Dragan Mićić, CEO of ICM Electronics - We welded scoop weighing one ton

It already becomes a tradition that web portal eKapija grants Aurea awards to the top investors of the year. This year`s awards ceremony will take place at the end of March. Since the new cycle is approaching, we paid a visit to the companies that were shortlisted for last year`s award to check what state of business development they reached.

Company ICM Electronics, the laureate of Aurea 2009 Award for the project for construction of the first factory of robotic lines in Serbia, has already established cooperation with about 3,000 Serbian companies. The company is also present in Russian market, as well as in the countries of the region. The robots from this factory will be soon exported to Italy and Germany.

Dragan Mićić, the CEO of ICM Electronics, speaks in the interview for eKapija about the advantages and ranges of robotization, new business projects, as well as about best-selling robots and the most interesting requests of the company's clients.

eKapija: What business successes have your company achieved since the factory of robotic lines was opened?

- Our favorite success, which does not mean that it is the most significant one, was the production of the line for classifying and separating blocks for the factory of building materials. We find this success the "sweetest" because such projects have, so far, been implemented only by foreign companies from Germany, Italy and Greece, and we have already proved that domestic companies, with their knowledge and technology, are competitive to the companies from the West. We find that a victory of Serbian knowledge. In association with other Serbian companies, our company reconstructed, automated and put in operation the whole factory of stoneware products.

eKapija: What are the projects whose realization you started in 2009?

- We started several different programs in the fields of product development and development of new markets. ICM Electronics developed new solutions in the field of metal welding, as well as new systems for palletizing the products. Some of these solutions will make results in mid-2010 or at the end of the year. ICM has slowly started expanding its distribution and partner networks last year, and we expect to cover some countries of ex-Soviet Union within the next five years, as well as to sign the partnership contracts with some companies from Italy and Germany. The negotiations have already started and we hope for the best.

eKapija: Which are the companies that you cooperated with?

- We have cooperated with over 3,000 companies from Serbia. Of course, most of them are buying spare parts from us for their automated systems. We find every customer equally important and I would not like to single out any of them. Our customers are operating in food industry, industry of building materials and metal-processing industry.

eKapija: Is there any company in Serbia or the region that is competitive to yours?

- Competition is everywhere and we are glad because of that. Competition makes us constantly improve and better. We have direct competition in Slovenia, Italy, Germany and Greece. When it comes to competition in Serbia, that is, mainly, indirect competition that offers the systems that are not robots, but some classical machines.

eKapija: Which are the advantages of ICM Electronics?

- Our company's advantage lies in the fact that we have young and creative team of engineers who fully dedicate themselves to resolving every problem of the buyers. What we got with the construction of the factory is another advantage of ours. Our factory is well-equipped and we can assemble a robotic system in our unit and test it in real conditions before we deliver it to the customer. That makes it possible for use to deliver reliable and quality systems. Also, we are physically close to our buyers, in case something happens, so that we can come to the site within hours.

eKapija: What are your suppliers?

- We cooperate with several Japanese companies whose products are used in our systems. Also, some of the parts are imported from Germany and Switzerland, but many parts are also produced in our unit. We have a machine park in our unit, so that we produce conveyors by ourselves, as well as some other mechanical parts that are necessary for perfect functioning of a robotic system.

eKapija: Which are the capacities of the factory of robotic lines?

- We produce various robotic systems for packaging, palletizing, welding at the customer's request. Some systems are exceptionally complex and their assembling takes much time, while some simpler systems can be delivered within only few days. The approximate maximum that our factory can reach is production of about 100 simpler robotic systems per year.

eKapija: Which was the most interesting request of a client, and which was the most challenging for your company?

- The most interesting request, which is also the most challenging one, was the request by the company that deals with production of scoops for dredges for strip mines. Our task was to weld the scoop weighing about one ton. That project is interesting because it requires integration of many different skills and use of the latest technologies in the field of laser robotic vision. Very small number of companies in the world use laser vision in their systems because the use of that technology requires advanced knowledge of maths and programming. To the satisfaction of all of us, we managed to do that.

eKapija: What is the best-selling product of ICM Electronics?

- The demand for our systems varies a lot. Economic, legislative and other factors affect the demand for products. For example, before the crisis, welding robots were in highest demand. When the crisis started, the metal-processing industry was hit and the demand for welding robots suddently diseappeared. Packaging systems are very popular at the moment. One of the reasons is a change in the Law. It will not be allowed any more that men work on packing big mass, so that the Law will, practically, force the manufacturers to introduce automated packaging and palletizing systems. Packaging systems are, currently, in highest demand, which does not mean it will stay that way once the metal-processing industry comes out of the crisis.

eKapija: In which foreign markets are you present?

- We have partners and distributors in the countries of former Yugoslavia. We are currently working on some projects in Russia, as well as on development of cooperation with some companies in the region and the companies from Italy and Germany.

eKapija: What is the average time period for return of a company's investment in introduction of robotic systems?

- Robotization and automation primarily affect improvement of the quality of products. Due to poor quality, foreign companies return the whole shipments because of couple of bad products. If 100% of your products are of high quality, there is no chance that they will be returned. Then you can increase the capacities and, thus, make bigger profit. By saving energy and manpower, we can cut the costs and increase incomes at the same time. The investment in introduction of robotic system can be returned within one year when it comes to some welding applications, but the average time is three years.

eKapija: How do you see establishment of robotization and automation in Serbia? Is our market ready for new technologies?

- Serbia is more than ready for robotization and automation. Some industry are less ready than the others, while some of them are already using robots in their units. Introduction of robots in the units may require large investments, which is usuall the biggest obstacle to their introduction. Robots are usually used in the processes with large volume of production and physically demanding operations. Unfortunately, many domestic manufacturers have small-scope production because the market's demand is small and the period for the investment's return is quite long, so that introduction of robots is not economically justified. On the other hand, the companies that use welding in their production are in great need for robots because the labor market does not offer sufficient number of welders. Also, the industry of blocks and bricks uses robots in its production for years, and the great majority of robots in Serbia are located in that industry. We can freely say that a robot in brickworks is an usual machine and every serious manufacturer has, at least, one robot in the factory.

When it comes to automation, we are present in the markets of Serbia and former Yugoslavia over for the last 15 years and we have realized over 150 projects in the field of automation where the latest technologies intended for industry have always been applied. Serbia is familiar with the automation program, and new solutions do not produce the same enthusiasm as they did 15 years ago when our country was under sanctions and when such technologies represented rarities. We all together develop and learn and slowly but certainly keep the pace with the world.

eKapija: What is the range of robotization now? What are the industries that could start using robots?

- Much can be done with robotization. You can practically do everything that a man can do. Our robotic systems have built-in cameras that detect the quality of products, and we can set them in the way that robot packs only the products of certain quality. There is much space for introduction of robots for primary packaging and palletizing of products in food industry. Very small number of manufacturers use robots because the price of manpower is rather small, but that will change once the borders of Serbia are opened and when people stop working for 150 EUR per month.

eKapija: Robotization and automation protects employees in factories from harmful influence of industries. What are the advantages of robotization in that segment?

- Many processes in the industry are harmful to man's health. If we take a look at welding process, we will notice that there is a danger from radiation that is harfmul to the eyesight and skin of welders, as well as from various transpirations that are harmful to the respiratory organs and whole organism. There are also various processes in which men are in direct contact with harmful acids that can cause serious injuries. Since the people are the most important resource of every company, it is of crucial importance to protect them and install some machine that can do such works instead of them whenever possible.

eKapija: What are the company's plans for year 2010? What are the innovations that can be expected from ICM Electronics in the following period?