Introducing ALBAform: How did a Czech company Expand to North America and Why?

The year was 1992. The Czech Republic was a democratic country for three years only, still part of Czechoslovakia (the last year before splitting). The economy and business were recovering from half of a century under a communist regime, and entrepreneurs were taking their chances. It was the time and place when the ALBAform enterprise was born.

Nearly 32 years ago, Jan Maděřič and his wife Hana Maděřičová became the parents of the brand-new business. They lived in Břeclav, South Moravian Region, Czech Republic. A location popular for wine and folklore traditions. They decided on a different industry, though – they established a family company focused on the development, production, and design of metal components for the automotive industry. And as we can see, it was the right decision.

ALBAform USA
ALBAform management team in the US

Who were the founders?

Jan Maděřič was a man with a big heart. A person with big dreams and a big passion to make things happen. Given that he worked as a transportation engineer before starting his own business, he worked deeply systematically. With his analytic nature, he knew how to create a logical and bulletproof excellent plan.

„My dad was a great visionary. The time favored him with the free market opening again from zero, and he searched for new opportunities. He kept his eyes open knowing he wanted to be an entrepreneur. He was fond of metalwork because he wanted to make his products and create real value. It helped him a lot that he was eager, stubborn, and following his mindset with no excuses,“ Monika Vintrlíková talks about her dad.

My dad was a great visionary. The time favored him with the free market opening again from zero and he was searching for new opportunities.

Monika Vintrlíková
CEO

Her mom, Hana Maděřičová, was in the back office of the newly established company. She was in charge of human resources and the inner functionality of the business. Her duties were accounting and finances. And mainly, her tasks covered bureaucracy and communication with the authorities – her husband hated doing this so they complemented each other perfectly in this way. 

Jan a Hana Maděřičovi
ALBAform founders Jan & Hana Maděřič’s

Monika & Jan Stepping in

Their older daughter Monika stepped into the family business when she was about 16 years old. She spoke English so first of all, her dad was taking her with him to international meetings that took place in almost all of the countries in western Europe. Quite often she was translating letters (back then being sent by post and even fax, imagine that!). „I was sort of a sales department assistant and when I completed my university degree, I started to work in my parents‘ business full-time,“ says Monika.

Her future husband joined the company right after he graduated. He was working in the sales department too. And that’s where the love birds met and within two years, Jan officially became a part of the family

Jan & Monika Vintrlíkovi
Monika & Jan Vintrlík’s (ALBAform CEO & COO)

ALBAform Now

Nowadays, ALBAform develops, produces, and designs metal components for use in the automotive industry, heavy-industry machinery, and e‑mobility. The production mainly consists of CNC wire bending and tube bending, robotic welding, laser-cutting, and subsequent assembly.

Using the latest technologies, we produce products of the highest quality, always taking into account the individual needs of customers, so they can reliably use ALBAform products in the industrial sectors of automotive, heavy-industry machinery, and e‑mobility. Currently, 70% of the production goes to the automotive area, and 30% of products are made for heavy machinery.

ALBAform today
ALBAform develops, produces, and designs metal components for the automotive industry, heavy-industry machinery, and e‑mobility.

Czech Republic, USA, Mexico, and Plans for the Upcoming Years

A successful company is a growing company. We consider it necessary for the business to expand and offer more and more production capacities and options for customers. Therefore, in 2011, ALBAform management decided to enter the American market to scale up its capacities. After the COVID-19 crisis, the company is more vertically integrated and there are higher investments in the heavy-machinery industry so the company is less dependent on contractors. All this requires a strong and talented working force. 

Since the working force in the Czech Republic and the US is limited, we optimize our strategies and during 2024 and 2025 our branch in Mexico will be the one growing the fastest. In the Czech Republic, we will tend to work more on the internal development of new technological methods while our production in the US should stay stable and keep pace.

Looking for New Team Members

In the three locations total, we have now about 150 employees. We are seeking new colleagues for our facility in Žďár nad Sázavou, with an opportunity to move to the US or Mexico after the training period, and in 2024, we will need to hire about 30 new people for the ALBAform Mexico branch

Are you interested in working with us? Check out the open positions in the Czech Republic and let us know if you want to join our ALBAform Mexico team.