Ocekon Engineering

Ocekon’s structures approach

Since just six countries created the European Union (EU) in 1957 there have been five significant enlargements of the organisation and today it can boast 27 member states

The most substantial of these enlargement processes came in May 2004 when ten new countries (eight of which had formerly been Eastern Bloc countries) joined the Union. Amongst these ‘new’ states was Slovakia – a country that has seen impressive economic growth over recent years.

Kia Motors Corporation’s decision to create its first European automotive plant in the country in 2004 is indicative of this growth in the region. The South Korean car manufacturer’s decision to construct a facility in the town of Zilina was based on continued and projected strong sales and market growth in Europe. Requiring a total investment of one billion euros, this plant started production in December 2006 and has the capacity to manufacture 300,000 units a year.

Slovakian businesses have also benefited from this economic growth and an increasing presence from overseas businesses. One prominent example is steel structures manufacturer Ocekon Engineering, which was established in the 1960s and operates from a production site in Kosice. Working for the engineering and construction company, Takenaka Europe, Ocekon was heavily involved in the construction of Kia’s factory in 2005, supplying around 2.5 million kg of light steel structures for the plant’s production halls.

Another major car producer, PSA Peugeot, has also recognised the many benefits of establishing production in Slovakia in recent years, and again Ocekon has been heavily involved. Announced in early 2003, the project to build this site in the town of Trnava and launch production of the first model required a total investment of 700 million euros. Construction and installation of the plant and production lines were complete in just two years, with pre-series production of the Peugeot 207 starting up in early 2006.

In 2005 Ocekon produced and supplied approximately 350,000 kg of steel structures for the suspended platforms within this plant, again illustrating the company’s ability to work with some of the biggest names in global industry. Although these two high profile contracts were both connected to the automotive industry, Ocekon (with the original name of Mostáreu) was initially primarily focused on the building of railway and road bridges and the structures of steel products and skeletons for technological applications such as cokeries, blast furnaces, steel plants, and hot rolling mills. Today, the company also works with clients in the power, mining, civil engineering, metallurgy, chemical, and food processing industries.

In more than 40 years of history, the firm has produced almost one million tons of steel structures and strengthened its position as the leading structural steel fabricator in Slovakia, and one of the most important in Central-Eastern Europe.

With its 20,000 square metres of plant space in an area of 95,000 square metres, ten bridge cranes up to 30 tons, state-of-art manufacturing technologies, 300 specialised employees and professional project management procedures, Ocekon Engineering is able to produce up to 700 tons of steel structures a month.

In terms of the actual products that the company offers, these steel structures can be roughly divided into five core areas:

• Light steel structures for production and warehouse halls, including crane tracks for all kinds of industrial branches.
• Light steel structures for the building industry. A wide offer of products for the industry, including a typical modules.
• Heavy steel structures for all kinds of industrial branches (weight of individual pieces of steel up to 50 tons).
• Ocekon offers various bridge structures, railway and road bridges, different trussed and solid bridges with open flooring.
• Different types of technological steel structures, designated for all kinds of industrial branches. Pillars, pipe bridges, steel structures under technological equipment, platforms, handrails, staircases, technological grates, and ladders.

Ocekon supports this comprehensive product offering with a wide range of complementary services. These include project development capabilities and the ability to produce workshop documentation and detailed electronic drawings. Material procurement, production, assembly & erection, and transportation to the end destination, are further stages of the process that can be undertaken by the company.

Apart from these basic processes, Ocekon also offers a complete turnkey building package incorporating basic building work, hall and building cladding systems, roof systems, gates, windows, doors, and all the associated assembly services.

In addition, Ocekon provides clients with an array of surface treatment options including sandblasting before painting, metal coating (in zinc and aluminium), and paint systems (high and low pressure sprayers).

Across its processes Ocekon’s work is supported by all the relevant accreditation and certification required. This includes approval from the State Railway Office of Bratislava and the European Federation for Welding, Joining & Cutting.

As a mark of the focus on quality that runs through the organisation, Ocekon is also accredited to ISO 9001:2000. This is the internationally recognised standard for a company’s internal quality management, which is intended for use in any organisation that designs, develops, manufactures, installs and/or services any product. It provides a number of requirements, which a business needs to fulfill if it is to achieve customer satisfaction through consistent products and services.

Looking to the future, Ocekon is aiming to build on its strong foundations and supply its steel structures to an even wider client base. A change of company name and ownership in 2004 combined with Slovakia’s ongoing economic prosperity is opening up a range of new opportunities to the business.

Ocekon Engineering

Products: Steel structures
Sites: Kosice, Slovakia
Employees: 500
www.ocekon.com