one was introduced — Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). This method allows determining "weak points" in the production process that can affect product quality. The new assessment tool has been implemented at IEK GROUP production sites in the Tula and Novosibirsk regions, as well as at factories in Kazan.
Personnel Training
IEK is interested in having highly qualified specialists working in the industry and actively participates in the development of professional competencies. The IEK GROUP project "Open Electricians Championship IEK" was included in the library of best practices of BRICS in 2024. Also, IEK GROUP participated in the development of the specification for the International Competence Standard "Electrical Installation".
Openness
At the site of the IEK GROUP central office in Shcherbinka (Moscow), the first IEK exhibition space was opened: now all the company's flagship products and the proposed comprehensive solutions based on them can be seen with one's own eyes.
IEK GROUP has become more open informationally as well. In 2024, the company was the leader in the electrical engineering market in terms of the number of mentions in the media and blogosphere. RBC, Kommersant, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Vedomosti, and other Tier-1 media wrote about us. A story aired on the Rossiya TV channel: journalists of the "Vesti" program visited the IEK stand at the "Electro" exhibition and toured the production in Troitsk. And at MIA "Russia Today" (RIA Novosti), the first major press conference dedicated to the company's anniversary and its market success was held. Journalists' questions were answered by IEK GROUP Executive Director Mikhail Gorbachev, Commercial Director Artem Maymor, and Human Resources Director Natalia Bel'skaya.
The first episodes of the show "IEKtric Podcast" were released, within which experts of the electrical engineering market discuss the main events of the industry. Podcast episodes are released monthly on Yandex.Music, Apple Podcasts, and other platforms in audio and video formats. The first episodes are dedicated to trends in modern interior and the work of the electrical engineering market under new challenges.
Awards
IEK — the electrical engineering "Brand of the Year in Russia"! The company's collection has also been replenished with awards such as "Brand No. 1 in Russia" (already the sixth in a row), Investment Leaders Award, "People Matter", RAEC AWARDS 2024, "Golden Photon. Smart City Choice", "Best Industrial Design in Russia", "HR Brand", "Crystal Pyramid", HR IMPACT, "Time of Innovations". And also IEK — the absolute winner of the "ELECTROREKLAMA-2024" competition.
Book Release
For the 25th anniversary of IEK GROUP, Dmitry Borodin's book "Stories of Electrical Engineering" was published. This is an important event for a company that is engaged not only in commercial but also in educational work and popularization of its field of activity. The book presents interesting facts about the development of the industry, the lives of scientists who stood at its origins and made the most notable electrical engineering discoveries. A separate chapter in the book is devoted to the history of IEK GROUP becoming one of the market leaders.
The publication of the book is another step to attract the audience's attention, including youth, to the field of electrical engineering. Its presentation took place at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute (MPEI) — a university with which IEK GROUP has long-standing cooperation.
Getting involved in the new year and waiting for new victories and achievements!