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| Hella Autotechnik’s factory in the Czech Republic |
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Hella Autotechnik was set up in 1992 to exclusively produce headlights for local Czech car manufacturer Skoda, a subsidiary of the German auto giant Volkswagen, which had a long-running partnership with the Hella Group in Germany.
Under the leadership of Managing Director Oldrich Svoboda, Hella Autotechnik opened a design and development department three years later and has since increased its production capacity and
widened its clientele. And even throughout the 2008 economic crisis that hit the auto sector, the German-owned affiliate maintained its profitability and expanded its production facility.
“We have everything we need to be successful,” says Svoboda, who attributes Hella Autotechnik’s
trend-defying performance to the professionalism of his 1,600 employees and their commitment to customer satisfaction and product quality.
Hella Autotechnik also gained its competitive edge by centralizing its business – from product development and design, finance and logistics to information technology (IT) solutions.
To date, the company has 200 engineers, most of whom were trained in the parent company in
Germany. There are plans to increase this number in the near future.
“You can be sure that within our design and development team, we are able to develop and produce
the highest technology currently available,” boasts Svoboda.
The product development department also includes electronics, measuring and testing centers,
which have allowed Hella to guarantee the quality of their products.
Those exacting standards earned Hella in 2004 the Silver Award for Ford Suppliers, a citation garnered so far by only 60 of the automaker’s 10,000 suppliers.
Svoboda remains confident that Hella Autotechnik will remain the German group’s No. 1 subsidiary
while overtaking its rivals in the Czech Republic in terms of market share.
While Volkswagen and Ford vehicles are Hella’s two main customers, Svoboda is seeking partnerships with Japanese auto companies.
“Japanese carmakers are known for their lean production and quality. It would be a very good opportunity for Hella to find Japanese partners because their processes improve the companies that they work with,” he says.
www.hella.cz |