WHAT'S NEW FOR US?

Our story began with a request from the operator of the hydropower plant to modernise the control technology. The most important expectations of the new control system were availability, flexibility and scalability. References to similar installations played a role in increasing reliability and protection against failures. The system should also be open for future expansion. In this case, our choice clearly fell on the PCS 7 platform. Which technical solution did we choose and what are the most important advantages for the customer? 

In the week from 4 to 7 October 2022, the Brno Exhibition Centre will host the  International Machinery Fairwhich is one of the most important industrial fairs in Central Europe. As last year, visitors from the professional public can meet us at the Packaging live. Live demonstrations of robotics and technologies for packaging, labelling, handling and palletising products will be on show in Hall A2.  This year, the main role is played by the beer Strakonický dudák. You can also look forward to regular guided tours with commentary.

Marek Prokš has been appointed as the company's new CEO effective September 1, 2022, replacing Igor Zahrádka. He has led the company successfully since 2011 was responsible for its signigicant development and growth. He si now moving to the company's supervisory board. The new CEO is expected to adapt the strategy to the current market turmoil, rationalise the current structure and increase the profitability of the company.  

Petr Pavel, retired Army General, former Chief of Staff of the Army of the Czech Republic and Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, visited the Vysočina region on Thursday, June 9th and Friday, June 10th. During his trip, he also met with employees of our company and representatives of the private and public sectors in our region. As part of his trip to Havlíčkův Brod, three meetings took place.  

Na konci minulého týdne, kdy proběhl náš dvakrát odložený vánoční večírek, jsme vyhlásili výsledky ankety Zaměstnanec roku 2021. Toto ocenění má u nás dlouhou tradici. Nominace udělujeme za významné přispění k růstu a rozvoji společnosti, nadstandardní ocenění od našich zákazníků, zvládnutí obtížného pracovního/technického úkolu, zlepšovací návrh nebo dlouhodobý vysoký a spolehlivý výkon. Za rok 2021 získal toto ocenění kolega Jan Vašíček, který vede technicky tým specializující se na automatizaci v logistice a skladování. 

On Monday 25 April 2022, Igor Zahrádka received the award in the category of private companies with 51-250 employees as part of the competition for the Vysočina Region Governor's Award for Social Responsibility. The prize is awarded by the Vysočina Region with the support of the Vysočina Regional Chamber of Commerce, KOUS Vysočina and Vysočina Education. The period 2020-2021 was evaluated.

We successfully organised a job fair iKariéra VUT organised by the international student organisation IAESTE. It took place on April 12 at the Faculty of Economics of Brno University of Technology (VUT). We prepared a demonstration of robot application for the students at the stand, and there were also competitions with nice prizes. The students tried out PLC programming during the competition. 

Meeting students at job fairs is one of our most popular and traditional events. We are very pleased to meet you  personally this year on 12 April 2022 at the job fair iKariéra VUT, which is organised by the international student organisation IAESTE. We visited the fair in Brno repeatedly and with pleasure because we could meet many enthusiastic young engineers there. Many of them later became our new colleagues. And because we are men and women of action, there will be a live robot app and a competition with PLC for nice prizes in addition to the personal talks.

“Before we begin implementation, we need to see the worst that can happen to you in operation. Open and sincere communication with the integrator is the basis for a successful project," said Igor Zahrádka about the experience of our colleagues with automation and robotization in the environment of small and medium-sized companies at the FENOMÉN conference in Zlín on 24 March 2022. He gave a lecture on this topic together with his colleague Pavel Gülich.

The commissioning of the power plant block in isolated operation was a challenge both technically and in terms of location. He's in Iraq. The story of the construction of a power plant block for a sugar factory about 100 km from Baghdad in Iraq began for us in 2014. For the technology supplier EKOL, this was the first phase of the project. We are still involved in the project today. At that time, we worked together on the commissioning of 2 backpressure turbines, 2 gas boilers and auxiliary technologies. In 2019, a continuation in the form of the expansion of the power plant block followed. We have 2 new, more powerful turbines, 2 new boilers and auxiliary equipment on site. The new technologies are controlled in a redundant system on the Siemens PCS7 platform.

Karel Tonar has been working in our team since 2012. He leads 3 implementation departments that focus on process automation. His team implements the largest process management projects, but also has experience in establishing new business areas such as hydropower, for which he is now looking for another expert to build PCS7 programming skills with him across process projects. Why is he looking for a specialist for the PCS7 platform? Who exactly is Karel Tonar, what does his career at B:TECH look like and what does he offer his future colleagues? Read more in our interview with him.

The International Engineering Fair, one of the most important industrial fairs in Central Europe, was held at the Brno Exhibition Centre from 8 to 12 November 2021. Visitors from the professional public were able to meet us as part of the project Packaging live. Live demonstrations of robotics and technologies for the packaging, labelling, handling and palletising of products were shown in Hall A2. Commented tours took place several times a day. 

On Saturday, September 25, 2021, the 9th half-marathon of Havlíčkův Brod took place. This year's event was also the veteran championship of the Czech Republic in this discipline, so fighters from practically all parts of our country came to Brod. The weather was good and the atmosphere was perfect. The main race started at 11:00 am, the relays at 11:10 am. The whole event started with a children's run. The main route led again via Havlíček Market Square. B:TECH, a.s. and B:GROUP are still partners of the competition, the foundation stone of which was laid in 2013 by the founder of our company Ing. Antonín Urban.

The cooperation on the project for the Moravia Lacto dairy in Jihlava was a turning point for our activities in the dairy industry. And it started off a bit unconventional. Almost a rescue operation when we were invited to complete the pending integration of technology. Thanks to this order and due to our size and stability, we have become the preferred automation supplier for the entire INTERLACTO Group. It includes dairies in Jihlava, Opočno and Olešnice. We have also strengthened our cooperation with the company that supplied the technology and are now jointly implementing projects for dairies and cheese factories in Germany, and other countries.

Whether and how to automate and robotise are strategic questions that many Czech manufacturing companies are currently dealing with. In the presentation, concrete robot applications were presented, whereby the initial situation, the proposed solution and the results of the implementation were discussed. Using examples, we have shown robot-assisted packaging and palletizing in the printing and dairy industries, robot handling of hot forged parts between presses, automatic cutting of dough and automatic cutting and mixing of cheese.

 

In the week from 26 to 30 July we organised a summer camp for our electrical engineering club in Havlíčkův Brod and Carlsbad. Our topics were making speakers, electronic cubes and also programmable batteries controlled by a Raspberry Pi Pico. On Wednesday, we all met in Prague at the premises of our partner company Mitsubishi Electric and had a really eventful afternoon full of experiences from the world of robotics and information about Japanese culture and history. 

B:TECH together with MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC have prepared a webinar for you on the topic of ICONICS SCADA system implementation. You can look forward to joining us again on April 22 from 1 p.m.  WEBINAR participation is for free.  We will look at one of the first implementation projects of the ICONICS SCADA system, which we implemented in the Czech Republic on one of our projects.

Meeting university students at job fairs and recruitment events is one of our favorite and traditional events. Many of our future co-workers came across our company here. Job fair and recruitment event iKariéra of BUT (Brno University of Technology) organized by international student organization IAESTE has grown on us. We have been to the job fair in Brno several times and we liked it owing to the opportunities to meet many enthusiastic young technicians. With a bit of nostalgia and great determination we were watching videos taken at the last two years of the fair while trying to figure out how to do it in 2021. And we have good news. iKariéra job fair for students is taking place. ONLINE this year. Our traditional and popular professional competition for tablets will also be, because the obstacles are here to be overcome!

While investors from many sectors are still cautious due to the pandemic, global top leaders in the logistics and warehousing sector are getting ready for the implementation peak. The growth of e-commerce generates a rising demand for our engineering services. B:TECH team, specializing in intralogistics solutions, faces another growth wave.

In 2021 we are going to expand our implementation team in Karlovy Vary and we are offering vacancies of designers, programmers, servicing technicians and project managers. Read the detailed information about the integration in progress and the job offers. 

Zadání našim specialistům znělo: nalézt moderní řešení pro vkládání balíčku etiket do krabic s následnou paletizací a nahradit tak náročnou práci manipulantek. Z výsledku máme radost! "V rámci tohoto projektu jsem realizovali zároveň dvě stejná pracoviště, na malém prostrou a pro nás v rekordním čase. Aplikace je velmi složitá z hlediska počtu manipulovaných produktů resp. jejich tvarů a velikostí. I přesto se podařilo zachovat jednoduchost z hlediska přejíždění stroje mezi výrobky, " uvádí Pavel Gülich. Více o tomto projektu, čtěte v případové studii. 

So far, robots have appeared mainly in larger companies, which use them to optimize production demanding speed, accuracy and quantity of finished products. But maybe it's time for smaller companies to get a taste of automation. Where else but in a country where so much emphasis is placed on industry and export. The question is where automation can help. In which sectors can we involve robots in work? What types are available? How is automatic production planned and maintained?

When the TECHNICAL DIRECTOR grows out of his own ranks and occupies one of the most important roles in the company. Get to know the story of our colleague Vojta Včela, who has been working for us for 13 years and has worked his way up from the position of SERVICE TECHNICIAN to the position of TECHNICAL DIRECTOR. What skills are key, how do we work to keep our team constantly evolving, and what does Vojta value in his people? Read in an interview with him.