STARTECH is an innovative Czech engineering company founded in 1996. It focuses on the precision machining of common and special materials using progressive CNC technology. Hannah Barnett spoke to Managing Director Jan Šildberger to learn more.
Though it may have been officially established in 1996, the origins of STARTECH stretch back much further. Originally beginning as a small locksmith and machining business in 1947, the rise of communism in Eastern Europe meant
the company was lost as a private holding for decades.
When ownership was returned in 1990, the son of the original founder eventually transformed STARTECH into a components business. Now, STARTECH specialises in
the medium, small-series and piece production of complex and precise parts for sectors including the petrochemical, food and aerospace industries.
Set across two sites, the company houses almost 50 CNC machines at its sophisticated facilities. To improve production capacity and satisfy customer demand, STARTECH plans to further develop new premises with a total area of over 28,000 square metres. Company operations are supported by a healthy turnover of €20 million and 194 employees.
Going subatomic
Around the year 2000, STARTECH began supplying components for electron microscopes and established a niche in customer projects involving small batches and complex parts.
“We now supply the biggest electron microscope companies in the world,” said Managing Director, and grandson of the original founder, Jan Šildberger. “This has shaped our company because it involves very specialised work for high-tech customers. The electron microscope
manufacturers are always improving their products and introducing new ones, and we go with them. We have established very good relationships with these companies.”
STARTECH now produces components for spectrometers and laser interferometers, as well electron microscopes. As Mr Šildberger emphasised, these are not only highly technical pieces of equipment, but exceptionally powerful ones too.
“We are very proud to be in this business, because the products are so cutting-edge,” he said. “Using this equipment, a person could be on the International Space Station and take a look at a park bench. They would not only be able to see a man sitting there, but also to read his newspaper. This is the sort of resolution possible with an electron microscope.”
Innovative and inventive
STARTECH runs on innovation, both internally and in response to customers. In recent years, like much of the industry, the company has been exploring the possibilities of automation. Almost 20% of production at STARTECH is now fully automated, using
commercial robotic systems. However; the type of manufacturing the company performs means a ‘one-size-fits-all’ system for automation is not always enough.
“We are driven by our customers to innovate and my colleagues, in turn, are very eager to do so,” Mr Šildberger explained. “I don’t have to encourage them. As we are a small batch production, we have to be especially innovative around automation. We do not produce millions of the same mechanisms again and again, we produce small, specialised components. It might just be 10 pieces, and then each time we need to reset the machine and restart production for quite different parts.”
In response to the challenge, STARTECH is working on a prototype of a robotic AGV system, in collaboration with sister company TG Drives.
The robot is equipped with actuators, has 13 controlled axes, weighs 900kg and can handle a load of 800kg. It moves around the production floor on magnetic strips, which provides considerable flexibility and easy system reconfigurability.
“We have completed the first prototype testing, and if everything goes well, by the end of this year we should be in production, once we have established certifications,” said Mr Šildberger. “This will allow us to fully utilise machines and decrease setup times. Sometimes we need to reset the machines several times a day, so it is helpful to be able to reduce times.”
The final frontier
True to its name, many STARTECH products have left the Earth’s atmosphere. For example, the company’s components are installed in the flight version of the ESA Solar Orbiter spacecraft, which was launched in 2020 to investigate the sun from close proximity (about 50 million km).
The company has also been part of the European Hera mission to the binary asteroid Didymos and the US OSIRIS-REx
project. And samples from the asteroid Ryugu were examined under TESCAN AMBER LYRA3 electron microscopes, for which STARTECH produced a number of mechanical components.
Back on Earth, another noteworthy project has involved producing laser system parts dedicated to the elimination of parasites living on salmon in the Norwegian Sea. Using a new MAZAK Variaxis i-700 CNC 5axis milling machine, the components are mainly made of aluminium and plastic, and protected with a thick coating to withstand the harsh saltwater environment.
“We are enabling the customer to kill parasites on fish using laser beams,” said Mr Šildberger. “They have a special device monitoring the salmon, and if it sees any parasites, it uses this green laser beam to shoot it off the fish: it’s like Star Wars.
“It is a very ecological way to get rid of pests. The Norwegian economy has suffered big losses because of parasites, and they were using products to treat them that were not very ecological. Now they have a special system which is harmless to fish. And, of course, it doesn’t pollute the sea either.”
Indeed, STARTECH is serious about sustainability and as a result, has equipped its buildings with PV panels. This enables the company to produce around 25% of its own electricity. Buildings are also equipped with heat pumps and the capability to reuse the energy wasted by machinery is being developed. The company also recycles certain materials, disposes responsibly of other more dangerous ones, and is looking to expand recycling to include the reuse of plastics.
Keen to continue to improve, STARTECH also recently registered with EcoVadis, and is pending the results of an audit, hoping to learn where to strengthen its sustainable credentials.
Past, present and future
It is important to STARTECH to treat its suppliers like partners and maintain a relationship built on mutual understanding and value.
“For example,” said Mr Šildberger, “we work in close cooperation with Yamazaki Mazak, a Japanese company and the biggest producer of CNC machines in the world. We have used their equipment since 1996 and have a very loyal relationship. We have always helped each other, and they have even developed some machines according to our wishes.”
Indeed, as a result of its innovative workforce, STARTECH often works to develop new products with both customers and suppliers.
“Many companies that offer custom-made machining are just producers of parts according to the drawings of their customers,” Mr Šildberger explained. “They don’t offer any new ideas about how to improve their products. I think that is our strongest point. Our customers are always satisfied, and they stay with us because of the quality of our work.
“Sometimes I think about my grandfather, who died in 1995, and what he would say about the development of the company that he never had the chance to build up. I think he would be happy.” n
