Schwarzmann: custom steel structures

Based just outside Ljubljana, Schwarzmann is a company active in the field of steel structures, designing, manufacturing and assembling prefabricated steel-structure business and production facilities since 1993. “We have built more than 2100 buildings and facilities in 25 countries around the world in just the last 20 years,” says CEO Boštjan Bevec. And for the most part, these projects are not standard formats out of the production chain. Rather, there is a very high degree of customisation that goes into each and every Schwarzmann project.

INVESTING IN PEOPLE

“We have our own people to handle the project from idea to handover,” explains. “Clients come to us because the service is completely tailored to their needs. Our team is highly skilled. We invest a lot in our people, hiring them young, bringing them in as interns and then training them to ensure the highest quality output. We’re flexible and always try to understand the needs of the customer and aim to deliver exactly what they require, within the deadlines and budget and always at a high level of quality.”

DIGITALISATION

Despite being a company active in the relatively traditional manufacturing sector, Schwarzmann has been changing with the times, digitalising and modernising: The company bought 3D modulation software a few years ago, introducing a degree of digitalisation that allows them to work on projects from distance with clients all over the world. At the same time, increased digitalisation in the production process means that everything becomes more precise. “It means greater accuracy, the room for error is significantly reduced, and we can ensure complete traceability as well.”

PROJECTS MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Despite its roots in Slovenia, Schwarzmann is keen on developing its work in the DACH region, recently undertaking a very large project in Germany: “When we started to work on this project for a 10,000m2 hangar that can host four Airbus 320 planes, we calculated that we’d need significant working capital to proceed. So we financed it partly ourselves, partly through advanced payments from the client, and partly through a loan.” The EIF-backed loan through SID Banka allowed Schwarzmann to push ahead, financing material and services. “The project was very important. It gave us a great reference and put us on the map,” explains Boštjan.

Over 30 years, this small family-owned company has grown significantly, accompanying its clients in their own growth aspirations. “Our aim is to help our clients grow with new buildings and facilities, produced to their specific needs. And nothing is more important in this process than our human resources. Our employees are the experts that make it all happen,” he adds.

Location: Polhov Gradec, Ljubljana

Financial Intermediary: SID Banka

SME: Schwarzmann (Slovenia)

Sector: manufacturing

Number of employees: 70

Financing purpose: working capital

EU financing: EGF

For further information about EIF intermediaries in Slovenia, please refer to: http://www.eif.org/what_we_do/where/sl/index.htm