High-voltage growth for success
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The TFKable Group specializes in the production of cables for a diverse range of applications. The portfolio is extensive: low, medium and high-voltage cables; halogen-free, overhead and installation cables; trolley, copper communication, fiber optic, signalling, rubber and welding cables; as well as mining, vessel, and vehicle and ignition cables.
A particular feature of the product range is the TFKable Group’s flexible rubber cables, which are used, for example, in mining and other underground activities where the energy supply needs to be mobile. “Our service is not restricted only to delivery,” explains Heiko Langner, Sales Director at TELE-FONIKA Kable Central Europe GmbH. “In Berlin, for example, we have built high-voltage systems. We regularly serve the high-voltage segment on a project basis. On the other hand, of course, a large proportion of our business is supply only. We deliver to logistics and wholesale clients, including most well-known brands, as well as to major utility companies and general industrial clients.”
Besides utility companies, the TFKable Group serves a broad range of other industries, among them the wind power, oil and gas industries, mining, shipbuilding and automotive, power engineering and rail, as well as the wider general industrial sector.
Around 60% of the TFKable Group’s one billion EUR turnover is generated through exports, mainly to Germany, the UK, the US, Scandinavia and the Baltic countries. In August 2017, the TFKable Group acquired JDR Cable Systems Ltd, the leading manufacturer of submarine umbilicals and power cables to the global offshore energy industry.
JDR Cable Systems is a leader in subsea production, umbilicals, subsea power cables and Intervention Workover Control Systems for the offshore oil and gas industry. JDR also provides market-leading services to support customers from project concept design and selection to installation, commissioning and full field lifecycle services.
We have a specialized portfolio with products to meet specific requirements. Heiko LangnerSales Director
“The TFKable Group as an organization supplies cables to all parts of the world,” Mr. Langner underlines. “We have a specialized portfolio with products to meet specific requirements. We go out to the markets with whatever they require.”
With its headquarters in Poland, the TFKable Group operates production units in Poland, the Ukraine and Serbia, although the focus is very much on Poland. The German subsidiary is a sales representation. “In Western Europe, 90% of our sales are made through the Polish head office,” notes the Sales Director. “In Poland, the TFKable Group is number one in the market for middle and high-voltage cables.”
Established over 25 years ago and initially producing telephone cables, the TFKable Group is still in private hands – the founder is today the chairman. Over of the years, the company has seen the development of privatization in Poland and has itself undergone significant restructuring. Mr. Langner joined the company in 2003.
“Before joining the TFKable Group, I worked for cable companies for around 16 years,” he says. “I initiated the move to the TFKable Group when it was looking for sales staff in this region. At that time, we still had our own warehouse here in Germany and undertook marketing on our own account. Now we are purely a representation subsidiary, although we have many direct customer contacts of our own.”
After 15 years, the Sales Director is still highly motivated. “Just the fact that this is a young and dynamic, aspiring company was enough to entice me away from what was, in effect, a very secure job, in order to work for the TFKable Group,” he points out. “This company has a real vision, which I wanted to be a part of. To have experienced this for 15 years has brought a true sense of achievement. If it hadn’t, I wouldn’t still be here.”
The TFKable Group is far from the only company in its sector which has achieved growth and success through mergers and acquisitions. “There have been many mergers among the top companies,” stresses Mr. Langner. “In the cable world full of acquisitions and mergers, the TFKable Group still does the acquiring and remains independent.”
In addition to its acquisitions, the TFKable Group has also invested heavily in its production unit in Bydgoszcz, south of Gdańsk, one of the most modern cable factories in the EU, where the company produces middle and high-voltage cables, which are supplied to energy providers.
“This factory is a real highlight for us,” continues Mr. Langner. “It has enabled us to expand our portfolio up to 400 kV. It is very difficult to manufacture some products competitively due to low prices in the market, so it makes economic sense for us to focus on medium and high-voltage cables, and rubber-insulated cables. With the takeovers in that market, there are now only two suppliers, and the market’s response to our adjusted portfolio has been extremely positive.”
Indeed, the focus on medium and high-voltage cables has opened new doors, which the TFKable Group is keen to exploit in the future. “We are starting to look at the high and extra-high-voltage cable market,” reveals Mr. Langner. “We have been carrying out a range of long-term tests on new products. Only then can you go to the network operators and offer 400 kV cables. After testing, factory audits have to be done, and we are in the final stages of auditing.”
