On February 15 and 16, school information days took place in the School Center Krško. The Krško – Sevnica School Center has decided to invite companies to participate in the Information Day. The companies introduced future pupils and their parents, who they are, what they do, what job profiles they employ, the opportunity to receive scholarships, work experience and which apprenticeships they offer. The invitation was followed with great sympathy.

One-piece rail brake disc for passenger transport – monobloc brake disc

In May 2018, Kovis has applied for the public invitation to tender »Incentives for Research Development Projects«(RRI2) at the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology. We have registered the project “one-piece rail brake disc for passenger transport” or monobloc brake disc.

Our application has been confirmed as positive in the context of the funding available for the Cohesion Region of Eastern Slovenia. More at www.eu-skladi.si.

The main objective of the proposed action is to prepare a technical solution – monobloc brake disk or one-piece rail brake disk for passenger transport, as this is a worldwide innovation in railway braking systems. This innovative solution will deliver the planned impact  – higher efficiency, smaller dimension, increased safety, longer lifetime and higher cost efficiency of passenger trains.

“The investment is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund.”

On Tuesday, February 5th, pupils from the ninth grade of the Primary school Jurij Dalmatin Krško, visited us. In two groups we had a total of 72 students, along with their teachers.

The Primary school Jurij Dalmatin Krško ensures that their students get an insight into modern production as part of their technical education. Due to this reason they visit successful local production companies.

This year they also wanted to see our company. The welcome took place in the auditorium of our company, where we greeted them and prepared a brief presentation of the company. After that they were shown the production, the toolmaking department and the measuring rooms.

As ninth grade students are faced with the decision which secondary school to attend, we have also featured occupations that Kovis employs the most.

At the beginning of January, together with the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia, the Posavje-Krško District Chamber, the company Ansat and the presenter Jure Godler, Kovis prepared a commercial video with the title “When I grow up”.

The aim of the promotional video is to present prospective pupils promising occupations in successful companies in Posavje and to inspire them for it. The commercial featured five successful companies in Posavje, which are active in the metal industry: Kovis, I.H.S., Sevnica, Q Techna and Numip.

Jure Godler and co-workers introduced the profession of a CNC operator, who is in high demand at Kovis.

The video will be shown mainly on the information days of elementary and secondary schools in the Posavje region.

We hope that we have helped pupils to get an idea of ​​specific occupations and to decide what they want for their future and which secondary school to choose.

On Saturday, November 10, 2018, Kovis opened its doors to the children of our employees. A total of 74 children visited us together with their parents.

The children and their parents – in most cases both father and mother were present – were first welcomed by the director Alen Šinko. After that the children were divided into groups by their age. The groups, guided by the employees, first visited the company’s production and administration rooms. Among other things, they stopped at the director’s office, watched the presentation video of the company, talked to workers who were in production at that time, sat on a truck and on a forklift etc.

After the completed visit we went to the tent, where an entertainment program took place. There were workshops for the children, such as modeling tools, where they got an insight into the activities of the Kovis foundry, name engraving on discs and the youngest crafted color puzzles. We have also prepared a presentation of the professions that we most often employ in our company. With the open day for the employees’ children and some workshops, we have tried to introduce the children to technical careers in our company.

The open day ended with animation and entertainment. Pika Fliko provided children’s face paintings, sang and danced with them. Pancakes and other delicacies sweetened the conclusion of this day.

For the tenth time in a row KOVIS successfully introduced itself at InnoTrans 2018 in Berlin, which was held from 18 to 21 September.

InnoTrans is the leading international trade fair for transport technology and takes places every two years in Berlin. More than 3.000 exhibitors from more than 60 countries presented themselves in all 41 halls hosted by InnoTrans at the Berlin Exhibition Center.

Today, our products are present on 32 markets worldwide, but our ambitions are much bigger. In the following years, we want to expand sales in markets outside the European Union. Therefore, we are also devoting funds for presentation at the world’s largest rail fair, which requires special attention and long-lasting preparations.

Among others, it was also possible to see our products on many rail vehicles in the outdoor exhibition space. A number of new railway vehicles were introduced, which are equipped with our products.
At this year’s fair we have presented two global innovations in the market of railway goods vehicles. This is the final version of the FUTURA disc and the K25 bearing housing, which represents a perfect solution for the owners and service providers of freight wagons.
At the same time, Kovis managed to bring together several Slovenian companies in one area. The exhibition was organized by the Slovenian company BuhExpo.si, the catering service Jezeršek has taken care about the food, for the entertainment the musicians Boštjan Gombač, Janez Dovč and DJ Rogovilc were invited, as well as the cartoonist Boris Oblak for the cultural animation.

On this occasion, we would like to thank everyone for their contribution.

Brdo pri Kranju, 26 September 2018: At the Innovation Day, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (GZS) has given national awards to the most innovative companies and innovators in companies and public research institutions – for the 16^th time. The award of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia for Best Innovations at the national level represents the highest recognition for innovative achievements of Slovenian companies and thus the promotion of innovations in Slovenia. In the national final, involving 197 innovations and 772 innovators at the regional level, 42 companies were ranked.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia has given 10 gold, 28 silver awards, 3 special awards. Kovis was awarded the silver award for their innovation “Divided Axle Brake Disc for Rail Freight”, whose innovators are Ivan Smolej, David Deržič and Uroš Grivc. The innovation solves the challenge of energy efficiency of the brake disk for rail vehicles. The weight of the product was reduced, which reduces the required power of the locomotive or increases the possibility of transporting a larger amount of cargo. At the same time, the energy required for the production of the product, was reduced. All the features of this innovation have a beneficial impact on the environment. In the company they also optimized the shape of the cooling ribs of the brake disk, which despite the reduced weight of the product still effectively discharges heat and, in rotation, creates a significantly lower air resistance. The disc-hub coupling was also designed new, which increases product safety and reduces the potential for vibrations.

On June 15 in Kovis the 3rd renewal evaluation of the environmental management system according to ISO 14001: 2005 was carried out successfully by the certification company TÜV SÜD Sava.

From June 18 to 21, the auditors of the certification company TÜV SÜD Sava also inspected the quality management systems according to ISO 9001: 2015 and ISO / TS 22163: 2017 (before IRIS). The evaluation was carried out at all three sites: in Brezina, Štore and Velika Dolina.

Once again this year we have proven that we are an arranged company, strictly following the requirements of the standards, thus improving last year’s rating by another 4%. This gives us the incentive to work well and achieve an even better result next year.

At the 4th of June it was for the fifteenth time, that the Regional Chamber of Commerce GZS Posavje/Krško awarded the best innovations in Posavje region for the year 2018 at Rajhenburg castle. The commission has received 14 innovation applications this year and has given four gold and five silver and bronze awards.

Gold went to the company Kovis d.o.o, to the innovators Ivan Smolej, David Deržič and Uroš Grivc. They received the golden award for their innovation “Axle Split Brake Disc for Freight Transport”, FUTURA Disc.

At national level, further evaluations will take place this autumn in Brdo/Kranj. This is for the three highest rated golden innovations of Kovis d.o.o, Radeče Papir Nova d.o.o. and Willy Stadler d.o.o.

At the ceremony GZS general manager Sonja Šmuc said that the prerequisite for an innovation is innate curiosity, the desire to improve things and a lot of endurance. The curiosity and endurance should never stop.

Through an increased communication with Slovenian regions and municipalities, with constant contact and prompt solutions to open questions, the government wants to accelerate the development goals of individual regions. For this reason, the government visited the municipalities of Zasavje and Posavje on 5-6 December  2017.

The government team began their visit on 6 December 2017 in Cerklje ob Krki with a meeting, followed by a visit to successful companies in the Posavje region.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, dr. Miro Cerar, together with colleagues also visited the company Kovis d.o.o.

At the beginning, the Prime Minister met with the company management, where the director Alen Šinko introduced the company. Part of the conversation was devoted to the topic of employment issues in the company.

It was followed by the production visit, where Prime Minister Cerar met with staff.
At the end of his visit to Posavje, Cerar told the press, “Today we are here to listen to representatives of local communities, business representatives and public institutions to see where the government can help and cooperate.”