Metal specialist STEELTEC CZ

METAL SPECIALIST

The Czech company STEELTEC CZ, a member of the HUSQVARNA Group, is an important metal processor providing first class services from product development and assembly to surface treatment and delivery. It has achieved remarkable success with its garden tools, sold worldwide. Romana Moares spoke to Mr Rostislav Zabystrzan, the company’s managing director, about its development within the international group and its plans for the future.

The core business of STEELTEC CZ, based in Třinec, is large series engineering metal production from sheet metal pressing through welding, grinding and mass powder coating to final product assembly. In 2007, the company was acquired by HUSQVARNA, a global leading producer of outdoor power products including chainsaws, trimmers, robotic lawn mowers and garden tractors. Husqvarna and Gardena are the group’s core brands but there are also additional regional brands.

STEELTEC CZ has its own tooling shop and aims to provide customers with a comprehensive service covering product development and preparation, mass production and final product assembly, followed by delivery of packed products. With regard to its position within HUSQVARNA, the majority of the company’s products are exported.

Production capacity is spread across two plants. The first one covers metal processing operations up to welded pieces. These are then forwarded to the second plant for coating and assembly. “Each year we extend not only the product portfolio and series for the HUSQVARNA Group but also the amount of services offered to external customers, particularly in the area of our key competence, which is a closed production cycle of metal processing from pressing, welding and grinding to large scale powder coating and assembly,” explains Mr Zabystrzan.

The company is rather unique in terms of its staff – of its 480 employees about 180 are people with varying degrees of disabilities work within the so-called sheltered workshop, located in the coating and assembly plant. “The sheltered workshop has proved to be beneficial for all parties involved and we are proud to support people with limited working capacity in this way, enabling them to be selfsufficient and fully integrated into society. We, in turn, gain valuable workforce and competitive advantage with regard to financial benefit for the customer,” confirms the managing director.

For global brands

About 80 per cent of all STEELTEC CZ’s activities are for the Group, to which it supplies the famous garden tool combi systems sold under the HUSQVARNA and GARDENA brands. STEELTEC CZ is the largest producer of handheld spin lawn mowers worldwide for both brands. Other garden tools include various types of lawn mowers, rakes, cultivators, hoes, garden tractor components, pressing tools and metal components. Production for customers outside the Group in the area of large series metal processing is offered mainly to utilise capacities in low seasons, says the managing director.

STEELTEC CZ also makes an in-house developed product – ECOPRESS – a patented hand press for PET bottles and cans. The press is designed to be the simplest and most effective press for plastic bottles used in homes, companies and schools and may be an effective tool in the collection and subsequent recycling of plastic bottles.

Modern technology

In the last 2–3 years the company has modernised all of its key technological processes with a view to increasing automation and produc-

tion effectiveness. In addition to semi-automated welding machines, it has several fully robotised workstations. With the support from EU funds, a new TRUMPF 3030 laser cutter was purchased recently, expanding technological capability to process sheets of up to 20mm of thickness and covering demand for low volume production.

Considerable investment was also made into expanding the sheltered workshop (assembly) and upgrading the coating shop. The modern, fully automated powder coating shop, where pieces of up to 50kg can be treated, now meets the strictest of environmental requirements, using the latest technologies. Surface treatment is provided for steel, aluminium and galvanised sheets, covers, profiles, tubes, frames, welded parts and structures.

Responsible company

“Our products are first sent to the Group’s wholesale store in Ulm, Germany, from where they are distributed around the world. Our garden tools can be seen literally on all continents,” says the managing director, adding that as global demand for garden tools in increasing, so can the company expect further growth.

Regular staff training and focus on lean manufacturing are to support the continuous improvement of all business processes. Like any manufacturer, STEELTEC CZ must face the challenge that comes with the shortage of technical skills, but this should not hinder further growth. “We will always remain a large series manufacturer but in the future we will be able to reduce the sizes of series according to customers’ requirements. The garden tool sector shows a positive trend and we want to capitalise on this development,” says Mr Zabystrzan.

The company is not just a manufacturer but also an important social partner for the region. STEELTEC CZ has been involved in an educational project to promote waste sorting in companies as a result of which it has been awarded with the ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ certificate. It is further looking to continue and extend its sheltered workshop to provide tangible support for disadvantaged citizens. n