Company description
Kurim Foundry was constructed according to plans drawn up by the American company Lester B. KNIGHT ASSOCIATES CHICAGO on the site of the original Brno Zbrojovka engineering hall (Brno Armament Works) Construction begin in 1949. The new foundry, and indeed the whole Kurim plant, was at that time part of the new state concern Prague Associated Machine Tools Factories. The independent state concern Kurim Machine Tools Factories was founded on 1. 1. 1950. Production equipment was in part delivered in accordance with the American suppliers original plan, though after deliveries were halted in 1949 the remaining equipment was supplied by Czechoslovak manufactures. The first tapping was performed on 26. 10 1951, though regular producticn was not initiated until 1953.
The production of casting for machine tools was transferred to the foundry from the famous "VANKOVKA" in Brno, which had a tradition of foundry production stretching back many years. No few qualified foundry men, paternmakers and technician were also transfered to Kurim along with production, which created the necessary preconditions for the highexpert standard of production to be maintained at the new foundry. By 1960 prcduction had increased to 16.000 tons per year. and stabilised in the following years at between 14.000 and 16.000 tons a year. With privatisation in1992 the faundry becam independent and, the new independent company "SLÉVÁRNA KURIM A.S. (Kurim Foundry) was formed.
The principle strategic plan of the management of the company is for it to retain the nature of commercial foundry for gray and nodular cast iron, concetrating on the production of demanding castings for machine tools and other branches of industrial production, while at the same time ensuring that the greatest possible proportion of casting go for export, primarily to western markets. In achieving this aim great emphasis is placed on the innovation of production technology.