Founded in 1978, the Ada-based precision castings foundry – Livnica Preciznih Odlivaka – has today been rejuvenated, thanks to the support of Israeli company Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd., as a supplier of the world’s leading manufacturers of engines and components for turbojet engines
We overcome the competition with our devotion, industriousness, dedication, discipline and know-how. Customers always seek the same things – high quality, deliveries on time and competitive prices, and that’s precisely what we offer.
In addition, we observe strict discipline in our work and culture of communication, which is very important in the aviation industry.
You supply some of the world’s leading companies in the aviation industry. How did you acquire such respectable clients from Germany, the U.S., Canada, Spain etc.?
– The Livnica preciznih odlivaka foundry (Precision Castings Foundry) is orientated fully towards foreign markets, or rather the Western market, which is the only one that has respectable manufacturers of engines and components for turbojet engines for commercial aviation. The criteria for entering such an exclusive club are extremely stringent. Becoming a successful supplier, adopting new programmes and acquiring new clients is a very painstaking, arduous and enduring process, but the satisfaction of a job well done ultimately justifies the effort exerted. And that satisfaction is even greater when one considers that we are located in a deeply provincial area, far from major industrial centres.
We have mastered all the lessons; our employees are highly disciplined, well-trained and dedicated to the company’s success. All of our managers, engineers, inspectors and an enviable number of personnel in the facility can communicate independently in English, which is something that doesn’t exist in other companies from other countries.
Young, educated people must be given an opportunity to remain in their own country, to feel useful and successful
How did you succeed in breaking into the world aviation industry market and becoming competitive?
– We found a way to maintain ourselves and develop as a supplier of the aviation industry with the continued and unselfish support of parent company Bet Shemesh Engines Ltd. from Israel. Our success has also been recognised by the Government of Serbia, with which we’ve implemented a successful 2013 grant agreement, and I hope we will soon sign another agreement that will represent an important message to all current and future investors.
Success always comes thanks to employees, and this is the answer to the question of how we have beat the competition – devotion, industriousness, dedication, discipline… There is no other recipe for the constant growth of production, revenue and profit. We have been certified by companies like MTU Aero Engines from Germany, Pratt Whitney Canada, Pratt Whitney America, UTAS from the U.S., and Goodrich and ITP from Spain.
We were the first company in Serbia to receive the AS9100 certificate, just as we are now the first company to possess a NADCAP certificate for special thermal processing and HIP processes, while we also plan to acquire two more NADCAP certificates. Being in this business and remaining successful and profitable for years is not easy, but for us every day is a new battle.
Youngsters today are reluctant to opt for professions based on production. How do you gain the required professional personnel?
– A lack of qualified workers is becoming our country’s most serious problem, and it is one that we recognised a few years ago when we launched cooperation with the local secondary school and thus tried to “build up” the necessary personnel.
That approach has now become difficult, so we will develop, train and educate the required personnel by ourselves. When it comes to engineers, we solve the problem through a combination of reasonable salaries and possibilities to advance and learn, but also by providing them with the opportunity to resolve their housing issues in the most affordable way.