Winning the races Elan

WINNING THE RACES

The owner of one of the largest ski factories in the world, whose winter products cover one seventh of the entire market, the Slovenian Elan group is a modern company with an innovative philosophy. Mr Leon Korošec, member of the management board, talks about the ways Elan fosters a philosophy which permeates all levels of their business. Vanja Švačko reports.

Though primarily known for its famous skis and snowboards, Elan has a presence in other sports fields as well. It comprises a nautical division manufacturing performance sail yachts and Elan Inventa, the leading brand in equipment for the sports facilities. The youngest division Elan Wind Power produces complex composite components for the wind turbine industry.

Elan’s major ski factory is located in the mountain town of Begunje in Slovenia. All products from the nautical division are also manufactured in Slovenia. Elan has four companies in Canada, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan, as well as independent distributors globally.

Elan has an interesting history of ownership. After experiencing bankruptcy, it was bought by a Croatian bank in 1990. After a decade,

it was bought back by Slovene government owned investment funds. Today it is in the majority ownership of the state-owned PDP firm. At the moment, Elan is going through the process of privatisation, expected to be completed soon.

Diversified company

“Our company is diversified and historically developed from the ski division,” explains Mr Korošec. “To make skis 65 years back you had to know how to bend the wood. This ability to bend wood above a water steam was then incorporated in our nautical division. This is why until today our core products are skis, snowboards and boats.”

In the winter division the company focuses on the demands of recreational and professional athletes equally. The whole philosophy was built upon this insight. Elan’s ski is a product with a story that dates back to World War II, with hundred pairs of wooden skis made by a few craftsmen for the partisans. In 1945, a passionate jumper Rudi Finžgar officially founded the company that would very soon start exporting its skis worldwide.

“Élan made the first export to the USA in 1952. We were lucky to have the visionaries who delivered the first skis for the international market and who knew that in order to be successful you had to be global,” adds Mr Korošec.

The company’s product range was rapidly growing from snow skis to water skis, boats, kayaks and canoes, tennis and badminton rackets etc. Constant need for improvement that would enhance performance resulted in the opening of an Institute for Innovations in 1963. Additional help in strengthening its position among the competitors came from the skiing legend and multiple world champion Ingemar Stenmark, who won all his races on

Elan’s skis and is until today the most successful ski racer with 86 world cup victories.

Numerous breakthrough innovations in skiing technology such as carving skis in 1990, recent WaveFlex™ and Amphibio, improved the bending ability of the skis and added smoothness to the edge grip and turning. They secured Elan’s place on some of the most competitive world markets like Germany, where Elan is recognised as one of five best-selling ski brands. With its versatile winter division portfolio, Elan is present through its partner company or subsidiary wherever there is a ski market.

Market confidence

“If you can prove that you can succeed in a highly competitive market such as Germany, it is an excellent starting point in internationalising your company,” says Mr Korošec. “This is exactly what has happened with our division Elan Inventa, a provider of high quality equipment for indoor and outdoor sports facilities. We delivered business solutions to large sports facilities for international championships in Split, Ljubljana, Skopje, Zagreb, Belgrade etc. After the severe economic crisis that affected countries of the former Yugoslavia, we have shifted to western Europe. There we installed the most advanced telescopic seating system for Leipziger Messe, securing a strong place among competitors.”

Elan Inventa is present in Scandinavia and Russia, expanding to other European markets, with a remarkable number of sporting facilities equipped.

When it comes to the boats, Elan’s cruising yachts use the latest technology in the nautical industry. A trendsetter in yacht development, incorporating Rob Humphreys design studio, the company has its clients in Scandinavia, the UK, Mediterranean countries (Italy, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece), with growing interest appearing in the Middle East and the USA.

The last division founded in the group is Elan Wind Power. “Our most recent division was the result of the world crisis that started in 2007 and hit the nautical market particularly hard,” explains Mr Korošec. “Since Elan made strong investments during the years when the market was growing, in order to deal with sudden decline of nautical business we decided to utilise those investments in a new energy division. Today we produce components from similar materials for the wind power companies, implementing the knowledge gained in marine industry.”

Culture of innovating

For all its hard work in the field of innovation Elan has earned the title of the Most Innovative Brand and received the Best Product Award for Elan Amphibio 14 Fusion ski in 2013.

“Innovation is a magic word these days; everyone talks about it,” continues Mr Korošec. “It can relate to product, technology and marketing but we try to bring innovations to all segments of our business. However, the most important for us is product innovation. The awards we keep on receiving are the rewards of our internal philosophy, brand values and the strategic decision we took years ago to deliberately invest in new and innovative products. The ski market we mostly operate in is very mature. Thus, we have to be very proactive in innovating to deliver the right value to the customer. Innovation, in our opinion, is the right answer for the challenges of our future markets.” n

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