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You can learn skills, but values are part of you
In Tehnos, they say that their values are already hidden in their name: technology, aesthetics, speed, innovation, responsibility and professionalism. Their story began with a small undertaking, which has developed into a company with 125 employees, producing mulchers and other agricultural machinery under its own brand, plus components for the automotive and electrical industries. The company is the child of Anton and his wife, the employees are their family and work is their way of life. All this is reflected in their attitude, in the atmosphere they have created and in the company’s incredible growth.
The quest for continuous improvement
It all began in a small garage workshop. At first, they made tools for the glass industry, but eventually began to manufacture other tools plus small plastic and rubber products. Vera says that Anton is the one who continuously pushed the story forward and always looked for new solutions, but none of them would have succeeded without their work ethic. After a few years of cooperation with Siemens, they realized in 1994 that they were too small, so they took major bank loans for further growth and risked everything. Although at first they just wanted to buy a hall from a company undergoing insolvency proceedings, in the end they bought a major part of a failing company in Žalec. As a result, programs also had to be expanded, new premises were bought and continuous improvement began.
Anton developed machines with the help of his co-workers and controlled the production, while Vera took over management of the non-metallic product segment using rubber and plastic. “I'm happy and satisfied that Vera has been part of the company the entire time. I’m not sure if she would understand me if she wasn’t,” Anton says with all honesty and adds that they have always supported each other and divided working areas. It often happens that they see each other in the morning, at lunch break and then in the evening at home. “She is my officer in charge of panic,” he adds.
Today, they are focused on the industrial area and sell agricultural machinery to four continents. In 2015, they received an award for extraordinary achievements in economy and entrepreneurship from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, followed in 2017 by a Golden Gazelle Award for the fastest-growing company in Slovenia.
If a company doesn’t grow with new technology and the latest trends, it remains behind.When you stay behind once, you are not competitive with other companies and the conditions for bankruptcy arise.”
Anton Kisovar
Entrepreneurship – to be bold, but also a gambler
Now production takes place using 14 robots and over 20 manipulators, enabling better working conditions because, as Vera emphasises, the health and safety of the employees is paramount. They will not stop at this number and they plan to increase the number of robots by three to five each year.
“My husband is farsighted by nature. He has no problem in finding something new and buying it. He never thinks he is wasting money with such purchases,” explains Vera. Anton also encourages employees to innovate: “Searching for innovations leads to creative shortcuts which really improve our processes. The biggest challenge is to simplify things.”
To be bold, to be different, and to dare are the guidelines that took Tehnos forward. The extraordinary way in which they presented the advantages of their mulcher at a trade fair also contributed to their breakthrough in foreign markets. They put a glass of champagne on the machine, which vibrates due to its high rate of rotation. The reaction of buyers to the quiet operation of the machine was immediate: “It’s not enough that the technical properties of a machine are good, even if you are good at explaining them. You actually never know if the customers are really listening to you. You have to be different,” says the Director. “From that moment on, a glass on the mulcher is always part of our presentation at trade fairs.”
Anton replies to the question as to why the company needs to adapt constantly: “Because it’s too good to stay this way forever.” He compares entrepreneurship with alpinism – both have risks, without which there can be no success. Despite appearances to the contrary, he takes entrepreneurship very seriously: “You are responsible for everything that is right, but also for everything that is wrong. You don’t have problems when things are right, but you definitely do when something goes wrong. There is no safe area – it’s all responsibility.”
Entrepreneurship is firstly a responsibility, because, as the Director says, you are responsible for everything that is right, but also for everything that is wrong.
When foreigners ask them what are they best at, they say that their products are of high quality with reasonable prices and modern, technically-perfected elements installed.
You have to be a mechanical engineer
Responsibility is only one of the values which they look for in employees, but they are also aware that young people cannot have all the necessary knowledge at the beginning of their careers. What they respect in young people is their desire to learn because: “A toolmaker develops into a really good one after the age of 30. You have to know a lot, and this is really difficult at 20.”
They have never forced their children, Ana and Urban, to work in the company because, as Anton emphasises, a forced decision has sent a lot of family businesses into bankruptcy. Sometimes he liked to joke that he does not care what his children do, “as long as they have a degree in mechanical engineering.” The first-born child, daughter Ana, finished her studies in medicine and does not see herself in the family business, but Urban admits he has always been attracted by the company. That is why he has gradually been included in various projects, at his own request.
The heads of Tehnos are convinced that if you give, you gain, if you work, you make mistakes and the more you work, the more mistakes you make.
More work, more mistakes
Son Urban believes in the sense of belonging and devotion of time to the company, which his parents show and employees follow. He sees the company as an extended family, where the door is open to everyone and there are no “taboo subjects. We are honest, loud and we also argue sometimes.” With honesty and openness, it is easier to spot mistakes. They learn from them, gain experience and knowledge. “If you give, you gain, if you work, you make mistakes, and the more you work, the more mistakes you make,” says Anton explicitly.
Urban already works differently to Anton, who admits that his son is also successful in areas in which he may have failed a little. One of these is work-life balance and his parents’ complete dedication to the company has taken its toll on family time. This explains why Urban also invests his spare time in hobbies, which he says help him to be even more focused on the next day.
Made in Slovenia: good quality at reasonable prices
Investments of time, effort and dedication to the business are paying off. The Director’s opinion is that growth, the right technology and the right people are the recipe for success: “If a company doesn’t grow with new technology and the latest trends, it remains behind. Once you aren’t competitive any more, the conditions arise under which you can go bankrupt.”
They achieve more than 80% of sales from foreign markets. The most important of these are Germany and Austria, followed by the Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, France and the UK, and outside the EU, Japan, Canada and Australia.
Anton claims: “We'll never be ‘Made in Germany’, but we are ‘Made in Slovenia’ and with that we can also live pretty well. When foreigners ask me what we are best at, I say that our products are of high quality with reasonable prices, with modern and technically-perfected elements installed. We are always available, our phones never stop ringing, even when complications occur. If there is a problem, we solve it together. There is no dividing line between us.”
Balance comes through harmony with the environment
They are not only connected with each other and their clients, but also with the nature around them. With the purchase of business premises, their priority was to renovate the old powder coating facility and they did exactly that with the help of European funds. They built a new powder coating facility, which uses nanoceramic technology instead of phosphates. But that is not all – they also invested in a modern treatment plant: “As a domestic company, we also have responsibility to the environment we live in. I always notice when I return home from abroad that the level of ecological awareness in Slovenia is high and this is the only right way for the future,” concludes Anton.
Anton Kisovar, owner
Company Name: Tehnos, d. o. o.
Number of employees (2018): 125
Net sales revenue (2018): €16.0 million
Summary
Tehnos in a nutshell: growth, responsibility, continuous learning, constant improvement, equality.