Inaugurated in 1960 and recognized among its kind in Cuba, the Camilo Cienfuegos Base Business Unit (UEB), located in the main municipality of Ciego de Ávila and distinguished by its commercial name, Muebles Lídex, today concentrates most of its efforts in four projects with local tourism, without neglecting its state orders with other sectors.

Its director, Jorge Vidaurreta Valdés, told Invasor that those commitments are the production of furniture, among other spaces, for the common areas. Moreover, the 779 hotel rooms between East Rock 1 and North Rock 1—in Paredón Grande—; of the lobby of the Meliá Cayo Coco Hotel and 40 rooms of the Sol Cayo Coco, all in conjunction with the ALMEST Real Estate.

69 percent of the total annual net sales plan for 2022, which amounts to 80 million pesos (almost double 2021), will enter through agreements with the leisure industry, with which they are successfully chained and thus contribute to import substitution.

"When we cannot assume the production of some furniture for artistic reasons, we subcontract the service to the Cuban Fund of Cultural Assets and thus we continue to link with other entities," Vidaurreta Valdés says, who knows that the UEB, subordinated to the Cuban Furniture Industry Company, has more to offer, in Havana.

There they are also responsible for the manufacture of 8,000 cribs for Ciego de Ávila, Sancti Spíritus, Matanzas and the capital, among other furniture with a social impact, marketed by the Ministry of Internal Trade.

It is added to this the insertion of their productions through virtual platforms and in freely convertible currency (MLC) stores, especially Caribe Stores, which must be strengthened, since the five industry workshops depend on it to a great extent: Solid, Upholstery, Metals, Panels and Maintenance. In order to capture foreign exchange, services are also offered to third parties, such as painting.

Vidaurreta Valdés referred, at the same time, to some "potholes" in production, such as with packing paper or lace, but "heavier jobs do not stop". Although, the unit is strongly affected by the almost zero availability of tubes in the Metals workshop.

That raw material, when it comes in, is used to make furniture for the stores in MLC. "The UEB - he recalled - pays 24.00 Cuban pesos for each imported currency invested, hence the little that is done with that material is exclusive to those stores in foreign currency, to capture them and restock."

It happens that "the metal workshop, for example, was used to making 1,000 dining room sets in a month, but today perhaps 100 can be made. We sell that small amou

nt and guarantee the wages of the workers." This is also the case with the manufacture of beds.The UEB Indalecio Montejo contributes to the manufacture of Lidex Furniture, another necessary production chain in the city of Ciego de Ávila. Not to mention that one hundred percent of the metals that Indalecio Montejo processes to favor different sectors of the national economy are acquired in the foreign market.

Arley Rodríguez García, in charge of the metal structures workshop, commented that they intend to “knock on doors” and advertise their creations, to see if they conquer other suppliers. It sets its sights, for example, on MSMEs, although there have already been links with other Camilo Cienfuegos workshops.

“We have difficulties with carbon dioxide (CO2), a resource used for welding. However, this group of 32 people, aged in the industry, assumes what can be done after each readjustment. The technology is between new and old, but thanks to the anirists we have been able to maintain the teams”.

On the other hand, Niurka Aldana Rodríguez, from the Upholstery workshop, states that the 16 workers are involved, mostly, in productions destined for the leisure industry in the province. At the same time, alternative productions are sought in a small carpentry. "With five sewing machines, we now make 40 sofa beds for tourism."

Among Lídex's challenges are the management of raw materials with the Cuban Furniture Industry Company for the Metals workshop, since that is where the largest amount of foreign currency obtained by the UEB is generated; obtain with the Real Estate ALMEST financing for investments in new equipment that improve the production process; and look for alternatives in the Panels workshop so that the work does not stop until the available technology is restored.

For this calendar, the investment process contemplates the rehabilitation of the Upholstery workshop, and the completion and modernization of equipment.

Among other contributions, the recovery of raw materials appears, in correspondence with Law Number 1288, of 1975, which requires the most rational use of resources in our economy, through the recovery and reuse of waste, products and materials that are derived of industrial processes.