We have invested more than CZK 2 billion in our production plants over five years

"The purpose of these investments was to purchase the latest technology and expand our product portfolio. We wanted to gain a competitive advantage in the market. To be leaders in our business areas. In the case of foundries, it was also a significant positive impact on the ecology," Denisa Materová, CEO of Promet Group, described the reasons for acquiring new technologies.

We have invested CZK 912 million in the Kopřivnice Tawesco production plant since 2020. Thanks to the purchase of new technologies, it has become one of the five companies in Europe with the most comprehensive know-how in the field of pressing and welding of parts for the automotive, agricultural, forestry and handling equipment segments.

Tawesco's largest customers include Škoda Auto and the Volkswagen Group. It also produces pressed and welded parts or special moulds for the Audi, Bentley, Mercedes and Tesla brands. And of course for Tatra trucks. In the field of agricultural technology, the world-famous producer John Deer has been a key customer for 15 years. The well-known and established brands Doosan, Bobcat and Linde are also among the manufacturers of material handling equipment. "You will find our pressed and welded parts in cars, harvesters, seed drills, forestry equipment or forklift trucks of world-famous brands all over Europe. We press or weld over 16 million products annually. We want to increase the number of customers in the future. The aim is to diversify our portfolio and thus reduce our dependence on one or two sectors. In these times of change, this is very important for production stability," says Margita Rejchrtová, CEO of Tawesco, commenting on the business plans.

Five years ago, Tawesco's product portfolio was not as diverse. Since then, the company has invested around CZK 200 million a year in the purchase of pressing and welding technology. "For us, the key investments have been in hydraulic and transfer presses, which have put us among the top in Europe. Also very important were the recent installations of robotic welding and a whole new welding plant with ABB technology, which went into full production at the beginning of this year," says Margita Rejchrtová, describing the key investments.

This year, Tawesco will invest another CZK 69 million. "On the one hand, we are investing in machinery and equipment to increase the efficiency of production logistics. We are also preparing to connect the machines via a private high-speed 5G network. Another part of the investment enabled us to equip the welding plant with the latest technology for digital quality control of welded products," adds Rejchrtová.

Another important area of investment was the modernisation and greening of two foundries. Promet Foundry in Vsetín and Tatry Metallurgie in Kopřivnice. Investments worth CZK 1.1 billion were made. "The recent start-up of the modernised operations of our foundries in Vsetín and Kopřivnice is significant both in terms of the use of the latest production technologies and the positive impact on the surroundings of these plants. They have helped to reduce the emissions of these plants by more than ninety percent and thus improve the environment in and around the plants," adds Denisa Materová.