Liko stories 2014 3 a 4

3-4 2014 Since 1997

LIKO-Stories

Quarterly export issue of the company magazine

We are building a happy and green company

THE FIRST OFFICIAL MEETING OF THE LIKO-S SWITZERLAND GROUP

WE HAVE BUILT ANOTHER IMPORTANT EUROPEAN CAR SHOW ROOM

ARE WE READY FOR NEW YORK AND IS NEW YORK READY FOR LIKO-S?

FAMILY COMPANY OF THE YEAR 2014

OUR PEOPLE

CHANGES IN LIKO-S COMPANY MANAGEMENT As from August, our team will be supported by: Josef Tůma - a new Interiors Division director.

The current director Martin Coufal is becoming the Chairman of the Supervisory Board after 22 years at the position of the top manager in daily operations.

Hana Williams Musilová is coming back from the USA after seven years of studies and work and besides work in the Board of Directors, she will also be in charge of employee care, corporate School of Work and Sale and adapting colleagues.

Her husband Orraine Jerome Williams will also join our company. He is coming from the United States of America where he worked at a top management position, having broad experience in team leadership and implementation of new processes in operation.

Hana Williams Musilová and Orraine Williams

I LIKE WORKING WITH PEOPLE WHO ENJOY WORK First of all, I would like to thank everyone for nice welcome to LIKO-S. Let me take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am 40 years old, I have two children and live in Velké Přílepy with my family. I studied the Secondary Technical School and the Czech Agricultural University of Prague, Technical Faculty, Technical Operation Institute. I mainly have professional experience in sales, human resources management and marketing.

I worked at top management positions at Schindler CZ, Automobil Group and Toyota Motor Czech.

LIKO-S held my interest mainly with its innovative approach and clear visions of its owner Mr. Libor Musil. There are not many companies globally which are able and willing to transform their visions into final profits on a regular basis in a very flexible and effective manner.

Having worked with the company for a short period of time, I can see a big potential mainly in area of export. I am also aware of the need to stabilize the individual teams of the Interiors division, with focus on technical and sales professions. It

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is required to promptly establish a situation when every member of the team can declare the following: “I am one step ahead in what I do. I have everything under control!” and not “I keep quenching and patching things …” I like working with people who like going to work, enjoy their work, because only such approach creates positive energy that naturally creates pleasant working environment.

For all this, it is necessary that everyone knows the clear objective and responsibilities - simply said - everything he/she is expected to deliver. Combining this with proactive approach and diligence always gives the outcome. I can see certain reserve here mainly in the sales area. I would like to change perception of the individual division members from passive approach (such as waiting at the desk to receive an enquiry from a customer) to proactive approach. This means to concentrate more than has been demonstrated so far on new customers in the market in form of “acquisition meetings” and gradual building of new high-quality relationships which will result in higher volume of enquiries and help us achieve hi-

Josef Tůma gher profit. Achieve higher quality thanks to subsequent “selective” sale, not only quantity. The target is gradual and constant growth with focus on higher profitability.

Another area I would like to focus on in the first month of my assignment is simplifying things in general. There are a lot of systems which require high level of administrative activities and we need to jointly look at this.

I believe that we will jointly manage to gradually fulfill both partial and long-term objectives and get LIKO-S to the position of a global leading player in the field.

Josef Tůma Interiors Division director

LIKO-S IN SLOVAKIA

IT IS ALREADY 20 YEARS OF LIKO-S IN SLOVAKIA I WAS WONDERING HOW TO BEGIN THIS SHORT MEMORY. THE FIRST THING I THOUGHT OF WAS OUR FIRST BUSINESS TRIP TO SLOVAKIA WITH LIBOR MUSIL AND MARTIN COUFAL IN THE SUMMER 1994. IT WAS SHORTLY AFTER THE SEPARATION AND WE WERE ALREADY STANDING AT THE BORDERS WITH OUR PASSPORTS WHICH IS UNBELIEVABLE FOR TODAY´S YOUNG GENERATION. THAT DAY WE MET NATASA LICHNEROVA FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WE AGREED ON A CO-OPERATION. IT IS UNBELIEVABLE HOW THE TIME FLOWS BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TOGETHER FOR 20 YEARS NOW. The beginnings were completely something new for me. I was 25 years old, fresh graduate and with no experience in retail, tax calculation and in a leadership of a branch or people. It was a real adventure and together with Natasa we have been learning right from the beginning-from zero. There was no time and opportunity to attend seminars. We had to start searching for orders because we needed to earn our living, our wages. It was an experiment test-error. Today I recall all of it with a smile.

At that time most of our competitors were already established in the dry interior construction market and then we stepped in with Rockfon and started to offer a high-quality ceilings in a price level one class higher. From the first moment it was a cooperation with architects, investors…we were trying to explain and offer different solutions of acoustics. All of the effort brought ‘fruits’. Today it is ridiculous when I think of processing all the orders by hand (no Excel or PC). We had to use a typewriter and a carbon paper and we sent everything by fax. It was ‘cool’ when I made a mistake at the end of the order and had to do it all again-there was no delete button.

When we made a business deal, we offloaded or on loaded a truck by ourselves in a warehouse for our customer. It was ‘great’ especially when it was 30 Celsius degree outside. We had to change our clothes immediately and go to a meeting with an architect.

In 1996 we started to do a business with assembled partitions. We were the first who came with a new alternative to a plasterboard. Architects, investors and other companies were looking at us as we would ‘fall from the Mars’. Three times more expensive than a plasterboard-it was non-understandable. Already in 1997, together with Jarda Srom, we implemented first and atypical realization of assembled partitions for the National Bank in Kosice.

Successful and interesting project where the architects solved details and design without CAD or FARplan. We were able to do everything just with a pen and paper. It was a journey full of joy and worries but it is a necessary part of it.

In these 20 years we made many projects, we have had a large number of recommendations and happy customers. We were the first who changed a view of office acoustics. We were the first who came to the market with assembled partitions and in-hall units. I am very proud I could be a part of this adventure. It is great to be first.

I wish my colleagues in Bratislava and the whole LIKO-S many superb years-because THE BEST IS TO BE THE BEST.

A photo from 1997-from the left: Bronislav Polak, Natasa Lichnerova (present Business Director of LIKO-S SK), Martin Coufal (present Chairman of a Supervisory board), Libor Musil (owner of the company), Jiri Stratil (achief editor of LIKOSACEK) and down Roman Macko (The Director of the Branch in Bratislava)

Present team LIKO-S Bratislava: from the left Matej Rublik, Tomas Soltes, Martin Alusik, Natasa Lichnerova, Matej Knebl, Matej Piatnica, Slavomira Paraskova, Martin Suchy, Roman Macko, Pavol Zak and Renata Pirnikova

What else to say at the end? I would like to thank you to Libor Musil for this opportunity, to Natasa for her enthusiasm and to all LIKO-S people for cooperation.

Have awesome and succesfull next 30, 40 years…

Roman Macko The Director of the Branch in Bratislava

One of the first partitions – Citibank in Bratislava 1997 and our special product made in Slavkov – Rockfon Flectoline 3

LIKO-S IN SLOVAKIA

IN-HALL UNITS inLIKO® FUNCTIONALITY AND DESIGN

Roman Macko

able to plan functions and designs for our customers as they need, that suit them.

Recently we made in Slovakia more than 15 in-hall units for companies as VW, Schenllecke, Vaillant Industrial, Subtil Myjava; and each of them was specific in some way. Another 6 in-hall units are prepared for production. Such in-hall units that we have prepared together with an investor and architect were in-hall units for TOMRA Sorting in Senec. The basic requirement was to place an in-hall unit of 40x6 m in the middle of the hall with glazing space-enclosing all around to meet the requirement of a total view to and overview of the production area. We used a colour design of wall in-fills and doors, what makes the in-hall unit in the

hall not able to be overlooked. It meets all the requirements of functionality - office open-space, office of the manager, meeting room, connections to all media and networks - in short a separate office built-in unit directly in the „centre“.

Currently with the active participation of the investor we prepare intensively three built-in units for Danfoss in Považská Bystrica and a built-in unit for the Japanese firm AOKI. I look forward to new and interesting work that can distinguish us and meet the highest demands of our customers.

Roman Macko The Director of the Branch in Bratislava

One of the products meeting high demands are our in-hall units inLIKO®. We often encounter precisely such requirements of our customers who want building a new office in-hall unit for their both new but especially in already built production halls. The most common requirements are mainly: to receive an overview and control of production in place, saving moving time between offices and the place of production, with a view to future opportunity to rebuild or

Present days bring new insights and requirements of our customers for layout and functionality of production areas.

Optimal solutions represent in-halls in production halls. change the disposition or location of the in-hall unit – these are all factors that help the user to save time and money. Last but not least, it is now not only the actual benefit or the functionality but important requirement of our customers is also design – colour solutions, glazing, using corporate colours.

From the very first we tailor in-hall units together with our customers. It is the most important the moment of the commercial preparation of the contract, where we are

The in-hall for TOMRA Sorting in Senec also meets requirements for functionality and design 4

OUR PARTNERS

THE FIRST OFFICIAL MEETING OF THE LIKO-S SWITZERLAND GROUP From the 14th till the 16th of September our export team was organizing a meeting of all our partners from Switzerland – LIKO-S Switzerland Group. The goal was clear: to develop business relationships between Swiss partners and our company, sharing practical experience about our products and presentation of new products and ideas in development and marketing area.

There was also a cultural part of the program. We spent one day in the historical center of Prague, which ended by a nice evening at a Jazz boat accompanied by Petr Malasek and his music band. One of the evenings was also focused on linking of the LIKO-S team with our business partners. This great fun at the Slavkov’s palace was accompanied by delicious czech food and a bowed trio. It was such an unforgettable evening. According to satisfied expressions of our partners we could call this event as SIMPLY UNFORGETABLE! We are really glad that our business at a demanding Swiss market is growing and we are looking forward to next success and unforgettable meetings.

Our Swiss partners were interested in a production of our interior systems during their visit in Slavkov.

Jan Musil is showing how are the mobile walls LIKO-Space® made

Jan Musil Head of Export Member of the board

Change of the history – even Swiss were fighting in the Battle of three Emperors…Rolf Ritter during the visit of Slavkov’s exposition

Introduction of the first set of our new product Vacuwall®. The tape was cut by our Swiss partner Rolf Ritter, who was at the beginning of this project. We will bring more information about this world’s unique product Vacuwall® very soon

Our group during the trip to Prague with new umbrellas LIKO-Style®

Collective photo from the palace in Slavkov 5

NEW MARKETS-USA

ARE WE READY FOR NEW YORK AND IS NEW YORK READY FOR LIKO-S? For the past 3 years, I’ve been with the Musil family and have learnt about our family business first hand from their perspective. Since my move to the Czech Republic three months ago, I have immersed myself in the LIKO-S adaptation process to learn

learning, I cannot stop thinking of how we could apply our expertise in the U.S. Intuitively, I know that there are possibilities to position ourselves in the North American market, but how can we be competitive?

And, how will we get there? These questi-

Meeting with potential partner, company Five Star Interiors (Yochi and Nachem)

Meeting with Architects, Ron and Sabastian, from company Basis of Design directly from our people. This adaptation process has given me more insight about our products, our business relations, our processes; and, most importantly, our LIKO-s culture. With all that I have learnt and still

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ons kept reoccurring prior to our trip to the U.S. Overall, our trip was productive as we had a very busy schedule meeting with Lawyers, the competition, and potential partners. I

must offer a special thanks to our friends from Meopta for helping us with coordinating this trip and being a significant help.

Our trip would not have been as successful without their help.

From our experiences in New York, I’ve

Inside National Bohemia National Hall, New York. Meeting with Company Quantarex.

The Czech flag on the wall was found in the rubble at the World Trade Center after the terror attacks. It is displayed proudly in NY. confirmed that the market is not the question. The true question is “How can we be competitive in US?” and, in my opinion, our experiences proves that we have the technique and attention to details to make us distinctive. We know this from the saying “Zlaté české ruce”. This technical advantage should boost our confidence. In addition, we are stable and loyal culturally, which adds to our longevity and development. In the U.S., people have a tendency to be transient. They are willing relocate quick and easily, from job to job or from city to city. This makes it challenging for US companies to maintain the status quo. While on the other hand, Czech characteristic are more long-term.

There is an old English proverb we say in Jamaica: “Rolling stones gathers no moss”.

NEW MARKETS-USA

Returning a rental car in NYC at a Kiosk. The agent on the screen was in Arizona (different time zone)

Jan outside at the Bohemia National Hall Meaning, people with no roots in one place, avoid responsibilities and cares which leads to lack of development; but at LIKO-S, we take great responsibility in our work, we believe in development, we believe in creativity, and we have long-term commitment It in our cultural DNA. Another attribute that will make us competitive is our flexibility. We are not restricted by too many guidelines, and we are encouraged to improvise. We have the “make it happen attitude.”

Without any doubts, The US market will not be an easy venture by any means. And, we must be prepared. The atmosphere in New York is that of a major world city, fast paced and not for the faint hearted. The city scape is vast and developed. To my surprise, the presents of sheetrock or dry wall is dominating across the landscape. To enter this market we must be bold (odvážný), and willing to commit. There are no opportunities to “try”. We only have one shot! We must be active in the market place. The atti-

tude and culture is very direct. This coupled with the fast pace, requires us to be aggressive. There is no “Pohoda.” Really, there are no words to describe this phenomenon.

The people are smooth, fast talkers. This art of small talk or breaking the ice plays a big role in doing business in New York. We must learn to “talk the talk”. I am sure that we can adapt because there are successful Czech developers and businesses all over the city, in addition a large population of Czechs that immigrated to New York. We found this our when we visited the Bohemia National Hall, An authentic representation of Czech Republic in NYC. So, after my 1st business trip in LIKO-S uniform. I return with the question: “Are we ready for New York?” or, should I ask “Is New York ready for LIKO-S!?”

Orraine Williams Operations Manager

NHL at Madison Square Garden (New York Rangers vs Detroit Red Wings). Jan and I at NHL at Madison Square Garden (New York Rangers vs Detroit Red Wings 7

NEW MARKETS-DUBAI

LIKO-S HEADING TO EAST In the last few weeks we started cooperation with a Dubai-based family company Versatile. Versatile is owned and operated by the Zakariya family and is a part of a construction and signage business called Joseph group.

Versatile is active on the markets of UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon and partially also the North Africa region. Since the Versatile team is new to the field of system partitions, they are now undergoing technical and sales training from LIKO-S which however

does not stop them to be already very active on the market in getting the LIKO-S products specified in projects. We believe that the Middle East and North Africa markets will play an important role in the global construction industry in the future. And it looks like LIKO-S will be a part of this new exciting development together with Versatile.

Jan Musil Head of Export Member of the board

A couple of kilometers away from one of the fastest growing cities in the world

Jan Musil and Mohammed Zakaria at the final F1 race in Abu Dhabi.

Jan Musil having a dinner with the Versatile team in the Mall of the Emirates. There is the world’s famous downhill for skiing.

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Sam Lloyd from Laing O’Rourke shows the future of the interior projections to Jan Musil.

Dubai surrounded by a desert during a sunrise, view from the highest building in the World-Burj Khalifa.

A picture with Sam Lloyd from Modulor (the daughter company of Laing O’Rourke), who is even after a couple of years still enthusiastic about a co-operation with LIKO-S on the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi

Mr. Zak senior and Jan Musil shaking hands as a sign of co-operation that should be very productive and amusing (as we can see at the picture)

Zak senior with Ashik Kanjer, the Executive Director Joseph Group, who is one of the biggest asian producers of advertising and industrial signage.

Zakariya’s family from Versatile (from the left: AJ, Abida, Zak junior and Zak senior) with our Head of Export Jan Musil

A couple of kilometers far away from one of the fastest growing cities in the world. A quick picture from the car – a great comparison of the Burj Khalifa with ‚normal‘ 100 floors high skyscrapers.

OUR PROJECTS

WHEN THE OFFICE ISN´T BORING for a RED HAT ´S office in Brno

RED HAT ´S OFFICE SPACE IN BRNO – TECHNOLOGICAL PARK – IS ANOTHER PROOF THAT OUR INTERIOR SYSTEMS IN HANDS OF A CREATIVE ARCHITECT CAN DO REAL WONDERS. IN THIS CASE, A YOUNG ARCHITECT KATIE LIN FROM LONDON ATELIER IA INTERIOR ARCHITECTS, WAS ENTHUSED BY OUR ALL-GLASS PARTITION WALLS MICRA I AND MICRA II AND ALSO BY MOVABLE PARTITIONS. AFTER A COUPLE OF MEETINGS KATIE LIN HAS DECIDED TO INTEGRATE THEM INTO THIS PROJECT INSTEAD OF THE ORIGINALLY SUGGESTED ONE. SO EXTRA POINTS FOR OUR PRODUCTS AND CONGRATULATION TO THE BUSINESS MANAGER PAVEL PAVLIK…

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OUR PROJECTS

AWARD FOR BRNO AZ TOWER The tallest building in the Czech Republic - AZ Tower in Brno - is in the top ten of the best awarded high-rise buildings of the world. In the Emporis Skyscraper Award, evaluating the functionality and look of buildings more than 100 m high, AZ Tower placed the 9th out of 300 buildings. The Emporis Skyscraper Award is held by the German company called Emporis based on evaluation of the architectural experts based on two criteria - building functionality and design.

Nomination and the winner are determined by an independent jury of experts.

The Award went to the London Bridge Tower that is more than 300 m high, the DC Tower in Vienna placed the second, the Chinese Moon Hotel placed the third and the skyscraper in Brno the 9th. It offers 17,000 square meters of commercial, office and residential premises. It also houses a restaurant, shops, archive, fitness center and swimming pool. The skyscraper has been designed by the Burian - Křivinka Architectural Studio.

Some interiors of the building also include our LIKOform® system partitions, forming modern and functional offices.

PSJ

Jiří Stratil Editor

AZ Tower

Minerva 10

SMS, Financial Consultancy

SMS, Financial Consultancy

OUR PROJECTS

WORK ENVIRONMENT IN A DIFFERENT WAY New offices in Ruzomberok - CIPI company are the best example of a diverse solution.

There is a distinctive signature on this project made by the architect Peter Abonyi. It is visible that different materials and investor ´s willingness to use non-traditional solutions lead to this design-interesting solution of the interior. We had the opportunity to implement relocatable partitions MICRA I, MICRA II in this attractive project – with embended profiles in a floor and in a ceiling.

It created remarkable effect, it is possible to see just a glass itself in a space as well as mobile wall LIKOSpace® with a black high-glass surface.

In the next project of TEEN Engeniering group from Valasske Mezirici for the investor INA, Skalica we found a solution in assembled partitions LIKOform® Omega 100.1 with a jointfree filling made from a chipboard. It was a beginning of a very interesting design element in a combination with glassfilling, mobile wall LIKOSpace® and acoustic ceiling ROCKFON Koral.

I am glad we could implement such a non-traditional design projects and differentiate a look of office space.

Roman Macko The Director of the Branch in Bratislava

CIPI company, Ruzomberok

INA, Skalica 11

OUR PROJECTS

WE HAVE BUILT ANOTHER IMPORTANT EUROPEAN CAR SHOW ROOM

Our company had a pleasure to build already a second Citroën’s car show room in the Czech republic.

MR. SCHWAB (THE OWNER) OPENED THIS NEW CITROEN AND KIA CAR SHOW ROOM ON THE 18TH OF SEPTEMBER IN KLADNO. EVEN THE EMINENT REPRESENTATIVES OF THESE BRANDS WERE PRESENT AT THIS CEREMONY. MR. TAE HO LEE, THE PRESIDENT OF KIA AND MR. OLIVIER PARRY THE GENERAL MANAGER OF CITROËN. 12

The president of KIA Tae Ho Lee cut the band together with Mr. Schwab during the opening day

OUR PROJECTS

Car show room Schwab during its premiere

The visitors could try driving an electro mobile KIA during the opening day. Such electro mobile might be a future trend in the automobile world because more and more brands make and use the electric drive. This ecological idea and solution is very connected to our company’s culture ‘Happy and Green company’ and we are looking forward to a next successful development which will save our environment.

The just opened car show room is a great example of applying the new system of ‘living constructions’.

Besides the construction system and sheathing, our company implemented also the whole interior of this modern complex. It is possible to see glass partitions FAR, which are the best addition to the inner exhibition space.

From the left Radek Cerny, Petr Schwab, Stepanka Schwabova and Lukas Kovarik next to the Auto Schwab logo carved from ice

In the service section we were solving an ideal daily lighting at the place of working car mechanics. For objects of such a character the details are very important. We believe this new car show room gives Mr. Schwab and his business new dimension and we also hope he will be even more successful than until now.

Radek Cerny Business Manager of the division Energy

The general manager of Citroën, Mr. Olivier Parry was also present 13

ENERGY DIVISION

SMARTISOL IN AUSTRIA TWO YEARS LATER

As time went by in the Austrian market?

AS YOU ALREADY KNOW, OUR SMARTISOL® - ICYNENE® FOAM INSULATION PRODUCTS HAVE BEEN PRESENT IN THE AUSTRIAN MARKET ALREADY SINCE 2012. AS I’M RESPONSIBLE FOR THE AUSTRIAN MARKET AGAIN AFTER A SHORT BREAK, I DECIDED TO GO BACK IN TIME AND SUMMARISE WHAT HAPPENED THERE A LITTLE BIT.

analysis of the sample provided. The result arrived in a week. The conclusion was: “Wir haben ein gutes Gefühl, alles in Ordung…“ We have a good feeling, everything is all right. The next application performed by the team led by Pavel Fluss went without any problems and our customer was very much satisfied with the result.

FIRST AUTHORISED PARTNER IN AUSTRIA – ANDREAS SCHMID

Václav Pěnička (on the right) with Ernst Stocker – partnership and friendship

Another significant move that guided our steps in Austria was meeting Mr. Schmid.

An amazing person, craftsman and carpenter, who builds smaller wooden houses with help of his son and a few other colleagues.

The very first application was insulation of

CERTIFICATION AND COMMUNICATION WITH AUTHORITIES

When we decided to enter the Austrian market, we had to go through an inevitable bureaucratic procedure, despite being an EU member. At that time, I could use my experience gained in my previous job, and I knew exactly who to contact. From the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade to the Austrian Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth. In a surprisingly short time, we obtained a certificate confirming that LIKO-S is authorised to install thermal, cooling and acoustic insulation systems in Austria.

BAUEN UND ENERGIE FAIRS, WIEN 2012, 2013, 2014

We presented our products at trade fairs in Vienna, where we tried to explain the unique features of our insulation system to Austrians who were, however, a bit suspicions at first. I heard the word “Wahnsinn”, which means “insane” or “crazy”, for the first time there.

APPLICATION OF AN INSULATION SYSTEM AT AN ORGANIC FARMHOUSE IN GLINZENDORF, AUSTRIA

This was one of the first and one of the most significant orders that we have ever performed in Austria. I got involved in that project through architect Patrik Kameš, who I met for the first time at the trade fair in Vienna in 2012. A meeting in Glinzendorf, answers to a lot of questions, verifying soundness of business activities of LIKO-S, verifying partnership with Canadian Icynene all followed. I hit

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A new banner of Ernst Stocker announces flawless thermal insulation of this house a small snag when I was asked: “And what is it actually made of, anyway? Can you tell us an exact composition of your product?” There was an unspoken question “Ist das giftig?” hanging in the air. Is it toxic? After a short period of silence I submitted our safety/hygiene certificate confirming that our system was absolutely safe and sound! Yet, that was still not enough. The question was again: “So, what is it made of?” My answer was that the exact composition is know-how of the manufacturer, the company Icynene, and that not even Coca Cola does share the recipe it uses to make its product. The final arrangement was that a local chemist would carry out an

Ernst Stocker is recording work during the application of the system on a wooden house in Vienna

Master applicator Pavel Fluss checks the foam quality before application

ENERGY DIVISION

the attic right in Mr. Schmid’s house. Several other applications for his customers followed. I remember one of our meetings, at which I didn’t have to say almost anything.

When discussing the price, Mr. Schmid just austerely said: “What else do you want? This is the best quality insulation system in the market, and I have it at home, too.” We started cooperation as business partners.

REFERENCES

FIRST AUTHORISED DISTRIBUTOR IN AUSTRIA - ERNST STOCKER

In 2013, Jan Musil successfully entered into partnership with Mr. Stocker. After some time, I can say that this is the best thing we have ever encountered in Austria. Today, to win a trustworthy and committed partner is a great luck, and I look forward to jointly building the SMARTISOL® BRAND IN THE AUSTRIAN MARKET.

SMARTISOL® 2014

This year, we have concentrated mainly on maximum support of our partner, Mr. Stocker, and there have been negotiations underway with several prospective partners for the geographical areas of the Tyrol and the upper Austria.

The majority of applications are performed in the segment of roof structure insu-

Smartisol® ad in a prestigious Austrian construction magazine Exklusive Bauen und Wohnen under the motto Exclusive thermal insulation for exclusive housing

Dear Mr. Stocker, We built our family house thirty years ago. At first, we insulated the foundations in the extent that was necessary for some limited period of time. Eventually, as soon as we had shaken off tiredness, we wanted to finish the insulating works. Thirty years have passed since then though. Due to work, family, life “in general”, but also dirt and unpleasant circumstances related to work with mineral insulation, we were putting off our decision to finish the works.

And then we received your offer! We met and got a clear idea of the best insulation solution for us on the same day. An excellent price-performance ratio. We were able to see first effects of the thermal insulation already in summer and I am pretty sure that we are going to see a huge difference in winter as well. I’m convinced of the fact that the investment in the insulation we have made will pay off soon.

Heartfelt thank you!

Wolfgang Schneider aus Wien

lation, both in new and renovated buildings.

Another segment of an equal importance represent wooden houses. We performed work on this kind just 2 weeks ago directly in Vienna. It was the above-mentioned project for Andy Schmid. Insulating works were done

by Ernst Stocker’s team led by our master applicator Pavel Fluss. We included technology service and training of the applicators of our Austrian partner in the actual work performance on the spot. Again, we could see on this occasion that the only key to success is a careful maintenance of technology and the correct spraying technique.

Václav Pěnička Manager of Smartisol®

Thermal insulation of foundations of a house using solid foam Smartisol® with closed cell structure 15

OUR PARTNERS

DANIELE GUALENI: I LIKE EVERYTHING WE ALREADY BROUGHT SOME NEWS ABOUT A SUCCESSFUL START OF OUR ITALIAN COLLEAGUE DANIELE GUALENI (WHO IS THE APPLICATOR OF FASTISOL – THAT’S HOW THE ITALIANS CALL OUR SMARTISOL®- ICYNENE®).

WE ASKED HIM SOME QUESTIONS DURING HIS VISIT AT OUR HEADQUARTERS IN SLAVKOV.

de shows but we are planning to participate next year.

I also heard that you have visited our friend Jim DeBold in the USA. Have you got any experience there?

Yes, I have been in the USA – in Kentucky. I also met Mark – a businessman from Epipha-

We had such a joyful meeting in Slavkov, from the left: Jan Musil, Daniele Gualeni, his dad Giuliano and Martin Diviš

Daniele feels in this application vehicle Fastisol as at home

Daniele why have you decided to start a business with the isolation Fastisol?

This is a very good question because even I don’t know the answer. Approximately 6 years ago I started to take an interest in LIKO-S. I considered the division Energy as the most interesting. They have many great ideas and even more ideas in the area of thermal insulation. And a couple of months ago I started my own business with a thermal insulation and now I would like to add also facades. I don’t know why I have decided so, I really don’t know.

ny Foam Company. I worked with him in Kentucky and Tennessee and also participated in applications. He is a great man. They have a different way in how to apply a foam. All I have learned there is very valuable for me.

America was awesome.

What do you like the most about this job?

I like everything. For example, meeting new people and retailing. I like to be in touch with my customers and I respect all of them.

This is the reason why I really like this job.

How many orders would you like to have until the end of this year?

As many as possible. Right now I have quite many orders. A part of them is already confirmed. We have five orders confirmed for November and till the end of March we have

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to confirm another 25 orders. It is a good number and I would be happy if it will continue this way in the future.

What is a reaction of Italians to this modern thermal insulation technology? Are they also surprised as customers in other countries?

Yes, Italians are also very surprised. Many people are wondering why it came to Italy almost 30 years later than to the USA. They like that they don’t need to completely rebuild their houses just because of the insulation.

The houses are made of concrete which makes the outside insulation more complicated.

The houses are inherited from one generation to the next and therefore they like that they can make their house like new very quickly.

Are there any trade shows with thermal insulation in Italy?

Not really and to do presentations in customers´houses is not so easy. We have a lots of work now so we wouldn’t have time to do tra-

What is your plan for the future?

For the future? I would like to sell more and to search for customers in the whole Italy. Now I sell in the northern Italy because this area is quite large. Just Lombardy has around 15 million inhabitants. And in the future I would like to expand to the south Italy. We also have many contacts in Switzerland which is only 2 hours far away. At this moment I work just by myself-I am a businessman, applicator-all in one. It is difficult to combine everything. Soon I would like to have one more businessman and also someone who will help me to make my company better and better. This is the first step because one person is not enough.

Jana Vránová Assistant of Smartisol®

PRODUCTION DIVISION

CHANGE IS A PART OF OUR LIVES Changes go along with every human generation and they had naturally been here long before Homo sapiens sapiens started to walk on the Earth. With advancing technological capacities, we are able to more or less resist such changes.

However, I think it is rather necessary to train our flexibility. I would not insist on or fix to the present conditions, as they may and will change. I do not mean any tragic or fatal changes of climate of cultural and political environment in Europe. Although - who knows …

I mean minor changes. Let’s mention a case in point. If we have fixed 3 business days for

Roman Zouhar

generating a quotation and the customer demands 1 day, we have two options: 1) Apologize to the customer, explaining that we are not able to provide the quotation within such short period of time, because …. ; 2) Submit the quotation within the required period of time, however, not less binding or of a lower quality. Such quotation must be precise, giving an opportunity to continue negotiations under the subject business case and ensure the required profit, of course. This means, not for too high price for the customer to exclude us because we kept a cushion here.

If we go for option 1, we lose an opportunity and perhaps a customer for the future.

We can insist on our 3-day system, because we have set it this way, or we can adapt ourselves. But we have to adapt ourselves immediately, not readjusting our system for 2 weeks! This is not necessary. For being able to make a change outside our system, we lean on our company’s philosophy, in particular - We believe in informality as a support of communication.

Fast adaptability is one of important properties of each of us. We can call it flexibility. This property can help us in our personal lives, as well, because also here we encounter actions we cannot affect, so we have to adapt ourselves. And adapt fast!

Production Manager

Quality Manager

Quality Manager

Outsourcing Manager

Purchasing Manager

Warehousing Manager

Warehousing Manager

Purchasing Manager

Manufacturing Services Manager, Operations Director

Production Manager

Production Division Director

Manufacturing Services Manager, Operations Director

Overview of July change in job positions in the Production Division

We had an opportunity to test this property in our Production Division in July.

We made a few changes in our management team.

I made the changes based on a few suggestions. So it was not a change induced by external effects, by an internal need. Being proud of our team, I must admit that everyone approached the changes in a highly responsible manner. Not everything went always smoothly during this change or shortly afterwards. The change brought a few negative aspects. However, I evaluate this change positively in the long term, as the change mainly brought important information for the future. This mainly concerns the mutual substitutability. It is always a big risk in case of unexpected absence, unless I have tested how the team is able to heal up such absence.

My colleagues and I, of course, also had an opportunity to learn the hard way of our colleagues’ work. Such knowledge will certainly bring even better mutual understanding.

I knew that the team or its individual members had to cooperate. They must be helpful to one another, and last but not least, must form a cohesive team.

After one-month work at changed positions, we properly evaluated and closed the entire project. Each of us in the team submitted suggestions and improvements as feedback for his/her colleagues who normally work at the positions.

Although I have already done so in person, I would like to thank the involved ones for how they manage this period of time. It was not always easy. So everyone demonstrated high flexibility and loyalty. And I highly appreciate this.

Roman Zouhar Production Division director

A change is a part of life even in the Metal Working shop. Tonda Aujezdský and Michal Horáček are working on a mixing plant frame for Netherlands 17

PRODUCTION DIVISION

BUSINESS TRIP TO SCANDINAVIA DURING THE EARLY FALL, THE DIRECTOR OF THE DIVISION OF PRODUCTION MR. ZOUHAR AND MYSELF TRAVELED TO DENMARK AND NORWAY TO VISIT OUR CUSTOMERS. OUR MAIN GOAL WAS TO GET NEW CLIENTS, TO WHOM WE COULD MANUFACTURE INTERESTING PRODUCTS AS WELL AS BROADEN OUR PORTFOLIO AND EXPERIENCE Adam Střapec with one of the possible future partners

Niels Paludan (on the left) with Roman Zouhar during an inspection of one of the apartment building At the first trip to Copenhagen we met with Niels Paludan from NCC. For NCC, Likos has been already manufacturing modules of shaft system (Lego like) for some time. This is a job of Jaroslav Zourek and the main responsibility belongs to Jaromir Jelinek.

Together we visited Copenhagen‘s building sites on which we have supplied shafts and we also got to know Copenhagen from Niel’s view. Copenhagen is a beautiful old town, typical for its red bricked architecture on one side and modern architecture on the other side.The biggest surprise for me was the number of cyclists in the city. They have

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Construction of NCC in Copenhagen, there will be a housing core made by us. These are ready to be assembled after a transport from Slavkov their own tracks and traffic lights and in peek hours also traffic jams as Niels said.

We had the opportunity to visit a company Scansteel (our next potential partner into a food industry family) which is not far from Copenhagen. We convinced the CEO of Scansteel that there is a company in the heart of Europe that produces high quality products.

Their delegation will visit us soon in Slavkov to see our company and the production area.

The main reason will also be a meeting about our co-operation of course.

We have also visited a company DISA which welcomed us in a beautiful assembly

hall, with a facade like molding sand and amazed us with a complexity of machines they are producing. We suggested that we could make for them much more complex and complicated things than we supply for DISA until now.

At this moment Michal Prat is a responsible technician specialist for DISA who processes the orders. And of course our skilled workers Marek Bren and Petr Stary participate in production team.

Right after we drove to Aarhus (Northern Denmark) where we had another two meetings. The same day we drove back home.

PRODUCTION DIVISION

We made a short stop in a Dutch city Bakel where our partner GEA is. For GEA we manufacture easy fry FLC and other machines.

We discussed a new design of ScanMidi and our future partnership.

About a month later we traveled abroad again, this time to Norway. Our goal was to search for more potential clients, we could work for. Hanka arranged a first meeting right after our arrival at the airport, with Mr. Gjul from Nordic Crushers. Kristen explained us every single detail of his conveyors for gravel and bunch of other useful information about cement, concrete and sand.

The royal palace in Copenhagen

A second day was booked for a visit of a company Dinatec which is also into food processing industry. In the afternoon we took a look at the Oslo‘s opera house and onto its roof which is open for public.

Next day‘s we met the representatives of Jotne in its headquarters. Jotne is in an oil and gas industry (subsea structures). It will take some time but I believe that sooner or later we could establish a partnership.

The next stop was a company called Pall-pack, where we talked with Axel Hagen about their wrapping machines. We have already offered them a machined part and now we are waiting for Axel´s statement.

Last day in Norway we had a short meeting

Monumental building of the National opera house and ballet in Copenhagen

Norway is very attractive for architects from the whole Europe. These interesting buildings are a result in a company-Kongsberg for which we already made some offers in a past. We discussed the conditions and the expectations under we could work for them.

That was the end of our visit of Norway, we took night flight straight home.

A typical architecture of Copenhagen

I would like to thank to Hana Michalkiewiczová who arranged all the meetings, booked all hotels and flights as well as many other things. Thank you Hana!

Adam Strapec Specialist for stainless steel

There are many parking lots for bikers in Copenhagen 19

THEY WROTE ABOUT US

TOPIC Stories of Success

WE MUST EXCHANGE MUSCLES FOR BRAIN Libor Musil and his LIKO-S succeeded with mobile partitions from Slavkov even with sheikhs of Arabia Libor Musil, the owner of LIKO-S from Slavkov u Brna, accredits his business enthusiasm to a kind of the “genetic fund”.

His great-grandfather Bedřich Musil founded a locksmithery shop back in 1909, his grandfather lost the business in the 1950’s and their offspring then returned to the business as soon as it was possible. “Nobody taught our generation how to do business, but it was probably accumulating in me and when it became possible, my father-in-law and I founded a multi-industrial company specialized in machine building and constructions,” says Musil, remembering the 1990’s. He borrowed first the input capital in the amount of CZK 100,000 and later tens of millions to buy out his father-in-law’s share, but continued to develop the broad company across industries.

The fifty-one years old businessperson is a kind of manager who is driven forward by his business visions which he never lacks.

And what is important he can carry the people he works with. He has a kind of internal intuition on how to lead, how to successfully operate in both domestic and foreign markets. And he is not one of those who heroically point out that they started from scratch, but he likes to think back on the 1990’s. “At that time, it was possible to hire a lot of hard-working and enthusiastic people. The people desired to accomplish things, earn money, learn things,” says Libor Musil.

He is a business philosopher and also, which is quite frequent thing in Moravia, also a big admirer of the Baťa family. He has set the company internal structure and economy according to the Baťa’s pattern. “Divisi-

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LIKO-S • A family company owned by Mr. and Mrs. Libor and Jana Musilová.

• Based at Slavkov u Brna.

• Employs 200 people and the annual turnover was CZK 700 million last year.

• The company invests its annual gross profit of about 25 million mainly in new product development.

• It exports more than 50 per cent of its production, mainly to the countries of the Western Europe, but also to Saudi Arabia or Scandinavia.

• The Interiors Division has foreign subsidiaries in Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

ons, but also small teams, trade with each other, they have their own plans, they are profit-dependent. They manage their accounts with the internal company bank and I only see the cash flows. Our annual turnover is about CZK 700 million, but no funds go through my hands. This is the way to teach people to manage money and run business,” continues.

The company has three divisions. The Production Division specializes in metal

“Nobody will be politely impressed by the Czech folklore,” says Libor Musil. working and exports almost 90 per cent. For instance, one of its products - baking trays for the Dutch corporation GEA are mainly used in KFC and McDonald’s all over the world. The Energy Division specializes in construction of energy-efficient buildings for domestic or foreign companies, mainly in Slovakia and Austria. And the third and most important Interiors Division mainly makes partitions, ranking the company among the three most significant producers in Europe. The mobile partitions from Slavkov are supplied to the entire Western Europe with a strong position in Switzerland, Germany, but also in the United Arab Emirates. There is a university built in the unique ecological city of Masdar, the interior of which is made from the LIKO-S partitions.

According to Mr. Musil, all Czech companies, which do well domestically, can also run business successfully even in the foreign markets. However, they are lacking skilled sales person. “We do not have people with export mentality,” says the successful exporter. The manager are said to still lack the language skills, willingness to travel and mainly knowledge of mentality of various nations. “Nobody will be politely impressed by the Czech folklore,” says Musil, stating the recent meeting with the German ambassador as an example. The ambassador praised the Czech goods, quality, flexibility of companies, but stated the lack of sales specialists

THEY WROTE ABOUT US

as the biggest con. They have realized this handicap in LIKO-S for a long time, having foreign specialists at the sales positions. But this did not satisfy Musil either, and therefore, he changed the game. He allocated the Czech managers to the sales functions. Why? “Because it is important for the export personnel to play for the national team. I experienced when, for instance, an English client did not pay and the Englishman working in our company did not feel like pushing on him,” explains Musil. And as the Czech schools do not educate the sales specialists, they teach them in the company. Besides the English and German lessons, they also train the personality development and trade.

The LIKO-S personnel will also study mentality of the Indians as soon as possible. They have started with the Indian proverbs on PC monitors and at the entrance to the main building every morning. When the Ekonom weekly visited the company, the board was showing the following motto: Face challenges by thinking with certainty that if I cannot, the who can, after you win, modestly say, if I can, why couldn’t the others? Already for six months, Musil’s Indian partner has been sending a new slogan every morning which he posted in his company in India. It is a kind of an indication of future cooperation. “We are establishing a joint company for partition manufacture in India, we will invest jointly and share the profit,” says Musil. However, to acquire the European know-how he is interested in, the Indian entrepreneur must fulfill Musil’s condition. “We will not go for it before he conquers the Indian market with our partitions,” explains Libor Musil. This is also the way of his thinking. He knows that the company cannot grow and develop without export, but he does not rush into any business just to make a notch on his export gunstock.

“If I did not export, the company would have about 50 employees. But I have 200 em-

“

I experienced when, for instance, an English client did not pay and the Englishman working in our company did not feel like pushing on him.

Libor Musil, LIKO-S owner ployees and other 700 gets jobs from us in sub-supplies,” specifies the businessperson, adding that we in the Czech Republic should not forget that we live on export. “A small or medium-sized Czech company competes in international markets with a German company of an identical size. But that has self-confidence and any support. Whereas the Czech company has mini self-confidence due to the local politics. The politics are not in day-to-day war for work, but we are,” notes Musil.

He is evidently one of the entrepreneurs who speak out his even non-conforming opinions. For instance, in the recent case of Amazon in Brno, he was rather on the part of the opponents, whereas it was most likely that his company would participate in the warehouse construction. However, he is not a fan of the “shenanigans” - that’s what he calls the operations of this kind. “We are

smart, efficient, we can work hard, and this is why we have to exchange muscles for brain.

We must start innovating in our companies, think, avoid work that can be done by anyone and seek what we are unique at,” advises the LIKO-S owner.

And as he also does what he says, they invested a new partition system in Slavkov u Brna. They say it is something revolutionary, a world nonesuch that they will introduce in the market in two months. It is a novelty as far as design is concerned, but also in terms of engineering. “We will make a partition that is a solution between a sliding partition on rails and a demountable partition. It will be totally mobile, fast to install or demount.

It can be handled even by persons without expertise,” discloses Musil to the Ekonom weekly more than he should with respect to the competitors.

And talking about disclosures, we are also interested in the company future. It does not mean Libor Musil is leaving the top, as he has too many plans and verve to do so.

But will the present entrepreneur’s children and offspring of the tradesman from the beginning of the 19th century continue the family tradition? “Our parents had and still have a personal relation to the company. The take it as theirs, and this is also the way my sister and I perceive it,” answers Jan Musil, the owner’s son. He says he has never thought of doing anything else. He currently works in the company as a sales person, considering the company to be the opportunity to achieve something, advance it further.

And what about selling the company and having good time for the money? “I almost do not distinguish between the family and the company. It is a family company and you cannot sell your family,” is the answer of the twenty-one-year-old Musil.

Marcela Honsová Taken from the Ekonom magazine, No. 15/2014

A renowned German company HVP after the meeting in Slavkov with our export team. From the left: Jan Musil, Martin Coufal, Iva Kuncová and HVP representatives Kreshimir Karacic and Veselko Karacic

One of the most recent export products of the Production Division is the meat mix stirring vessel for a Dutch partner

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OUR PARTNERS

INDIA AS SEEN BY MARTIN COUFAL Three weeks ago I had the possibility to travel to India together with Libor Musil. The objective of our journey was a series of negotiations with our trade partner, the Pushpak Company, and the decision-making concerning our future co-operation.

I have to admit that I was slightly afraid when leaving to India. Much of the available information about India speaks about dirt, illnesses and beggars. I am not saying you do not encounter these things in India; however, this was definitely not my strongest impression I had of the country. The things that I remember are nice and well-educated people, their smiles I saw every time I met them, a great deal of respect to us as Europeans, delicious food which we ate with our hands and many other positive experiences.

I believe the photos we took in India will give you a better idea of what we could experience there.

Martin Coufal President of the Supervisory Board

This is how people in India bless and give thanks to their welding machines – great inspiration for our metalworking

A wonderful experience: mystical blessing of machines and tools. All of the employees give thanks to “their” production tools

We were received in the same way as were the discoverers on Tahiti a long time ago. Our partners have always been very attentive – as hosts they are the top of the top

The Indians still show a great respect to the Europeans. In this photo with all the employees of the Pushpak Company, we received a ceremonial turban

In the production hall of the Pushpak Company in front of a partition made by LIKO-S

Libor Musil is explaining to the Indians our current business plan

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Thinking up, making plans, improving, working hard...

Three days have passed and we only use our hands to eat food – it is very interesting, give it a try! Your fingers can feel the food temperature more intensely that your mouth. They say when touching the food by your hand, it prepares the digestive system better for the right food processing

A fantastic meeting with Swami, the superior of a Hindu university monastery

Here you can see the food which is varied not only by its taste but also by its colour

Could it be that Libor Musil has an Indian origin or was the Indian man born in the Vysočina region?

We admired the Indian follower of the motorbike “Royal Enfield” and we also tried it out

During the rush hour, the traffic on the streets is much more intense. But drivers do respect each other anyway.

In the manner of the Indians, I am showing respect for the cow trying to lure her away from the street, but the effort is in vain. The animal is in her territory, where we, the humans, are entering

Five people driving a motorbike with the children sleeping – “There is no more place for anyone else.”

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A typical Indian street – one small shop stuck to another. Business next to another business

LIKO-S – WON AN AWARD: FAMILY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR 2014 Our company was awarded FAMILY BUSINESS of the year 2014 on the 13th of November in Prague. The president and members of the government were also present. We won in two different categories, firstly we were awarded by public and afterwards by specialists.

Announcement of results in FAMILY BUSINESS 2014 competition

DEAR PARTNERS, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY LIKO-S INTERNATIONAL WILL BE PRESENTING ITSELF AT THE WORLD’S LEADING TRADE SHOW IN THE FIELD OF ARCHITECTURE AND BUILDING SYSTEMS – BAU 2015. OUR PRESENTATION AT BAU IS A CRUCIAL MILESTONE FOR THE FURTHER PROGRESS IN THE EXPANSION THROUGHOUT EUROPE AND OTHER WESTERN AND EASTERN MARKETS. FOR THIS PURPOSE, WE HAVE PREPARED FOR YOU A TRULY EXCITING EXHIBITION OF NEWLY DEVELOPED PRODUCTS AND PROTOTYPES WHICH WE TRUST TO BE THE FUTURE OF THE SYSTEM PARTITIONS AND OFFICE INTERIORS DESIGN. ABOVE ALL, WE WILL FOR THE FIRST TIME, PUBLICLY PRESENT OUR BRAND NEW AND UNIQUE SYSTEMS VACUWALL® AND SMARTIWALL® AS WELL AS THE VARIOUS OPTIONS OF OUR RANGE OF INNOVATIVE LIKO-GLASS®. THE LIKO-S INTERNATIONAL TEAM IS THRILLED AND LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AT OUR STAND AT BAU!