Holcim Slovensko
Through continued investment, Holcim Slovensko has become a respected player within the Slovakian construction industry
Strong foundations
Through continued investment, Holcim Slovensko has become a respected player within the Slovakian construction industry
Holcim Slovensko is the leading manufacturer and supplier of construction materials and related services in Slovakia. The high quality cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates produced by the business have served to build technically demanding and socially important projects, such as the Sitina motorway tunnel in Bratislava and the PSA Peugeot Citroën plant in Slovakia.
The Holcim Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of cement and aggregate, including crushed stones, gravel and sand, as well as related products, such as ready-mixed concrete and asphalt. The Group owns minority and majority shares in businesses in more than 70 countries on all continents.
As part of this organisation, Holcim Slovensko supplies high quality cement goods to its customers. Beside a variety of grey cements, top quality white cement is produced in the company’s state-of-the-art Rohozník plant. Furthermore, all the business’ products comply with the BS EN 197-1 cement standard.
Marian Tkác, vice president and plant director for the company comments: “Our vision is to ‘provide foundations for society’s future’. In order to achieve this, we place a large emphasis on quality. This is a given within the whole Holcim organisation – not only within the product range but also with regards to customer services, respect for the environment and how we take care of our employees.”
He continues: “We are constantly striving to improve client relationships and remain a reliable partner. We also focus on the development of our workforce, by investing in education, training and safety. Furthermore, we take corporate responsibility very seriously, and continually invest in new environmentally friendly technology. By focusing on all of these elements, we constantly meet our clients’ needs and keep promises, with regards to delivering tailor-made customer solutions.”
Holcim Slovensko has established itself in the field of gravel and aggregate mining. Extraction of these two materials is realised in two gravel pits and one quarry. Marian comments: “We are now striving to increase our aggregates business and we have recently acquired a new aggregates pit. We hope this new site will deliver almost one million tonnes of aggregates during 2008, and strengthen our position within this sector.”
In addition to this acquisition, Holcim Slovensko has a constant programme of modernisation, which ensures the business remains the leading player within the concrete sector in Slovakia. A very important development for the business was the addition of the new FLS Hotdisc. This is a unique state-of-the-art technology, which recovers energy using wastederived alternative fuels. Besides providing a safe, environmentally sound and non-residual waste management solution, Hotdisc also saves non-renewable natural resources, reduces emissions, and increases Holcim’s energy efficiency.
As a result of this investment, the company was commended with a National Entrepreneurial Award for Environmental Performance, which is supported by the Ministry of Environment in the Slovak Republic, and a Golden Ant Award in the category Company Waste Management – both for the Hotdisc installation at the Rohozník cement plant in 2005.
Marian explains: “Installing the new Hotdisc system has enabled us to be more flexible and have better control of production costs. Previously, when raw materials were put into the main burner they had to be pre-treated – this increased costs and overall production time. As a result of the Hotdisc, we are now able to use materials of any size. For example, we can burn large truck tyres, without any pre-treatment.”
He adds: “From an environmental point of view, we have gone from using noble fuels, such as coal and oil, to using alternative fuels, which have a positive impact on the local area, with regards to the reduction of CO2 and NOX emissions. The type of alternative fuels we use is closely monitored by the local authorities – each material has to be approved to ensure they are safe to use.”
Established in 1971, Holcim Slovensko has gained extensive experience in the local market, and as a part of the larger Group the company can leverage the strengths of the worldwide organisation, which is a major strength over its local competitors. Currently, the Slovakian construction industry is extremely buoyant – having identified this, Holcim has recognised the increasing pressure to remain a reliable partner within the sector.
Marian comments: “We appreciate the current situation in the market, and know that without constant improvements we will lose our position as the leading player in the construction materials sector in Slovakia. We understand that it is not a one-way ticket to success – you only gain success if you earn it.”
He concludes: “Working as a plant manager for many years, I know our resources extremely well and within our quarry we have materials for the next 150 years. Therefore, I believe Holcim Slovensko will be active in this market long into the future. Our main challenge now is to continue investing in our customer services to remain the preferred supplier of construction materials in Slovakia.”