Like other economies, the Slovenian industry is strongly becoming aware of the global financial crisis. Most Slovenian flagship companies in the automotive and toolmaking industries are enduring the recent circumstances quite well, but they are also afraid that the turbulent circumstances are far from over.
Be that as it may, the consequences are here: cancellations of orders in the industry and cancellations of orders for new tools, moulds and assemblies, manufactured by successful domestic companies for the demanding customers from the West. After a long struggle with the Asian countries, as the production of tools and moulds moved to the East, the situation has calmed down, only to be followed by an even worse blow – the global financial crisis.

The companies were forced to reduce the number of employees by shutting down work shifts, followed by a decline in production, continuing and intensifying the chain reaction. In the last month, there was a lot of buzz about strengthening the cooperation of companies, as this will be the only way to compete on the global market and survive the blows of financial crisises and other negative influences to the economy.

In the process, it will be necessary to erase the regional orientation from our minds. Otherwise it will be impossible to keep track and implement technologies dictated by highly-developed countries, considering they are more than a decade ahead of us in the industrial average.

The products manufactured in Slovenia usually belong to the middle class range and the value added per employee does not seem to be placing us firmly on the map of highly-developed countries. And that is actually a pity, because Slovenians stand for a very innovative nation, and it is our smallness that makes it possible for us to quickly adapt to various global events and orientate into fields that have not been severely affected by global crisis.

I may be repeating myself, but I still maintain that we are not giving enough support to successful and innovative companies and individuals, which does not make any sense. It is these great potentials that could place us side by side with the successful countries. One of the latest innovative products that has received a lot of attention is the first double seated electrical-powered aircraft manufactured by company Pipistrel from Ajdovščina. There are at least a dozen such “pipistrels” in our country under the Alps.

I am convinced that a lot of people around the world do not know where Slovenia is, let alone Ajdovščina. At this moment, this should be our distinguishing mark for recognisability. We have to show and prove to the world the innovative vein of our two-million nation. Only in this way will someone learn about us, and the constancy of our achievements (nobody wants to be an ephemeron) will make the large countries take as more seriously.

Darko Švetak
IRT3000 Editor-In-Chief

From the content

Interview: prof. dr. Marija Kosec

In the last years, high-performance machining centres are emerging on the market, where accelerations of axes sometimes reach multiple Gs and the travelling speeds reach immense values. The travelling of tools has been improved, too. It is possible to control five or even more axes simultaneously, enabling machining of extremely complex work pieces. As a consequence, the demands for the machining centre operator and for the software have increased. Consultation services by external experts are often necessary for reliable machining.

Thematic unit:

The increasing diversity of product components in various industries often leads to lower volume of series and to frequent tool changes. Accelerated development of models and many different variants of equipments in the automotive industry is the right orientation for many other industries. In a changed production environment, time consuming tool changes have become an important cost factor.

Sonja Sara Lunder, photo: Gregor Eržen

The flood that struck Železniki last autumn caused enormous material damage to Domel. “The damages to materials, tools and equipment, as well as damages from loss of income and damaged infrastructure, were estimated to almost ten million euro. We were recently granted 3.4 million euro relief for the removal of consequences, and we have received 200,000 euro relief immediately after the disaster,” reports dr. Jožica Rejec, president of management board, on the damage and restoration. In spite of immense damage, the last year’s disaster has not stopped the company’s development. Domel has been intensely restructuring its manufacturing program for years and in this connection they are carrying out large investments, to which they have devoted 11 million euro last year and 7 million euro this year. Two highly capital-intensive investments were realised last year: a new manufacturing facility and a state-of-the-art assembly line for the manufacturing of vacuum motors. This year they are finishing another investment, which may be somewhat smaller in volume but also very important for the company's future – a production line for DC motors for the automotive programme. They have also started investing in the manufacturing of electronically commutated motors for fans. According to Rejec, this investment will be an important contribution in the transition to more complex products with a higher value added.

Company Celjski sejem, d. d. is very satisfied with the course and results of 41st International Trade Fair (MOS). The eight day fair took place on 60.000 square meters of exhibiting surface, occupied by 1705 exhibitors from 33 countries who attracted ca. 170,000 visitors.
The fair offer this year was even more extensive and diverse than in the previous years, owing to the more complete and transparent offer in individual segments. There was a lot of opportunity for businessmen, tradesmen and private persons to gain useful information at the International Trade Fair.


DOMEL group

As toolmaking is an important part of value-added chain from manufacturing to the consumption of goods, the annual toolmaking conference is an important event for numerous Slovenian companies and professionals from the toolmaking industry, who are aware of the need and importance of knowledge and experience exchange, as well as of pleasant and beneficial socialisation. The jubilee 30th conference took place between October 7 and 9 in Portorož. The two-day event involving 26 lectures and contributions by domestic and foreign authors, a round table, 17 contributions in the poster section and an exhibition of 25 domestic and foreign companies, products and services for the toolmaking industry, was attended by 215 participants.

Dr. Tomaž Perme

Sonja Sara Lunder, photo: Gregor Eržen

Among scientific achievements of prof. dr. Marija Kosec stand out the discoveries on the processes of preparation of thin layers based on lead zirconate titanates, on the synthesis of lead-free ferroelectrics and relaxors and the preparation of thick films of ferroelectric materials. Even more attention was received by her achievements in the preparation of transparent lead-free relaxor ceramics. In addition to that, dr. Kosec holds the position of president of scientific council at Jožef Stefan Institute, heads the Electronic Ceramics Department and the centre of excellence Materials for the next generation electronics and other emerging technologies.