INVESTORS IN MSK
In some places, there is a central government subject that
dictates everything; other places have more liberal markets
with many smaller business owners. In the case of our B2B
engineering products, the key is to be able to design, test and
homologate a product before production and delivery. The
ability to communicate within the market then goes hand
in hand with this, having language skills and understanding
business norms and quality requirements, etc.
Do you think your success could inspire other Czech
companies to follow in your footsteps?
Definitely, firstly in the way that we proved a Czech
company can become a market leader, producing a unique
product, developing it and providing service throughout its
lifespan. Secondly, we showed that this same company can
also realize acquisition efforts in the west, which has not
been that common in the past—most often it is the other
way around.
What is your vision of the future for BONATRANS
GROUPS a.s.? Do you have any plans for the future?
Yes, we indeed have plenty of plans. Our first is the
everyday development of the company’s personnel
potential. BONATRANS is a successful company due to its
ability to adapt coworker ideas into products demanded
by the market. Our second concern is the Green Deal,
Europe’s pledge to support ecologically friendly and
sustainable technologies, as railway transport definitely
falls into this category. The increase of expenses in
the production of steel within Europe due to emission
reduction systems is something we view as a risk though.
Nonetheless, we are also working on reducing our carbon
footprint as we are planning to invest in heat recuperation
and together with our sister company in a photovoltaic
power plant. We also plan to construct further machining
centers to accomodate finishing operations on our
products, such as surface finish and coating. As far as the
market goes, we are still focused on geographical areas
showing the largest growth—England, Scandinavia, Italy
and China. We would also like to increase the proportion
of our sales in innovative products. I am specifically
speaking about BONAXLE®, an axle design that lasts the
entire lifecycle of the train; BONASILENCE®, a series of
wheel noise dampers mainly aimed at public transport but
also at high speed trains and freight cars; BONASTAR®,
advanced steel grades, extending the lifespan of wheels
and tyres thereby decreasing costs in the lifecycle of the
entire wheelset; and BONACOAT®, a line of coatings
with increased reliability for axle protection.
Do the German people inspire you in some way? In
what ways are they different from Czechs in not only
professional but personal lives?
There are two things that are very inspirational to me.
The first is precision: the effort to unpack each process
and describe even its minor details. The second is respect
towards upholding rules. There are, however, a couple
negative aspects as well, namely a lower willingness to
improvise and rigidity, which is something we have to take
into account when communicating with Germans and
German companies.
Mr Weimann, thank you for the interview.
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