Raising the roof.....with style Tondach

RAISING THE ROOF..... WITH STYLE

In March 2009 ceramic roof tile maker Tondach opened Europe’s largest roof tile plant in Békéscsaba, south-east Hungary. The new investment boosted domestic capacity by 70 per cent and enabled Tondach Magyarország Zrt to provide an extensive range of products and unique services for its customers. Edina Beale reports.

Leading ceramic roof tile maker Tondach AG began to expand in eastern Europe in 1992. Today the company is present in 11 countries and operates 34 factories. In Hungary, Tondach currently employs 405 people in five production sites and one sales department in Budapest. The latest site, Europe’s largest roof tile factory, was built two years ago in Békéscsaba, south-east Hungary from a €50 million investment.

The new production facility was completed in a record 12 months and provides 25000m2 room for the cutting-edge production technology. The output capacity of this state-of-the-art facility reaches nearly 30 million roof and 2.5 million profile tiles a year. This is enough to cover about 3 million m2 , i.e. the roofs of 15000 houses.

The 235m long kiln is the largest of its kind in the world. The factory’s low energy use, health and safety and environmental standards provide all the necessary conditions for the company to operate at maximum efficiency and to offer its customers an exceptionally high level of service. Tondach is able to deliver products in a perfect format with improved hardness, thus reducing the chance of cracking during long-distance shipment. The company is also able to develop products with many different and unique colour shades while increasing its efficiency and product durability to 100 years. New products and services

The new factory has enabled Tondach to extend its product portfolio with the XXL family range. This new range is manufactured on the highest quality production line and therefore can be classified as a premium roof tile product. Within this range there are three product types – the Twist, Bolero and Rumba.

Efficiency and secure delivery is an important factor for all customers, both private individuals and large construction businesses. The new large format ceramic roof tiles are excellent from both of these aspects. The new models provide opportunities for the builder to meet their own individual needs. With this range Tondach has therefore created the trend to provide natural, high-quality and long-lasting products combined with the freedom to meet individual tastes, design and construction.

The introduction of the XXL family range was followed by the launch of Tango+ last year. This is a modern version of one of the most popular

large-size Tango tiles. In 2011 the company developed a new colour within its awardwinning Twist product range. The decision to introduce the Autumn roof tile was based on the result of a customer survey carried out at the Construma Construction Exhibition.

In Hungary, Tondach Magyarország Zrt leads the market while also distributing 50 per cent of its production to foreign markets including Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Bulgaria and Ukraine. The new roof tile factory boosted domestic capacity by 70 per cent which also enabled the company to provide the fastest service for its customers as the unique TESZ (Tondach Express Services) and TET (Tondach Express Roof) services were introduced. The company has recently begun to put increasing emphasis on extending its CSR activities.

Realistic picture of the future

Mr Aladár Kató, chief executive of Tondach Magyarország Zrt, and member of the Hungarian Brick Association, gave an insight as to what the future holds for the company: “The Hungarian construction industry, especially

the building construction sector, has been in a crisis for the past three years, and in 2010 was near to complete collapse. Flat construction, the main market, has collapsed within three years. Figures now show a 60 per cent drop compared to 2008. The projections for 2012 indicate a further 20–30 per cent drop. The turnover of the businesses operating in this industry has been similarly reduced, and a significant excess of capacities has been created. In recent years, companies have been forced to reduce their capacities and make redundancies, and still expect to continue to do the same in the future. Industry players are in a deficit; they are fighting for survival.

“The record strength of the Swiss franc affected directly those companies that have taken loans out in this currency for their investments and developments. Due to the conditions of these loans and the increased exchange rate the repayment instalments have doubled by today in some cases, and it has become unmanageable in this narrow market. The Swiss franc rise affects the industry indirectly as well, since the increased mortgage payments prevent the population from making investments to stimulate the domestic economy; they use their savings to supplement their increased loan instalments.”

Mr Kató continues: “According to industry experts, the crises may not have reached its lowest point. The performance of the Hungarian construction industry, which has a significant role in the domestic economy, has worsened every year and is in deep crisis. Even optimistic expectations do not indicate positive changes before 2013–2014.” However, Mr Kató is proud to announce that Tondach Magyarország Zrt has managed to maintain its leading market position during this difficult economic climate and continued to extend its product portfolio with new shapes and colours as well as providing better and faster services. n