bulletinspring/summer 2013STROS - Sedlcanske strojirny, a.s. newsletter

BUSINESS ACTIVITIES

STROS at the BAUMA 2013Exhibition in Munich

April saw the thirtieth year of Bauma, the inter-national trade fair of construction machinery in Mu-nich. For machinery manufacturers, it is the largest and the most prestigious exhibition. If they don't take part in others, participating in this one is a must.

Official statistics show the trade show again exceeded all expectations: on the record area of 570,000

2m there were 3,420 exhibitors from 57 countries and the trade show attracted roughly 530,000 visitors from 200 countries while the ratio of foreign customers was higher than any time before (in 2010 it occupied an area of

2540,000 m , with 3,150 exhibitors from 53 countries, 415,000 visitors). This world-class construction show keeps growing.

less door switches. The hoist interior had a modern and compact look, without selling itself out to passing trends and while keeping the face of a STROS construction hoist as our customers know it.

The dual hoist, due to its dominant appearance, stood out and inspired respect not only in the visitors, but also the competitors. Our dealers and customers were compa-ring our machinery with the competition and they always commented on our exhibits and display. The smaller cage was powered by buss bar, a system that today is mostly used in New York, but which evokes a lively interest with hoist users from all over the world. STROS was the only manufacturer showing this interesting technical solution at the exhibition. Our display was completed by an HS-1500-F4 industrial elevator, which was a showcase of our technical expertise. It represented a fully equipped, code compliant machine designated for the North American market. Electrical panels with UL certification according to US codes showed functions such as Access Up, Fire-man's Service, Selective/Collective control system, over-load protective device, position indicators, remote moni-tor and a communication system. In the elevator cage, we had the ability to demonstrate the fully functional Emer-gency Lowering device. This exhibit proved that STROS belongs among world-class elevator manufacturers.

Regarding the facilities, we opted for a time-proven two-story stand with sufficient space and comfort. It was

As in the past years, we selected the core of the exhi-bition to be a construction hoist in a dual configuration. This year these were five meter long cages with a load capacity of 3,200 kg, one of which had a standard width of 1.5 m and the other an impressive 2 m. Speed was not important for the exhibition so we utilized the inverters we had available in our stock. But in reality these machines can do up to 90 m/min. Unlike previous years we didn't present electronic functions that are impractical and complicated in a construction hoist, such as a control keyboard, touch screen and the like. Instead we equipped the hoist with what is more commonly used on building sites, i.e. a simple manual operation joystick with a Stop-Next-Landing function. The presentation reflected less ostentatious but more practical and elegant shifts in the development, such as an improved overload detection device linked to the modern PLC with a well-structured display showing the operation status, or modern contact-

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again professionally decorated with graphics by Marketa Bejsovcova. The beer tap serving the best Czech beer was again operated by the iconic Karel. Operation of the stand as well as the company presentation was secured by approximately ten people from the sales department, company management and by the chief engineer, and last but not least by some of our most important business partners. Les Csaszar with his wife from Urban Con-struction Equipment in Toronto and our long-term dealer for the Russian market, Mrs. Slavomira Reiter with her partner were there. They were significant in contributing to the atmosphere at the booth, the world-class presentation and of course, helping manage the busy operation of the stand. In this respect there was really nothing to complain about and the booth staff was not bored at any time. Some customers visited us repeatedly and it was obvious they liked to spend time with us. We scored a bull's eye with exhibiting a veteran Jawa motorbike with a sidecar, which was causing quite a stir among passers-by and provided a constant subject for conversations.

To conclude, we were highly satisfied with this year's presentation of our company. While our competitors uttered remarks about sales issues, we presented ourselves as a company with fully utilized production capacities and as a supplier that dominates some world markets in the area of construction hoists and industrial elevators.

Mgr. Ondrej SusaSalesOur cooperation with

OOO STROS

In Russia, our interests are represented by OOO STROS, founded by Mrs. Slavomira Reiter. Mrs. Slavomira originally worked for HEK in Holland. After certain changes in the company management Mrs. Reiter was sent to represent HEK in Moscow. She periodically met our management when cooperating in terms of deliveries of safety devices made by STROS to HEK.

After the merge of Alimak and HEK and subsequent organisational changes, she decided to establish her own company together with a Russian partner, first called ZAO STROS, to represent STROS in the Russian market.

This market has good prospects in all aspects; before we did, the mentioned Alimak had especially become successful there. Mrs. Reiter followed up on her business contacts and in 2005 she managed to export first five hoists to Moscow, which was repeated the following year; a big growth in sales was seen particularly in 2007 - 2008. She was aware that such number of machines required a continuous and flexible service so she hired two mecha-nics who took training in Sedlcany. After a few successful years the worldwide economic recession also impacted the Russian market and 2009 was not successful. Despite that, Mrs. Reiter kept the company but all employees had to leave. In this difficult situation it was necessary to hire and quickly train new mechanics and hire a new accountant. This was done gradually and the existing business relations were revived, particularly with Turkish contractors. In 2012 we had a turnover of almost 49 mil CZK including spare parts. STROS hoists serve the majority of the Moscow City highrise projects, which is something that no other company in our industry has achieved. It is a great reference and it is attributable the tireless and active work of Mrs. Slavomira Reiter in the challenging conditions of the Russian market.

Ing. Marie CizkovaSales

STROS invests again

The global crisis in 2009 compelled STROS to stop all previously planned investments. Increased turnover and solid economic results in the following years enabled us to invest in technologies and thermal insulation last year. In 2013, we plan to make

INVESTMENT

Almost all investments are co-financed of up to 50% by the European Union. We mainly use EKO and innova-tion programmes.

All new technologies will enable us to increase work productivity and therefore we will be able to remain among the world's top manufacturers of construction hoists and industrial elevators.

investments in the amount of 30 mil CZK. The largest ones include reconstruction of the paint shop, purchase of a new horizontal CNC machine and thermal insulation of the South wall of the hall H. Reconstruction of the paint shop and thermal insulation of the H hall will bring great savings; in terms of the H hall we also anticipate an improvement of the work environment in hot summer days.

Furthermore, in April a new plasma cutting machine was put into operation and a new bevelling machine was purchased. This year we also plan the purchase of a new truck and some small investments such as auxiliary cranes, local suction units, etc.

Ing. Milan SkorpaChief Financial Officer

STROS helped people impactedby this year's floods

The management of the Sedlcany engineering plant decided to financially help people and towns struck by this year's floods. The amount of 150 thousand CZK was released; in addition, there was a collection organised among the employees. As part of the collection 6,112 CZK were raised.

Through the central floods committee the most impacted village of Kresice u Litomeric was selected. In cooperation with the floods committee in Kresice, the manager of this committee as well as the former mayor Mrs. Jurikova helped us choose the five most affected and poorest families among whom 106,112 CZK was divided.

Mr. Dvorak and Ing. Cizkova handed 20,000 CZK over to these families on 21. 6. 2013.

FLOODS 2013 Here we publish their sad stories:

The family of Mrs. Venceslava Fialova - an old ill couple with

a limited mobility. Their single storey house is totally damaged,

all furniture is gone, they borrowed a table, chairs and two beds,

and the house is still a mess. Floors are missing, electricity does

not work.

The family of Mr. Müller - a single storey house, flooded in

2002 and now again. They've got small children and they live

with their parents.

Mrs. Miroslava Smidtova - a single mother with two children

and her mother. She has a one storey house; she lives on the

first floor, her daughter on the ground floor without furniture.

Considering her situation we also gave her money raised by our

employees.

The Horacek family – Mr. Karel Horacek was born in 1940.

They live in a property divided from the Elbe by a road with

floods barriers and by a meadow on the river bank. They have a

one storey house and water reached up to 15 cm from the ceiling

in all ground floor rooms. They already knocked down the

plaster with the help of their children.

The Hruza family – an old couple living in a one storey

house; they live on the first floor. Their grandson, who lives with

them after his mother's death, helps them with cleaning. They

will use the money to buy a kitchen unit.

The remaining funds were divided among the municipalities

of Sedlcany (35,000 CZK) and Kosova Hora (15,000 CZK).

The people, who received this help, thank STROS as well

as employees who personally contributed to this collection.

We've included a few photographs taken by our employees in

the premises of the aid handover. Ing. Milan SkorpaChief Financial Officer

phone: +420 318 842 336, mob.: +420 777 768 111, fax: +420 318 821 230, www.stros.cz

STROS - Sedlcanske strojirny, a.s.

Strojirenska 791, 264 01 Sedlcany, Czech Republic

Design DepartmentEvery manufacturer that has its own production

program needs a group of people who will come up with and design new products. This task is executed in STROS by the Design Department. Currently there are 13 employees who ensure the development and execution of production and accompanying documentation (drawings, manuals, catalogues of spare parts, descriptions, etc.). Drawings are made by the 3D programme Inventor.

DEPARTMENT PROFILE

The scope of products is divided into basic types. They are construction hoists and permanent elevators, work platforms and suspended platforms. In addition, this department prepares documentation for the complementary production of noise eliminating panels.

Construction hoists are traditional products of STROS. As requirements of customers keep increasing, hoist parameters must change proportionally. The largest hoists, supplied mainly to the USA, Canada and Russia, include cages of over 5 m long, with a load capacity of 3.2 t and a speed of 90 m/min with a frequency converter of 110 kW. Many of them serve heights exceeding 200 m and some even exceeding 300 m. In addition, utilization of hoists has increased greatly and if a customer buys or rents a hoist, they use it literally 24 hours a day. This naturally puts great demands on quality, reliability, availability of spare parts, etc. Construction hoists are typically designed by Mr. Engl and Mr. Marik.

Permanent elevators are increasing their share among supplied products. The main difference from construction hoists lies in the fact that unlike construction hoists, their installation is not temporary, but they become permanent part of industrial facilities. Their advantage, compared to traction elevators, is that they withstand tough operating conditions and require minimum construction adjustments at the place of installation, can be attached to the outside of a building and it is not necessary to build an expensive shaft. Each machine, however, is an original as it is made for specific conditions. The entire preparation of the project is more challenging, including local permits, an individual manual, calculations, etc. Permanent elevators are managed by Mr. Cizek who is assisted by Ing. Prosek and Mr. Vorel.

Work platforms and suspended platforms are also traditional products of STROS. Both have recently seen an increase in their use to install thermal insulation and during reconstructions of power plants in the Czech Republic. Special adjustments are frequently required to suspended platforms or the anchoring of work platforms. These adjustments are typically managed by Ing. Hes.

Allocating employees to individual product types is only indicative.; Tasks are often allocated as per the momentary importance, which is enabled by flexibility and knowledgeability of the staff of the Design Department. For example, Mrs. Pestova prepares production documentation for the complementary production of noise eliminating panels, but at the same time is involved in drawing designs for standard production.

Progress never stops and since each manufacturer must meet not only requirements of relevant standards, but also wishes of customers, electrical connections of machines are becoming more complex. Typical examples are permanent elevators which even in an industrial version are sometimes fully equipped with fully automatic controls, Fireman's Service for evacuation of people and subsequent operation of rescue squads, Emergency Lowering Device in case of a power blackout, remote monitor, overload protective device, automatic rack lubrication, buss bar power supply system and many other required functions and features. Design of electrical diagrams and connections is created under the supervision of Ing. Durdak. In addition to designing the mentioned control systems and additional functions of elevators, mainly Mr. Kosik and Mr. Stibor participate in the installation of elevators, customer training and possible troubleshooting, which results in travelling around a large part of the world. Another team member is Mr. Okrouhly who, in addition to creating diagrams and maintaining the telephone network, carries out electrical inspections of all manufactured machines. Production documentation is archived; Mrs. Zouzalova is in charge of filing, copying, tracking and distribution of documentation to individual production departments. Another team member, although an external one, is Ing. Borkovec, who carries out official calculations. His long-term experience enables us to tackle even highly specialized elevator projects and their anchoring.

Over the existence of STROS, the Design Department has employed many design engineers who have made a mark in its history, most importantly Ing. Trojan and Ing. Zib, who has recently passed away.

The current Design Department consists of a compact team that in the recent years has been joined by young design engineers who have easily fitted in and who participate in projects sold all over the world.

The Design Department is always one of the most important units of every manufacturer as it fundamentally determines the final standard of a product and its commercial success. Due to the existing large number of orders, in particular from the USA, Canada and Russia, it can be said that the technical parameters and build of our machines suit our customers well. This indicates the success of not only the Design Department, but all those involved in the manufacturing and sales process.

Jaroslav SebekManager of Design Department