The chronicle of Eger Tobacco Factory
The chosen company
68 ment how it is possible to increase efficiency by uncovering internal skills and reserves. By the end of 1981 the equipment was ten years old and amortized to 70%, despite which the machines had a higher output than when they were first installed. On the first anniversary of its independence the company drew up a plan valid to 1985. Following the purchase of machines from ATW which ensured manufacturing capacity in the long term, the main points of the 120 million forint investment programme - the sum which could be accumulated within the plan period - included the construction of a new social building, the purchase of cigarette and cigar packaging machinery, the development of the preparation processing line, and the reconstruction of the boiler. The largest budget item within the overall investment was the 30 million forints set aside for the new social building. At that time there were only very few kindergartens and nursery schools in the city, so the replacement of lost places was in the interest of Eger as well. The city council got together with the factory and provided financial support for the building work, in exchange for which 50 “non-factory” children from the city were allowed to enter the new school. The sixth five-year plan required a doubling in output of the then 10% proportion of quality cigarettes, taking production volume from 7 billion to 7.6 billion. As a first step in product development the Eger factory introduced to the market the new cigarette brands “Super” and “Novus”, supplied with cross-flow filters. They were both short-lived products because consumers - with whom there had been no direct connection, no prior trials and research - didn’t take to the “cigarette with holes”. The licence contract signed for the Marlboro cigarette between Philip Morris and the Trust was transferred from the Trust to the Eger factory when it gained independence, after which the relationship between the manufacturer and the licensor became more direct. The Eger factory actually initiOpening of the new staff building in 1982. Mrs Madarassy, Teca and Piroska Csörgő holding the ribbon for György Hajdú, the contractor's new brigade leader.
