SHEET METAL SPECIALIST
Slovak ŠVEC A SPOL is a modern engineering company offering bespoke production of sheet metal parts and assemblies, diversified into several industry sectors. Romana Moares spoke to managing director Lubomír Švec about the company’s evolving core business and what makes it strong in this fiercely competitive market environment.
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he Slovak company ŠVEC A SPOL s.r.o. was established two decades ago in order to design and manufacture stamping tools for metal piece pressing. A turning point came in 1998 when it became a supplier to the automotive sector, and subsequently set up two more divisions for the manufacture of metal assemblies, and for steel, aluminium and stainless steel components. In the past few years the company has undergone another wave of rapid growth, resulting in the establishment of a new division for the manufacture of steel structures, based in Nitra, and the achievement of the ISO 14001 a ISO 3834_2 certificate for the welding of steel structures, protective rails and machine parts and equipment. “We have become a specialist in stainless steel and aluminium processing,” says Mr Švec. Total turnover for the group (including its sister companies) reached nearly €20 million in 2015 and its financial performance is further improving. “In the near future, we want to further extend our comprehensive services in the area of ultrasonic cleaning and stainless steel processing,” explains Mr Švec. He adds that the company’s core competitive advantage is its diverse portfolio and ability to offer customers not only part and sub-assembly deliveries, but also comprehensive product solutions. 140 Industry Europe
Trusted partner “Our key products are stamping tools and pressed pieces for the automotive industry, comprehensive assemblies for the food and construction sectors and ultrasonic cleaning devices for various industry applications,” explains Mr Švec. The development of stamping technology for metal parts is supported by PamStamp 2G simulation software. The stamping tools are designed in CATIA V5 R24, ProENGINEER, PowerSHAPE, Mechanical Desktop (3D) and AutoCAD (2D) software. The company is currently organised into five production divisions, located in Nitra and Vrable, each applying the principles of lean manufacturing. The divisions are equipped with first class machines including over 20 presses from 100 to 800 tonnes capacity and universal machines for sheet metal processing, including laser cutting, punching, bending and folding machines and robotic welding equipment. In the past two years the company has invested over €7.5 million in new technologies. The latest additions include Trumf Fiber, a high-performance automated laser, a Salvagnini CNC panel bender, a Trimill portal five-axis milling machine and the Arisa transfer press – a
