Our Story
How did TMETAL grow into a leading supplier of steel structures? A look back at the company's 30 years.
The journey began under modest conditions, yet today TMETAL steel structures can be found all around the world. Over 30 years, we have grown into a leading Czech manufacturer with own in-house engineering department and a team of 150 experienced professionals, enabling us to handle complete projects with ease — from design to installation.
We focus primarily on technically demanding projects, where our experience, strong emphasis on quality, precision, and extensive machinery park truly come into play.
But now let’s go back to the beginning of the story.
The first steps of an owner with the "Baťa" spirit (1995 – 2000)
The year was 1995. After careful consideration, Zdeněk Tyleček decided to establish the company Zdeněk Tyleček T-METAL by separating the steel construction division from the construction company STAMOK.
And as usual, the conditions were very modest in the beginning. TMETAL consisted of 1 rented workshop, 1 sheet metal shears and about 20 employees. Almost all work was done manually at that time.
However, Zdeněk Tyleček brought enormous enthusiasm, a clear vision and the “Baťa spirit”. Eyewitnesses describe him as a tireless hard worker with a natural charisma who was able to inspire those around him.
The collective effort began to pay off quite quickly. In addition to standard contracts, TMETAL became involved in several prestigious projects already in its early years:
- 1995/1996 – riding hall in Germany. Steel structure including assembly, company’s first foreign contract.
- 1998 – Dětmarovice power plant. Steel structures for power plant desulfurization, absorbers, supporting structures for smoke ducts.
- 1998/1999 – two silos with a diameter of approximately 8 meters and a height of 30 meters in Kirchdorf and Gmunden (Austria).
- 1999/2000 – conical shelter with a diameter of 25 meters for excavated material during the construction of a tunnel in Sissach, Switzerland, including the supporting steel structure for the soil conveyor.
Within just five years, this small company from Fryčovice had built a solid position in the Czech market and began confidently expanding into Western Europe. All of this took place in the post-revolutionary era, when companies from the former Eastern Bloc faced significant challenges entering advanced foreign markets.
Steel structures from design to installation thanks to an in-house engineering department (2001 – 2004)
The gradual and sustainable growth of TMETAL culminated in two key milestones in 2001:
- Registration of the company T-METAL Fryčovice, spol. s r.o. in the Commercial Register. Zdeněk Tyleček listed as the sole partner and executive.
- Acquisition of the company Metalstav from Vratimov, which also led to an increase in the number of employees.
The purchase of land from the National Property Fund was also important for the future development of the company. Other investments were made in the machinery park, for example in the first VANAD cutting machine.
In 2004, Aleš Pavlín joined the company’s sales department, bringing new ideas and visions. The most fundamental of these was the establishment of an in-house design department. Although it initially consisted of just one structural engineer and one design engineer, it represented a crucial step forward.
TMETAL was no longer “only” about precise production and installation. Thanks to design and engineering services, we became a strong partner for our clients, capable of delivering steel structures from design through execution.
This competitive advantage opened up new opportunities and projects for us.
Growth in every direction: Automation and increased production capacity (2004 – 2009)
The right decisions, hard work and continuous innovation – all accompanied by the Czech Republic’s accession to the European Union. It was no coincidence that around 2004, the company entered a period of truly rapid growth.
The number of employees has increased to 80. Exports gained momentum. With the recycling boom across Europe, demand increased for steel structures for sorting lines, which we also supplied to our Austrian recycling partner. Shown in the photo: steel structure for a recycling center in Sweden (Sundsval 2004).
A milestone is also obtaining ISO 9001 certification in 2005.
With projects coming in from all over the world, we have been significantly expanding our production capacity since 2004.
- 2003/2004 – construction of a new “blue” production hall with an area of 1,300 m2, which means more than doubling production capacities.
- 2008/2009 – construction of a new “red” production hall (2,300 m2) and a profile preparation facility with an area of 900 m2.
In parallel with the increase in production area, there is also a massive investment in machinery. This is mainly purchase of 4 key CNC technologies:
- Ursviken press brake (in 2007, an absolutely unrivaled machine in the region),
- Voortman sawing and drilling center,
- Voortman punching machine,
- Omnicut cutting machine.
Steel structures worldwide. Exports overtake domestic projects
The investment increases TMETAL’s level of automation and robotization, resulting in faster, more accurate, and more efficient production, while significantly reducing the risk of human error.
The purchase of modern CNC machines has also made it possible to expand our original steel structure production to include machinery production.
This fact also played a role in international orders surpassing domestic orders for the first time in 2008.
Although TMETAL was performing well according to many indicators, the company also faced challenging moments. In May 2009, the company’s founder, Zdeněk Tyleček, passed away after a serious illness.
Following these events, Libor Mohyla was appointed as the administrator of the estate. In 2014, Aleš Pavlín and Libor Mohyla acquired the company, becoming its co-owners and new managing directors.
The new owners agreed to change the company’s legal name to TMETAL s.r.o., along with an update of the corporate identity, including the logo. The ambition to manufacture high-quality steel structures for demanding customers, however, remained unchanged.
ERP implementation enabling further growth (2011 – 2018)
Even during changes in the ownership structure, TMETAL’s management continued to invest in innovation. Following the demanding TOVANO project for the Italian company ENEL in 2011, the implementation of the modern QI ERP system was launched, moving TMETAL another significant step forward.
The ERP system brought a wide range of benefits, including:
- up-to-date, reliable and comprehensive information about the entire company in one place, which will enable more effective management,
- more accurate cost calculations,
- a complete overview of production and order status,
- automated creation of certification documentation.
Compared to Excel, it represented a major leap forward.
Returning to 2014, TMETAL embarked on cooperation on two global projects simultaneously. Specifically, we delivered steel structures a high-speed rail bypass near Sydney and the construction of a metro in the Qatari city of Doha.
These successful orders were naturally reflected in the company’s turnover, which exceeded 10 million euros.
A stable financial situation subsequently enabled further investments:
- 2016 – construction of a new four-storey administrative building,
- 2016 – rental of a logistics hall and assembly premises in Ostrava-Hrabová,
- 2017 – expansion of the steel material warehouse from 800 m2 to 1,200 m2,
- 2018 – acquisition of a second Voortman CNC sawing and drilling machine and a Voortman blasting machine for profiles up to 1.5 meters wide,
- 2020 – construction of a new “yellow” hall for assembly and packaging.
Unique projects and record revenues of EUR 17.6 million (2018 – 2022)
Thanks to a series of successful projects , TMETAL’s reputation abroad grew rapidly. Clients also clearly recognized the strong price-quality ratio.
This led, in 2018/2019, to a prestigious contract for steel structures for a rock disposal by the construction of the Brenner Base Tunnel.
International cooperation on unique projects continued in 2021 and 2022. We are particularly proud of new steel structure design for turbine noise insulation for GE from special prefabricated panels that proved to be an effective alternative to conventional lattice structures commonly used in the energy sector.
Another key project of this period involved steel structures of arcades connecting 3 high-rise buildings in Vienna, with a total weight of 600 tons. TMETAL was responsible not only for production, but also for structural engineering and design.
The reward for this exceptional effort came in 2022, when the company achieved record revenues of EUR 17.6 million.
The future is in data (2023 – 2025)
Despite strong revenues, we are not resting on our laurels — quite the opposite.
In 2023, investments focused on photovoltaic power plant to increase our energy self-sufficiency and sustainability.
At the same time, another transformation took place. Following a business agreement, TMETAL became part of a family holding owned by the Surovič family, with Jan Surovič taking over the company’s management.
Among our most recent projects are special steel structures for the Sky Walk – Heart of Poronin, delivered for our partner TAROS NOVA a.s. They designed and built this unique skywalk featuring a circular observation deck suspended 47 meters above the ground.
As data has become increasingly valuable, our next steps are focused on implementing advanced extensions of the QI ERP system, including MES (Manufacturing Execution System) for production data analysis and WMS (Warehouse Management System) to replace Excel-based workflows. At the same time, we are introducing automated document extraction.
As our managing director Jan Surovič puts it: “Anyone who wants to maintain a competitive advantage in the future must have the courage to push the boundaries of what is possible.”
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