Josip Srabotnak, Ravitera: Growth could significantly slow down due to a lack of workers with specific knowledge

The first kilns for ceramics made by Josip Srabotnak, the owner and director of Ravitera from Strmec Samoborski, were created without computers and 3D modeling programs. At that time, in 2005, such technology was not available to him, so he managed by cutting parts of the future structure from paper and gluing them together in his kitchen. Since then, ten years have passed to the current appearance and performance of Ravitera’s kilns for ceramics. The rounded exterior appearance of the kilns was achieved in 2015, after which all changes introduced by Srabotnak have been aimed at reducing the electricity consumption required for the operation of the kilns and improving their functionality.

He says that on his developmental journey, he had to learn a lot about details that initially did not seem important. For example, he quickly learned that the most common door width is eighty centimeters because otherwise, the customer cannot place a kiln with wider doors in their space. It took him several years to find the best insulation solution to create a kiln with a working space of seventy liters that connects to a Schuko socket capable of withstanding a current of sixteen amperes. That kiln model is still one of Ravitera’s bestsellers, purchased by small ceramic producers and hobbyists, schools, and kindergartens.

The craze for ceramics

This year, Ravitera marks twenty-five years since its founding. All solutions in kiln production are the result of its development and the insights gained during it. Srabotnak’s initial idea was to create a kiln model that could be applied to various designs with minor modifications. Today, with the help of computer 3D modeling, he easily collects the necessary execution documentation for the kilns, and thus Ravitera has standardized about 30 models that can be quickly adapted to customer requirements.

– Our kilns are used in ceramics and glassmaking for glass blowing, for making decorative ceramic and glass items, plates, cups, bowls, pots, cooking and serving containers; for doors and windows, stained glass. In the metal industry, they are used for thermal metal processing with and without a protective atmosphere; in aluminum, copper, and bronze foundries, as well as in laboratory testing. Spare parts, maintenance of industrial kilns, and the sale of insulation materials for high temperatures are also an important part of our business. In recent years, our kilns for firing ceramics, clay, and glazes for making ceramic items, especially for the highest temperatures, up to 1300 °C, have been the most sought after. The production of clay items has become very popular, especially higher quality functional items that are fired at high temperatures. Ceramics as a form of recreation, hobby, or entertainment has become sought after mainly due to lifestyle and technological development. Today, people work sitting at computers, and afterward, they need something they can do with their hands. So far, we have equipped many small workshops and provided advice to many ceramists who successfully create and produce clay items, Srabotnak said.

Energy savings

The offer is regularly expanded with new products and materials, especially different types of modeling clay and glazes for ceramics. This year, they will bring two new clay suppliers from Spain to the Croatian market, although Ravitera already offers more than thirty different types of clay and over 350 kiln models for ceramics, which they intend to further increase by the end of the year. Srabotnak believes that Ravitera certainly has the largest offer of kilns in Croatia. – We regularly visit trade fairs in Europe where we learn about new achievements and products. Today’s trends for industrial kilns are focused on energy savings and connecting kilns to computers and smartphones. Regardless of being industrial, kilns must be well insulated, so there is still room for improvement. At the end of last year, we met a manufacturer whose insulation brick has half the mass of most available on the market in that class. Thus, less energy is needed to heat the kilns, and cooling is faster. We are currently introducing kilns for ceramics that incorporate this type of brick into the Croatian market. A kiln that previously weighed eighty kilograms will now weigh around sixty. It looks simple, but it combines a metal structure, thermal insulation, heaters, and control electronics into a functional whole that is safe for the user and the environment. The temperatures in our kilns are usually up to 1300 °C, but for some projects, they can reach up to 1750 °C, Srabotnak explained.

Cooperation with Slovenians

A few years before founding Ravitera in 1999, Srabotnak began contacting and collaborating with Bosio from Slovenia, who dealt with industrial kilns. Bosio decided to start expanding his parent company into the Croatian market and the countries of the former state, as he was one of the leading manufacturers of industrial kilns in this region. Srabotnak found the project interesting and turned to the Croatian market, especially industrial kilns for high temperatures from 500 °C to 1750 °C, spare parts and service, insulation materials, and technical textiles for high temperatures.

– The beginning, like for others, was a small office of about ten square meters with one employee and a computer, a small warehouse of thirty square meters. There were many travels, customer contacts, visits to fairs in Croatia and Europe, and constant acquisition of new knowledge. Initially, industrial kilns were produced in Slovenia, while we in Croatia dealt with sales, service, and maintenance, offered spare parts, and sold materials from our offer. A large part of our business at that time was directed towards ironworks, foundries, refineries, petrochemicals, or shipbuilding. Around 2005, the idea of starting our own kiln production began to develop slowly. One reason was that our partner in Slovenia began to focus more on large kilns for ironworks, which was not enough for the normal operation of our company. We, on the other hand, began to receive more and more inquiries for smaller kilns in the ceramics industry, so we decided to create our own model. From 2005 to 2010, we contracted and produced with our partner some of the largest industrial kilns in Croatia, which are still in operation today, for Alstom from Karlovac, Harburg-Freudenberger Belišće, and TPK Orometal, Srabotnak listed.

Modeling clay

When in 2007 the business space became too small, Ravitera moved to a larger one, although the production at that time was individual, so Srabotnak constantly jokes that they were selling prototypes of kilns. Today, the company has about 500 square meters of business space. Along with the standard offer, they began to introduce modeling clays. In designing kilns for ceramics, Srabotnak used knowledge and experience from the production of industrial kilns for the metal industry, and when he became a representative for Croatia and Slovenia of a medium-sized German clay manufacturer, he began to familiarize himself with the challenges of making kilns for ceramics. Although he mainly produces such kilns today, he has never neglected those for foundries and thermal metal processing. Ravitera’s products can be found in the markets of Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Greece, Ukraine, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Romania, the UAE, and Montenegro. Stronger expansion into the neighborhood is also planned.

– We cooperate with several kiln manufacturers from the EU whose products we market alongside our own. We collaborate very well with a partner from Germany who has production in the Czech Republic and who produces kilns for us under our brand. We expanded our offer with different types of modeling clay because customers asked us why we did not have them and glazes for ceramics in our offer when selling kilns for ceramics. By researching the market, we realized that most clays and glazes on the market come from Italy, that Croatia has some clays, but they are mostly used in the brick industry. Soon we began to cooperate with a supplier from Germany, for whom we are still a distributor for Croatia and Slovenia, Srabotnak described.

Playing with heaters

Since Ravitera was established as a representative office of a foreign company, the initial funds for starting were provided by a foreign partner, and later growth and development were financed by its own money and profits. Srabotnak can now say that it is a family business, but it was not like that at the beginning. His wife Martina is his deputy and manages administration and finance, his son Bruno is in charge of marketing, and his brother Matija leads production, but since it is a small company, everyone has more responsibilities in it. The production is organized in such a way that it closely cooperates with contractors to reduce costs.

– We differ from others in that we use the materials we sell in production. We are also the only company in Croatia that offers machines, raw materials, ceramic technology, technical support, service, and maintenance of ceramic kilns all in one place for ceramic manufacturers. Among the more interesting projects, I would definitely highlight two. The first was for a customer from France who required a slight deviation in temperature in the useful space of the kiln so that only one control loop is used. We had to play with heaters of different powers that were distributed on all six sides of the kiln chamber. The second project was for a customer from Croatia, a kiln that can simulate a temperature rise in a fire to test building materials. We selected appropriate heaters that can achieve very high temperatures in a short time, and the insulation had to create minimal losses, Srabotnak explained.

The biggest threat to business

During the corona crisis, there was even a positive turnaround as Srabotnak contracted larger renovations of kilns for firing metal structures, began selling chamotte products for making grills and blacksmith kilns, and interest in online sales grew, especially when Ravitera’s website Keramica.info was redesigned. It was created when the own production of kilns began to popularize ceramics and training for working with clay. So far, the most investment has been made in equipment and machines for work, totaling 150,000 euros from retained profits and loans. Since the machines used in production cannot be purchased on the market, they have to be adapted in Ravitera.

In 2022, Srabotnak generated 620,642 euros, and in 2021, 476,022 euros, which explains the continued growth of interest in modeling clays that emerged during the corona crisis. Until 2020, he hardly worked with retail customers; rather, business was arranged at fairs and during customer visits, which had to change during the corona crisis. Last year, he achieved almost the same turnover as in 2022, primarily because an important project for a low-temperature dryer from 2023 was extended into 2024. This year, he expects slightly higher growth, which is currently being realized.

The war in Ukraine disrupts Ravitera’s procurement of refractory materials from suppliers in the Czech Republic, and partially also modeling clays sourced from Germany. In both cases, these are chamotte materials that partly come from Ukraine, and everything is affected by the high price of gas needed for processing. However, the biggest threat to business in Croatia is finding workers. Currently, there are six employees. In the last two years, some workers have retired, many have been on sick leave, which has caused some internal projects to be halted. If Ravitera continues to increase turnover as in the previous two years, with the current number of workers, Srabotnak will not be able to keep up with the increase in work. This year, therefore, one worker has been hired who will need to be trained for three to six months because there is no school for the workers that the company needs.