In the chair BORCAD

IN THE CHAIR IN THE CHAIR

Czech company BORCAD is a leading European producer of railway and medical seating technologies. The company exports to more than 80 countries worldwide and, with its unique design and original construction solutions, is one of the most innovative companies in this field. Romana Moares reports.

BORCAD cz was founded in 1990 as a design and development studio by its present co-owner and managing director Ivan Boruta. The management soon established that in order to survive and grow, the company needed to offer its own products. It began to focus on the development and production of state-of-the-art seating technologies in two business lines – medical solutions and railway solutions.

Michal Števula, the company’s marketing manager, explains that in recent years the company has grown rapidly to its current 250 employees and has successfully expanded into new markets, including China. “This year we have started to offer customers our capacities in the area of testing, including the services of our testing laboratory, which is becoming our third line of business,” he explains.

BORCAD’s key strength is its high quality R&D and design competence. All products boast unique technical solutions and exquisite design. In 2011 the company received the prestigious Red Dot Design Award for its gynaecology chair GRACIE and a year later for the design of the luxury train seat COMFORT.

Three pillars

The railway line offers a full range of products for carriage interiors, from the standards seats for regional trains to the luxury, fully electrically operated seats for long-distance trains. The company supplies seats for regional trains servicing all key airports in Moscow and was one of the suppliers for the 2014 winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Borcad seats are even fitted in the Pendolino trains. Its customer portfolio includes such renowned names as Siemens, Stadler and Deutsche Bahn.

In the medical sector, BORCAD focuses on the development, design and production of birthing beds, gynaecological, dialysis,

oncology and transport chairs. In these segments the company ranks among the world’s top brands. “The medical sector demands a high degree of functionality of these products: they must be easy to use, safe and hygienic. This trend is likely to intensify in the near future. There is also a strong emphasis on state-of-the-art electronic equipment,” Michal Števula says.

He further explains that in the area of testing, customers want quick and high quality solutions to meet their needs. In the future BORCAD plans to offer also additional services, such as offering proposals and recommendations based on completed tests. Innovative trend-setter

The company has two production plants, each focused on one of the main business lines. Last year it completed brand new production premises to house the railway line, ensuring sufficient development potential for expected growth. This has been the biggest investment project in the company’s history. Now BORCAD is finishing the construction of new testing laboratories in order to have sufficient capacity to meet customers’ demands.

“Our key competitive advantage in the medical sector, or gynaecology to be more specific, is the fact that no other company has

such a unique specification. Most of our competitors offer only standard hospital beds or birthing chairs. In the gynaecological sector we are the global trend-setter in the latest technology integration. For example, we were the first company in the world to integrate optical video colposcops in gynaecological chairs. This gave us a huge head start ahead of competitors and still keeps us in the lead,” says the market-ing manager.

Regarding the railway sector, he explains that in line with current trends for smaller seats the company uses lighter materials. BORCAD also integrates USB ports, electrical sockets and other non-standard features into its passenger seats. “The trends play into our hands – we are a highly innovative company and are able to meet new requirements and demand extremely fast,” he claims. In this context he mentions the importance of reliable suppliers which contribute to BORCAD’s reputation worldwide, such as Linak, a long-term, trusted partner which supplies first class electrical motors – a key to the success of the company’s products in global markets.

Global leader

BORCAD exports 85 per cent of its output to around 80 countries in Europe, Central America, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

“In the past few years, we have completed a number of very important projects. We developed and delivered seats for the Canadian Rocky Mountaineer, and became a supplier to major companies such as OBB, DB, Talgo, Aeroexpress and many others, becoming a global player in the train seat sector,” says Mr Števula. “In the medical sector, we have penetrated the Chinese market and achieved significant product improvements, such as the integration of optical technology as well as cordless technology in gynaecological chairs and beds.”

BORCAD has ambitious plans for the future: “By 2019, we want to become a global leader in innovative technologies in the railway sector, and a world number one in the sector of gynaecological and obstetrical chairs and beds. For the next year we have set ourselves another challenging task: to penetrate the most demanding of markets in terms of medical equipment, the United States.” Given BORCAD’s dynamic development and worldwide success so far, these goals may not be so unrealistic. n