Titus from Dekani combines British managerial skills and market access on one side, and Slovenian diligence and technological know-how on the other. Titus manufactures furniture hardware, hydraulic dampers and tooling.
Titus from Dekani combines British managerial skills and market access on one side, and Slovenian diligence and technological know-how on the other. The result: one of the most successful British investments in Slovenia with a leading market share in its niche. Titus manufactures furniture hardware, hydraulic dampers and tooling.
There are not very many British investments in Slovenia. Yet the existing few prove that British-Slovenian partnership can achieve excellent results. Take Titus International for example. The UK based group took over Lama Dekani back in 2005. The company based in Dekani on the Slovenian coast had excellent expertise in production yet had found itself in financial trouble. A typical post-transitional scenario. The owner brought new management skills, marketing approaches and market access. Moreover, the new management led by Robert Appleby injected the old company with new vision and vigor. The results speak for themselves. Lama's revenues in 2006 reached 20 million euros. In three years the revitalized company managed to double its sales: in 2009 it earned 42 million euros. Last year's sales of Titus d.o.o., the successor of Lama, exceeded 72 million euros, while the group's revenues reached 84 million. The Dekani based company, employing 400 people, also made 6 million euros of net profit. The whole group employs over 600 people and comprises 14 companies all over the world.
The company in Dekani is the Titus group's largest manufacturing, logistics and R&D center. Two important elements of the company's success are its strategic location and the high level of technical skill of the Slovenian engineers and other employees. Dekani is practically a suburbs of Koper, one of the most important ports in the Adriatic. Just a few kilometers away is Trieste, another important port with an international airport as well. Koper has excellent connections with central Europe and Italy. In short, »the multifunctional site provides an ideal meeting place for our customers and business partners, where they are able to experience our technical excellence and view our complete product range in a showroom display«.
A key element of success is technical skills. The engineers from Dekani publish a number of international patents every year. The group's most important product are furniture connectors for ready to assemble furniture. Titus is the global leader in this particular niche with a market share of 20 percent. That the group's most important customer is Swedish ready to assemble furniture giant IKEA comes as no surprise. The precision engineering competence gained in the field of furniture hardware has been applied to other areas: multi-purpose damping technology, automated assembly systems, tooling and ultrasound fastening technology in various industries including furniture, home appliances, automotive, medical devices and hardware.
One of the main companies in the group also located in Dekani is Lama Avtomatizacija, an important European producer of multi-slide die casting solutions offering complete engineering service including the integration of Lama's die casting machines with robotic applications.