Adria Winch

TO FIT Winches designed

Adria Winch, a Croatian-based manufacturer and supplier of deck machinery, is facing a significant transition in its plans to upscale production, foster new clients and surge into new territories. CEO Hrvoje Pupačić is tasked with restoring the fire and ambition of a business celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2023. “There has never been a more important time for the company than now,” he said, in a discussion with Andy Probert.

Hrvoje Pupačić is a man on a mission t o bring the good times flowing back to Adria Winch. At a time when the Croatian winch manufacturer has seen its strong Russian market evaporate into the mists of war, the CEO has embarked on a strategy to foster new clients and diversify in new directions and countries to bring the brand name roaring back to world attention.

His high-energy approach is akin to a startup entrepreneur’s enthusiasm to get the business rolling, no matter what. Under his 12-month tenure, the focus was primarily on expanding into markets all around the world. He has travelled to the Middle and Far East to raise its profile, and is seriously wanting to strengthen its distribution network in the Americas.

The company’s owners, marine engineers who are now in their 70s, set up a small-scale concern near Split in 1993 to design and manufacture small winches for their own private boats. Over time, the company grew and established itself as a winch supplier in the early 2000s, primarily to markets in Russia and Norway.

Adria Winch built up a renowned name in customised anchor and mooring winches , anchor and mooring capstans, A-frames, towing winches, towing pins, hydraulic power units, and various special solutions for maritime and offshore projects.

Evolution to revolution Projects continued to flow through its doors. By the end of 2019, this included anchor mooring equipment for four-double ended car passenger ferries at Remontowa Shipyard in Poland, specialised winches for a Russian freezer trawler and

custom design equipment for a 385mlong floating salmon farm in Norway.

Mr Pupačić was already aware of Adria Winch through his career in purchasing and supply chain directorships in the Croatian shipbuilding industry when he took a call from the owners that has since transformed his life.

“They asked me to come aboard as supply chain director amid a reorganisation,” he said. “When I began making recommendations – the need to shake up engineering and optimising processes and solutions – they came to the idea of making me CEO and running the company.”

Since his appointment in 2022, he has set about changing the company’s focus, culture, energies and outlook. Business growth increased by 20% in 2022 compared to 2021, and Mr Pupačić was able to stabilise the company: “We had signed contracts and were negotiating

projects with clients in Russia, and everything was looking good. Then we lost the entire Russian market due to the 2022 conflict in Ukraine.”

This event heralded a massive and immediate change in focus at Adria Winch to other markets, including the Middle and Far East, and the Americas.

Bouncing back

This spurred him to reach out to new contacts, and that pivot will enable the company to grow by 35% in 2023. “I see this as a risk because I don't want to increase the sales volume at a rate which would

potentially be too high,” explained Mr Pupačić. “Ideally, my goal is to be able to pick and choose the contracts we work on; but rebuilding the Adria Winch brand is necessary.”

The company is currently tackling a multitude of contracts for a range of vessels, including fishing vessels, dredgers, tankers, tugboats, floating docks and loading systems for yachts.

Mr Pupačić outlined how Adria Winch’s anchor mooring winches offer chain dimensions of between 20mm to 87mm, with a pull up to 350kN: “That range positions us ideally in the middle of the

market.” The company now employs 110 people at its 1,200sqm manufacturing plant, with ongoing machine and engineering modernisations.

While mainly serving maritime, oil and gas, subsea, defence and energy clients, it also has engineering capabilities in civil engineering. “Our production capacity is ideally flexible, so we can diversify and do other fabrication projects,” he said.

Ship-related winch products claim around 85% of its business and 15% of construction, nuclear and other industries. “Exports represent 95 per cent of the business because the Croatian shipbuilding industry is in dire straits,” Mr Pupačić continued.

In recent months, the company has designed and manufactured complete solutions for a floating dock project in Turkey that consisted of trolley winches , trolleys, electric mooring capstans, HPUs, electric cabinets and pedestals. Before that, it completed several major winch

projects for live fish carriers at Larsnes Mek, Myklebust Verft AS, Sefine shipyard, and a couple of ferry projects at Tersan shipyard. It is due to deliver installation winches for an Italian company and complete tender boat systems and winches for two yachts in Vietnam.

“The yachting sector is one that offers a lot of potential and is a niche that we are keen on,” Mr Pupačić said. “I want clients to realise that Adria Winch is a reliable, sound and trustworthy partner in their value supply chain.”

Adria Winch is now eyeing network opportunities in the Middle East and Asia and is keen to establish contacts for a hard push into the North and South Americas.

Quality through and through

“In 2023, our data analytics show business market share is 45 per cent in Turkey, 35 per cent in Norway and 10 per cent in Italy, ” explained Mr Pupačić. “But what if something happens, such as the recent

earthquakes in Turkey? My goal is to diversify and open to new markets to avoid the risk of losing business.”

The main challenges are maintaining steady growth and overcoming supply chain issues, such as lengthening delivery times of machine parts from suppliers, he said: “Operating in new markets is not only a challenge but an opportunity. We know our product quality is exceptional, but we must win clients’ trust, and competition is very tough.”

Mr Pupačić zeroed in on the need to compromise and good communication that drives customer relations: “Our focus is on quality relationships and service. It’s like a magic circle to keep the suppliers happy, and Adria will not deal with cheap brands. Our quality underpins the safety that our clients want from our winches and products.”

On the company’s 30th anniversary, Mr Pupačić said the milestone had been marked with an internal event for the staff “Adria Winch would not be here without their hard work and commitment: from the cleaning crew to the production staff. I wanted to make them feel part of a big family and help us push on.

“Our motto is ‘Design to Fit Purpose’ and goes to the heart of what we do: offering customised designs and modifying products to suit client demands,” Mr Pupačić concluded: “Our sales team has jokingly pledged to open a bottle of champagne with each repeat project that Adria Winch contracts without any modification.”

“Adria’s adaptability will carry it into many different markets and continents as I seek to cement its name as a brand to be trusted.” n

Hrvoje Pupačić, CEO