Star performance The Czech engineering company Seco Group, a producer of mowing tractors, significantly increased its sales last year and has reinforced its position in the European market. One of the key factors behind this success was the introduction of Starjet, an innovative product designed for the most demanding customers. Romana Moares reports.
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he Czech Seco Group, a successor of the renowned traditional agricultural equipment manufacturer Agrostroj Jičín, had a good year – the company managed to increase the sales of its smallsize tractors by almost 20 per cent to 8900 pieces, and is planning to increase its export volumes to 80 per cent this year. In Poland, for example, its sales increased five-fold compared to the previous year. The company, which employs almost 700 people, expects another increase this year, to over 1.3 billion Czech crowns. The Seco Group is the biggest manufacturer of mowing tractors in the Czech Republic, and has been in the business, without interruption, since 1895. It was founded to make agricultural machines and tools, including ploughs, seed drills, hoes, tedders and rakes, and later also threshers. In 1895, the production of grass and cereal mowers was introduced. Production was gradually expanded and in 1913 a foundry was built – these two production lines still represent the core businesses of today’s company. Seco Group also has a transport division, which distributes spare parts for Škoda Auto. The company now controls about one third of the local mowing machines market.
Robust and reliable The engineering division, with its production of small tractors, generates about 40 per cent of total output. At present, Seco Group supplies 11 small tractor models including the sturdy grass tractors Starjet
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and Crossjet riders. The Starjet series is the main line, accounting for about two-thirds of total mower sales. Starjet tractors are designed for the cutting or mulching of regularly maintained grass areas, and are the most widely used tractors in the Czech Republic for the maintenance of football pitches and other grass-covered sports grounds. The group invests 25 million SEK per year in the modernisation of its production technologies, of which up to 7 million is spent on development and innovation. The latest innovation to come from its research and development department is a mowing tractor with a high-rise tipping basket (grass collector), which significantly improves operator comfort. This product was about a year in development and the company will produce about 300 units by the end of the first year, although it plans to increase its annual output to 500. The tractors are sold under the name Starjet Exclusive PRO in two versions, both equipped with a twin-rotor cutting unit placed between axles. Both version of the tractor can be used year-round. Seco boasts modern technology for metal processing which, in addition to the manufacture of its own products, can also be sub-contracted to external customers for their own unit production. A comprehensive CAD/CAM solution, the production of accessories and fixtures can also be offered, if required. “Our continued strategy is to offer robust, reliable and safe machines with a high added value,” says sales manager Zdeněk Pecl. “That is also
