Imaginative design and superb quality

Bang & Olufsen is a manufacturing company from Denmark known worldwide for its very high quality consumer electronics. The company’s philosophy is to have the courage to examine everyday things and to turn them into unusual and lasting experiences, which in practice means constant innovation. In the UK Bang & Olufsen won 20th place in the Superbrands ranking, ahead of corporate giants such as Nike, Facebook and Microsoft.

Pavel Merhout, manager of the company’s Czech subsidiary, begins: “Here in Kopřivnice we are the only factory in the world outside Denmark to which Bang & Olufsen has transferred work. The decision in favour of Kopřivnice was taken in 2003, thanks to its long industrial tradition. Here B&O has built a modern factory, opened in 2006 with an overall area of 12,500m2 (of which 6500m2 is manufacturing space). At present the Kopřivnice factory is the main producer of audio systems, and the complete portfolio of speakers, controllers and telephones for the Bang & Olufsen brand. In 2007 a new warehouse was built on and the distribution of spare parts added. From 2012 the Czech subsidiary has also been producing B&O acoustic lenses and speakers for the automotive sector. Our brand is known for its emphasis on quality in novel designs.” New export territories include Brazil, Russia and China.

The company’s culture is based on teamwork. The Danish mother company has passed on to its Kopřivnice colleagues not only their technical experience, but also their pride in their work and in the brand, a friendly working environment and excellent employee care standards. According to the manager, people in Bang & Olufsen have the possibility of personal growth, of developing their talents and achieving career success. The company in Kopřivnice is flexible on manufacturing times. New products are very much in demand and must be available for distribution very quickly. For this reason it operates an accumulated hours system here, where

employees can build up working time, and in the case of the distribution of a new product everyone is willing to work late.

But at the same time employees are also encouraged to take responsibility for the results of their work and to communicate openly – something that happens in all directions. Teamwork is the basis of the production teams, the teams arranging production transfers from Denmark to the Czech Republic and the teams working on new product development.

Innovation and new solutions

For Bang & Olufsen, research and development requires constant communication between individual specialists – only in this way can they use the potential of the individual and so find optimum solutions. The company’s organisation structure is very flat, with few management layers, which supports clear task delegation and role division in the inter-departmental project teams. “The research and development unit at Kopřivnice was established as early as 2006. So the creative ideas leading to final Bang & Olufsen audio-visual products come from Kopřivnice. Since 2006 the team here has grown by 35 specialists in the engineering and electrical fields. Development engineers work on innovations and maintenance of existing products, and also on updating them, but especially on the overall product development of concepts from Denmark,” the manager adds.

The latest trends from recent years include products based on receiving Wi-Fi signals or ALT (Acoustic Lens Technology). This approach allows for the diffusion of higher frequencies so the listener experience is always in stereo, for example when travelling by car. Another interesting approach is ABC (Adaptive Bass Control) for Beolab 5, where the instrument itself calibrates the room it is playing in and thus automatically adjusts its output to the highest possible level of quality.

Ideas and initiative

Bang & Olufsen was founded by the two young engineers Svend Olufsen and Peter Bang. They met at the Technical University in the city of Aarhus, and found a common interest in the exciting new medium of the day – radio. With financial help from their families, in a workshop built in the borrowed loft of the Olufsens’ house in Quistrup near

Struer, they founded the Bang & Olufsen company on 17 November 1925.

Bang & Olufsen now employs some 2000 people, and in 2010/2011 attained a turnover of 2867 million Danish crowns (ca €380 million). Products are sold in more than 100 countries through nearly 1000 retailers. About three-quarters of these retailers sell only Bang & Olufsen products and over 80 per cent of the total revenue is based on this.

“Architects favour our products for their unique design and superior quality. Currently Bang & Olufsen is focused on producing televisions, music systems, speaker sets and telephones. Our products also include car sound systems, which can be found in marques such as AUDI, Aston Martin, Mercedes-Benz AMG and BMW. Our products stand out from the crowd through their design and the use of pedigree materials (e.g. anodised aluminium), in the way they are processed and not least because of the quality of the sound and the look. We have no direct competitor, as our market segment is a narrow one. In Germany for example we have won the Best Brand for the third year in a row in the Hi-Fi category of Auto Motor und Sport car magazine,” says Mr Merhout. Perfection in simplicity

The company’s philosophy has always been to develop products which neither prettify nor distort reality. “Our motto is to make products which express their identity through their look. Bang & Olufsen products maintain a tradition of inventiveness and are intended above all for individualists. We prefer a comprehensive approach, a high level of user comfort, the concept of the modern integrated household, where a single remote is enough to meet all your needs,” concludes Mr Merhout. n

www.bang-olufsen.com

high performance power conversion

Heliox is a fast growing company specialised in research, development and manufacturing of high performance power conversion products with a strong focus on innovation and quality. We manufacture with a global presence to be able to supply to our customers according to our localfor-local strategy. Our headquarters are located in Best, The Netherlands.

Power conversion products for the high-end consumer market, the medical market, the e-mobility and solar market are the main target areas. We are specialised in customised design of power convertors for a variety of applications, ranging from high quality class-D amplifiers to compact power supplies and LED drivers. Also medical grade power conversion systems, solar inverters and high power automotive systems are part of the portfolio.

Our products are characterised by a high degree of innovation, high efficiency and long lifetime. The R&D and manufacturing process are strongly linked in an ongoing quest for higher product and process quality.

As a key supplier Heliox works in close cooperation with Bang & Olufsen on the development of a variety of products. Our common mindset of continuously challenging technical as well as non-technical boundaries and thinking in a “can do” manner results in a strong drive for realising the best products possible.