Laser sheet metal processing, pipe bending, robotic welding, CNC machining, surface treatment, and much more. These are the main activities of the West Bohemian engineering company, Baumruk & Baumruk, which produces parts for purposes ranging from construction and production machines through to operating tables and rail vehicles.
When founding the company under the name Stroj & Spol (Machine & Company), Josef Baumruk already had extensive experience in engineering and leadership. Yet all of this experience was merely as an employee in a socialist enterprise in ex- Czechoslovakia. Establishing this company with no capital or any experience with market economies or private enterprises must have been a huge challenge. In addition, he founded and began running the company before even leaving his current job. This meant that Baumruk produced a large part of the output for his first orders in the afternoons, after work. Then, in 1996, following the revolution, this small business evolved into the company Baumruk & Baumruk s.r.o.
A new generation
Josef’s son, Martin, took over the company 10 years after its foundation, when he was just 23 and a college student with no experience in the field or in leadership. The company was already well-equipped with both employees and customers but had almost no modern production technologies or facilities. Likewise, it lacked a manufacturing management system, internal processes, and so on.
As a manufacturer supplying customers active in global markets, the company was hit hard by the 2008 crisis. “Fortunately, we overcame this fairly short period together with our customers and since 2010, our outputs have returned back where they were before the crisis,” Martin Baumruk recalls. “Today, after 10 years of continuous growth, we are again experiencing a significant change and a decline in production. However, the company itself has shifted markedly over the years; it is financially stable and will weather this difficult period without any problems.”
Strong customer focus
Despite its small size – with under 100 employees – Baumruk & Baumruk has all the technologies necessary for the entire production process, from laser sheet-metal cutting to pipe and sheet bending, robotic welding, CNC machining, powder coating, and more, including a fully-equipped measuring centre, warehouse systems, custom designs, and so on.
“We have about six major customers, accounting for over 90% of our turnover”, say Baumruk. “These companies are often the global market leaders in their fields. It is very difficult to attract customers of this calibre, and such cooperation takes many years to develop. Although we also greatly emphasise marketing in the form of websites, company flyers, and the like, we have gained most of our major customers based on positive personal references. We always prefer slow beginnings, where both companies get to know each other and clarify their priorities. As we gradually start to produce more parts, we can fine-tune things and resolve any technological or logistics problems. We have been supplying most of our major customers for over 10 years.”
We were looking for a machine to replace our outdated laser from 2007… We ran numerous tests for nearly a year and only the Mazak laser met all of our requirements. After several years of seeing it in action, we have to say: we made the right choice.
Martin Baumruk, Executive Director.
Laser masters
Baumruk is well-known for its laser-processing operations. Since 2015, the company has been relying on Mazak, initially acquiring a 3 kW laser unit which was replaced with a stronger 6 kW machine in 2018, namely a Mazak OPTIPLEX 3015 FIBER III 6 kW. Along the way, a Laser Mazak OPTIPLEX 3015 FIBER II 6 kW was added in 2016. Both of these machines are used for the production of shapes cut into sheet metal, which form the foundation for all subsequent processing steps – bending, welding, machining, and so on.
“We were looking for a machine to replace our outdated laser from 2007, one using the new fiber technology that would enable more-or-less maintenance-free operation and minimal energy consumption compared to past CO2 lasers,” Baumruk says. “Our product line is very diverse and we process a variety of sheet thicknesses. Other manufacturers were also offering the new fiber lasers but exclusively for thin sheets – only up to about, for example, 8 mm thick. When tasked with also cutting thick 15–20 mm sheets, their quality was insufficient. There were still powerful CO2 lasers on the market for cutting these thick sheets but their operating costs for thin sheets were disproportionately high. We did not want to have one dedicated laser for the thin sheets and another for the thick ones – we needed one universal machine for our entire range of production. We ran numerous tests for nearly a year and only the Mazak laser met all of our requirements. After several years of seeing it in action, we have to say: we made the right choice.”
One brand in sight
Having appreciated the unusually robust design, quality components, and high reliability of Mazak machines, Martin Baumruk and his staff have considered rolling out the brand at other sites. “We try to keep things easy for our employees and avoid combining multiple manufacturers for a single type of machine,” he explains. “So, we would have to think about a comprehensive replacement here but of course this process is a bit difficult and lengthy.”
Looking ahead, the company is pursuing expansion but not at the expense of service and quality. “We wish to maintain current standards at a size that still enables personal contact among management, manufacturing and customers,” Baumruk concludes. “Of course, we do plan to continue to expand and supplement our machinery with the latest production technologies. In the medium-term, we would like to build a new hall for surface treatments, including an automated painting line. We are also thinking about a tube laser. Considering our current positive experience, Mazak is once again in our sights.”