Doomed to succeed as a builder and as a Zemplénian - interview with István Derczó

The key strength of a company that is 90 percent competitive

Although there have been ups and downs over the past 30 years, the company has been consistently profitable. All in all, the company has evolved from a classic hall builder into a company capable of building factories with highly complex technologies, offering complex solutions. More than 90 percent of our work comes from the competitive sector.

An important milestone in our lives was the investment of the Swiss multinational timber company Swiss Krono in Vásárosnamény in the mid-2010s. The construction of the OSB production plant allowed us to move up a level: we started to build more complex plants and factories.

Our real strength is in design and build type developments: in these greenfield projects we take the project from the first step to turnkey, including the technological preparation. This is how we got involved in the construction of the BorsodChem gas turbine project in Kazincbarcika, among others, entering the power plant industry.

These are the works they are most proud of at Weinberg

Before the domestic references, I would like to point out that we have had several memorable projects abroad, including the steel structure work for the TV2 headquarters in Bergen. Another special reference is that last year we built the main entrance gate of the NASA museum in Washington, D.C., at our base in Sárospatak, which was a very complicated and complex structure.

Among our Hungarian projects, I would highlight the Haladás Stadium steel structure, as well as similar work on the Tatabánya multi-purpose arena. At the same time, we supply steel structures for a great many industrial-style halls. We are very proud of the ACE hangar built on the Budapest Airport site, which we constructed as a hangar for the AEROPLEX Közép-Európai Kft. aircraft in our capacity as main contractor, with the steel structure manufactured at our Sárospatak plant. This building had to be constructed between two hangars with a 70-centimetre working gap and a 96-metre span, as specified by the contractor Construction Industry Master Award, and Construction Industry Quality Award.

This is how the trust capital built up over many years becomes a staying power

What trust capital means for us is illustrated by the crisis of 2008 and the current crisis. Then we had a smaller network of partners, with half the track record.

But now, with 15 extra years, we have achieved a much broader, more stable and stronger customer relationship capital. As a result, we can expect to receive a number of new orders: in many cases we are called back for up to the fourth or fifth phase of a series of projects.

A good example of this is that we won a 3-month job for WET Hungary in Pilisszentiván, and then we received more and more orders due to the positive experience of the client. In four years, we have rebuilt the whole site in a series of investments totalling HUF 3.3 billion. It was on this project that I found a true friend in János Szabó, the managing director, who has since sadly passed away. His mentorship was a major factor in our company being able to showcase the results achieved today.

We built the expansion of Festo's industrial automation plant in Sternberg, and we are currently building their factory in Sátoraljaújhely. Another major project is the construction of Volvo's new business centre in Ecser, near the M0 motorway, which is already in the completion phase. In addition to the projects mentioned above, we are currently working on projects for Szabó Gear, Praktiker Veszprém, Stobag, Meleghy and Hagleitner. From a manufacturing point of view, we are now also involved in the automotive projects in Debrecen: we are producing steel structures for the Semcorp and CATL projects.

The two success factors: speed and continuity are not mutually exclusive

What can we rely on in the increasingly fierce competition for investment, which is predominantly foreign and partly domestic? I would highlight the fast reaction time, the reliable quality that has been our hallmark for many years and the aforementioned trust capital.

Our fast response time is based on the fact that senior management communication in the company is fast and efficient: no waiting for decision mechanisms. There is live contact and consultation between line managers and me almost every hour; but the same is true between line managers and their direct reports. Moreover, we have tried to keep our subcontractors and suppliers together in the same spirit.

In addition to all this, we value continuity: some people have been with the company for 30 years, but many have been with us for more than 20 years, and it is quite common for people to have been here for 10-15 years. I'm not saying that there is no turnover in the physical department, but there is a hard core base there too. And at senior management level, there is minimal movement. I've had a stable, balanced business relationship with two of my managing directors, Sándor Bodnár and Róbert Lovas, for decades.

When a potential partner comes to Sárospatak, it usually ends well

For new partners, it is also an important help in winning work if we can invite the investor of a project in the preparation phase to Sárospatak to show them our production facilities.

In a significant proportion of these cases, we are able to reach agreements - even winning generic contracts - thanks to the insight they gain into our innovative approach and culture, which significantly increases their trust in our company.

In addition to the aforementioned NASA museum, the Hungarian House of Music is another good example of this innovative approach and our complex solutions. where we carried out the manufacturing and assembly of the steel structures, contributing to the unique design of the building. This also includes developments in Norway, for which we manufacture combined structures: providing an HSQ system consisting of prefabricated reinforced concrete and steel structures. Our manufacturing activities have been supported by a welding robot system since 2021.

They built their office building with soil probes back in 2008

In order to establish ourselves in the Norwegian public procurement market, and then to maintain our presence there, we had to obtain the green house certification for our steel structure production. In this market, it is expected that the project's ecological footprint is known.

We started to lay the foundations for sustainable operations in previous years, when we installed a soil probe system in our office building built in 2008, which led to a 50 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Most of our halls were built with a water-air pumping system. The 500-kilowatt solar farm installed on our production halls serves the same purpose, as does the 50-kilowatt small power plant installed on the first hall. Environmental sustainability is a priority, including in our use of materials. We operate electric company cars and are also building an electric charging station, which is a niche in our region.

About the feeling of life called Zemplénism

I think that anyone who gets an opportunity from a region should give something in return, and we should always be aware of our environment. It reflects the same thinking that all the company's development has been funded by recycling the results. I have never been involved in real estate development or other industries, I have always stayed in this segment. This is also true for the region, as I focus all my supportive efforts on this area.

We worked on the construction of the sports hall at the Reformed Grammar School in Sárospatak for ten years: finally, together with my friends György Wáberer and József Sándor, we managed to complete it: By 2018, the facility was built with TAO funding under the Weinberg ’93 Kft. project, for which the three of us provided our own resources as contractors. As a local patriot, I have been involved in the preparation of the Tokaj-Hegyalja University from the very beginning in an advisory and supporting role, and I am currently a member of the supervisory board. As a result of several decades of work, we succeeded in establishing the new university two years ago, which is a great success for the region.

Nine years ago, as an important tool for Zempléné, we also launched the so-called dűlőtour, which introduces the basic values and treasures of Hegyalja from a slightly different perspective to invited public and economic actors. The initiative operates as a closed club, but it has a social as well as a community-building function, as the networking can even boost the development of the region.

Together and in concert, Tokaj winemaking can be more successful

In addition to the Zemplén identity, I also have a special emotional connection to Hercegkút, as I used to play disco there in the Gombos Hill tavern when I was young, and my cellars are there too. But for many other reasons, I also feel a strong sense of ownership of the town, which made me an honorary citizen more than ten years ago. One of the matters of the heart there was the construction of a chapel in Hercegkút as the 15th stage of a 14-stage calvary by my two friends Gábor Grabarics and Árpád Bognár Grabarics. During the project other sponsors came in, but we were the main sponsors of the project.

I am also honoured to have been elected a full member of the Hungarian Wine Academy, but it is also a mission. I am also involved in the rebuilding of the Tokaj-Hegyalja wine order as chairman of the Supervisory Committee.

The value of the initiative could be to coordinate and integrate winemakers, because even now they are scattered and go their separate ways, whereas together the profession could be much more efficient and effective. It is no coincidence that, when preparing the University of Tokaj-Mountains, I massively supported the university taking over the organisation of the largest Tokaj winery, Grand Tokaj. I believe that there is a lot of potential to be exploited in this.

On one of the key factors behind the success of three decades and the generational change

Because of my job and my social commitments, I am away from my family a lot, but at the same time they support me in everything I do, and that base means a lot. My older daughter Eliza is 25 and my younger one Eszter is 16: they will probably not work in the company directly, but they contribute indirectly.

In addition, my brother's two sons, Bálint and Dávid, who died in a traffic accident, also work at Weinberg, the former in the quality control department and the latter as a foreman in the parts production plant. Both of them represent the approach of their ancestors, which gives me great pleasure. All in all, I can say that the new generation is being groomed.

A training centre in Zemplén is also in the pipeline

We also support training by other means: for 20 years now we have been providing practical training for students, training 30 students a year, while at the same time we also cooperate with the BME and the University of Miskolc.

We would like to expand this activity in the direction of adult education and retraining to meet the needs of the company: training of welders, locksmiths and sheet metal workers. In the longer term, we would like to develop a training centre in Zemplén, where we would operate a practical base for apprenticeship, technician and engineer training.

The soon-to-be completed new headquarters will also reflect the corporate philosophy

We are a family-run company with more than 300 employees, but even with such a large workforce, we strive for family relationships. We also organise family days, specialist group sessions and wine clubs; as well as skiing, hiking and cycling activities.

Our new office building, currently under construction in Sárospatak and soon to be handed over, also embodies this spirit. rel="noopener">our new office building, which is currently under construction in Sárospatak and will soon be handed over also embodies this spirit. The building has several lobbies and meeting places, and you can sit on the terrace, hold lectures and classes, or even watch a match.

"They're really big ghosts in little coats" - the philosophy behind a day care centre set up next to an office building

Based on this philosophy, our company has come up with a unique solution for the summer season: we provide day care for our colleagues' children in the vicinity of the office building. In addition to being a great help to parents when nurseries and crèches are closed, it also promotes community building and the transfer of the Weinberg approach. It is important to show children where their parents work and what values they create in the workplace.

You can't start educating children early enough: as a friend of mine used to say, they are really great spirits in petticoats. There is no point in talking to them in a veiled way, they should be taken as seriously as adults, because they have all the potential and potential, they are the key to our future.

It's important to pass on what we've worked so hard to create, to give them a slightly easier, more transparent path; and also so that they don't have to start all over again. In our history, we are always starting again, even though it would be good to have the previous basis and build on it. That's the philosophy we keep in mind in the company.

The love of order: balancing the human factor with the professional

We do the same for adults: we take them on group outings to show colleagues what they have welded or cut from sheet metal. It's very important to have an emotional attachment to the work.

The key to long-term success is to get the fundamentals right, not just from an economic and financial perspective, but also from a human and moral perspective. For our Volvo project, for example, we had a pre-qualification, only 20 percent of which was about economic, technical suitability; the rest was about environmental, social compliance, people-focus. Obviously, we don't need to get on the other side of the horse, but it is the balance of the technical and human factors that gives the economies more advanced than ours the success they have. I feel that the people-centric ethos in our company is matched by economic potential, and we are therefore destined for success.

Build Together!