Mr Patrik Hlůšek, Commercial Director of EVPU Defence, has recently been interviewed by the Czech Security Magazine about the company´s new facilities, upcoming exhibitions and impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The original article is in Czech and we would like to share the updated English version with you here.
Mr Hlůšek, can you share the latest important news from EVPÚ Defence with us?
The recent completion of another stage in the expansion of our production facilities is an important milestone for EVPÚ Defence. Due to the ever-increasing interest in military products we built another production hall in 2019 which enabled us to increase our production capacity by approximately 50%. In addition to mechanical assembly facilities, the new production hall also houses a paint room, warehouses and clean rooms for special operations with sensitive optoelectronics. Our existing CNC centre has been enlarged to include a new five-axis machining centre.
The expansion of our facilites was aimed not only at adapting our production capacity to the recently experienced heightened demand but also at increasing our own self-sufficiency and independence. Ultimately, we believe that thanks to this investment we will be able to reduce delivery times. The development of our company indicates that we have gone in the right direction and that there still is an interest in quality products with a long lifespan and precise technical characteristics.
For many years, EVPU Defence has focused on the defence sector. In this respect, we are able to offer a wide range of special products and individual tailor-made solutions which represent the greatest strength of our company. We demonstrated our deep commitment to the defence sector at IDET 2019, the largest defence and security technologies fair held in the Czech Republic. We are planning another demonstration of our products at this year's NATO Days, which will take place from 19-20 September 2020.
EVPU Defence is aiming to participate in the modernization programs of the Czech Armed Forces. Which of these programs are of particular interest to you?
Of course we must mention the largest Czech tender for infantry fighting vehicles, where we are able to offer a wide range of proven systems that are already established in the Army. We continue to monitor a number of other Army requirements that have been reported in the media but at the moment it remains to be seen if these programs will be implemented. If so, we are ready to offer first-class military products. Thanks to the increase in production capacity, we now have the facilities and experienced staff to meet even the most demanding requirements.
Do you intend to expand your defence product portfolio in 2020?
We already have a strong portfolio of defence products but yes, we are going to add new items that are closely related to our current offer. However, it is still the case that newly developed devices or specific products and their innovations always reflect the requirements of individual customers. The ability to adapt the solution to the exact customer requirements or to develop a brand new product for a customer has always been one of the greatest advantages of our company and in this spirit we intend to continue in the future.
What do you plan to show at this year's NATO Days?
The selection of products we are planning to show at this exhibition is not limited to the military sector. The professional public will be able to see, for example, a remote-controlled weapon station or the CMS-1 commander sight suitable for weapon stations or turrets. Thanks to gyrostabilization it can be installed not only on vehicles but also on ships.
Security applications will be represented by a VW Crafter monitoring vehicle with thermal imaging cameras used by the immigration police mainly for patrolling the Czech-Austrian and Czech-German borders.
Did the coronavirus pandemic have any significant impact on EVPU Defence?
It is too early to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our company. From the point of view of business and marketing, we are of course sorry that we did not have the opportunity to participate in a large number of scheduled personal meetings, fairs and exhibitions. As far as our customers are concerned, we have managed to minimize the impact of this pandemic on the customer orders through strict and timely internal measures, and this makes us very happy. At the moment there is no indication of any decrease in the interest and demand for our products and services but a true evaluation will only be possible with more time behind us.
