Karlovac factory of sails, paragliders and auxiliary parachutes Krilo expands production facility

Karlovac factory of sails, paragliders, auxiliary parachutes and related equipment Krilo, owned by Turkish entrepreneur Okan Tezcan, is preparing to expand its production facility and increase the number of employees. Whether this will be alongside the existing facility, which is leased, or if Krilo will move to another location and build a ‘greenfield’ facility, Okan Tezcan could not confirm for now.

In general, with the current 52 employees, of which 45 are women, Krilo will hire an additional 15 people by the beginning of 2022 due to increased workload and orders by 30 percent.

The business history of Krilo in Croatia began in 2009 in Topusko, and due to the lack of qualified and experienced workforce, and because of a much more favorable location, Okan moved the business to Karlovac eight years ago, which he assessed as an ideal location for global business.

– Since we produce wings for paragliders, auxiliary parachutes, and related equipment, this is a very demanding production where there must be no mistakes – from the selection of materials to cutting and sewing. Therefore, we do not use materials from China at all, but rely only on the highest quality material manufacturers from the European Union; our suppliers are from Germany, France, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Poland, whom we can trust – said Okan Tezcan.

This attitude, he later explained, arises not only from personal business philosophy but also because Krilo, as a manufacturer, must obtain strict international certifications, especially when it comes to aircraft and safety equipment, which must be valid along with guarantees for at least 10 years.

China was our biggest competitor, but considering the Covid crisis, Okan said, we use it as our best chance to establish ourselves in the EU market, not only by price but also by the quality that this market recognizes.

The cutting of most materials for paragliders and sails is mainly done with lasers, and the precision of seams is a story completed by the most modern sewing machines and the hands of experienced women. Karlovac is, in addition, a city with a tradition of the textile industry and still has a qualified workforce.

Okan Tezcan has so far invested about 850 thousand euros in production in Karlovac, and plans to invest over half a million euros in further production expansion.

In addition to the current 40 or so products, Krilo is placing great hopes on breaking into the renewable energy market with its ‘kite’ (Energy Kite) controlled by a robot, which uses wind movement at different heights, up to one kilometer, to convert into the movement of a ground device with a power of 40 kW that produces thus induced electricity.

The parachute, or wing, can be lifted into the air and catch the wind up to a height of one kilometer, where its behavior is controlled by a robot from the ground, performing maneuvers in the shape of an eight to drive the ground facility, and if the wind threatens to turn into a storm, or there is no wind, the Energy Kite descends to the ground. Such technology is already being used on ships, helping them reduce fuel consumption and air pollution.

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