One of the largest employers in the region, PBS Velká Bíteš, had a ground-breaking year. The engineering company launched two completely new aircraft engines, gained a range of new customers from abroad, and surpassed 1.3 billion crowns in sales. It also renewed cooperation with Aero Vodochody, with which it is due to collaborate on a new aircraft. These successes have not gone unnoticed, with PBS Velká Bíteš having done well in a range of professional competitions this year.
The first prize that arrived in Velká Bíteš was the National Quality Award. It was accepted in Prague Castle on Tuesday, 27 November, by the General Manage, Milan Macholán. This award was given to the company in the highest category, Excellence. “For us, the National Quality Award is the highest award that we as a company can attain in the Czech Republic. It confirms our conviction that we are heading in the right direction as a company and our systematic approach to quality as a whole is helping us achieve the goals set by our corporate strategy,” said Milan Macholán.
As part of the evaluation, the jury appreciated the high expertise of the workers and the sophisticated system of agile management, which allows a quick reaction to threats and opportunities. The long-term development of the organisation’s abilities and the proven economic growth were also mentioned in the company’s favour. The investments in a 3D optical system for measuring castings or in simulation programmes for machining and casting parts for ensuring inter-operation and output control of castings also played a role. “Increasing the efficiency of our information technology and digitisation was also very important for us. We've implemented a so-called Document Management System, which really helps us move towards the digitisation of all of our approval workflows,” added the Quality Director, Luděk Švenda.
PBS Velká Bíteš did not take part in the competition for the first time. It had already won the Start Plus model in 2015, which is the first category in evaluating quality and is the notional first step to the Excellence model.
The National Quality Award has been awarded every year since 1995 by the Ministry of Industry and Trade based on the government’s strategy for the national quality policy. The award is announced in multiple categories and is intended for entities in the business and public sectors.
PBS Velká Bíteš got the second award this year in the Czech Top 100 competition. The ratings are announced by the Comenius Pan-European Society for Culture, Education and Science and Technology Cooperation and every year it joins companies in eight field categories which have a direct impact on the standard of living in the Czech Republic. První brněnská strojírna Velká Bíteš took the award fin the most prestigious category at the gala event: invention – use – export – profit.
The trio of awards was completed by third place in the Exporter of the Year 2018 competition. The contest is held by the Czech Chamber of Commerce, Střední podnikatelský stav (The Estate of Mid-Sized Entrepreneurship) and the Asociace pro podporu podnikání v ČR (The Association for the Support of Entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic). PBS Velká Bíteš were successful in the large company category for their highest year-on-year increase in exports, which increased by more than 26 % during the period monitored. For PBS Velká Bíteš, the above-mentioned successes aren’t just an appreciation of a job well-done, but also a challenge for further improvement. PBS Velká Bíteš is working on a strategy for the company’s development. “Recently, we’ve finished work on Vision 2023, by when we would like to have exceeded CZK 2 billion in yearly product sales, we want to be a world leader in the field of small jet engines, and a world player in supplying precision castings of turbine blades and difficult-to-machine materials such as superalloys,” said Milan Macholán when outlining the future course of the company.