The small family company Tomaplast from Prelog is engaged in plastic injection molding. They produce semi-finished products, specifically plastic caps that are integrated into elastic bed bases. It is owned by Stjepan and Agneza Mihac and their son Tomislav Mihac Kovačica.
At the entrance to the modernly equipped 600 square meter building, which houses the company’s headquarters and production, we were greeted by founder Stjepan, who started this business in 2008 by installing a small machine in the basement of his family home. Today, father and son are directors who have shared responsibilities; Tomislav, who graduated from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb (joined the company in 2013), is responsible for sales and procurement as well as marketing (he claims to be a marketer), while Stjepan takes care of the technical side, product development, and material selection…
For those who think it is too late to start their own business, they should look to Stjepan Mihac – he started his at the age of 50 after leaving Hespo, which is their neighbor in the business zone in Prelog.
– I used to work at Hespo as a production manager where we produced bed bases. We imported all the materials. I asked my boss if I could get involved with suppliers because I had some ideas for new products. He replied positively, I organized a product presentation, I was cheaper, and that’s how it started – says Stjepan.
The business developed, and in 2017 they acquired two tools from China (one was financed from EU funds), and four years ago they built a building and moved from the family home. At that time, they received 1.3 million kuna from EU funds. They also acquired two machines (for one they received 300 thousand kuna from EU funds), and in 2019 they acquired two more smaller machines that consume less electricity. In total, they have invested five million kuna in the last five years.
They had to make these investments because, in addition to Hespo, they also gained customers from Slovenia and Hungary. Over the years, they say, they had about 20 customers who filtered out, and now they cooperate with three large ones – Hilding Anders (formerly Hespo), Ada from Hungary, and Moba from Slovenia. The share of exports in revenue is 80 percent, and besides Hilding Anders, some smaller manufacturing producers of bed bases in northern Croatia also buy their plastic caps. Last year, they achieved revenue of 5.7 million kuna, while the profit was 1.4 million kuna, which is on par with previous years, that is, after moving to the new facility. In the first five months of this year, they say they are recording slight growth compared to the same period last year.
– We produce about three million pieces of SBS rubber in quantity. By the way, SBS is just another additional material for the rubber parts we produce. We produce about 2.5 million caps. We opted for serial production because there is no survival otherwise – says Tomislav.
They source raw materials – polyethylene (plastic), SBS rubber (rubberized elastic material), and polypropylene – from Hungarian Mol and Portuguese Cabopol, and colors from Samobor’s Chromos. Although the journey from Portugal is long, there have been no difficulties in material supply so far.
They also export to Germany to one customer, but he does not produce bed bases. Namely, Tomaplast is also engaged in the production of new tools for plastic and rubber products, and in Varaždinske Toplice, there is a toolmaker who works for the company. This way, production at Tomaplast is flexible. For example, the owners, in case of market disruptions, can reorient production to other niches, which is an advantage that this company has. However, disruptions can happen in another way – in case there are not enough workers. They currently have seven employees, with salaries ranging from six to eight thousand kuna net, and as Tomislav says, the production process does not require a large workforce because everything is automated.
