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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